Why some black lodges prospered and others failed: the Good Templars and the True Reformers

Author: Fahey David M.  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1466-4356

Source: Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol.36, Iss.2, 2013-02, pp. : 337-352

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Abstract

What explains the durability of the small Good Templar grand lodge in Florida and the larger Virginia-based True Reformer grand fountain? Other black Templar lodges and True Reformer fountains had brief lives. The dedicated leadership of W. M. Artrell appears to have been the key to the Florida lodge's survival into the twentieth century. William Washington Browne's charismatic leadership, combined with his pioneering life insurance scheme, explains the success of his Virginian organization.