Social clubs and Elks/Prince Hall networks — Black Chicago

CTL-E-2591 · Organization · mutual-aid · 1775–present

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

Black fraternal and mutual-aid networks in Chicago — the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World and Prince Hall Freemasonry — as engines of Black civic, economic, and social life.

The record

Also known as: Black fraternal networks Chicago, IBPOEW and Prince Hall Chicago

Relationships

Arthur J. Riggs — founded by
Arthur J. Riggs, a Pullman porter, co-founded the IBPOEW with B.F. Howard in 1898.
B.F. Howard — founded by
B.F. Howard co-founded the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World in Cincinnati in 1898.

Referenced by

Arthur J. Riggs — founded → this record
B.F. Howard — founded → this record
Black Elks (IBPOEW) — Chicago — member of → this record
North Star Lodge (Prince Hall) — member of → this record

Sources

Internet Archive — Order of the Elks Scott #1342 first-day-cover text
Wikipedia — Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World
The Phylaxis Society — The Joseph A. Walkes Site (bogus groups)
Congress.gov — Congressional Record: John C. Ellis Lodge No. 17 150th anniversary (primary source)

Record CTL-E-2591 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 4 sources (1 primary) · 6 mapped relationships · CTL research: RELP-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Cite this record

Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Social clubs and Elks/Prince Hall networks — Black Chicago (CTL-E-2591),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-2591/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Social clubs and Elks/Prince Hall networks — Black Chicago (CTL-E-2591).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-2591/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Social clubs and Elks/Prince Hall networks — Black Chicago (CTL-E-2591) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-2591/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Social clubs and Elks/Prince Hall networks — Black Chicago (CTL-E-2591).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-2591/

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From the Archive

The archive in pictures

Black enterprise — the shops, banks, and trades that built it. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.

Only Negro store of its kind in the U.S., at 2933 State St., Chicago, Ill, Chicago, 1941Photo: Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963, collector, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

Policeman talking to employee of Ten-cent store whose trade is predominantly Negro. Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, 1941Photo: Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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