Photo Record
Images
Additional Images [2]
Metadata
Object Identification Number |
1991.169.001a |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Donor |
Danish Brotherhood Lodge #15 |
Description |
Black and white photo, rectangular, horizontally oriented. Photo features a large group of people (men, women, and a few children) standing outside a building. Most are in suits and dresses and many have ribbons pinned to their chests, likely DBIA ribbons. In white at the bottom left is "Tenth Annual Convention of the Danish Brotherhood of Iowa / Kirkwood Hotel, Des Moines September 2nd and 3rd, 1934" and in the lower right is "Photo by / W.L. Baird". Photo is taped and stapled to a large sheet of masonite along with photos .001a-.001e. |
Print Size |
21 1/2" x 6 1/2" |
Photographer |
Baird, W.L. |
Creation Date |
September 1934 |
Associated People |
Baird, W.L. |
Search Terms |
Danish Brotherhood in America Annual Convention Kirkwood Hotel Des Moines, Iowa Polk County Baird, W.L. |
Date Received by Museum |
10/17/1991 |
Provenance |
Danish Brotherhood Lodge #15 is located in Des Moines, Iowa. Lodge #15 was chartered on November 26, 1884. The Danish Brotherhood (DB) , originally Det danske Brodersamfund, was a national fraternal insurance association for Danish immigrant males. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1881, as an outgrowth of several Danish immigrant veterans' organizations, the organization was initially open to "honorable men, born of Danish parents or who were of Danish extraction." The first six lodges were chartered in July, 1882, and lodges were soon started in many communities where significant numbers of Danes had settled, providing a forum for nurturing Danish culture and language as well as providing financial assistance to members in case of death or illness. Some 350 lodges were formed in the U.S.; as well as three in British Columbia, and one in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1916 a monthly publication, Det danske Brodersamfunds Blad/The Danish Brotherhood Magazine, later renamed The American Dane, was started to further communication among members and lodges. After 1920, as Danish immigration lessened and the number of eligible males dwindled, lodges opened their membership to include both American-born daughters, and later, spouses and children of lodge members, gradually evolving into a social organization for the entire family. Some lodges were disbanded after a few decades due to economic conditions or changes in the ethnic base of their communities. Remaining members were then transferred to nearby lodges or paid their insurance premiums directly to organization headquarters in Omaha (Lodge #600). In August 1995 the insurance function of the DB in America was merged into Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association. A number of DB lodges remain active today as organizations promoting pride in Danish origins and culture. |
Images |
273\1991169001a.JPG |
Accession number |
1991.169 |