Exploring Fraternalism and Politics with the Frat Stats Database, 1875-1920

• In Event: US Lobbying as Individual and Group-Specific Practice

Abstract

Scholarship on American fraternal organizations during the height of its popularity from 1875-1920 typically focuses on groups' cultural importance and economic functions. But, new scholarship suggests that state-level membership in large, federated fraternal orders was affected at times by presidential elections and other politically important social and economic factors (Chamberlain and Yanus 2022). In this paper, we seek to study the fraternal-politics connection more directly using the new Fraternal Statistics (Frat Stats) Database, a joint venture seeking to make data on fraternal orders accessible to scholars and the public alike. We will evaluate how a range of political factors may have shaped the development of fraternal organizations, as well as how these organizations may have shaped political decision-making.

Authors

• Adam Chamberlain, Coastal Carolina University

• Alixandra B. Yanus, High Point University