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The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. It has more than 750,000+ members at 1,928 lodges. The fraternity currently focuses on Community, Friendship, and Charity.
The Elks Lodge No. 99 / Park Plaza Hotel, now The MacArthur, is located at 607 Park View Street across from MacArthur Park in the Westlake district of Los Angeles, California. Completed in 1926, it was designed by architect Claud Beelman , later to become renowned an Art Deco designer, when he was practicing as Curlett + Beelman.
It was believed to be the largest Elks lodge in the country and was built at a cost exceeding a million dollars. [3] There were 3,800 Elks members in Portland at the time. After the 1929 stock market crash, Portland-area Elks membership declined steeply, and by 1932 had dwindled to 450. [3]
The cornerstone was laid on November 18, 1926, to an audience of seventy-five Elks members, and construction began in early 1927. [5] The lodge was built at a cost of $34,600 and was officially occupied on May 26, 1927. [6] The building served as an Elks lodge until 1969, when the group moved to a new building that was constructed downtown.
Membership is open to everyone, men and women, age 16 years and older. In earlier years, membership was limited to the wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, stepdaughters and widows of members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In 1979 there were 40,000 members, the same as a decade previously. [2] There were 41,000 members in 1989. [1]
Quaker City Elks Lodge No. 720, IBPOEW, Philadelphia, was founded in 1926. In 1945 it was the reportedly the second-largest African-American Elks lodge in the country. In 1930, the Lodge erected a home at 1943 Christian Street, in the area now known as the Christian Street Historic District. [12] Christopher Perry Lodge, No. 965, of Philadelphia
San Fernando CA Elks Lodge No. 1539 Actor Jack Elam: Ashland OR Lodge No. 944 Actor Rich Hall: Livingston MT Lodge No. 246 Comedian, writer, documentary maker, and musician Bill Hughes: Jazz trombonist and bandleader Al Jolson: New York Elks Lodge No. 1 Singer, actor, and vaudevillian: Martha MacCallum: Summit NJ Elks Lodge No. 1246
However, Lodge 878 and the Elks as a whole suffered a major decline in membership in the late 20th century. Lodge 878 lost about 90% of its members between 1975 and 2001. [12] [35] This was despite the fact that people of other races were allowed to join the Elks in 1973, and women were able to gain membership in 1995. [12] [27]