Black Fraternal Orders Build Insurance Networks Denied by White Companies

White insurance companies either refused to insure Black Americans or charged discriminatory rates. In response, Black fraternal orders — the Prince Hall Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of St. Luke — developed mutual aid and burial insurance systems serving millions. The Independent Order of St. Luke, led by Maggie Lena Walker (who in 1903 became the first Black woman to charter a bank), operated a newspaper, a store, an insurance department, and a bank in Richmond, Virginia. These institutions provided economic security unavailable from mainstream white institutions.