Five Chicago Lodges Merge

On May 18, 1929 E. Urner Goodman Scout Executive acting as Supreme Chief of the Fire merged together the five Chicago Lodges initiated by his old Assistant Camp Director Carroll A. Edson. The Grand Lodge had maintained a rule that councils could have one lodge for each of their Scout camps. Goodman constructively ended that rule, as Chicago was the only Council remaining with more than one lodge.

Goodman’s decision to merge the lodges together was upsetting to some of the local Arrowmen. It also diminished their voting block at Grand Lodge Meetings. The five Chicago lodges were Moqua Lodge 7, Wakay Lodge 13, Blackhawk Lodge 21, Checaugau Lodge 23 and Garrison Lodge 25.

The new lodge formed retained the Moqua Lodge number chartering as Owasippe Lodge 7. Owasippe Lodge selected a totem recognizing the original lodges, the “Hand of Friendship”. The Hand of Friendship is an open hand reminiscent of the hand of Adam in Michaelangelo’s “The Creation” with an arrow placed in the palm, the five fingers representing the five original lodges coming together in one hand.

Following the merger, each of the five original lodges became a chapter bearing the name of the original lodge. Following the merger, the Douglas Division, Chicago’s designated group for segregated Scouts that had been denied a lodge in 1923 because of the rule limiting councils to one lodge per camp, was included in the Order of the Arrow. Takodah Chapter became Chicago’s sixth chapter and our Order’s earliest known African American Arrowmen.

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Stock Market Crash

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States. The crash began a 12-year economic slump called the “Great Depression” that affected all the Western industrialized countries.

2, Non-Scouting

Hoover Elected President

Herbert Hoover was inaugurated as the 31^st President of the United States in 1929. During his Presidency, Hoover focused on pushing farm subsidy bills through congress; cracking down on gangsters participating in tax evasion (Al Capone was prosecuted); increased the amount of land used for National Parks and Forests (5.3 million acres).  Herbert Hoover was a strong supporter of the Boy Scouts. He launched the ‘Forward Movement and Development Program’ during a dinner in honor of the 20^th Anniversary of the BSA in 1930.

2, Non-Scouting

Grand Lodge Bulletin First Published

The member lodges of the Grand Lodge needed a way to communicate with each other. It was decided that a newsletter would be sent to members of the Grand Council and local lodge chiefs. The lodge chief was typically a professional Scouter although not in his professional capacity and was most often the Scout Executive. Grand Scribe William Stumpp first sent out the newsletter called the Grand Lodge Bulletin in 1924. In 1934 the name changed to the National Bulletin, the name it is published under to this day.

There are no known examples of most Grand Lodge Bulletins published prior to 1931. Copies of these bulletins are sought by the OA archives.

2, OA, Scouting

Order of the Arrow Public Name

One of the peculiarities of the OA is its name. The proper name, Wimachtendienk Wingolauchsik Witahemui, was a secret name. For public usage the name was simply WWW. That changed at the 1922 Grand Lodge Meeting. Another group, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), was using similar letters. To avoid confusion, the public name became Wimachtendienk, W.W. That was really a mouthful for non-members to say. At the 1924 Grand Council Meeting held in conjunction with a Scout executive Conference at Estes Park, Colorado, it was decided to change the public name at the next Grand Lodge Meeting to Order of the Arrow.  At the Fourth Grand Lodge Meeting the public name was changed to Order of the Arrow.

2, Founders, Goodman, OA, Scouting

Fourth Grand Lodge Meeting

Ranachqua Lodge hosted the Fourth Meeting of the Grand Lodge at the Kanohwanke Scout Camp near Tuxedo, New York. A record 10 lodges were present, it is unknown the number of delegates. A major topic involved voting rights. All Lodges had one vote at a Grand Lodge Meeting. A lodge with 400 members had as much voting power as a lodge with six Arrowmen. It was decided that each lodge should get one additional vote for every 100 Arrowmen. Alfred C. Nichols, Jr. of Unami Lodge was elected Grand Chieftain. Harvey A. Gordon of Cowaw Lodge, Perth Amboy, New Jersey was elected Grand Scribe. Joseph D. Carstang of Pamrapaugh Lodge, Bayonne, New Jersey was elected Grand Treasurer. Goodman remarked that the Order was being run by a young man, “who as a boy was initiated in the mother lodge years ago” about the election of Al Nichols.

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Harvey A. Gordon

Harvey A. Gordon was one of the early pioneers of the Order. Like most of the other early leaders, Gordon was a Scout professional. He was the only Arrowman to ever receive the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) posthumously as one of the 11 inaugural DSA recipients.

Gordon started in Scouts as a volunteer. He became Scoutmaster of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Troop 42 in 1913. In 1917 he was hired by Philadelphia Council to be Chief Field Executive and was inducted into Wimachtendienk by Unami Lodge. In 1919 Gordon became Chief Field Executive for the Greater New York Councils. In 1919 he became the Chief Camp Director of Kanohwahke Lakes, a national reserve for Scout camps.

In 1924 at the fourth Grand Lodge Meeting hosted at Gordon’s camp, Gordon was initiated as the Order’s 30th Third Degree (Vigil) member. At that Grand Lodge Meeting Gordon was elected to his first of four consecutive terms as Grand Lodge Scribe.

Gordon continued as Chief Camp Director at Kanohwahke Lakes until 1928 when he was selected to be the Director of Construction for Ten Mile River Scout Camps. In that capacity Gordon planned and constructed five camps for the five boroughs of New York. The camps were Camp Aquehonga (Staten Island), Camp Ranachqua (The Bronx), Camp Man (Queens), Camp Manhattan (Manhattan) and Camp Brooklyn (Brooklyn).

In 1930 Gordon was transferred to the national office in New York City as the first National Camp Engineer. In that role Gordon was in charge of the layout for the BSA subcamp at the 1933 World Jamboree and the pioneering gateway for that subcamp. Gordon also was Director of Physical Arrangements for the 1935 and 1937 National Jamborees. Gordon died after a long illness in 1938.

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Fifth Grand Lodge Meeting

For the Fifth Grand Lodge Meeting and 10th Anniversary of Wimachtendienk, W.W. the Grand Lodge returned to Philadelphia and Treasure Island with Unami Lodge the host. 27 delegates from nine lodges attended the assembly. At the meeting it was determined that certain changes had to be made in ceremonies to satisfy religious organizations. Also a full update of the constitution was passed. The greatest change was in nomenclature. First, Second and Third Degrees would now also be called "Ordeal", "Brotherhood" and "Vigil".

A Statement of Policy was also created. The policy stated that the Order of the Arrow was an adjunct of Scouting and no OA policies could be in conflict with the BSA. It further stated that the mother tongue of WWW was Lenni Lenape and that the Order was a “camp honor brotherhood of the Boy Scouts of America, designed to further Scout ideals therein.” Other points included that meetings of the lodge could be for business, social, planning or operational purposes to serve camp and camp spirit between seasons. One point specifically cautioned against over emphasis of Indian lore. Another policy stated that only First Class Councils (those with a full time professional) could have Wimachtendienk. A key guideline was an admonition that the Order must grow under its own merits and that no propaganda or promotion shall take place.

The last point in the guidelines was a requirement that lodges maintain the tradition of non-members electing members. Lodges were not allowed to replace what Goodman considered important democratic principles. Lodges also were forbidden from vetoing a candidate elected by his peers. This provision prevented blackballing; where a single member for any reason or no reason could keep someone out even if duly elected.

E. Ridgeway Carrick of Sanhican Lodge, Trenton, New Jersey was elected Grand Chieftain. Joseph D. Carstang from Cowaw Lodge was elected to the newly created Grand Vice Chieftain. Harvey A. Gordon, also of Cowaw Lodge was re-elected Grand Scribe. Lester Harrison of Chappegat Lodge was elected Grand Treasurer.

2, Elections, National Event, OA, Scouting

Sixth Grand Lodge Meeting

The 1926 Sixth Meeting of the Grand Lodge was the second held at Camp Indiandale. Minsi Lodge of Reading, Pennsylvania hosted the eight lodges in attendance. The number of delegates is not known. This meeting was a working meeting where committee reports were reviewed and changes were made in the by-laws and rituals. The most substantive change to the By-laws was a decision to hold the Grand Lodge Meetings every other year starting in 1927. A committee was charged with exploring the concept of setting up regions and sections to hold meetings in non Grand Lodge meeting years. The Nominating committee tapped Robert Henderson of host Minsi Lodge to be Grand Chieftain and William A. Stumpp of Ranachqua Lodge, The Bronx, New York for Vice Grand Chieftain. However a nomination came from the floor for Grand Chieftain. Robert Henderson himself, the nominating committee’s selection for Grand Chieftain, nominated Stumpp for Grand Chieftain. As the result William A. Stumpp became the sixth Grand Chieftain. Robert Henderson became Vice Grand Chieftain. Harvey A. Gordon, Cowaw Lodge, Perth Amboy was re-elected for a third term as Grand Scribe and Herbert Birch of Sanhican Lodge, Trenton, New Jersey was elected Grand Treasurer.

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Lodges are Numbered

Prior to 1926, listings of lodges kept by the Grand Lodge were typically alphabetical or loosely related to the order that the lodges originally applied for charter. In 1926 the decision was made to give each lodge a unique number. Because these numbers were applied retroactively, errors did occur. For example, even though Pamrapaugh Lodge of Bayonne, New Jersey was one of the original eleven charter lodges present for the 1921 Grand Lodge Meeting, they were given the number 14. In its place, Wawonaissa Lodge of Fanwood, New Jersey was erroneously given the number ten. It is not surprising that the decision was made to number lodges. In the early years of the Grand Lodge and Wimachtendienk there was a tendency to number everything.  It was an easy way to keep track of data in an age long before computers.

Large lodges like Unami Lodge of Philadelphia and Moqua Lodge of Chicago gave each member a unique number. That number was given in their respective order of membership in the lodge. The Grand Lodge also used numbers for all Third Degree members (Vigil Honor members).  The practice of numbering lodges continued until 2004.

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First Approval for Patches

Up until 1926, pins were the only insignia approved for use by Arrowmen. This had been the rule in both the first Constitution of Wimachtendienk in 1916 and the constitution framed at the 1921 Grand Lodge Meeting. When the Order expanded to a dozen lodges at least two of them desired patches as insignia.

As is often the case with novel insignia, the first patch was issued before official approval. Minsi Lodge in Reading, Pennsylvania was the first to act. Around 1922 the lodge issued the first of their wolf head chenille with black arrow embroidered on felt patches. A member of Minsi Lodge, A. J. Brown, made the motion to the Grand Lodge that would enable patches to be made. The motion read, 

That the Grand Lodge authorize any lodge to adopt as a felt emblem, the second degree totem of the said lodge with an arrow superimposed thereon and pointing to the left.

The motion went on,

That no felt emblem of the first degree be authorized by the Grand Lodge or used by the local lodges.

This explains why the few OA patches known from the 1920s are so rare. Besides being old, First Degree (Ordeal Honor) members did not get them. Only Second Degree and Third Degree (Brotherhood Honor and Vigil Honor) Arrowmen received badges. And since trading patches had not really started no one needed more than one of them. Patches had not replaced pins. Pins remained the official insignia. Neither the Grand Lodge nor the BSA authorized patches for wear on the uniform. That would have to wait nearly twenty more years.

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Coolidge Becomes President

John Calvin Coolidge Jr., became the 30^th President shortly after President Harding died of a heart attack and was elected President on his own accord in 1924. President Coolidge had two sons that were Boy Scouts. In 1926, Coolidge attended the 16^th Annual Meeting of the National Council in Washington DC. There, the President presented the first Silver Buffalo Awards. Some of the recipients that year included: Lord Baden-Powell, Dan Beard, James West, W.D. Boyce, E.T. Seton, and the Unknown Scout. Coolidge himself would receive the Silver Buffalo Award in 1929.

2, Non-Scouting