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.

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First Grand Lodge Membership Card

With the formation of the Grand Lodge there was a desire for a Wimachtendienk membership card that could be used by those lodges that did not choose to print their own cards.

According to the minutes of the Grand Lodge Session at Camp Linstead, Baltimore, MD, on October 12-13, 1923: 

It was recommended that an engraved individual membership certificate be made available at a price that would provide a profit for the Grand Lodge, and we recommend that the Supply Officer draw up and submit such a certificate.

There is no record as to when the first Grand Lodge card was printed. It was likely created later in 1923 or in 1924. The earliest known copy of a Grand Lodge printed membership card [Type 1] is from 1925 with dues paid to 1926. The card has the name “Wimachtendienk W.W.” on it. Examples of this card have been found with “dues paid” to dates as late as 1932.

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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.

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Goodman - Adult Family Life

Goodman matched his professional success during his years in Philadelphia with personal happiness. On June 18, 1920, he married Louise Wynkoop Waygood, a local girl whom he had first dated the same week in 1911 that he joined Troop 1. Louise and Urner had three children, Theodore Wynkoop, born August 12, 1921, George Walter, born February 26, 1923, and Lydia Ann, born April 21, 1927.

Family life centered on Urner’s job, the children, and church involvement. Both Urner and Louise were talented musicians, thus the children learned to play instruments, so the family often entertained each other with music evenings. Sundays were devoted to church and family activities, including the learning of Psalms in the afternoon. The Goodmans were very ecumenical. The family moved several times while the children were growing up and, if there were no Presbyterian church in the neighborhood, they would worship at Methodist churches or Quaker meetings.

When Goodman took a job in Chicago in 1927, the winters proved too cold for George, and Louise and her mother would take Ted, George and Ann to Florida for the winter, where the children attended the Sunshine School in a thatched building on the beach.

The children were all involved in Scouts. Ted was a Boy Scout and Sea Scout, and became a member of the Order of the Arrow at Treasure Island. George was a Boy Scout. Ann was a Brownie and Girl Scout, with Louise as her leader. When Louise learned there was no Girl Scout program for African-American girls in their town, she organized one.

The family loved to take car trips and Urner bought large cars just for that purpose. A favorite outing when they lived in New Jersey while Urner was national director of program was to Schiff Scout Reservation, to visit “Uncle” Bill Hillcourt and his wife, Grace. One summer, the family traveled by train to the west, where they visited the newly acquired Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp (now Philmont).

Ted and George both served in World War II. George went overseas for the invasion of Europe, and was killed in action in 1944.

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Rule - Only One Lodge Per Camp

The Order of the Arrow’s local lodge organization was very different in 1923. The lodges were associated with their camp, not their council. Wimachtendienk after all was born a camp society. The greatest association with the council was through the Scout Executive who was the Supreme Chief of the Fire for each lodge in their council and could at his sole discretion terminate those lodges. The rule in effect in 1923 was the number of camps in a council that had the Order determined the number of lodges possible in that council. In the early years of the Grand Lodge there were two larger councils in the Order, Philadelphia and Chicago. Most of the other lodges were from smaller councils such as the councils in Reading, Pennsylvania and Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Both Philadelphia and Chicago Councils were so large that they had more than one council camp. Philadelphia had two, Treasure Island and Camp Biddle. Chicago had five camps, Camp Dan Beard, Camp McDonald, Camp Checaugau, Camp Blackhawk and Camp James E. West. And at those five camps Edson would eventually form five lodges (Moqua, Wakay, Checaugau, Blackhawk and Garrison).

The five lodges also had the effect, whether intended or not, of granting Edson five votes at Grand Lodge Meetings at a time when there were only ten or twelve votes in total being cast.

On May 28, 1923, this topic was very much on the minds of the Grand Council when they met in Richmond, Virginia. The Grand Council was comprised of the elected officers of the Grand Lodge and their meetings were open to other members as well as other Scout professionals interested in Wimachtendienk. They typically met at professional Scouter conferences that they would be attending anyway in their vocational capacity. The Grand Council was actually sitting on several applications for the very much up and running new Chicago lodges and although they had cashed the check for the charter fees, they had not acted upon the charters.

Now word had been received that Edson intended to initiate a sixth lodge. But this sixth lodge was different than any other lodge in existence. This lodge was to be formed at Camp Belnap, the camp for the segregated African American Scouts of Chicago assigned to Douglas Division. It also meant that the Second Degree, a blood-rite at the time (that is, as a fraternity, all Brothers in Wimachtendienk were blood brothers of each other, the original meaning of being a fraternal society) would at some point be administered between different races.

The official framing of the issue by the Grand Council was that Camp Belnap was part of another camp that already had a lodge. At the 1923 Grand Lodge Meeting the ruling came down that there could only be one lodge per camp. Any decision about issues of having a segregated lodge was averted. Chicago would be denied the lodge for Camp Belnap.

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First Meeting of the Grand Lodge

In 1921 Wimachtendienk, W.W. (a common way at the time of referring to what we know as the Order of the Arrow) was ready to have a national structure. Patterned similar to the Freemasons, it was decided that each lodge would become a member of the Grand Lodge. On October 7 and 8, 1921, the first Grand Lodge Meeting hosted by the Philadelphia lodges, Unami and Unalachtigo was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and at their Camp Biddle. These meetings would later become known as National Meetings and are the distant predecessors of today’s NOACs. The first meeting was attended by eight of the eleven known lodges. The use of the term “known” was deliberate in the meeting minutes. Our young Order had spread by word of mouth. In the early days of Scouting it was common for multiple councils/camps to share the same lake. For example, in upstate New York near Tuxedo Park there were more than thirty Scout camps around the Kanohwanke Lakes including council camps for Ranachqua Lodge and Pamrapaugh Lodge. It is still not known exactly which other lodges had formed in these early years, but clearly Goodman and Edson were aware that others had formed and they had no way to contact them.

Co-founder Edson was selected to chair the first meeting. During the meeting four committees were formed. One of the committees was formed to frame the Grand Lodge Constitution. Another committee was formed to re-write and provide for further revisions of the ceremonies. Committees were also created regarding insignia and record keeping. Grand Lodge officer elections were held.

At the conclusion of the first day of the meeting the delegates traveled to Camp Biddle and held a re-dedication ceremony. The image of this ceremony is a significant historical photograph of our Order. In the image can be seen the founders in the original black robes with turtle totems. It is also the only known image that shows the three-part Third Degree (Vigil) bib sash.

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Constitution for WWW

One of the primary purposes of the first meeting of the Grand Lodge in 1921 was to frame and ratify the first WWW national constitution.Article II set forth the purpose of the Order,

The object of the Order is to band together in a common brotherhood, those Scouts who are most truly living up to their Scout ideals, and thereby crystallize their Scout habit of helpfulness into a life purpose of leadership in service.

Other articles of the constitution established guidelines for membership in the Grand and local lodges, the Degrees (today’s Honors), committees, meetings and chartering of local lodges.

There was also an article that set forth the local lodge officers. The highest of the local offices was the Gegeyjumhet, the Supreme Chief of the Fire. This position was to be retained by the Scout Executive or his representative. The importance of this distinction cannot be understated. The Order was a unique organization. While it was a requirement to be a Scout and all members were in the BSA, they were an independent society. There was absolutely no oversight from BSA national headquarters.

This arrangement, placing control of each local lodge under the BSA’s highest ranking professional in each council, would later provide the assurance the BSA’s National Council needed for the Order’s very survival. This also meant that only so called “First Class” councils could have Wimachtendienk. In 1921 there were still councils that were run only by volunteers. To be First Class, among other things a council had to have a Professional Scouter on their payroll.

An Article was also framed dedicated to insignia, which in 1921 were pins and not patches. It read,

The general insignia of the Order shall be the arrow, which shall be the mark of the First Degree. The mark of the Second Degree shall be the totem of the individual lodge superimposed upon the arrow. The mark of the Third Degree shall be the triangle superimposed upon the mark of the Second Degree.

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First Modern Vigil Honor Ceremony

According to Edson, he recalled returning to Treasure Island at the end of camp in 1916 where he and Goodman wrote the ritual for the Second Degree (then equivalent to Vigil Honor). Edson further recalled that Goodman was put through that ritual. It is presumed that this is the ceremony that Edson experienced when he kept his vigil.

There is no known copy of this ritual. Presumably the Second Degree ceremony was evolving just like both parts of the First Degree ceremonies were evolving.

By 1919, after the next group of Second Degree inductees had held their vigils and experienced the Second Degree ritual, the ceremony was formalized and set in print. This formalization was hurried along because of the formation of the Grand Lodge and the desire for all ceremonies to be similar in all lodges.

The printed version was used for the vigil class of 1921, which by that time were known as Third Degree inductees. The transition from calling what we know today as Vigil from Second Degree to Third Degree was ratified in the writing of the Second Wimachtendienk Constitution in 1920. That constitution changed what had been called “Pledge” to First Degree (Ordeal), what had been the second half of the old First Degree to Second Degree (Brotherhood) and what had been called Second Degree to Third Degree (Vigil).

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WWW Becomes Official BSA Experiment

As a result of actions taken at the 1922 Scout executives Conference Wimachtendienk, W.W. and two other camp fraternities were deemed “official experiments” of the Boy Scouts of America. The other two groups, Tribe of Gimogash and Ku-Ni-Eh were active in as many or more councils at the time as WWW. Essentially this was the approval that the camp societies could continue to operate. WWW was not a part of the Boy Scouts of America. It was, however, exclusively for Scouts and had a national leadership comprised entirely of professional Scouters. This significance cannot be understated.

Becoming an official experiment was the first step of many incremental steps necessary for the Order to become Scouting’s national honor society.

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Non-OA Camp Fraternities

At one time the Order of the Arrow, or more appropriately Wimachtendienk W.W., was only one of numerous fraternal camp societies established all across the country at local Scout camps . During the earliest years of Scouting other fraternal programs developed such as Firecrafters, Ku-Ni-eh and Tribe of Gimogash. Like Wimachtendienk, these programs often spread from council to council and camp to camp becoming multi-council programs. Gimogash started by one time Kansas City and longtime Toledo Scout Executive J. St. Clair Mendenhall actually began in 1914, one year before Wimachtendienk. Gimogash for years existed in more local councils than the Order. However, Gimogash’s rule against having a national organization impeded their growth. These other fraternal programs have often been labeled Pre-OA societies. While it is true that many of these groups preceded OA in their councils, others co-existed with OA and often competed or created political divides.

In many cases a local council camp fraternity applied for the equivalent of a national charter for their local society by seeking charter from the OA. Groups like the Tribe of Gorgonio from Orange Empire Council, Santa Ana, California and Tribe of Yosemite, Yosemite Area Council, Modesto, California applied to become OA lodges. These societies provided the same significance to their brethren as Wimachtendienk held for its members. After receiving their WWW charter all of the members were immediately recognized as Arrowmen in a single ceremony without further ordeal. They became San Gorgonio Lodge and Yosemite Lodge in the Order.

Other groups existed at Scout camps that eventually succumbed to more popular programs. National Capital Area Council used Clan of the Mystic Oak (CMO) for decades before changing over to the OA. Many of these groups only changed to OA after the OA was fully integrated into the BSA in 1948 as the official Scout honor society. Likewise the Tribe of Papago at Camp Lawton in Tuscon, Arizona eventually became OA. They kept the name Tribe of Papago at camp, but instead of serving as the camp honor society it became a conservation group open to all campers.

Unfortunately, not all of these early fraternal societies were based upon the strong values of Scouting and the high ideals of the Order. While E. Urner Goodman always insisted on democratic principles and boasted that the Order’s first constitution was signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, some societies utilized ignorant and hateful methods. Some societies used blackballing, a method whereby any single member could unilaterally block admission to membership of a potential nominee for any reason or no reason at all. This was to keep so called “undesirables” out, but in practice it was used to keep out people of color or the “wrong” religion. Local Scout honor societies practicing such abhorrent practices were by no means the majority of them, they were however the greatest cause of concern.

Some groups were so overtly racist that they stated it in their secret by-laws. One such group was the Pathfinders of the Golden Trail (PGT) which existed at one time in Jacksonville, Florida among other councils. The PGT ran by Jacksonville Council Scout Executive A. S. MacFarlane incorporated into their by-laws and secret rituals white supremacist principles as the basis of their society. This type of clandestine society was precisely the type of group that caused the Order to be threatened.

Some Scout professionals believed that the root of the evil was in the secrecy of the societies and that no secretive or fraternal groups should be allowed to exist in Scouting and in its camps. Many professionals of this opinion were part of the BSA Camp Commission that presented a dire report on camp fraternities at the 1922 Scout Executives Conference at the Blue Ridge Assembly near Asheville, North Carolina. The main thrust of Goodman and Edson’s plea at that meeting was that the BSA ought not cast aside what works and is in keeping with Scouting principles and is helpful to the council and the lives of young men for the purpose of stopping those other groups lacking in integrity. The motion was amended to discourage groups not based on Scout ideals. Part of the outcome was groups like Wimachtendienk, W.W., Ku-Ni-Eh and Tribe of Gimogash became experimental BSA societies.

Chief Scout Executive James E. West had to know that groups not in keeping with Scouting’s values existed, were deeply embedded and that merely stating policy that societies not adhering to Scout principles would be banned would be insufficient (the BSA did ship A.S. MacFarlane off as far as possible; he became the first Scout Executive of Philippines Council in Manila circa 1924). Instead West observed Goodman developing as a professional and he watched WWW grow on its own merits.

The final solution for the BSA was to embrace the Order of the Arrow in 1934 as an official Scout program and to make the OA the official BSA honor society in 1948. This process extinguished almost all other camp fraternities including any that employed inappropriate practices replacing them with the high ideals of the OA. Eventually all but a small handful of local groups (Tribe of Tahquitz, Mic-o-Say and Firecrafters) went extinct. One by one local honor societies joined Scouting’s national honor society or died out as their council embraced OA. One consequence was Scouting lost the local traditions unique to some of these special societies. All that remains of some of these groups are a few badges and pins.

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Second Grand Lodge Meeting

Minsi Lodge in Reading, Pennsylvania on October 6 and 7th, 1922 hosted the second meeting of the Grand Lodge. There were seven lodges in attendance and 14 delegates. While the early Grand Lodge and National Lodge meetings were the precursors of today’s modern National Conferences, in the early years they much were more similar to a lodge or section executive meeting. They were business meetings, made up largely of Scout professionals and were not immune to politics.

The Second meeting of the Grand Lodge was at times contentious and political. At stake was determination of who would lead the Order as the second Grand Chieftain. There were two distinguished candidates.

The first was co-founder Carroll A. Edson, a logical follower to Goodman. Edson was there from the beginning, having worked side by side with Goodman in founding the Order as Assistant Camp Director at Treasure Island. He was the second Third Degree honoree and he was actively expanding the Order founding new lodges on what at the time was Wimachtendienk’s frontier in the Chicago area.

The second candidate was Grand Treasurer Arthur Schuck who later would best be known as a Chief Scout Executive of the BSA. Schuck was the first Third Degree (Vigil) Honor member outside of Unami Lodge and like Edson was a professional Scouter. Schuck was serving as the Scout Executive for the host council for the meeting.

In the early years the Grand Chieftain was determined by a vote of the lodges. Each lodge would receive one vote. As the roll call was taken, five lodges that had been present at the first meeting were present. In addition, the Grand Scribe announced that two new lodges had been formed in the previous year. One was the new lodge in Baltimore (This lodge is listed as “Naticahe Lodge”, “Naticoke Lodge” and the “Baltimore Lodge” in the minutes. It is what we now know as Nentico Lodge.) The second was a lodge described in the minutes as an outgrowth of Minsi Lodge (Schuck’s Lodge) in Harrisburg (today’s Susquehannock Lodge, although the name does not appear in the minutes). Schuck had found a new vote and appeared to have secured a 4-3 lead in the votes.

However, Edson chances were not over. The representative from Chicago presented a letter from Edson (who was not present at the meeting) that stated that there were now three lodges operating in Chicago and that Chicago should have two more votes. This would have given Edson a 5-4 lead in the vote. After much discussion it was determined that these two new votes would not be allowed, as the applications had not been received timely.

In what the minutes describe as “strenuous balloting”, Arthur A. Schuck was elected the second Grand Chieftain. W. Perry Bradley of the lodge from Baltimore was elected Grand Scribe and Bartram H. Dilks from Harrisburg the Grand Treasurer. E.R. Carrick was subsequently selected to serve in the new position of Grand Lodge Chief Supply Officer.

Ironically, the lodge formed by Schuck in Harrisburg that cast the vote that put Schuck himself over the top for Grand Chieftain was gone within a year. Its Scout Executive disbanded it before the next Grand Lodge Meeting.

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Arthur Schuck

Arthur A. Schuck was one of several early pioneers of the Order of the Arrow who went on to have a long and distinguished professional Scouting career. Schuck entered Scouting in Newark, New Jersey as a Scoutmaster in 1913 at the age of 18. He became a professional Scouter in 1917 and subsequently became the Scout Executive for Reading Council, Reading, Pennsylvania. While in Reading, Schuck became acquainted with the Wimachtendienk and determined it would be a good fit in his council and their Camp Indiandale. E. Urner Goodman came to Reading to initiate Indiandale Lodge (Indiandale changed their name to Minsi Lodge the following year) as the fifth lodge on June 1, 1921. Schuck immediately assumed the role of Gegeyjumhet, the Supreme Chief of the Fire. Later that year Arthur Schuck attended the first meeting of the Grand Lodge and was elected the Order’s first Grand Lodge Treasurer. On July 28, 1922 Arthur Schuck traveled to Treasure Island and became the first official Third (Vigil) Degree member from outside of Unami Lodge. Schuck’s Vigil name was Wulapeju meaning “The Just”.

In 1922 Arthur Schuck and Minsi Lodge hosted the second Grand Lodge Meeting. Arthur Schuck defeated Carroll Edson in a tight election to become the second Grand Lodge Chieftain of Wimachtendienk. Later in 1922 Schuck was reassigned to the National Office in New York City. In 1931 he became Director of Operations working along side his old friend Goodman who was Director of Program. As Director of Operations, Schuck was in charge of the 1937 National Jamboree. In 1942 Schuck was one of three Arrowmen to receive the Distinguished Service Award.

In 1948 Schuck became the third Chief Scout Executive. Schuck served as Chief Scout with distinction through 1960 and received the Silver Buffalo Award from the BSA and the Bronze Wolf Award from the World Scout Committee. Schuck passed away in 1963 at the age of 67.

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