International Organization of Good Templars Collection

On July 9, 1851, in Utica, New York, a small group of men from the Knights of Jericho met to establish a temperance order.  The order would be successively know as the Grand Lodge of New York, the Right and Worthy Grand Lodge of North America, the Independent Order of Good Templars, and the International Organization of Good Templars. The order's emphasis on education in its work undoubtedly did much to shape the character of the order and to determine its growth.  Under the leadership of John B. Finch, Frances Willard, Leverett Coon, and Reverend Backus, the Good Templars expanded rapidly into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois.  By 1869, the order became international when the work of the Good Templars reached Great Britain.  The order continued to spread into various European countries but no where did it have greater influence than in Scandinavia. During the 1880's, many Scandinavian Good Templars migrated to the Mid-West.  Because of language and cultural barriers, they frequently formed separate organizations within the Good Templars movement.  By 1892 the International Supreme Lodge allowed for the organization of Scandinavian districts under every Grand Lodge of every state.  In 1907, the Scandinavian district under the Illinois Grand Lodge obtained its own charter and the name Illinois Scandinavian Grand Lodge was adopted.  While the Illinois Grand Lodge gradually disappeared, the Scandinavian Grand Lodge continued to absorb new members and serve as a social and cultural center for many immigrants from Sweden and Norway.  The Illinois Scandinavian Grand Lodge was later renamed the Central States Grand Lodge.  Today the Central States Regional Council of IOGT includes 14 active chapters and lodges in the northern Illinois region. The International Organization of Good Templars continues to work for the goals of temperance through education and promotion of individual total abstinence from drugs and alcohol.  Included under the National Grand Lodge in America are the Atlantic Seaboard Grand Lodge, the California Grand Lodge, the Central States Grand Lodge, the Connecticut Grand Lodge, the Eastern Grand Lodge, the New York Grand Lodge, the Northwest Grand Lodge, the Pacific Northwest Grand Lodge, the Tri-state Grand Lodge, Butte City Lodge, and the Washington Grand Lodge.

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