Building an Ideal Organization: A. W. Holmes and the National Ideal Benefit Society, Inc.

For almost a year, I have been processing the records of the National Ideal Benefit Society, Incorporated (NIBS) from the Library of Virginia’s collections. NIBS is an African American fraternal organization that got its start here in Richmond. The organization, chartered on July 15, 1912, was founded by Alexander Watson (A. W.) Holmes.

A.W. Holmes was born in Louisa County on June 15, 1861. His parents were enslaved and worked at the W. T. Hancock Tobacco factory in Durham, North Carolina. Holmes was put to work at the age of eight underneath his father, and he attended school at night when he could. In 1887, he spent some time in Washington, D.C. as a waiter, but after he was denied proper compensation for his service, Holmes found himself in Richmond, Virginia.

In Richmond, Holmes began his long journey with fraternal organizations. During Reconstruction and Jim Crow, fraternal organizations played an important role in providing Black families with aid since many white-run banks and insurance plans were unavailable to them. The year of his arrival in Richmond, Holmes became a member of Twilight Fountain #193 of the Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers. Holmes returned to working at a tobacco factory, but the True Reformers’ Grand Worthy Master Rev. Browne saw great potential in Holmes, and at Browne’s request, Holmes became a canvasser for the order, traveling around to promote the order and gain new members. Holmes got married in 1889 to Mary E. Venie of Louisa County, who he had grown up with. Mary also joined the order and worked with children in the juvenile Rosebud department.

By 1890, Holmes was appointed State Deputy and in 1892, he became Assistant Chief of the Richmond Division, a position which he held for fourteen years. According to the history written for the Order’s 25^th Anniversary,

During this time he is reputed to have trained a greater number of persons for the field work than any other chief in the Brotherhood. It is interesting to note how Mr. Holmes was frequently promoted from one position in the Order to another, which was proof positive of the successful manner in which he performed every duty and executed every trust reposed in him.¹

Eventually, he became the Deputy General of the Southern Grand Division, headquartered in Richmond. Holmes’ work in the position was said to be unsurpassed. He was the picture of a self-made and self-reliant man or in the history’s phrasing, “an ocular demonstration of what may be accomplished by push and pluck”.² He put forth all his effort to settle disputes and bring peace, which ultimately helped him to rise through the rank and file of the organization.³

The fall of the Reformers Savings Bank in 1910, however, eventually brought an end to Holmes’ work with the Grand Fountain of the United Order of True Reformers. The cashier of the bank was caught embezzling money from deposits, which led to unpaid loans and benefits for members. The Grand Worthy Master, Rev. William Lee Taylor, was forced to resign and A. W. Holmes succeeded him as Grand Worthy Master in September 1910.⁴

Following his promotion, Holmes spent the next year trying to raise money to bring the Reformers out of bankruptcy, but the Order continued to hemorrhage members. Legal investigation into the Savings Bank resulted in many of the Order’s top officials being indicted. Holmes was among those charged for continuing to operate business while knowing the bank had no money.⁵ As pressure mounted, Holmes was forced to resign in August 1911.⁶

Undeterred, Holmes sought to fill the void that the True Reformers left behind and to regain people’s trust in organizational and community work. He endeavored to create an organization whose records were always open to members and which promptly paid its obligations.⁷ “[We believe] paying our obligations will help us to spread throughout the country,” the Official Proceedings of the new organization said, “The sooner we pay the better it will be for us and for these to whom we pay the money.”⁸ Other establishing members maintained that an organized and controlled organization would not only benefit its immediate members but also increase public confidence in organizations more generally.

Mr. S.W. Johnson and Mrs. Rosetta Gibbons Arrington assisted Holmes with the writing of necessary documents and literature. The charter for the National Ideal Benefit Society (NIBS) was issued on July 16, 1912. Just six weeks later, on August 27, their second ever meeting was held. In a single night, 15 lodges – the first of this society – were organized.⁹ The charter originally named the organization as the “Supreme Fountain” of the National Ideal Benefit Society, but by November 28 the name was changed to “Supreme Lodge” because of lingering bitterness towards the other similarly named organization.¹⁰ Seeing the potential in training children in the ways of the society, Mrs. Holmes organized the nursery department later in the fall of 1912. The society’s first ever annual session made the front page of the Richmond Planet.¹¹ By 1913, the organization had expanded outside of Virginia to Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. Maryland was also added to the list sometime in the 1920s. By 1915, the society was able to purchase an official home office for the order at 210 East Clay St. in Richmond.¹² After banding together and forming a small association, they were able to take out a loan for the property and worked together to pay it off.

NIBS served to provide insurance to its members in the form of death claims and sick dues if a member was ill. Benefits for death claims ranged from 50 to 100 dollars depending on the age of the deceased member.¹³ Sick dues began at three dollars per week for two weeks but decreased the longer one stayed sick.¹⁴ The motto for the society was “Friendship, Love, and Peace” striving to build the ideal members of a community. A poem written at Holmes’s request detailed the embodiment of the “IDEAL”: “the IDEAL stands for friendship true…the IDEAL stands for love to all the love that knows no bound…the IDEAL stands for peace sweet peace…the IDEAL is founded on the rock of friendship, love and peace.”¹⁵ They signed off most of their correspondence with “F. L. P.” as shorthand for their motto of friendship, love, and peace.

Deputies of different regions handed out informational pamphlets and held meetings to attract new members. A minimum of twenty people was needed to start a new lodge with a joining fee of $1.50 each. Monthly dues were fifty cents, and the semi-annual tax was thirty cents.¹⁶ In order to be accepted into NIBS, an application was required as well as a health evaluation. Members could choose to complete different rituals to change their standing in the organization. The Three Degree Ritual was based on friendship, love, and peace. New members began with the Friendship Degree and be given a hailing sign, handshake, and password.

With each degree completed they were given new passwords, hailing signs, and obligations were added.¹⁷ The Supreme Lodge oversaw all other lodges and was composed of the Supreme Master, Vice-Supreme Master, Supreme Secretary, Supreme Treasurer, and other Board of Director members. Under them were all the Subordinate Lodges and Nursery/Junior Lodges with the same setup of officers for each. However, all three types of lodges had their own constitutions.

Many members joined and stayed until their death, after which insurance benefits were paid to the beneficiary. With this unending brotherhood NIBS created, they outlasted many organizations in the city of Richmond. After the death of A. W. Holmes in 1935, NIBS carried on with four more Supreme Masters: Benjamin Walter Perkins in 1935, Z. A. Jones in 1949, Hiram E. Peterson in 1962, and Wilhelmina C. Carey (NIBS’ first woman Supreme Master) in 1990. NIBS existed long enough to celebrate 100 years of history and service to the community in 2012.