B'nai B'rith

===1843 to early 1900s===
The organization's activities during the 19th and 20th centuries were dominated by mutual aid, social service and [[philanthropy]]. In keeping with their concerns for protecting their families, the organization's first concrete action was the establishment of an [[insurance policy]] awarding [[widow]]s of deceased members $30 toward [[funeral]] expenses and a [[stipend]] of $1 a week for the rest of their life. To aid their children, each child would also receive a stipend and, for male children, the assurance he would be taught a trade.<ref name="bnaibrith1"/>

In 1851, [[Covenant Hall]] was erected in [[New York City]] as the first Jewish community center in the United States, and also what is widely considered to be the first Jewish public library in the United States.<ref name="autogenerated252"/> One year later, B'nai B'rith established the [[Maimonides]] Library.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3437-b-nai-b-rith |title=B'nai B'rith |publisher=[[JewishEncyclopedia.com]] }}</ref> Immediately following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]—when Jews on both sides of the battle were left homeless—B'nai B'rith founded the 200-bed [[Cleveland Jewish Orphan Home]]. Over the next several years, the organization would establish numerous [[hospital]]s, [[orphanage]]s and homes for the aged.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Independent Orders of B'nai B'rith and True Sisters: Pioneers of a New Jewish Identity 1843–1914|page=138|publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]]|year=2011|author=[[Cornelia Wilhelm]]}}</ref>

In 1868, when a devastating flood crippled [[Cheswolde, Baltimore|Baltimore]], B'nai B'rith responded with a disaster relief campaign. This act preceded the founding of the [[American Red Cross]] by 13 years and was to be the first of many domestic relief programs. That same year, B'nai B'rith sponsored its first overseas philanthropic project raising $4,522 to aid the victims of a [[cholera]] [[epidemic]] in Ottoman Palestine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/|title=B'nai B'rith International|website=B'nai B'rith International}}</ref>

In 1875, a lodge was established in [[Toronto]], followed soon after by another in [[Montreal]] and in 1882 by a lodge in [[Berlin]]. Membership outside of the United States grew rapidly. Soon, lodges were formed in [[Cairo]] (1887) and in [[Jerusalem]] (1888—nine years before [[Theodor Herzl]] convened the [[First Zionist Congress]] in [[Basel]], [[Switzerland]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/First_Cong_&_Basel_Program.html |title=The First Zionist Congress and the Basel Program |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=2022-02-18 |archive-date=2016-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206181644/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/First_Cong_%26_Basel_Program.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Jerusalem lodge became the first public organization to hold all of its meetings in Hebrew.<ref>{{cite book|first=Hasia R.|last=Diner|title=The Jews of the United States: 1654 to 2000|url=https://archive.org/details/jewsofunitedstat00dine|url-access=registration|access-date=10 December 2012|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22773-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/jewsofunitedstat00dine/page/191 191]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Independent Orders of B'nai B'rith and True Sisters: Pioneers of a New Jewish Identity 1843-1914|page=172|publisher=Wayne State University Press|year=2011|author=Cornelia Wilhelm}}</ref>

After 1881, with the mass immigration of Eastern European Jews to the United States,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/polish5.html |title=Immigration ... Polish/Russian: A People at Risk |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804022414/http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/polish5.html |archive-date=2012-08-04 |access-date=2020-11-22 |url-status=dead}}</ref> B'nai B'rith sponsored Americanization classes, [[vocational school|trade school]]s and relief programs. This began a period of rapid membership growth, a change in the system of representation and questioning of the secret rituals common to [[secret society|fraternal organization]]s. In 1897, when the organization's U.S. membership numbered slightly more than 18,000, B'nai B'rith formed a [[ladies' auxiliary]] chapter in [[San Francisco]]. This was to become [[B'nai B'rith Women]], which in 1988 broke away as an independent organization, [[Jewish Women International]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jwi.org/Page.aspx?pid=272 |title=Our History – Who We Are |publisher=JWI |date=2012-07-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527065712/http://www.jwi.org/Page.aspx?pid=272 |archive-date=2011-05-27 }}</ref>