Who we are
How It Began
On February 6, 1898, six of Seattle's most prominent theater owners gathered to discuss how to handle an ongoing musicians' strike. John Cort, brothers John W. and Thomas J. Considine, H.L. Leavitt, Mose Goldsmith and Arthur G. Williams headed down to the Moran Brothers' shipyard on South Charles Street to make a plan. According to most popular accounts, after deciding to work together to settle the strike by using piano players to replace the musicians, the men began to discuss life. At that moment, the Order of Good Things was born. As their numbers grew, the Order chose the Bald Eagles as their official emblem and changed the name of the organization to "The Fraternal Order of Eagles, with a goal to "make human life more desirable by lessening its ills and promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope."
Only a few years after, women began attending
the organization's Grand Aerie Convention, eventually inspiring them to being their own wing of the Eagles - the Ladies' Auxiliary.
Pressure increased to formally recognize the Auxiliary and in January 1926, sitting Grand Worthy President Charles C. Guenther issued an Official Circular explaining that the time had come for definite action in regard to the formal creation of the Auxiliary. When the Eagles assembled for the 28th annual Grand Aerie Convention in August 1926, delegates formally approved the formation of the Ladies' Auxiliary.
For more of our history, check out the F.O.E. History Page.
Our mission
The Fraternal Order of Eagles, an international nonprofit organization, unites fraternally in the spirit of liberty, truth, justice and equality, to make human life more desirable by lessening its ills, and by promoting peace, prosperity, gladness and hope
The Fraternal Order of Eagles believes every penny donated to our should benefit the individuals who need it most and while many charities are using your donations to help offset a variety of administrative costs, we use membership dues to cover those costs to ensure your full donation is being used to make a difference in the lives of the men, women and children in need.
Noteworthy Members
- Theodore R. Roosevelt, former U.S. president
- Warren G. Harding, former U.S. president
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, former U.S. president
- Harry S. Truman, former U.S. president
- John F. Kennedy, former U.S. president
- Ronald Reagan, former U.S. president
- Bob Hope, comedian, performer
- Max Baer, boxer/heavyweight champion
- Gordie Howe, Hockey Hall of Fame
- William Allen Egan, Governor, Alaska
- Tony Stewart, NASCAR driver
- Sam Hornish, IRL and NASCAR driver
- James Buescher, 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion
- Billy Ray Cyrus, musical performer
- Tony Orlando, musical performer
- Lee Greenwood, musical performer
- Louise Mandrell, musical performer
- Neal McCoy, musical performer
- Bess Truman, wife of former U.S. president
- Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of former U.S. president
- Virginia Graham, radio and TV personality
- Susan Wagner, wife of New York Mayor Robert Wagner