An undated member badge from the John B. Packer Council No. 854 of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics, Dalmatia, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.
The Order of United American Mechanics was founded in Philadelphia in the 1840s as a nativist, anti-Catholic, and anti-immigrant organization. It reached its height in membership in the 1890s with state councils in twenty-one states and more than 60,000 members.
In the 1850s, a junior order was created for youth and in 1875 a women’s auxiliary, the Daughters of Liberty, was created. Eventually the main order declined and was absorbed by the junior order. Some councils openly declared that membership was open only to white male citizens born in the United States.
As time went on, the order acted as an insurance society providing unemployment, disability and death benefits to members.
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