United Order of Tents facts for kids
The United Order of Tents is a special group for African-American churchwomen. It was started in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1867 by two women named Annetta M. Lane (who lived from about 1838 to 1908) and Harriet R. Taylor. You can find chapters of this group all over the United States. It's a bit like a secret society, meaning some of its activities and rules are only shared with its members. It is the oldest group of its kind that helps black women in the United States. At its busiest time, about 50,000 women were members across the country.
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What the Tents Do
The United Order of Tents works to help people in many ways. They care for those who are sick and elderly. They also help people who are in need and make sure that members who pass away are buried properly. In the past, this group also helped members get loans when banks would not lend them money. The Tents also provided places to stay, food, and healthcare for people in their communities.
The organization has special traditions and ways of doing things. These are kept private and are only taught to members of the Tents. Some women are called "Queens" because they have done amazing service for the group. All the women in the group also call each other "Sister."
How the Tents Started
Annetta M. Lane, who was a nurse and had been enslaved, and Harriet R. Taylor started the group in Virginia in 1867. They got help from two people who fought against slavery, Joliffe Union and Joshua R. Giddings. The group was first created to be like a safe house or stop on the Underground Railroad. This was a secret network that helped enslaved people find freedom. The name "Tents" comes from the simple shelters that people escaping slavery often used.
Lane and Taylor wanted to create a Christian group focused on helping people in their communities. They officially registered the organization using the names of Giddings and Union. This made it the first group for women that was officially recognized in Virginia after the Civil War. By 1888, the main office for the national group was in Wilmington, Delaware. Meetings were also held every year in different places across the country.
Annetta Lane was very important in leading and setting up the Southern District for the United Order of Tents. After she passed away in 1908, her daughter, Sallie Lane Bonney, took over. Under Bonney's leadership, the number of members in the United Order of Tents grew a lot, more than tripling.
The Tents also opened a home for elderly people in 1894. This home was run continuously and funded only by its members until 2002. In 1995, an apartment building in Norfolk, Virginia, was named "The Annetta M. Lane Apartments" to honor her.
Eastern District No. 3 in New York
The United Order of Tents Eastern District No. 3 has its main office in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, New York. The first members of this chapter were women who had once been enslaved. This chapter is the only one left in the Eastern District, which covers states from Pennsylvania all the way to Maine.
The group's building at 87 MacDonough Street was first built in 1863 for a brewer named William A. Parker. Later, it was owned by James McMahon, who was the president of a bank. The Tents bought the building in 1945. At that time, Bedford-Stuyvesant was a very important cultural center for Black New Yorkers, according to the New York Times.
Important Members
- Eliza Allen, who was an activist, a clubwoman, and worked in banking.
