by Rachel Dworkin, Archivist
The
National Grange of the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry was founded in 1867 in
an effort to bring Northern and Southern farmers together. The organization really took off in the 1870s
when the National Grange sent paid agents out to form local chapters. As fraternal organizations went, the Grange
was unique in that encourage the active participation of both men and women
and, in fact, most chapters required that four of the offices be female. Throughout the Progressive Era (1890s-1920s),
the Grange lobbied hard for pro-farm legislation including regulation of
railroad shipping costs and grain warehouses, free rural mail delivery and the
farm credit system as well as a range of social issues including prohibition
and women’s suffrage. While membership
in the Grange has fallen sharply off in recent decades, they continue to work
on issues regarding free trade and farm policies. In many rural communities, the Grange Hall
acts as a community center.
In
addition to its more public activities, the Grange was also a secret
society. There were seven degrees of
membership with a range of rituals and symbols borrowed from Freemasonry, Greek
and Roman mythology and the Bible. While
the Grange no longer has secret meetings or practices many of the rituals, some
vestiges of the practices still exist today.
The
Chemung Valley Grange, chapter No. 57, was found in 1885. Other Chemung County Granges include the
Ashland Grange No. 210, Big Flats No.
1106, Veteran No. 1108 and Horseheads No. 1118. We recently acquired a collection of papers
from the Horseheads and Veteran Granges. Here is a selection of
Grange-related items from our collections.
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| Ashland
Grange dance program, ca. 1890s |
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| Big
Flats Grange By-Laws, 1907 |
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| Veteran
Grange handbill, 1941 |
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| Certificate
for Degree of Ceres, 1937 |
