Page 7 - Demo

Archer Creek Burial Society officers, Campbell County, 2008
The Archer Creek Burial Society was established in 1896. Back row, left to right: Allan Loving, Geraldine Pettigrew, Thomas (Sunny) Nowlin, M. C. Jefferson.
Front row, left to right: Beunice Nowlin, Carolyn Jefferson, Marie Porter, Helen Govan
“. . . drawing on the African
Negro’s penchant for burial pomp,
secret societies have been developed
mainly around the idea of taking
care of the sick and the dead.”
Carter G. Woodson
The African Background Outlined, 1936
IMn Sickness and in Death
utual aid societies were the first organizations formed in African American communities. Often they were associated with religious organizations such as prayer groups or churches. Mutual aid societies took care of people when they were ill
or disabled. Their services, usually temporary, were meant
to keep people off the public rolls or out of poorhouses. To respond to the desire of African Americans to take care of themselves, some mutual aid societies began to include health and death benefits through insurance policies. For pennies
a month, members paid dues that entitled them to benefits when they became ill or passed away.
One of the area’s earliest clubs, the True Reformers, insured members and paid death benefits. The Peaks View Order
of the Eastern Star and the Grand Court of Calanthe did
the same. People often had to prove that they were in good health before they could secure a policy and that they had not brought on their illness through bad habits that went against the philosophy of the society. People were encouraged not to smoke, drink, or stay in “bad air” for long periods of time.
African Americans in Central Virginia founded organizations to procure their own burial sites. Many believed in the African notion that people could not rest in death unless they had
a suitable burial space. In 1896, Campbell County’s Archer Creek Burial Society paid $40 for four acres of land to use
as a graveyard. The group’s constitution outlined benefits for members depending on whether they joined at the beginning of their lives or at the end. The club’s youngest members were twelve years old.
Zeta Phi Beta flower bearers at home-going celebration of Fannie Turner Langhorne, Eighth Street Baptist Church, Lynchburg, 2004
SPRING/SUMMER 2009 
DID YOU KNOW?
Benevolent Societies: Founded in the 1800s. Aimed to help those in distress, ill, or in need of burial assistance. Offered insurance policies to encourage people to provide for future needs. Provided collective economic cooperation when people needed it most. Still exist today.
Courtesy of Alice Mabry
Courtesy of Phyllistine Mosley