Item description for 1918 antique PATRIOTIC ORDER SON of AMERICA MEDAL lebanon pa 53rd ANNUAL SESSION

This listing is for the medal shown. Measures approx. 3" x 1.5". Made from a metal alloy - a magnet does NOT stick.

Great original Delegate Medal for the Patriotic Order Sons of America - P.O.S. of A. - 53rd Annual session - 1918 - Aug 27-29 - State Camp - Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

From the Internet:

The Patriotic Order Sons of America was one of several Nativist organizations founded in the wake of the anti-alien riots of 1845-46. It was anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic and its philosophy was not that far removed from the Know-Nothing Party, a violent political movement that today would easily be classified as a terrorist organization. This well documented part of their history is conveniently ignored in the official account below.

The women's branch was the Patriotic Order of America. The Free Education they touted was meant to include a healthy dose of Protestant religion to counter the Catholic menace seen to be arriving with recent immigrants.

The Patriotic Order Sons of America (P.O.S. of A.) is one of America's oldest patriotic and fraternal societies still in existence. It once had several hundred Camps (lodges) with several thousand members in the United States of America and its territories, but is now only found in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Jersey and Louisiana. Its motto is "God, Our Country and Our Order."

The Order of the Junior Sons of America was founded December 10, 1847 in Philadelphia, PA, by Dr. Reynell Coates (December 10, 1802 - April 27, 1886). Dr. Coates was a surgeon, scientist, statesman, naturalist, teacher, poet, lecturer and essayist, and wished to found a fraternity for American boys to serve as a "High School of American Patriotism."

The organization was open to American boys aged sixteen to twenty-one years of age. Upon turning twenty-one, their membership would be transferred to the United Sons of America, the parent organization of the Junior Sons. Dr. Coates was the organizer and chief promoter of the Junior Sons of America, wrote the constitution and by-laws, the ritual and ceremonies, and chose the Order's songs which still remain in use.

The first meeting of the Junior Sons of America was conducted on December 10, 1847, on Ridge Road, near Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA.

Immediately after lighting the first Campfire of the Order, the Order expanded throughout the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and by 1859, the Order of Junior Sons of America was established in twenty States and Territories of the Union. The Roll Call of the Order consisted of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Indiana, the District of Columbia, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine, Iowa, and Texas.

The first national convention of the Junior Sons of America was convened in Philadelphia, PA, August 12th and 13th, 1857. The second was conducted in New York City on the second Tuesday of August, 1858, with eight States and the District of Columbia represented.

While the parent organization, the United Sons of America, had dissolved in the 1850's, the Junior Sons of America continued on. Pennsylvania always had the largest number of members and Camps. Each Lodge is called "Washington Camp #___," a tradition started by Dr. Coates to honor the great "Father of Our Country," General George Washington.

When the tragic American Civil War (1861-1865) broke out, the first Pennsylvania volunteer regiments were members of the Junior Sons of America. So many members volunteered that only one Camp in Pennsylvania remained active. Some camps enrolled into the Union Army as a whole, proving their loyalty and patriotic love of Flag and Country.

The Order disbanded and fell apart throughout the newly-formed Confederate States of America, and its Camps south of the Mason Dixon Line disappeared.

Towards the conclusion of this unfortunate conflict, a convention was held by several Brothers of the Junior Sons of America in Norristown, PA on August 17th, 1864, to reorganize the Order. It was at this time that the name was changed to the Patriotic Sons of America (P.O.S. of A.) and the age limit of 21 was discontinued.

A State body, the "State Camp," was created in August 1866 in Minersville, PA, through whose efforts or reorganization saw some twenty-six subordinate Camps of the P.O.S. of A. represented by the time of the first annual session of the Pennsylvania State Camp in August, 1867.

In the Masonic tradition, a three-degree ritual was adopted by the Order, and was designated as the Red Degree, White Degree and Blue Degree.

Growth and Expansion:

During the period of 1870-1900, the P.O.S. of A. expanded rapidly, establishing Camps along the Eastern seaboard of the United States, and in States as far west as Wyoming and Colorado. The P.O.S. of A. participated in many parades and other social functions, and their Commanderyunits were always dressed in military style uniforms with plumed chapeaux, swords and black uniforms similar to the Knights Templars of the Masonic York Rite....