Women in Secret Societies: Inclusion and All-Female Orders

The history of women's participation in secret societies spans centuries of exclusion, parallel institution-building, and gradual integration into previously male-only orders. This page examines how all-female fraternal organizations developed, how co-ed or affiliated bodies function, and where the boundaries between full membership and auxiliary status fall. Understanding these distinctions matters for anyone researching fraternal history, gender dynamics in civic organizations, or the broader landscape of secret society structure.

Definition and scope

Women in secret societies occupy 3 distinct structural positions: full membership in organizations founded specifically for women, affiliate or "appendant" membership in bodies attached to male-dominated orders, and full co-equal membership in organizations that formally admitted women after a policy change.

All-female orders are the most historically established category. The Order of the Eastern Star (OES), founded in 1850 by Rob Morris and formally adopted by the General Grand Chapter in 1876, is the largest fraternal organization in the world that admits both men and women, though it was designed primarily for female relatives of Freemasons (Order of the Eastern Star, General Grand Chapter). The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, chartered in 1922, targets members aged 11–20 and operates under Masonic sponsorship (International Order of the Rainbow for Girls). The Order of the Amaranth, instituted in its American form in 1873, similarly requires a Masonic family connection for female members.

Purely independent all-female fraternal orders include the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), founded in 1890, which by 2023 maintained a membership of approximately 185,000 women across 3,000 chapters nationwide (Daughters of the American Revolution).

For context on how membership criteria and governance structures vary across different order types, see Degrees and Ranks in Secret Societies and Secret Society Governance Structure.

How it works

Membership pathways for women differ structurally depending on the type of organization:

1. Lineage-based qualification — Organizations such as DAR and the Colonial Dames of America require documented proof of descent from a qualifying ancestor. DAR applicants must demonstrate lineage to a Revolutionary War patriot through genealogical records submitted to the national society.

2. Masonic family affiliation — The Order of the Eastern Star requires that a woman have a Masonic relationship (daughter, wife, mother, sister, or widow of a Master Mason). The degree work in OES involves 5 degrees, each associated with a named biblical figure: Adah, Ruth, Esther, Martha, and Electa.

3. Independent initiation — Organizations such as the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the P.E.O. Sisterhood (founded 1869 at Iowa Wesleyan College) initiate members through chapter votes without requiring male affiliation. P.E.O. reported more than 230,000 members across 6,000 chapters in the United States and Canada as of the organization's published figures (P.E.O. International).

4. Integration into previously male orders — Some historically male lodges have opened membership. The Odd Fellows, through the Rebekah Lodges established in 1851 under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), created a female auxiliary that has functioned for over 170 years (Independent Order of Odd Fellows). The Rebekah degree was the first fraternal degree in the United States specifically written for women.

Ritual structure in all-female orders generally mirrors the degree systems found in male orders: candidates progress through structured ceremonies, take oaths, and learn recognition signs specific to each degree level. The role of oaths and pledges in these ceremonies follows the same foundational logic as in male-only lodges.

Common scenarios

Appendant bodies: The most common scenario for women's participation in Masonic-affiliated organizations is the appendant body model. OES chapters operate alongside Blue Lodge Masonic chapters but maintain independent charters and finances. A woman joins the OES chapter, not the Blue Lodge itself, preserving the male-only character of the primary lodge while providing a parallel structure.

Campus-based sororities as secret societies: The National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), which represents 26 sororities with a combined membership exceeding 4 million initiated members (National Panhellenic Conference), governs organizations that share structural features with secret societies: secret rituals, recognition grips, badge insignia, and oath-bound membership. Alpha Phi, founded 1872 at Syracuse University, and Kappa Kappa Gamma, founded 1870 at Monmouth College, retain ritual materials classified as confidential to members.

Hereditary and lineage societies: The Colonial Dames of America (founded 1890) and the National Society of Colonial Dames of America (founded 1890) operate as parallel organizations with overlapping membership criteria, both requiring proven descent from colonial-era ancestors. Membership in both simultaneously is structurally possible but procedurally distinct, since each maintains independent chapter systems.

Female-founded esoteric orders: Theosophy, formally organized through the Theosophical Society founded in New York in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, placed a woman at the center of its founding and intellectual development. Co-Masonry (Le Droit Humain), a form of Freemasonry that admits women and men equally, was founded in France in 1893 and operates lodges in the United States through the American Federation of Human Rights (Le Droit Humain, American Federation).

Decision boundaries

Full membership vs. auxiliary status: The critical distinction is whether a woman holds voting rights in the governing body, can progress through the full degree structure, and holds the same ritual standing as male counterparts. Auxiliary bodies — such as the Ladies of the Maccabees (founded 1886, later merged into Woodmen of the World) — often hold separate charters and lack voting power in the parent organization's governing councils.

Lineage-based exclusivity vs. open initiation: Organizations requiring documented ancestry impose a non-discretionary filter that limits membership to a quantifiably defined pool of eligible candidates. Open-initiation orders (P.E.O., sororities, Co-Masonry) base admission on chapter vote and character evaluation rather than birth qualification.

Religious affiliation requirements: Some orders impose additional boundaries tied to religious identity. The Daughters of the Eastern Star within Prince Hall Masonry follows the same OES model but operates within Prince Hall Masonic jurisdiction, which developed as a separate Masonic structure for African Americans beginning with African Lodge No. 459, warranted in 1784 (Prince Hall Grand Lodge, F. & A.M.). Women related to Prince Hall Masons join Eastern Star chapters affiliated with that distinct jurisdictional body.

Age-restricted female orders: The Job's Daughters International (founded 1920) and the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls both restrict membership to girls and young women within defined age ranges (10–20 and 11–20, respectively), creating a pipeline model where youth members may later affiliate with adult orders such as OES. These bodies operate under Masonic sponsorship but hold independent national structures.

The question of whether a fraternal body's exclusion of women constitutes a legally protected membership practice is addressed in part through the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Board of Directors of Rotary International v. Rotary Club of Duarte, 481 U.S. 537 (1987), which held that California's Unruh Civil Rights Act could compel the Rotary Club to admit women — a ruling that prompted restructuring across civic fraternal organizations. That legal context intersects with the legal status of secret societies in the US more broadly.