Center for Fraternal Collections & Research: Indiana University

Welcome to the Center for Fraternal Collections & Research (CFCR)

We are an Indiana University research center devoted to the collecting, protecting, and sharing of fraternal collections for the sake of research and public engagement. We hope to improve scholarship and understanding of fraternal groups, explore their impact on American society, and elucidate their importance across time and to different social groups.

Whether you are interested in famous fraternal traditions such as Freemasonry, influential women's auxiliaries and orders, fraternal groups that served important roles in African American or other communities, or other orders that have served as cornerstones to American cities and towns, we hope that you will find the Center for Fraternal Collections and Research to be an exciting and welcoming place for your academic and personal inquiry.

Subscribe to our newsletter

To receive the Center for Fraternal Collections & Research newsletter, join the listserve by sending a blank message to centerforfraternal-l-subscribe@indiana.edu.

Scholarly support

The center will provide three types of scholarly support to IU students and faculty, non-IU scholars, and the public:

The collection and stewardship of rare fraternal organization materials donated to Indiana University, for the sake of scholarly research.
Creating and supporting research related to fraternal studies at the student and faculty scholarly levels.
Disseminating research and information related to fraternal studies via public events, academic symposia, exhibitions, media presentations, and publication.

A meeting of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

A relief carving showing an eye surrounded by the words Odd Fellows Hall, 1875 on the side of a brick building.

A lithograph from the Independent Order of Odd fellows.

A collection of items from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows fraternal order.

Making a Difference in Fraternal Studies

Fraternal studies is an important field of inquiry that makes valuable contributions to our understanding of American History and American Studies. Your support is key to helping us to achieve our mission of collecting, preserving, and making fraternal research materials available for research and to the public. If you would like to assist us in any part of our mission, please don't hesitate to contact us. Or, you can simply click below to make a monetary contribution.