Knights of Equity
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| Abbreviation | KOE |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1895 |
| Type |
Irish-Catholic American fraternal order |
| Website | knightsofequity.org |
The Knights of Equity (KOE) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organisation established in the US in 1895 and still in active operation in the 21st century. The group is among the oldest Irish-Catholic membership associations in America. With some 65 local chapters, called "courts", during its period of greatest influence, the group was an important Catholic political and fraternal benefit society. The early society organised Irish Catholics in America against discrimination, and gave financial aid to impoverished Irish immigrants.
The Knights of Equity (KOE) was established in Cleveland, Ohio in 1895, making it one of the oldest Irish-Catholic organisations in America. Although the group's articles of incorporation innocuously stated the group's purpose as the creation of "a spirit of mutual helpfulness among its members; to advance them intellectually and socially; and by co-operation among them, to promote their material interests and well-being," in practice the organisation served economic and political functions, lending aid to needy Irish immigrants and organising to fight bigotry and discrimination against the Irish in America. Of prime importance to the early organisation were orphans, the indigent elderly, and financially strapped young men pursuing Catholic priesthood.
Cleveland proved to be a fertile ground for organisation, and the Knights of Equity soon had established three local groups, known as "courts", in the city — the largest of which had some 5,000 members. Other Irish communities throughout the Eastern and Midwestern United States soon followed the Cleveland example, establishing local courts of their own. At the peak of the organisation's size and influence during its first decade, the Knights of Equity included some 65 local courts stretching from Boston in the East to Sioux City, Iowa in the West, and from the Canada–US border to the Mid-South.
In its earliest incarnation, the Knights of Equity was part of the broad Catholic reaction to the Protestant chauvinism espoused by the American Protective Association (APA), an anti-Catholic secret society established in 1887. Working together with other Catholic groups, the Knights of Equity managed to isolate and neutralise the APA and its anti-immigrant nationalism by the end of the 19th century.
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