The BPOE is organized on five levels: the national or "grand" level, the regional level, the state level, the district level and the local lodge level. The entrance is flanked by large bronze elks. The friezes depict the "Triumphs of War" on one side and "Triumphs of Peace" on the other. The rotunda displays murals and statues illustrating the Elks' four cardinal virtues: charity, justice, brotherly love and fidelity. The cornerstone was laid July 7, 1924, and the building was officially dedicated on July 14, 1926. This building was originally conceived as a memorial to the nearly 1,000 Elk brothers who were lost in World War I. The Elks' national headquarters are located in Chicago at the Elks National Veterans Memorial and Headquarters, overlooking Lincoln Park, near Lake Michigan. No person shall be accepted as a member of this Order unless he be a white male citizen of the United States of America, of sound mind and body, of good character, not under the age of Twenty-one years, and a believer in God. It also has a national organization with local Clubs, State Association and a national Supreme Club of the United States. The Emblem Club was founded in 1926, with a ritual written by a male Elk. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians Chapter 13, emphasizing love and charity. The Does also have a written secret ritual based on the Magnificat of Mary and which makes reference to St. This organization does have an organization above the local level, complete with districts, state organizations and a national "Grand Lodge". More organized are the Benevolent, Patriotic Order of Does who were chartered on February 12, 1921. There also does not appear to be any published or printed ritual. The Lady Elks appear only to exist on the local level and vary from place to place with regard to its activities. Nevertheless, several unofficial female auxiliaries were created: the Emblem Club, the Lady Elks and the Benevolent, Patriotic Order of Does. The Elks enforced this resolution through at least the 1970s. Unlike many other male orders, it never had an official female auxiliary, after passing a resolution in 1907 that ruled "There shall be no branches or degrees of membership in the Order, nor any insurance or mutual features, nor shall there be other adjuncts of auxiliaries". Until 1995, the Elks had traditionally been an all-male fraternal order. As of June 2020, it claimed to have more than 750,000 members. A 2/3 majority of member votes is necessary for acceptance. The members then use a ballot box, with the back drawer first being displayed to the members to be empty, then the members drop their vote one at a time into the hole in the back, typically a white glass marble to accept or a black lead cube to reject. There is also a background interview conducted by the Membership Committee, who make the final recommendation to the Lodge members. The current requirements include belief in God, American citizenship, willingness to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, willingness to salute the flag of the United States of America, willingness to support the laws and Constitution of the United States of America, being of good character and being at least 21 years of age. Faced with losing their liquor licenses if they did not admit women, the Elks Lodges of Utah voted to become unisex in June 1993, which was followed by a vote at the Elks National Convention in July 1995 to remove the word "male" from the national membership requirements. George-Dixie Lodge 1743 (1993), the Utah Supreme Court ruled that while freedom of association allowed the Elks to remain a men-only organization, "the Elks may not avail itself of the benefits of a liquor license and the license's concomitant state regulation" as long as it violated the Utah State Civil Rights Act. In 1979, the qualifications for membership included being male, at least 21 years old, of sound mind and body, a citizen of the United States and not a member of the Communist Party. Membership was restricted to whites until 1973. In nearly all instances, the all-whites clause was made public after someone was denied the use of the Elks' dining or leisure facilities. In the early 1970s, this policy led the Order into conflict with the courts over its refusal to allow black people the use of its club and leisure activities. The BPOE was originally an all- white organization. In 1919, a "Flag Day resolution" was passed, barring membership to even passive sympathizers "of the Bolsheviks, Anarchists, the I.W.W., or kindred organizations, or who does not give undivided allegiance to" the flag and constitution of the United States.
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