A resolution urging the elimination of a restrictive white membership clause from the charter of the Knights of Pythias was presented here last night at the annual convention of the New York State Grand Lodge of the order. The resolution also asked for state legislation barring racial or color discrimination in fraternal organizations.
A referendum on the civil rights issue taken among 216 lodges established that 188 lodges, representing 50,988 members, voted for the dropping of the word “white” from application blanks. Twenty-eight lodges, representing 5,074 members, voted in opposition, while 119, representing 23,988, abstained from voting.
The convention was addressed last night by James G. McDonald, former American Ambassador to the Jewish State. Mr. McDonald presented a scroll of appreciation to Grand Vice Chancellor Alexander C.Maller of New York for having sold $250,000 in Israel Bonds. He emphasized the role which Israel is playing as “a bulwark of democracy” in the Middle East.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
