Sons & Daughters of Cyrene

Front Page of the Constitution for the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene.  It was printed in Nashville in 1915 by the National Baptist Publishing Board.

I first stumbled across the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene a few years ago while going through a court file at the Rutherford County Archives. They were a successor group to the Working People’s Labor and Art Association (WPLAA), a benevolent group founded in Nashville in 1890. In c. 1914, the WPLAA decided to change their name to the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene (what that name signifies I am not sure), perhaps in part to attract a “higher” class of member. The decision split the WPLAA lodge in Murfreesboro, with the two sides suing each other for control of the lodge building (located on West Main Street) and the bank account. The two sides accused the other of no longer holding up the ideals of the organization, of drunkenness, and various other misdemeanors. Looking through the court file in the Rutherford County Archives, it appears this dissatisfaction with the name change was not confined to Rutherford County.

This week, the archivist at Rutherford County contacted me to let me know that he had found a constitution for the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene in a different court case. I had seen copies of the constitution for the WPLAA, but not the Sons and Daughters. When I told him that I had not, he scanned a copy and brought it over to me. Without the kindness and assistance of various archivists throughout the state, this research would be much harder.

The constitution for the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene is very similar to the constitution for the WPLAA. This came as no surprise, as the Sons and Daughters are the successor group to the WPLAA. The preface begins, "The Negroes of America have long felt the need of an Association whose principles would protect their social, moral, agricultural and commercial interests...The aim of the Association is to elevate, unite, and give employment to the Negro youth, to establish and encourage charitable undertakings, to encourage and foster trades, trade schools and any enterprise that will guarantee the Negro a livelihood, make his labor in demand in all avenues of life, and to be of practical utility to race and state." This fits very much into the self-improvement ethos of the early twentieth century, and has a Booker T. Washington-esque ring to some of the language.

Like most constitutions for benevolent and fraternal groups, much space is devoted to describing how the organization is to be governed and the by-laws of the group. While it does not provide a listing of the various Sons and Daughters of Cyrene lodges across the state, it does provide a great insight into the structure of the organization.

To qualify for membership, males had to be at least 16, of sound body and mind, and have good moral character. Female members must be at least 14, and also of sound mind, body, and moral character. Juveniles could join who were older than 3, and met the same criteria as adults. The insistence on being of sound body probably ties in to the sickness benefits paid by the group to its members.

Speaking of sickness benefits, they were not paid to the member if the illness was caused by alcohol. The constitution states, "No benefits shall be allowed him who disables himself by actual negligence or the use of alcoholic drinks on the part of the disabled member or for venerable [sic] diseases."

One interesting clause of the constitution dealt with employment. It reads, "It shall be the duty of every member to do what lies in his power to aid his brother when out of employment and help in other things which seem to aid in the development of the race."

As with several other African American benevolent groups, the Sons and Daughters of Cyrene are no longer in existence.

Introduction to the Constitution.