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One of the first
applications received after the initial charter membership was formed came
from J.M. Belk, W. Henry's brother, and the first Oasis affiliation was
F.L. Jacobs, who demitted from Jerusalem Temple in New Orleans. As the
Membership grew, it spread across North and South Carolina, with initiates
coming from Asheville, Raleigh, and Charleston. The first honorary
memberships went to George Street of Acca Temple and Past Acca Potentate
Louis Ecken.
The first Oasis Shrine
parade occurred on May 17, 1898, at the Spring ceremonial in Raleigh.
Oasis was 173 members strong and representation stretched across both
Carolinas. In the minutes of the ceremonial, it was noted that initiates
"crossed the hot sands." Oasis continued to grow as the Shrine
of North America grew, with 82 temples and more than 55,000 members by the
turn of the century, all represented at the 1900 Imperial Session in
Washington D.C., where President William McKinley stood on the parade
viewing stand.
In the 18 years
following, the Shrine organization expanded into Mexico and the Republic
of Panama and many of the organization's traditions began, such as the
first Shrine Circus in Detroit in1906 and the expansion of philanthropy.
Shriners contributed $25,000 to earthquake victims in San Francisco in
1906 and gave $10,000 for the relief of European war victims, both
considered enormous sums at the time. But what would be known as
"The World's Greatest Philanthropy," the Shriners Hospitals for
Children, emerged as the organization's number one cause in 1920 when the
Imperial resolution established the "Shriners Hospital for Crippled
Children," supported by a $2 per member assessment.
The Cornerstone was
laid for the first hospital in 1922 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Five years
later, the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Greenville, S.C.,
opened, and by 1997 a network of 22 hospitals made up the system, now
known as Shriners Hospitals for Children, providing orthopedic, burn and
spinal care for children around the world.
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