GUO of OF Past Matron Noble Grand - House of Ruth !

This one is fairly obscure and interesting.  This is a House of Ruth, Past Matron Noble Grand, of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.  This needs some explanation.

Fraternal orders, in America at least, experienced their heyday in the time period roughly between the civil war and the 1950's.  This was not a time known for racial equality.  As a result there were a number of parallel orders for whites and blacks.  There was (and still is!) Prince Hall Masonry for African Americans and it is nearly exactly the same in structure and ritual.

For the Odd Fellows there was a Black order as well, the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows.  And they had (and still have!) a ladies auxiliary.  The auxiliary has a different name though.  For the IOOF there is the Order of Rebecka and for the GUOOF there is the House of Ruth.  I really hope I got that all mostly right.

This is an interesting relic, but I can not really guess when it was made.  It also does not bear the name of the owner.  It does say that it was for Chamber No. 144.  As best as I can tell this chamber does not now exist.  If it does I'd love to know more about it.

This jewel is 3" by 1.5" and weighs 20 grams.  It is gold washed or filled.

relative amount I paid for this - low

As of 2/9/14 the silver scrap value works out to about $12

However, none of these are for sale.