"Lawrence H. Lightner was appointed by First Supreme Commander Cassius M. White to the office of Supreme Clerk, a position he held for 20 years. He was elected Supreme Commander in 1933 and remained in that position until his death in 1968. During his tenure, he outlined the entire system of technical operations for the Association.
Under his auspices, the holdings of the American Woodmen grew from $9,000 in 1910 to almost $10 million in 1967.
Incorporated in the state of Colorado on April 4, 1901, this organization was formed by white men. In August 1910, the society was taken over by black men. Cassius M. White and Granville W. Norman, both of Austin, Texas, were the key black men in the organizational transition. Soon after the organization's new management in 1910, it prospered and grew. By the 1950s the society had some 50,000 members.
In 1966 the delegates of the Supreme Camp of the American Woodmen voted to accept the recommendation of a consulting firm to form the American Woodmen Life insurance Company, a stock life insurance company. This vote meant giving away $10,000,000 in assets and additional millions in revenue that would have been realized as income. A couple of years later the AWSC lost control of the American Woodmen Life insurance Company when it merged with the Crusaders Life insurance Company. Between 1972 and 1974 the AWSC was trying to overcome lawsuits that tried to wrest additional assets from its domain. On May 19, 1978, however, the AWSC and the American Woodmen Life insurance Company signed an agreement to work in fraternal harmony.
Although the American Woodmen Life Insurance Company changed some of the AWSC's functions as a fraternal benefit society at that time, the AWSC was still permitted to write insurance certificates in California, Texas, and Colorado. In twenty-one other states the AWSC no longer issued insurance certificates. Fraternal members from the sixteen states (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee), however, participated in the activities of the Supreme Camp.
Membership of the AWSC was and is composed entirely of black citizens. In typical Woodmen fashion, like the white organizations (e.g., Modern Woodmen of America and Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society), the AWSC employed some of the same terminology. Members were called "Neighbors," a local unit was a "Campus," and most officers bore the same titles as in the older Woodmen societies.
The AWSC had a ritual that also conformed quite closely to the other Woodmen societies. Although the ritual was intended to be kept secret, the AWSC took the secrecy somewhat less seriously than many other fraternal groups. The emblem of the organization consisted of two rings. The smaller or inner circle displayed the words "Brotherhood of Man, 1901," over a view of the rising sun. Below the rising sun stood the inscription, "Protection of the Home." Between the inner and outer circles was the name of the society: Supreme Camp of the American Woodmen.
Administratively, the AWSC had its local units, called ''Subordinate Camps." On the national level, the society referred to its structure as the "Supreme Camp." This entity met in convention quadrennially. In the time interval between conventions a board of directors expedited given business matters. The Headquarters of the AWSC were located in Denver, Colorado. Sources on the AWSC were meager. The society's official periodical, The American Woodmen Informer, has not been published since 1970.
It was in 1970 that Woodmen of the World entered the lifeblood of the Supreme Camp of the American Woodmen by providing benefit and certificate administration services to the AWSC certificate holders. AWSC continued its own fraternal activities, however. This arrangement continued for some time, until a change in computer systems made it expensive for AWSC to continue the services of Woodmen. The AWSC struggled at this point, and was asked to vacate their home office occupancy at 2100 Downing in Denver and to find someone to handle the affairs of the benefit certificate holders. Working with the staff of the Colorado Insurance Commissioner, the AWSC finally merged with Woodmen of the World and/or Assured Life Association on April 21, 1994.
A permanent scholarship under the name of ``The Supreme Camp of the American Woodmen Scholarship" was endowed at the time of the merger to recognize the educational values and goals that had long been supported by their Society. Members of AWSC enjoy all the fraternal benefits offered through Woodmen of the World/Assured Life Association, including the host of college financial support and preparatory programs." (from DEAD LINK )
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