Job's Daughters International is a Masonic affiliated youth organization for girls and young women aged 10 to 20. The organization is commonly referred to as simply Job's Daughters or Jobies, and sometimes abbreviated as JDI (or IOJD, referring to its longtime former name, International Order of Job's Daughters). Job's Daughters welcomes many religions and cultures. The only religious prerequisite is a belief in a Supreme being.

Family relationship to a Free and Accepted Mason is no longer a prerequisite for membership. Masons are active with the organization and participate in most states as "Associate Guardians" on the respective levels.

JDI promotes itself as a sorority "where girls rule," but there is plenty of adult guidance and interaction.

Membership

In order to apply for membership in Job's Daughters, one must be a girl between the ages of 10 and 20. To join this organization, an applicant may be either related to a Master Mason or be sponsored by a Majority Member of Job's Daughters and a Master Mason.

Members are not required to practice any particular religion, but they must believe in a Supreme Being.

If a daughter reaches the age of 20 or marries, and is in good standing in the Bethel (an individual chapter), she is considered a majority member. Majority members are encouraged to remain active in the order as adult leaders. At age 18, they also are eligible to join the Order of Eastern Star, The Daughters of the Nile, the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, and other appendant bodies.

History

The organization was founded as The Order of Job's Daughters by Ethel T. Wead Mick in Omaha, Nebraska, on October 20, 1920.[1] [2] The purpose of the organization is to band together young girls and strives to build character through moral and spiritual development. Goals include a greater reverence for God and the Holy Scriptures, as stated in the Job's Daughters Constitution, loyalty to one's country and that country's flag; and respect for parents, guardians, and elderly.

"Mother Mick" was fond of the Book of Job, and took the name of the organization as a reference to the three daughters of Job.[3] The Book of Job, 42nd chapter, 15th verse says, "In all the land were no women found so fair as the Daughters of Job, and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren". She founded the Order with the assistance of her husband, Dr. William H. Mick, and several Freemasons and members of Eastern Star of Nebraska.[4] She dedicated the organization to the memory of her mother, Elizabeth D. Wead.

By June 1923 the Job's Daughters had been endorsed by the Grand Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star in Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington, DC. The order spread rapidly in the early 1920s. At the third annual meeting of the "Supreme Guardian Council" in Chicago on Oct. 12, 1923, delegates were present from twenty-three states, the Territory of Alaska and Manitoba.[5]

In 1931 the name was changed to the International Order of Job's Daughters after a Bethel was instituted in Vancouver, British Columbia.[6]

Later, the name was changed from the International Order of Job's Daughters to Job's Daughters International.

The ritual of the Order was drawn up by Le Roy T. Wilcox, a scholar of Masonic law, and the group came "under the general management of the Masonic order".[7]

Levels of Jurisdiction

  • The individual chapter is called a Bethel[7] (as is the meeting location), and each is numbered sequentially according to when they were instituted in their jurisdiction. They usually meet at a Masonic Lodge building, but may meet at a church hall, or other fraternal hall. A Bethel is similar to a troop in Girl or Boy Scouts.
  • The next highest level is the Grand level. This comprises all the Bethels in their respective states (or country in the cases of the Philippines.) This level has an annual convention located somewhere in that jurisdiction and can last a few days each time. These conventions usually encompass the Grand Bethel Meetings and/or Installation, and the Installation of the Grand Guardian Council. Jurisdictions that do not have a Grand level and are directly under Supreme law often host similar events as substitutions.
  • The highest level in the Order is the Supreme level. This is similar to the Grand level, except on an international scale.

Each level above the local Bethel has a different philanthropic project. The Supreme project is the H.I.K.E Fund, or Hearing Improvement Kids Endowment Foundation. The Grand jurisdiction varies by area, and typically changes every year.

Today, Bethels and Grand Bethels are active in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Philippines and the United States. Within the United States, there are currently Bethels in 28 states.[8] Most states and provinces have a Grand Guardian Council but some are under the direct supervision of the Supreme Guardian Council.

Famous Job's Daughters

Notable former Job's Daughters include Kim Cattrall, Jacquelynne Fontaine, Nancy Fleming, Jenilee Harrison, Nannette Hegerty, Vicki Lawrence, Heather Moore, Jean Rabe, Debbie Reynolds, and Aimee Teegarden.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Youth Order Trains Girls". Los Angeles Times. April 24, 1938. ...the Order of Job's Daughters was founded by Mrs. Ethel T. Wead Mick in the city of Omaha on October 20, 1920.... Constant supervision of all Bethel activities is a strict duty of the Bethel Guardian Council.... A petitioner must have reached her thirteenth birthday...
  2. ↑ S. Brent Morris (2006). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry. Alpha Books. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-59257-490-2.
  3. ↑ Alvin J. Schmidt; Nicholas Babchuk (1980). Fraternal organizations. Greenwood Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-313-21436-3.
  4. ↑ Mark A. Tabbert (2005). American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities. National Heritage Museum. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-8147-8292-7.
  5. ↑ Preuss, Arthur A Dictionary of Secret and other Societies St. Louis: B. Herder Book Co. 1924; republished Detroit: Gale Reference Company 1966; p.206
  6. ↑ "Tour the Mick Memorial Room". Papillion, Nebraska: International Center for Job's Daughters. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  7. 1 2 Preuss p.206
  8. ↑ "United States Bethel Locator". Job's Daughters International. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  9. ↑ "Famous and notable Jobies" sdjd.org
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