The Sons of Norway was founded as the Independent Order of the Sons of Norway.Alvin J. Schmidt, Fraternal Organizations Westport, CT; Greenwood Press, 1980; p. 322. The organization was founded by 18 members on January 16, 1895, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to insure each other when they were unable to secure life insurance on their own.Carl G. O. Hansen, History of Sons of Norway, an American Fraternal Organization of Men and Women of Norwegian Birth or Extraction. Minneapolis, MN: Sons of Norway Supreme Lodge, 1944. Membership was originally open to males of Norwegian descent between the ages of 20 and 50 who were capable of giving proof of being morally upright, in good health, and capable of supporting a family.
