Job’s Daughters International Celebrates 100 Years

by PJ Roup, 33˚, Editor, Active for Pennsylvania

In 1920, in the small town of Omaha, Nebraska, a woman ahead of her time forged her own path to create opportunities for young women. The woman’s name was Mrs. Ethel T. Weed Mick. As a young and educated mother, influenced by her mother’s teachings and her husband’s idea for a Masonic organization for youth, Mrs. Mick set out to create an organization for young women. On the evening of October 20, 1920, Mrs. Mick and her husband held a meeting at their home to discuss the creation of an organization to be called Job’s Daughters. The name comes from the book of Job, Chapter 42, which states, “And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job.”

Since that first meeting in 1920, the organization spread rapidly across the state of Nebraska and then across the United States. On August 24, 1931, Job’s Daughters became an international organization with the institution of the first Bethel in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the 100 years since that first meeting, Job’s Daughters has grown to 681 Bethels located in the United States, Canada, Australia, the Philippines, and Brazil and has initiated over one million members.

Mrs. Ethel T. Weed Mick

At their meetings, Job’s Daughters dress in white Grecian robes typical of those worn during the time of Job. The white symbolizes purity, and the similarity of their dress stresses the equality of all members. The Bethel’s leader, the Honored Queen, along with the Senior and Junior Princesses represent the three daughters of Job; they wear capes and crowns as symbols of their authority and as reminders of their responsibility to the members who elected them. Bethels perform service projects for their local communities as well as actively support the Hearing Improvement Kids Endowment (HIKE) Fund which purchases assistive devices and support for hearing-impaired children. The Bethel Daughters are assisted and guided by an adult Bethel Guardian Council.

Mrs. Valorie A. Koogle is the current Supreme Guardian of Job’s Daughters International. She will lead the organization into its second century with her theme Dream for the Future. Mom Valorie remembers her first meeting as a young Job’s Daughter years ago: “I was so nervous walking into the Bethel the first time until some of the Daughters came up to me smiling and helping me,” she said. “They became my best friends for many years. Many of them are still actively supporting Job’s Daughters as adults.”

Mom Valorie believes that the values of faith, family, and friendship she experienced as a young Job’s Daughter—values that Mother Mick used as the foundation of the organization—are still very much a part of Job’s Daughters today.

The Scottish Rite, NMJ congratulates Job’s Daughters on their 100th Anniversary and wishes them many more years of helping young women become leaders.

To learn more about Job’s Daughters, visit JobsDaughtersInternational.org.