Croatian Fraternal Union (?)
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     The Croatian Fraternal Union (Hrvatska bratska zajednica) is a fraternal benefit society of the Croatian diaspora based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Its founders were Croatians from Allegheny City, Pennsylvania who sought to create an organization which could aid sick workers and help others cover funeral expenses. It was formed on September 2, 1894 as the Croatian Union of the United States (which was subsequently renamed a year later to the National Croatian Society). In 1925, the National Croatian Society merged with several other Croatian fraternal organizations to form the present day Croatian Fraternal Union. After this merger, the organization was able to offer better, more efficient service to its members.

The CFU currently offers a wide variety of insurance plans. However, it has been an important group in preserving Croatian culture in North America, by supporting Croatian roots, and traditional tamburitza groups. The "Zajednicar", the CFU's newspaper, has been in circulation since 1904 and currently provides insurance information, as well as providing details about CFU cultural events from around the continent.

From the CFU Web Site:

Croatian Fraternal Union of America
Over A Century of Fraternalism

THE FOUNDER OF THE CROATIAN FRATERNAL UNION OF AMERICA
Late in the fall of the year 1893, a young man of 25 years came to Pittsburgh from Chicago, imbued with the two ideas, first to establish a Croatian newspaper, and second, to organize a society of mutual aid to Croatian people in this country. The young man was Zdravko V. Muzina, who had been living in Chicago for approximately a year prior to moving to Pittsburgh, PA. In Chicago he had been working for a Croatian newspaper, edited and published by Nikola Polic, one of the first to establish a Croatian newspaper in the United States, but differences of opinion over editorial policy led young Muzina to seek broader expression elsewhere. While in Chicago, he had heard of the National Slovak Society and what it had been doing for the Slovaks in the United States. He felt strongly that the Croatians needed a similar organization to provide for the people in the event of sickness or death.

On coming to Pittsburgh, Muzina made the acquaintance of Petar Pavlinac and Franjo Sepic, and enlisted their support for his idea. They were enthusiastic, and as a result, a meeting was called on January 14, 1894 and more than 300 people attended that meeting. And though only about 30 persons signed up as members, it was enough for Muzina and Pavlinac and Sepic. Then and there, Lodge No.1 was born. Muzina kept up his efforts and soon had groups organized in McKeesport, Johnstown and Rankin-Braddock. In August 1894, he invited all of these groups, including the societies in Benwood, West Virginia and Etna, Pennsylvania to meet in Pittsburgh for the purpose of setting up a real national organization.

The results of Muzina's efforts are now history. The first meeting, or convention, of the six until-then independent groups, was held on September 2, 1894, and the Croatian Association (Hrvatska Zajednica) was born. A charter was applied for, and it was issued on October 14, 1895.

By that time, however, Muzina was no longer a member of the society of which he had organized. He had been elected as president of Lodge 1, and he also served as the Chairman of the First Convention. He served as president of the Lodge until a meeting held on October 20, 1895, when the minutes indicated that the president had disappeared, and they had to elect a new president. A member asked whether or not Muzina would be able to resume office if he returned. It was the unanimous decision of the membership that the minutes show that Muzina be forthwith expelled without any further rights in the lodge or the Society. No reasons were given for the expulsion of Muzina, only a year later the Society was formed, and it has remained a mystery to this date.

Muzina organized a new lodge of the NCS in 1898. It was Lodge 70, and he served as president, but he was never admitted to membership of the NCS. In those days, the lodge was permitted to accept members, even though they were not members of the NCS. Muzina was insured for sick benefits only, paid by the lodge, and collected benefits in 1901. He dropped out of the picture completely after the 1902 convention.

Muzina died in Chicago on September 16, 1908, at the age of 39. There was no mention of his death in the Zajednicar, although there were brief obituaries in other Croatian newspapers of those times. One of the newspapers, "Hrvatski Svijet," in noting the death of Muzina, gave him the epitaph: "Muzina was morally weak, but otherwise a very gifted and talented man who degraded by men of limited intelligence, but whenever and whoever writes a history of the Croatians in America, he must pause when he comes to the name of Zdravko Valentin Muzina, and let us hope that the writer will give him credit for the great good which he accomplished for our people and for which they will forever be proud.”

The Society’s Supreme Board made a decision to have a memorial plaque made in recognition of brother Muzina. It is today mounted in the Main Lobby of the Society's Home Office Building, a fitting tribute to the Society's founder.

In 2003 the CFU also erected a proper memorial monument at the gravesite of brother Muzina, who was laid to rest in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois.


CROATIAN PATRIOT/FRATERNALIST
No history of the Croatian Fraternal Union, or of our people in this country, would be complete without mention of Petar Pavlinac, one of the original founders of the society, and certainly one of its most ardent supporters in the days when support was needed most.

From the time the society was organized in 1894, until the day of his death at the age of 47 on March 13, 1917, Petar Pavlinac took an active part in the affairs of the organization both as an officer and as a member. He attended every convention from 1894 to 1915, and with the exception of one two-year period between 1904 and 1906, when he retired voluntarily as an officer of the society, he held every post on the executive board, except that of vice-president. At the time of his untimely death in 1917, he was serving the society as its Supreme Treasurer, a post to which he was elected by referendum called to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Tomo Lackovic.

When Z.V. Muzina came to Pittsburgh from Chicago in late 1893, with his idea of organizing a fraternal benefit society for our people in this country, one of the first people from whom he sought counsel was Petar, then a young man, but who readily appreciated the importance of such a society. It was Petar Pavlinac who helped organize the first meeting, which was held on January 14, 1894. And later, when the first convention was held in September 1894, the delegates elected him, a young man of 24 years, as the first secretary of the Hrvatska Zajednica.

It was Pavlinac, too, who made the first application for the incorporation of the "Hrvatska Zajednica" early in1895, but when the charter for the National Croatian Society was finally approved in 1897, Pavlinac's name had been withdrawn from the petition to incorporate because of some doubt over his status as a citizen.

Pavlinac served the Society as its first secretary, and then in 1900 he was elected as supreme president, holding the post for two terms. In 1902, he went into business for himself and opened the Hotel Croatia in East Ohio Street, a hostelry that was to entertain many prominent Croatian visitors to the United States. It was in his hotel and tavern that he entertained Milka Trnina, the great Metropolitan opera singer, on her tour of the United States.

It was after going into business for himself that he withdrew as an officer of the old NCS, but he came to the 1906 convention as a delegate and was elected chairman of the convention,

Pavlinac served on the Board of Trustees and on the High Trial Board, and was elected treasurer by popular referendum only a few months before his death.

Not only was he instrumental in organizing the CFU, but also he had an important role in the founding of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church on the North Side, Pittsburgh, PA, and the first Croatian Church in America.

The Croatian Fraternal Union owes much to the efforts of this man, because he was always in the forefront of any proposal, which would be of help to the new organization.

On several occasions during the first twelve years of its existence, the old National Croatian Society had awarded honorary memberships to persons who had distinguished themselves on behalf of Croatian causes or for the benefit of the society's membership. The recipients of these honors included Croatian diplomats in the old country, and included one Irish doctor of Anaconda, Montana, for services to our people and our membership.

Petar Pavlinac was the first member of the Society, however, to have an honorary membership conferred upon him. At the 9th convention of the old NCS, held in New York City in 1906, the delegates adopted a resolution conferring upon him the title Honorary National President. It was the first time that such an honor had been awarded to any member or officer of the Society.

A DEDICATED AND OUTSTANDING LEADER OF THE SOCIETY
In its 111-year history, our society has had many dedicated men and women who have served it well and whose names will be remembered with reverence and respect. Two of the best know names from our early history are those of Joseph Marohnic and Petar Pavlinac.

Of these two men, the one who left the greatest imprint on the management and direction of the Society during the first quarter-century of its existence was Joseph Marohnic, who served as the Supreme Financial Secretary, and then nine more years as the Supreme President. His influence was felt at every level of the society's management team and he, together with Pavlinac, guided the society through its most difficult and trying periods.

Four times he was re-elected to office by acclamation, and yet, at the Convention of 1909, he suffered a humiliating defeat in his bid for a seventh term as Financial Secretary, and despite a record of service that was unequaled.

When Marohnic became the Financial Secretary in 1897, the organization numbered only 2,679 members. When he failed for re-election in 1909, the membership had increased almost tenfold, to 20,285. Strangely enough, he was defeated for re-election as Secretary by a vote of 84 to 74, and yet, when he ran for a position on the Board of Trustees only a few hours after his defeat, he received 120 votes.

In the closing moments of that convention, Pavlinac delivered a touching tribute to Marohnic as a man and as an officer of the society, and said, among other things, that it was not a defeat for Marohnic, but a defeat for all that is decent and honorable in the Society. He excoriated the delegates for their action and predicted that Marohnic would be back again to serve his people and his society. These were prophetic words, because at the next convention, held in 1912 in Kansas City, Joseph Marohnic was elected President of the organization, the first to serve as a resident officer.

Following his defeat for re-election at the 1909 convention, Marohnic had much more time to devote to his bookstore and publishing business. He published many books for the American Croatians, and imported hundreds of others from Croatia for resale. Marohnic was the publisher of the first Croatian-English and English-Croatian dictionary in the United States. The dictionary was compiled by Franjo A. Bogadek, who was later to become the Society's General Counsel. This dictionary was published in several editions, and is still being published today. In addition to his book-publishing business, he published and edited a newspaper.

Marohnic for many years had urged the adoption of an adequate table of rates, but the delegates resisted the move, preferring to remain on an assessment basis, which demanded considerably less in dues. Marohnic pointed out that this would be true only so long as younger people were joining in great numbers, and once the membership started aging, it would mean higher and higher assessments because of increasing payments of death benefits. In 1912, the Society finally adopted a table of rates and started building up reserve funds.

During his term as Secretary, and later as President, Marohnic supervised the issuance of thousands of certificates of insurance to the members of the Society, and he installed a record-keeping system in 1913, which is still being used.

Another credit to him was the founding of the Junior Order Department of the organization in 1915. During the World War I years, he was instrumental in the sale of Liberty Bonds to the society's members, and invested heavily of the society's funds in the government bonds.

It was during his last term as president that agitation was stirred to establish an orphanage for the children of the deceased members, and he encouraged the support of the movement. It was during his administration, too, that the movement began to unite all the existing Croatian societies into one big organization, which became a reality only four years after his untimely death in 1921 at the age of 55.

Marohnic is interred in St. Nicholas Church Cemetery, in Pittsburgh, PA where several other former CFU national officers are at final rest.

HISTORETTE OF THE CROATIAN FRATERNAL UNION OF AMERICA
Before one can look into the future, it is often best to look at where you came from and where you have been. One hundred and eleven years is a long time and a time in which history is accumulated, especially for an organization such as the Croatian Fraternal Union, which has an outstanding record of accomplishments.

The history of the Croatian Fraternal Union coincides with the immigration of the Croatian people to North America. In late autumn of 1893 a young newspaperman, Zdravko V. Muzina, came to Pittsburgh from Chicago to organize a mutual benefit society for all Croatians. While only a handful of the 300 people attending the meeting on January 14, 1894 signed up and began paying dues to provide life insurance protection, accident and health insurance for themselves and their families, Muzina did not sit on his laurels. Instead he enlisted the assistance of Petar Pavlinac and Franjo Sepic to set a meeting of six independent societies. The purpose of the meeting on September 2, 1894, was to form a new organization named "Croatian Association".

The Croatian Association consisted of 12 citizens of the United States as was required by statute for incorporating a fraternal benefit society. Since there were not 12 Croatians who were United States citizens in attendance friends volunteered their services to assist in launching the first Croatian benefit society. Among the original signers of the society were eight Croatians and four Czechs and Slovaks. In 1897 the Croatian Association received a new charter and the name was changed to the "National Croatian Society".

The Zajednicar became the Official Organ of as the result of a mandate at the 1904 Convention held in St. Louis. At the Convention it was noted that the Society could no longer use private newspapers for the publication of official notices and the Lodge directory. The Zadjednicar was published as a monthly newspaper for its members. In 1909 the Zajednicar became a weekly publication consisting of four pages in an old letterpress format.

By 1912 the CFU had over 30,000 members being represented at the Convention held in Kansas City, KS. It was at this Convention that the delegates opted to choose a Table of Rates, which provided the amount of payment for dues, based on the age of the member and the amount of insurance requested. This was in vast contrast to the old assessment principle utilized previously. The attendees of the Convention were quite proactive in their reasoning as shortly after the Convention all States enacted laws requiring Fraternals and Insurers to adopt Rate Tables for use in collecting premium insurance dues. Further changes occurred in the Rate Tables in 1922 and continued to throughout the years until the end of 1984. On January 1, 1985 the CFU adopted the 1980 CSO Mortality Rate Tables that were recommended for use by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

In 1914 World War I had its effects on our CFU membership. The effect on our membership was magnified after the United States entered into the war in 1917. Many of our young Croatian Americans left their loved ones and safe homes to serve their nation in the end many making the supreme sacrifice for their country.

At the 1915 CFU Convention held in Cleveland, Ohio, Supreme President Josip Marohnic noted that emphasis should be placed on the Croatian youth.

The CFU supported the United States war efforts by contributing more than one-half of the CFU assets ($145,000) in War Bonds and in contributions to the American, British, Russian, Czech and Polish Red Cross organizations.

As many Croatians were leaving for the battlefield others suffered embarrassment as they were being jailed as war aliens because of their ties to Austro-Hungary, which was considered an enemy nation. With this in mind, hundreds of Croatians were interred in jails shortly after the war began. Under the direction of the National Board, National President Joseph Marohnic assisted the interred Croatians by pleading their case to the Canadian Government resulting in the release of all but a few.

An additional hardship placed upon the Croatian Fraternal Union and our people was the inability to pay death claims to beneficiaries in the Old Homeland due to the prohibition of dealing with enemy countries. All monies from the nonpayment of death claims to beneficiaries in the Homeland were deposited into the U.S. Alien Property Custodian. With this in mind, all of the almost quarter of a million dollars was forwarded to the proper beneficiaries.

From October 1918 to January 1919 five hundred thirty one members of the National Croatian Society died of influenza as a result of the flu epidemic that occurred in the United States. As a result of the large number of death claims, the Society levied an extra assessment on every member and halted the enrollment of all new members for the duration of the flu epidemic. New members were unable to join the National Croatian Society until April 1919.

At the 1918 Convention the Croatian Orphanage in the United States was established. The Croatian Orphanage later became the Children's Home of the CFU, which housed hundreds of orphans of deceased CFU members. These orphans were reared at the Children's Home until they became adults. At the 1967 Convention the delegates vote to close the Children's Home as only a handful of orphans remained. The Des Plaines, IL property was sold shortly thereafter in 1970.

In 1921 the delegates of the Convention began action for the merger of all Croatian Organizations. The merger did not actually take place until the Convention in 1926. It was at this Convention that the name officially became the Croatian Fraternal Union of America. This change was a result of the merger of four independent societies including the National Croatian Society, the Croatian League of Illinois of Chicago, and the St. Joseph Society of Kansas City and the New Croatian Society of Whiting, Indiana.

During the Depression of the 1930's the hard times took their toll on the CFU. With nearly 12 million Americans unemployed the CFU experienced nearly a third of its total membership utilizing the Automatic Premium Loan Option popularly known as "Reserve". Although many people in the country lost their life savings and banks closed throughout the country, the CFU was never in danger during this time. The CFU did suffer some minor losses with the loss of thousands of dollars worth of bonds that were in default.

After the Depression the CFU launched a bold membership campaign to recoup the losses that they had encountered. This campaign assisted the Society in achieving a membership level of 100,000 by the beginning of World War II.

CFU HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS

During the years of World War II the CFU once again began contributing to the war relief effort. The Society collected over $450,000 from its members and other Croatians throughout the country.

When the terrible war of aggression by the former Yugoslav government erupted in 1991, the Croatian Fraternal Union immediately established the CFU Croatia Humanitarian Fund that resulted in the greatest outpouring of humanitarian aid by CFU members and friends over the past 100 years. In addition to numerous monetary donations received for this worthwhile cause, emergency and charitable supplies such as medical equipment, clothing, and countless other were donated, purchased and shipped from the Croatian Fraternal Union to the Old Homeland and added to the Home Office totals that amounted to more than $150 million in humanitarian aid from the Croatian Fraternal Union. CFU members and friends contributed almost one million dollars to the Humanitarian Fund to help pay for the shipments and purchases and to help defray all costs involved in this enormous humanitarian effort.

The CFU Humanitarian Fund remains in operation under the leadership of CFU National President Bernard M. Luketich, with all humanitarian requests referred to the CFU Executive Board for consideration.

The CFU also entered into an agreement with the DORA Foundation in Croatia to provide financial support for the war orphans. The CFU DORA Foundation was organized by the CFU Executive Board and placed under the direction of former CFU Sales Coordinator and National Board member Ruth E. Zofchak. The Fund was to provide $600 a year for the support of each war orphan who had lost at least one parent in the war of aggression. To date the Foundation has supported 655 war orphans and has collected more than $1,166,300 for their support. The CFU/DORA Foundation is currently under the direction of CFU Sales Coordinator Catherine Brnich.

Additionally, the Croatian Fraternal Union has made substantial contributions toward the relief of human suffering wherever and whenever disaster has struck in the United States and other parts of the world. These contributions were made either in direct grants where our members were involved or through the American Red Cross or other authorized agencies. The needy and/or those who suffered as a result of great catastrophes have been the beneficiaries of the CFU's generosity from the very beginning of its existence.

The Society was in the forefront of activity in helping to organize the labor unions in the 1930's and has continued to aid and encourage our people and others in their struggles for a better life.

CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Among the activities sponsored by the Society in recent history and of which the CFU is justifiably proud of was the establishment of the CFU Scholarship Foundation, Inc. Established as a self-perpetuating basis the Fund has added some 55 major endowment fund awards totaling more than $2.5 million.

In the same vein, we are quite proud of the contributions toward the promotion of Croatian culture and music among the youngest members of our organization. This was accomplished through the establishment of our Junior Cultural Federation. The Federation sponsors an annual Tamburitza Festival, bringing together more than a thousand boys and girls to present performances through which they are sharing their love for Croatian music, song and folklore with other thousands of people of American, Canadian and Croatian ethnicity in the CFU "Show of Shows".

The CFU Junior Cultural Federation was established 40 years ago when the "Father of the Junior Tamburitza Movement” National President Bernard Luketich organized the first Junior Tamburitza Festival at the Children's Home in Des Plaines, Illinois with just six junior tamburitza ensembles. The continually growing number of Junior Tammie troupes continues to be a special source of pride for National President Luketich.

An Executive Board governs the CFU Junior Cultural Federation. The Federation Executive Board consists of parents of youngsters performing in the various troupes and CFU members who are vitally interested in the Croatian musical culture. They are assisted and guided by the CFU Official Family.

As happens to everything and everybody, the youth of the CFU grew older and lamented over the fact that they no longer had a forum to play their tamburas. Luckily for the older tamburasi, National President Bernard Luketich and the late National Secretary/Treasurer John P. Plesh launched the CFU Adult Federation in 1987. The CFU Adult Federation presented its first TamFEST consisting of 16 ensembles at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, PA in November 1987.

The CFU has been among one of the first ethnic fraternals to launch an active sports promotional program among its youth. These sports promotions go back to the late 1920's and have continued on through the present time. The CFU Sports program is under the direction of Michael Krizmanich and includes skiing, basketball, golf, softball, soccer and, the "granddaddy" of our Society's sports program, bowling.

Across the United States and Canada, there are numerous Croatian homes and centers, the majority owned and operated by our lodges or central committees with the others operated by organizations in which many of our members are affiliated.

Our Membership also has taken an active role in the Croatian Catholic churches ever since the first Croatian Catholic Church in America was founded on Pittsburgh's North Side in 1894, coinciding with the birth of the Croatian Fraternal Union of America, with the CFU officials taking an active role in the establishment of the St. Nicholas Church and Parish.

Our Croatian membership has also become accustomed to listening to beautiful Croatian music and songs on many local radio programs throughout the U.S. and Canada, particularly on the weekends. The radio programs are sponsored by the local lodges, with many of these programs having been on the local airwaves for 40 to 50 years.

The year of 2003 was a glorious year for the Croatian Fraternal Union. Our National President Bernard M. Luketich observed his 25th year as Chief Executive, the longest tenure of any CFU Official. Both he and the Society received worldwide recognition and applause for the many years he and the CFU promoted the causes beneficial to Croatia and its people here in the United States and Canada.

CFU WOMEN - FIRST ENROLLED AS ASSOCIATE MEMBER WITHOUT VOTING RIGHTS
It is not a fact generally knows to our membership, but when the Society was organized in 1894, it was strictly for men and it was actually organized as a secret society. For the first two years of its existence, one could not gain entrance to a lodge meeting unless he knew the password. The first year it was "Sloboda" and the next year the password was changed to "Hrvatska."

But it did not remain a men's organization for any great length of time. The ladies demanded the right to organize their own lodges, and the Supreme Board had to go along even if the delegates to the convention did not approve. The first ladies' lodge to be organized was St. Ann's Lodge No. 29, of Pittsburgh, March 8, 1896; the second was Lodge No. 30 of Chicago, also organized March 8, 1896. Rankin Lodge NO.37 was the third such lodge to be organized on December 22, 1896, and Cleveland got its first ladies' Lodge No. 47 on March 23, 1897.

Before the first ladies' lodges were organized, the delegates did provide a death benefit for spouses. This was known as the "Associate Member" or "Braci Drug" type of membership. The spouse was insured for one-half the amount provided for the husband. Thus, in 1894 the death benefit for a full member was $300, and one-half of that, or $150, was paid as a death benefit in the event that member's wife died. The amount was raised to $400-$200 at the 1895 convention and then to $600-$300 at the 1896 convention.

During the first few years of operation, no dues were charged for the wives, and it was possible for a member to enroll his wife as an "Associate Member" even though she lived in the old homeland.

After a few years, all this had to be changed and they started charging dues for the Associate Members as well, although they were never required to pay for any funds. A member could still insure his wife living in the old homeland , but she had to submit a medical examination report to show evidence of insurability. Later, they were warned against the practice of insuring wives who lived in the old homeland, and the practice was discontinued.

The Associate Member coverage was introduced originally to provide benefits for the members' wives, but the privilege was later extended to include any spouse. Thus, if a female member joined one of the ladies' lodges, she could insure her husband as an Associate Member.

The practice of writing insurance for Associate Members was discontinued at the 11th Convention of the NCS held in Kansas City in 1912.

The first woman delegate to a convention was Julia Bichelmayer, who represented Lodges 29 and 37 at the 4th convention of the NCS held at McKeesport, PA in 1897.

She was escorted to her seat on the opening day of the convention by three gallant delegates appointed by Supreme President Ivan Ljubic. When the first lady delegate and her escort came down the aisle, all of the 16 officers and 34 delegates in attendance started to sing "Hrvatice, Ljubice, Ljubile Slobodu" in her honor, and as she took her seat in front of the hall, the delegates cried out in unison: "Zivile Hrvatice!" One of the escorts was Pavao Hajdic, later to serve as National President. Since Sister Bichelmayer attended that first convention in 1897, the female delegation has continued to increase.

With this in mind it is no wonder with the progressive nature of the Croatian Fraternal Union that 106 years after the first female attended a convention that women would make up 30% of the National Board and 40% of the High Trial Board.

The above from the CFU web site: http://www.croatianfraternalunion.org/.

Last Edited=24 Feb 2006