Pomona Grange #54

“The Grange has earned its indisputable place as the foremost champion of the rights to private property through its exclusive advocacy, in the first instance, and from its undeviating support thereafter, of the judicial postulate that subjects to reasonable governmental regulation the incidence of corporate or individual ownership whenever either is found to poach upon the area of public welfare.”

Frederick A. Johnson

New York Law Journal

Birth of an American Treasure

Monday, 02 February 2009
The Grange came into being in 1867 because of the vision of Oliver Hudson Kelley, a Minnesota farmer and activist. He had long held that farmers, because of their independent and scattered nature, needed a national organization which would represent them much as unions were beginning to do for industrial workers. Farmers were at the mercy of merchants for both needed farm supplies and for marketing their crops. Railroads and warehouse companies were taking advantage of farmers as well. Kelley and some of his friends organized the National Grange (officially known as the Order of Patrons of Husbandry) as a fraternal group similar to the Masonic lodge. The early leaders were responsible for promoting cooperatives which had the potential of helping farmers economically. Effective lobbying efforts were undertaken early and this activity remains a bulwark of Grange service to rural America.
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About the Grange

What's the Grange?

The Grange provides each member with a legislative voice at the local, state and national level. Members are part of a grassroots constituency enabling them to effectively express their views and influence legislative policy at the highest levels of government. The Grange is nonpartisan, but it vigorously encourages member participation in the political process.

What's a Pomona Grange?

Subordinate Granges within a given district are grouped together on a county or regional basis into Pomona Granges that meet monthly or quarterly. The Pomona Grange offers the Fifth Degree of the order, thus extending the lessons and opportunities of the Subordinate Grange. The Pomona Grange provides the leadership for educational, legislative, and business interests of the Subordinate Granges in its jurisdiction.

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