Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia

The Colored Knights of Pythias were prominent in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[8] By 1897, the Knights of Pythias had 40,000 members, with grand lodges in twenty states, the West Indies, and Central America.

In 1891, the Supreme Lodge paraded through New York City with a contingent of seven hundred Sir Knights in full uniform.

[13][14] The suit was a focus of concern at the group's National Convention held in Kansas City, Missouri in 1909.

[16] After World War I, the Florida organization required members to pay poll taxes and register to vote in the 1920 election.

[16] In Quincy, Florida, this drew the ire of the Ku Klux Klan which burned the Knights' group's lodge and killed as many as thirty and sixty Black men.

Its lessons and rituals were based on the ancient Greek legend of the friendship of Damon and Pythias.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, members marched in public parades wearing military-style uniforms.

[8] The Colored Knights of Pythias constructed buildings called temples to house each lodge.

[1] A former lodge in Waxahachie, Texas is now home to Ellis County African American Hall of Fame Museum and Library.