How did mutual aid societies work?

Through monthly membership dues, mutual aid societies dispensed sick benefits and funeral benefits while also serving as a network for jobs; because the earliest groups were organized by men, most also provided support for the widows and orphans of their members.

Do mutual aid societies still exist?

Despite the fact that mutual aid societies played a significant role in African-American life for well over 150 years, few organizations still exist today. Some scholars claim that new forms of entertainment diminished the demand for such organizations, while others point to commercial insurance companies.

What were some examples of mutual aid societies?

During Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic in 1793, for example, Jones and Allen proposed that serving as nurses and gravediggers would demonstrate black moral superiority, while other mutual aid societies argued that education would prove black equality, and they organized schools to this end.