The Center for the Study of Black Membership Organizations is a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving the history and legacy of predominately African-American fraternal orders, fraternities, sororities, mutual aid societies, social clubs, and civic organizations. The Center began as a volunteer-led website cataloging BMOs and a social media presence promoting their activities. In 2023-24, the Center is growing into a nonprofit organization with a Board of Directors. The Center functions virtually and maintains a mailing address in Northampton County, North Carolina.
The proposed projects of the Center for the Study of Black Membership Organizations are:
- The maintenance of a free, online encyclopedia listing Black Membership Organizations and documenting their history.
- The acquisition and storage of history books and relevant ephemera of BMOs.
- The recording, storage, and transcription of oral histories of small- to medium-sized BMOs
- The administration of a blog promoting news from around the BMO world.
- The publication of a scholarly journal for the study of BMOs.