Elks Lodge to Reconsider Admitting 2 Blacks

Joe Martin and Ernest Hutchinson applied for membership in the Lompoc Elks Lodge about six months ago. Both were rejected because they are black.

Tonight the Elks again will consider the applications of Martin and Hutchinson. But this time, both men are expected to be voted in.

The Lompoc Elks have not changed, but their voting methods have. As a result of the controversy after the rejection of the two men, the Elks have changed voting guidelines in lodges nationwide.

In the past, it took only three opposing votes for a prospective member to be rejected. So although the majority of the 1,700 members in the Lompoc lodge voted to accept Martin and Hutchinson, a handful of members were able to keep them out.

“This three-vote blackball system has definitely been used to keep out minorities,” said Gary Stanley, a Lompoc optician who first sponsored Martin for membership. “This was the good old boy system.”

But in July, during the annual Elks convention, the national membership approved a proposal by the Lompoc lodge to change the voting system. Now, a two-thirds majority can approve new lodge members.

“I realize that no matter where you go you’re going to run into people who have prejudice,” Martin said. “But at least now, those people aren’t going to have all the say.”

Although Martin and Hutchinson are expected to be approved, there still is a faction of Elks who actively oppose them, said Bruce Shumer, a Lompoc real estate businessman who first sponsored Hutchinson for membership.

“Somebody out there has been making anonymous phone calls to members telling them: ‘We have to show up at the meeting and vote to keep these people out.’ I don’t think they’ll succeed. But, unfortunately, there is still a racist sentiment out there.”

The four Elks lodges in Santa Barbara County have more than 7,500 members. But only the small Santa Ynez lodge has a black member.

When Martin and Hutchinson were first rejected about six months ago, many in the community were especially outraged because both are community leaders and were considered ideal candidates. The lodge’s six-man investigating committee, which does background checks and interviews all prospective members, unanimously recommended the two men.

Divided Group

But a small group of Elks conspired to keep out all blacks, members said, and they voted against Martin and Hutchinson. The rejection created a controversy that divided the fraternal organization and the community.

More than 25 Elks members resigned and about 100 withheld their annual dues in protest. Numerous organizations in Lompoc severed relations with the Elks, and the California attorney general’s office investigated the lodge for possible civil rights violations.

“If they are rejected again, that will be the death knell for the lodge in Lompoc,” said James Huseman, who resigned from the Elks because of the controversy. “People around here already have withdrawn a lot of support for the lodge, and it will take years for the community to get over this.”

Martin, 56, a decorated Air Force veteran who served in Korea and Vietnam, now sells real estate and is active in a number of community organizations. Hutchinson, 57, a Santa Barbara County Housing Authority official, was a Lompoc policeman for eight years and is a past president of the Lions Club and a board member of the local American Legion chapter.

‘White Gentlemen’ Rule

“These are the kind of people you’d think organizations would be eager to have as members,” said Smiley Wilkins, president of the Lompoc branch of the NAACP. “It puts a cloud over the whole organization to treat them like second-class citizens.”

A national Elks rule requiring all lodge members to be “white gentlemen” was abolished in 1973. But women are still prohibited from joining.

At the Elks 125th annual convention in July, members again voted to keep the organization all-male.