Benevolent Association · Est. 1884
Rolls each September · Uptown New Orleans
Young Men Olympian Jr.
The Parade
The YMO rolls every September to mark its founding, moving through Uptown and Central City with all six divisions and a brass band. The exact route is released in the days before the parade.
Organized September 3, 1884, the YMO is recognized as the oldest second-line social aid and pleasure club in New Orleans — and among the oldest benevolent societies in the United States.
Established 1884 · Uptown New Orleans
The Oldest of Them All.
The Young Men Olympian Junior Benevolent Association is the oldest second-line club in New Orleans — organized in 1884 by Black doctors, lawyers, and musicians who pooled resources to cover medical care and funerals at a time when their community was shut out of insurance. It is one of the oldest benevolent societies in the entire country.
The members first met Uptown at Jackson and First, and the club has stayed Uptown ever since. Still all-men’s and now grown to six divisions, the YMO rolls every September to mark its anniversary — more than 140 years of unbroken tradition.
Since 1884. Still stepping.
Uptown · Central City
