Ladies of the Orient

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Ladies of the Orient (LOTO) is a women-only fraternal group in the United States and Canada. It began in Syracuse, New York in 1915 as part of the Rebekahs and was founded by Emily Voorheis as a place for social recreation alongside the serious charity work other groups did. Although LOTO has a close connection to the Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans, it is an independent organization created entirely by women and does not have to be tied to its men’s counterpart. It was incorporated in New York in 1921 under a long official name and now has units in the United States and Canada. Like the Samaritan group, LOTO focuses its charitable efforts on cognitive disabilities. Local groups are called zuannas and are led by a Great Ashayhi. Members wear a white fez with the letter Z inside a triangle and crescent with a yellow tassel, and higher-ranked members wear different colors, such as a purple tassel for Past Ashayhis.