This was interesting. A story out of Jacksonville, FL about the convention of the Knights (and Ladies) of St. Peter Claver. From their history page:

The Order was founded November 7, 1909 at Mobile Alabama; by four priests of the St. Joseph’s Society of the Sacred Heart (The Josephite Fathers) of Baltimore, Maryland – Fathers: Conrad F. Rebesher, John H. Dorsey, Samuel J. Kelly, and Joseph P. Van Baast, S.S.J.’s and the three layment of the Diocese of Mobile – Birmingham, Alabama. Messrs.: Gilbert Faustina, Frank Collins and Frank Trenier, all now passed to their eternal rewards.

In the article had this to say:

Members of the Ladies’ Auxiliary wore white clothes, while knights wore dark suits. Officers were marked by fezzes, caps or plumed hats and robes. Outside the ballroom, vendors offered suits, T-shirts (”God bless my grandma, ’cause she’s a blessing to me”), books, jewelry and Barack Obama hats and shirts.

Black Catholics founded the fraternal organization in 1909 because they were not allowed in other Catholic lay groups, said Jones, a retired Navy veteran who works for the federal Department of Labor in Jacksonville. He was once head of the national group and is now in charge of the Southeast chapter.

Though African-Americans can now join better-known fraternal groups such as the Knights of Columbus, Jones said there’s still a place for the Knights of Peter Claver: “It’s historical. It’s tradition.”