Allied Masonic Degrees

[KSigMason]

Here is a lengthy post on one of the invitational orders of the York Rite:

The Allied Masonic Degrees is an invitational body within the York Rite that is dedicated to Masonic Research.

The Allied Masonic Degrees are detached degrees which, many years ago, were conferred under Craft Warrants and formed a part of the loosely governed Freemasonry which afterward eliminated all save the three Craft degrees and the Royal Arch.

History
The Allied Masonic Degrees are an invitational organization, and requires membership in the Royal Arch as well as the Symbolic Lodge. Membership is limited to 27 members per council.
Be it remembered that on August 5, 1933, this Grand Council took as its date of formation January 14, 1892, since this date was the beginning of the Allied Masonic Degrees in America with the formation of the Sovereign College of Allied Masonic and Christian Degrees at Richmond, Virginia, that on April 16, 1932, the subsequent establishment of a Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees of the United States of America occurred in Salisbury, North Carolina, and that the union of the two bodies was drawn up and entered into July 18, 1933, and was ratified by the North Carolina Grand Council August 5, 1933 and was ratified by the Sovereign College at Norway, Maine August 24, 1933, and became effective as of September 7, 1933.
The Allied Masonic Degrees are detached degrees some of which, many years ago, were conferred under Craft warrants and formed part of the then loosely governed Freemasonry of the period.

READ MORE ON THE HISTORY AND DEGREES