Let's talk about Sons of Hermann Halls.
There are (at least) 140 of them in Texas, with membership >80,000. Here, they're famous as small venues for live country music, dances, small-town wedding receptions, reunions and the like.
It all started with a funeral in New York in 1835.
German immigrants found their funeral procession's progress blocked by jeering American "nativists".
They founded a mutual aid society & named it after a Roman officer turned German chieftan, Arminius. His German name was 'Hermann' & he defeated many Roman incursions.
The name evoked a German nationalist spirit, but was open to people of all faiths (the NY halls had predominantly Jewish officers).
They preserved German traditions & language in the US, had secret rites, social events and published treatise in defense of German immigrants, offered legal services.
Around WWI, membership nationally was ~90,000 across five states.
Texas got its first Hall in 1861, in San Antonio, and it was also the first to offer non-profit life insurance, which later became a requirement of membership, continuing today.
WWI and again in WWII require that a German mutual aid reinvent itself as membership dropped, and German culture became controversial.
By the 1960's, only a small percentage of members claimed German ancestry.
Halls remained active in German-centric areas in Ohio & Texas.
Today, the halls dot communities across Texas, but especially in the German-influenced Hill Country. They offer insurance services, venue rentals, and still have German cultural events, although they're open to everyone.
I associate them with weddings, country music, reunions.
If you're interested in learning more, or correcting any mistakes I've made😬, Texas State Historical Association's 'Handbook of Texas' has a nice article on them here:
www.tshaonline.org/handbook/ent...
