Golden age of fraternalism

[1] Major examples are the Freemasons, the Knights of Columbus, the Rechabites, the Odd Fellows, the Good Templars, the Elks, the Shriners, and Rotary Club, as well as the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan.

They experienced a precipitous decline after the Morgan Affair led to a moral panic against secret societies,[2] but had largely recovered by the 1850s,[3] albeit slowly.

[5] After the American Civil War, the Grand Army of the Republic was formed, taking its membership from Union veterans seeking to continue the camaraderie of military service.

These organizations served various goals: mutual aid and insurance, political interests, or social functions, but they each offered their members the comfort of stability and belonging in a dynamic and rapidly industrializing society.

Government welfare programs that formed during the Progressive and New Deal eras, as well as the rise of available commercial insurance, lessened the need for the mutual aid fraternities.

The Freemasons, as the oldest and most storied of the ritualistic fraternities, continued to grow as a result of an influx of members after World War II, reaching their zenith in terms of absolute numbers in 1959.