The Golden Age of Fraternalism is a term referring to a period when membership in the fraternal societies in the United States grew at a very rapid pace in the latter third of the 19th century and continuing into the first part of the 20th. At its peak, it was suggested that as much as 40% of the adult male population held membership in at least one fraternal order.[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.