Ethnic social clubs.(Letter to the editor)

In "The Story of Immigration in America" (February 20 issue), author Michael E. Telzrow referenced the social clubs formed by the legal immigrants in America's past. As a second-generation American-born member of a German immigrant family, I have vivid memories of my experiences in such a club.

It was an inexpensive place where a blue-collar working man could bring his wife and three children and have a restaurant meal at a reasonable price. The food was authentic, too. It was frequently prepared by a man who had served as a cook in the army of the Emperor Franz Josef. A great number of the mothers in the club had been motivated by a great desire to know as much as they could about the families of the members, hoping that their children would choose their husbands and wives from amongst the children of other members, and they wanted to help their children make intelligent choices. Virtually all the members professed a Christian faith. Traditional Christian family values were strong, too. Marriage was unquestionably a union between a man and a woman with the children coming afterward.

I can recall as a youngster seeing an "Honor Roll" of names posted on a wall and, not seeing a school name, asking what "Honor Roll" meant. I learned that it was the list of the members of that club who had served with the U.S. military during World War I. Also as a youngster, I noticed our family name was unusually short when compared to the multi-syllable German names. I later learned that our family name, Hyde, was an Americanization of Heidenbrand.

When I reached the age of 21, I was eligible to join the club, and I did. I began to understand why the prices were so low. The club conducted fund-raising activities via musical ...