The Foundation of Societies

Emigration was a radical act, which separated people from their familiar environment. Yet the memory of their old home country lived on and was idolised the more the longer people were away from home. The attachement to their old home country was so strong that certain traditions were maintained and cherished. A vivid proof of this attachment ist the constant exchange of letters between the emigrants and the people who stayed at home. Above all the foundation of societies shows how the German roots were cultivated. Friedrich Hecker, the German revolutionary, had a decisive influence in the development of the American gymnastics clubs in the middle of the 19th century.

Invitation to the First Convention of the Swabian Society New York, 1931
(Source: HSTAS E 130b Bü 582)