In 2005, the Franklinville- Schwarzwald Männerchor was formed to continue to sing and perform German vocal music in the male choral tradition of two Quartet Clubs, namely the Franklinville QC, founded 1900 and the Schwarzwald QC, founded1929.
We are proud members of The United Singers of Philadelphia (founded 1881) and the Nordöstlicher Sängerbund von Amerika (founded 1850)
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saengerfest we learn:
Although some local festivals were canceled or suspended during the years of World War I and World War II due to rising anti-German sentiment, the Sängerfest tradition has largely survived, and many communities have Sängerfests today. Many of these are in areas with a high German population, such as Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which hosted its 49th Sängerfest in 2006 with the help of the Nordöstlicher Sängerbund. The 50th Sängerfest, hosted by the Washington Saengerbund, took place 2009 Memorial Day Weekend in Washington, D.C. The Houston Sängerbund continues to thrive, as do many Sängerbunds in the states of Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin and other areas.[21][34]
…..The Philadelphia Männerchor (1835–1962)[7] founded by German immigrant Phillip Matthias Wohlseiffer was the first German-American singing society organized in the United States. In 1836, Wohlseiffer founded the Baltimore Liederkranz, which became the first to accept women members (1838). In 1846, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania group and the Baltimore, Maryland group performed together at a public Sängerfest.[8] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac of 1891 listed numerous Sängerbunds in the Brooklyn, New York area.[9] On June 21, 1901, the Nord-Amerikanischer Sängerbund presented a Sängerfest in Buffalo, New York at the Pan-American Exposition. A group in Buffalo hoped to help pay the expenses of the fest by forming the Buffalo Sängerfest Company, selling 1,600 shares of stock at $25 each.[10]…. At their peak, the Sängerfests were prestige events. President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland and guests took a special train from Washington, D.C. on July 4, 1888, to see a Baltimore event. Cleveland had friends who were members of the Sängerbunds.[24] President Howard Taft attended the July 1, 1912 event in Philadelphia.[25] On June 15, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt and Ambassador Herman Speck Von Sternberg[26] attended a Sängerfest of 6,000 individual singers at Baltimore’s Armory Hall. All 9,000 seats were sold out. The President delivered an address praising the German culture and the Sängerfest tradition.[27][28] The Northeastern Sängerbund presented selections by composers Herman Spielter, David Melamet, Carl Friedrich Zöllner, E.S. Engelsberg, Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Wagner.[29]
So popular were these Sängerfests among the public, that when Newark, New Jersey announced the 21st National Sängerfest to be held on July 1-4, 1906 in Olympic Park, 25,000 people showed up to hear the music, many arriving on chartered trains. Only a few thousand were able to get into the hall, and 2,000 of those were standing. 5,000 singers from more than a hundred Sängerbunds representing forty cities from New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware competed for a $20,000 prize offered by Kaiser Wilhelm II.[30] Park vendors offered souvenirs, refreshments, games and a carousel.[31]