They started to decline before then, if I recall correctly. Most required dues; the Great Depression saw the roles sink dramatically as dues could not be paid.

They started to decline before then, if I recall correctly. Most required dues; the Great Depression saw the roles sink dramatically as dues could not be paid. Health insurance, home insurance, and other social safety nets were often paid for or covered in-kind through fraternal orders. Fraternal orders (not sure of the general, non-gendered term) are an alternative community organization to religions that would do well to return. EDIT: looks like we are both sort of right. The Freemasons continued to grow after WWII but the general ecosystem of fraternal orders started their decline after the New Deal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_fraternalism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_fraternalism