By the 1870s, Arbeiter-Vereine (Workers Clubs) had been set up throughout much of Chicago . These workers self-help organizations , formed by German immigrants to the US, were heavily influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx and other socialist thinkers .

"The singing societies, so integral to the workers' club life, and present at almost all events, went by such names as the Rote Mannerchor (Red Men's Choir), the Socialistische Mannerchor del Nord Seite (Socialist Men's Choir of the North Side), and Liedertafel des Socialischiste Arbeiter-Verein (Singing Society of the Socialist Workers' Club)"
http://www-distance.syr.edu/schied.html