The club purchased German related architectural items to furnish the club, including an 18 foot tall section of Manufacturer's Building from the World's Columbian Exposition which had been made by a German porcelain company and 18 inch tall wooden panels that measured up to 11 feet long decorated with intricate carvings of scenes from Wagner's operas that had originally been created for a Chicago mansion. With the anti-German rhetoric that accompanied American entry into World War I, the group changed its name to the Lincoln Club in 1917. It became the Germania Club in 1928. The group evolved from a choral ensemble that collected books and material relating to the German experience in America, to an almost purely social club which developed a reputation as one of the leading private clubs of Chicago. The club disbanded in 1986. Notable members have included: