Hottel-Keller Memorial, Inc. was originally formed in 1921 as the Hottel-Keller Memorial Association. The purpose was to commemorate the history of the Hottels and Kellers in America. Their American experience began in 1732, the year of the birth of George Washington.
In 1930 they published the book, The History of the Descendants of John Hottel, a massive volume of some 1183 pages, covering historical information on over 30,000 persons.
The Association continued strong into the fifties and then languished. In 1982 it was reorganized under its present name. That same year a monument was erected and dedicated in the Old Keller Cemetery at Mt. Olive, Virginia to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the arrival of John Hottel in America.
In 1996, The Hottel-Keller Memorial, Inc. was classified as a 501(c)(3) foundation class organization by the Internal Revenue Service. This permits contributions and gifts to the organization to be tax deductible.
In December 2001 the Board of Directors voted to rename the museum to the Shenandoah Germanic Heritage Museum.