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Approximately 40% of persons living in Indiana have German ancestry. People from the German speaking regions of Europe helped weave strong threads of German culture into the fabric of Indiana, leaving their influence in Hoosier music, art, religion, architecture, sports, and celebrations.

When: Saturday, September 22, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Athenaeum (Das Deutsche Haus), 401 East Michigan Street, Indianapolis, Indiana

9:30 a.m. “Into the Pfalz” — Dr. Roland Paul (Institute for the History and Culture of the Rheinland-Pfalz in Kaiserslautern, which has many genealogical records including an extensive collection of names of migrants to the U.S.) will lecture on Immigration to the Pfalz (Palatinate) will focus on the history of the lands along the Rhine River during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.

10:45 a.m. “German Migration into Indiana” — Dr. Giles Hoyt, is Professor of German and German-American Studies at IUPUI, Indianapolis.

12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Lunch - from the Rathskeller Restaurant (pay for your own lunch).

1:15 p.m. “Out of the Pfalz” — Dr. Paul’s lecture on 19th Century Emigration from the Pfalz will focus on the German migration to the U.S.

2:15 p.m. Question and Answer session, and time for translations. Bring your old German documents and letters.

Registration: $10.00 for IGHS Members/Palatines to America, and students; All others/non-members: $15.00. Send with your check to: Nancy Meyer, 234 W. Jefferson Street, Tipton, IN 46072. It needs to have the name(s), address and number of registrations.

Info: James Feit, jrfeit@aol.com, or 317-875-7210.

Dr. Paul is the director of the Institute for Palatine History and Folkways, in Kaiserslauten, Germany. This Institute has many resources for genealogists, but most importantly it has a card file with 130,000 names of migrants in and out of the Rheinland-Pfalz region of Germany. Many of these people settled in North America, but some went to other areas of Europe and South America. He has written many articles on the history of Jews and Huguenots in Southwest Germany. His knowledge of Southwest Germany and its culture and history is extraordinary.

Know before you go … visit the Indiana German Heritage Society’s website for a lot of information about Germans in the US.

If this event seems interesting, check out … Giles Hoyt is talking about Germans in Indiana October 3. You should also attend some of the many events this fall addressing the new wave of immigrants to Indiana … the German experience is essential for figuring out how things today differ (and don’t differ) from a century ago. The International Center of Indianapolis is releasing a gorgeous book about the new immigrants October 3 (the book release party doesn’t conflict with Giles’s talk). An interesting parallel will be a Spirit & Place event November 13: “Sharing the Journey: Immigrants’ Stories.”

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 12:07 pm and is filed under Events, Crossing borders, Hoosier history, Europe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.