Subject: German Americans and German Day celebrations / Place: Philadelphia (Pa.) - Philadelphia Area Archives Search Results

Start Over Subject German Americans Subject German Day celebrations Place Philadelphia (Pa.)

Extent:: 0.21 linear feet (1 box, 18 folders)
Abstract:: This collection contains records of the Philadelphia branch of the Deutsch-Amerikanischer Zentralbund von Pennsylvanien (DAZB), also known as the German-American Central Alliance, or the German-American Federation, of Pennsylvania. The federation existed from 1899 until 1941; from 1901 to 1918 it was part of the National German-American Alliance, which it had helped to found. These extant records mainly comprise materials related to activities of the School Committee, which promoted German language learning, and learning about German-American culture, among German-American youth. Included are minutes (with financial reports), correspondence, fliers, and educational materials, dated 1909 to 1933. The remaining materials are ephemera, including a flier related to the fifth anniversary of the women's auxiliary, in 1932, and programs for German Day celebrations in 1940 and 1941. A few fliers bear texts composed by Adolph Timm and Max Heinrici concerning the preservation of...(see more)

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

Extent:: 27.4 linear feet
Abstract:: The German Society of Pennsylvania, founded in Philadelphia in 1764, directed its early efforts to assisting new German immigrants, especially those forced into indentured servitude when they were unable to pay their sea fare. Throughout the late 18th and 19th centuries, the Society was very visible in the thriving German-American community in Philadelphia, boasting just over one thousand members at the peak of its growth, in the late 1870s. In the 20th century, the Society’s scope and prominence was affected by the two World Wars, which created suspicion and criticism of Germanic culture. That suspicion and government scrutiny played a role in the dwindling membership of the Society. In the post-World War II era the Society channeled its overseas relief activities through a Quaker-based aid society. In the second half of the century, the neighborhood was also changing, as it became predominantly African-American, rather than German, and more impoverished. But the Society pressed...(see more)

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

Extent:: 0.63 linear feet (2 boxes + 1 oversize folder)
Abstract:: This collection contains records of the National German-American Alliance (NGAA; Deutschamerikanischer Nationalbund), a federation of German-American organizations in the United States based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that existed from 1901 to 1918, for most of that time under the leadership of Charles J. Hexamer. The NGAA aimed to foster fellowship and common endeavors among German Americans, to advocate on issues affecting German-American life, and to support the preservation of German culture in the United States. The collection includes correspondence, reports, clippings, and printed ephemera. The bulk of the materials dates from 1910 to 1918, and pertains to the NGAA's efforts to erect two monuments to figures of German-American history: one in Germantown, Philadelphia, honoring the first German settlers and their leader, Francis Daniel Pastorius; and the other in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, dedicated to the revolutionary war general Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben....(see more)

Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]

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