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National German-American Alliance records
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Held at: German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library [Contact Us]611 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19123
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The National German-American Alliance (NGAA; German: Deutschamerikanischer Nationalbund) was a federation of German-American organizations in the United States that existed from 1901 to 1918. Its primary mission was 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. At the same time, it stressed its American patriotism, and encouraged German immigrants to become citizens as soon as possible and to take active part in civic life.
As part of its cultural mission, the NGAA advocated for the teaching of German language in public schools; and it supported activities and publications to increase awareness of the contributions of German Americans to American history and culture. Significant activities included fundraising for and erection of monuments to German-American figures; the founding of the German American Historical Society and an associated journal, Americana Germanica (later: German-American Annals); and the publication of pamphlets and books about German-American culture, as well as a journal reporting the proceedings of its meetings ( Mitteilungen des Deutschamerikanischen Nationalbundes).
The activities of the NGAA were closely identified with the figure of Charles J. Hexamer, an engineer of Philadelphia, who served as the organization's president from the founding until fall 1917. Born in Philadelphia, Hexamer was the son of the German immigrant and 1848er Ernst Hexamer (1827-1912). For most of his term as NGAA president Hexamer was simultaneously president of the German Society of Pennsylvania. (His term as GSP president was from 1900 to 1916.) After Hexamer's resignation, Philadelphia pastor Siegmund von Bosse (son of the pastor Georg von Bosse) succeeded him as president for the last months of the organization's existence.
Two other long-time leaders of the NGAA were Adolph Timm, who served as secretary throughout its existence; and Hans Weniger, who was treasurer from 1902 to 1913. Like Hexamer, Timm and Weniger were also active in the GSP. Timm headed the GSP School Committee from 1904 through at least 1917, and Weniger was GSP treasurer from 1894 to 1914. Another NGAA member, John B. Mayer, who served on the commission for the erection of the Pastorius monument at Germantown, was also a member of the GSP and later served as its president, from 1917 to 1923.
The formation of the NGAA was supported by existing German-American organizations as well as by the German-American press, with the main impetus coming from a state-level umbrella group in Pennsylvania, the German-American Central Alliance of Pennsylvania (Deutschamerikanischer Zentralbund von Pennsylvanien), of which both Hexamer and Timm were leaders (Hexamer was president, and Timm was secretary). On June 19, 1900, the Pennsylvania group, under the leadership of Hexamer, hosted a meeting in Philadelphia of representatives from German-American organizations in Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. This core group, chaired by Hexamer, subsequently organized a larger meeting in Philadelphia the following year, on October 6. (The day of the meeting coincided with the annual celebration of "German Day," commemorating the founding of the first permanent German settlement in America, at Germantown, in 1683.) The NGAA was officially founded at that Philadelphia meeting, on October 6, 1901.
The NGAA received a United States congressional charter on February 21, 1907. Under its charter it was prohibited from engaging in politics to the extent of supporting particular political candidates. Nevertheless, representatives of the NGAA did take public positions on political issues, especially concerning immigration and prohibition. The NGAA in general opposed restrictions on immigration, but it came out in favor of the strictures against anarchists in the Immigration Act of 1907. It opposed prohibition, using the rationale that such laws were an unjustified constraint on personal liberty; since the drinking of beer, and the custom of the Sunday "beer garden" were integral to everyday German-American culture, the NGAA regarded both "Blue Laws" and prohibition as an encroachment on German-American life. The state and local branches, which for the most part were independent of the parent organization, were not under the same obligation to refrain from political advocacy, and did indeed support particular candidates in elections, based on the candidates' positions on issues relevant to German-American life.
During the First World War, the NGAA also raised money for war relief in the German-speaking lands, from the beginning of the war, in August 1914, until the entrance of the United States into the war, in April 1917.
In an atmosphere of increasing anti-German sentiment, the NGAA became the subject of a Senate investigation in 1918, leading to the revocation of its charter, under a bill that was signed into law on August 31, 1918. The NGAA had already officially ceased to exist in April 1918.
References
Johnson, Charles Thomas (1999). Culture at twilight: The National German-American Alliance, 1901-1918. New York: Peter Lang.
Kazal, Russell A. (2004). Becoming old stock: The paradox of German-American identity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Luebke, Frederick C. (1974). Bonds of loyalty: German-Americans and World War I. Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press.
Polsander, Hans A. (2010). German monuments in the Americas: Bonds across the Atlantic. Oxford: Peter Lang. See chapters 2 ("The Pioneers") and 3 ("The American Revolution"), pp. 3-44.
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.
The records are organized into four series: I. Charles J. Hexamer correspondence; II. John B. Mayer correspondence; III. Rudolf Cronau papers related to the NGAA; and IV. Ephemera and Clippings. The correspondence of Charles Hexamer, who served as president of the organization from its founding until fall 1917 (Series I), comprises nearly half of the collection. The correspondence of John B. Mayer (Series II) and the papers of Rudolf Cronau (Series III) together make up approximately 20% of the collection, and pertain mainly to the work of Mayer and Cronau on the NGAA commission in charge of the Germantown monument (Cronau was chair, and Mayer was secretary). The remainder of the materials comprises printed ephemera and clippings, mainly related to the NGAA's work on the two monuments, with a small amount concerning the NGAA more generally, including program for a banquet in honor of Charles Hexamer in 1912, autographed by 13 of the attendees (Folder 54); and a souvenir program (Folder 55) for a musical event honoring the NGAA ("Souvenir programme: grand banner dedication of the National German-American Alliance") in 1914, carried out by the women's auxiliary of the Pennsylvania branch (Deutschamerikanischer Zentralbund von Pennsylvanien), with participation of the Philadelphia choral societies Maennerchor, Junger Maennerchor, and Harmonie.
Significant correspondents include the sculptors Albert Jaegers and J. Otto Schweizer, who both submitted designs for the Pastorius monument. Jaegers was also the artist responsible for the Steuben monument in Valley Forge. Since the Pastorius monument received funding from the United States Congress, that project was ultimately carried out in cooperation with the United States Commission of Fine Arts, and the War Department, which included the Corps of Engineers. Correspondence from all of these participants is found under the relevant name headings in Series I, II, and III. Other significant correspondents of Charles Hexamer (Series I) are Herman Ridder and C.B. Wolffram, both publishers of German-language newspapers in New York, whom Hexamer called upon to assist with fundraising for the Steuben monument.
Most of the records apparently remained at the German Society of Pennsylvania since the time of the NGAA's activities, since the principal creator, Charles J. Hexamer, was simultaneously president of the GSP. The papers of Rudolf Cronau were apparently donated at a later date.
People
- Jaegers, Albert, 1868-1925
- Pastorius, Francis Daniel, 1651-1719
- Ridder, Herman, 1851-1915
- Schweizer, J. Otto, 1863-1955
- Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin, 1730-1794
- Wolffram, C. B.
Organization
Subject
- German Americans
- German Americans--Monuments
- German Day celebrations
- Monuments
- Public sculpture
- Societies, etc
Place
- Publisher
- German Society of Pennsylvania: Joseph P. Horner Memorial Library
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Violet Lutz
- Finding Aid Date
- 2015.08
- Sponsor
- The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from the Max Kade Foundation, as part of the grant project "Retrieval and Cataloging of the German-American Experience, 1918-1960."
- Access Restrictions
-
This collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Copyright restrictions may apply. Please contact the German Society of Pennsylvania with requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote or reproduce the material.
Collection Inventory
This series contains correspondence to and from Charles Hexamer as president of the National German-American Alliance (NGAA), arranged in two subseries: A. Individual correspondence files; and B. Miscellaneous, including form letters. The most significant proportion of the correspondence relates to the erection of the monument in Vernon Park, Germantown, in honor of the first German settlers and their leader, Francis Daniel Pastorius, a project that entailed a long planning process.
Rudolf Cronau had first proposed such a monument at the first NGAA congress in 1901. The NGAA early on appointed a three-person German Memorial Monument Commission, consisting of Rudolf Cronau, Gustav Bender, and John B. Mayer. The cornerstone for the monument was laid in 1908, on German Day, October 6. In 1911, the United States Congress appropriated $25,000 toward the funding of the monument, with a matching amount to be contributed by the NGAA. The selection of a design and the execution of the monument were therefore carried out in cooperation with the United States Commission of Fine Arts, as well as the War Department, which included the Corps of Engineers. The NGAA monument commission, under Cronau, originally selected a design by sculptor J. Otto Schweizer. However, the Fine Arts Commission eventually appointed a different three-person 'advisory' committee, which then shared responsibility for selecting the winning model. In a second round of the competition, a design by Albert Jaegers was selected, and that was the one that was executed. The monument was completed and ready to be unveiled in spring 1917, but after the entry of the United States into the First World War, in April, the ceremony was postponed. The unveiling finally took place in 1920.
Other topics of correspondence include the unveiling of a monument to Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben in Washington, DC., on December 7, 1910; and the erection of a monument to Steuben at Valley Forge, which was dedicated on October 9, 1915. The Steuben monument in Valley Forge, by Albert Jaegers, was a replica of a monument Jaegers completed shortly before in Utica, New York. Hexamer corresponded with Herman Ridder and C.B. Wolffram, both publishers of German-language newspapers in New York, concerning fundraising for the Valley Forge monument.
The correspondence includes many carbon copies kept by Hexamer of letters he sent. These copies were made on poor-quality paper that is now in fragile condition. Those items have been photocopied onto acid-free paper, and the photocopies integrated in the correspondence. The original items are stored in two folders at the end of the series.
Arranged alphabetically, by correspondent name.
Copy of Hexamer letter to Cronau; see also Cronau correspondence, file on Hexamer (Series III)
Includes copies of Hexamer's letters to Albert Jaegers and Max Heinrici, 17 April 1917, enclosing a letter from Mayer about postponement of unveiling of the Pastorius monument
Copy of Hexamer letter to Moore, thanking him for the speech he delivered on June 12, and printed text of the speech, "The first German settlers," concerning HR 25069, making effective an appropriation of $25,000 toward the erection of a monument at Germantown
Regrets for an event on the same day
Includes draft of application to Art Jury for Pastorius monument in Vernon Park by Albert Jaegers
Matters related to the monuments at Valley Forge, and in Vernon Park
Concerns selection of artist for a Steuben monument in Utica. Includes list of artists who presented models for the NGAA German memorial monument
Mainly concerns fundraising for the erection of the Steuben monument at Valley Forge
Copy of letter from Hexamer
Copy of letter from Hexamer
Concerns the erection of the Pastorius monument (German memorial) in Vernon Park. Correspondents include Col. Spencer Cosby, secretary, and U. S. Grant III, acting secretary of the commission; and Robert Shaw Oliver, U.S. Assistant Secretary of War. Also includes correspondence with a three-person advisory committee, or jury, to assist in selecting the winning model: architect Frank Miles Day; and artists Carl Bitter and Herbert Adams
Concerns the erection of the Pastorius monument (German memorial) in Vernon Park
Concerns the erection of the Pastorius monument (German memorial) in Vernon Park
Concerns the erection of the Pastorius monument (German memorial) in Vernon Park
Concerns the erection of the Steuben monument at Valley Forge
Copy of Hexamer letter to Voelckner
Mainly concerns fundraising for the erection of the Steuben monument at Valley Forge. Includes clippings; related correspondence of Hexamer with Charles H. Weinsberg (NGAA, St. Louis); and a letter from Albert Jaegers to Wolffram, which the latter forwards to Hexamer
Arranged chronologically.
Addressed to superintendents of public schools and professors of American history, urging attendance
Invitation letter; request for donations to cover cost of the event
This series comprises correspondence received or sent by John B. Mayer as secretary of the German Memorial Monument Commission, concerned with erection of the monument to the first German settlers in Vernon Park, Germantown (the other members of the commission were Rudolf Cronau and Gustav Bender); and also as chair of the committee for the unveiling of the monument, which was originally scheduled to take place in spring 1917 but was postponed (it eventually took place in 1920). Included are submissions from several artists in the contest held by the commission for design of the monument (in making its final decision the commission considered 15 designs, and materials related to only eight submissions are included here, none of them the top choices). For Mayer's letters to Charles Hexamer, see Series I.
Includes correspondence from John M. Behrman (with drawings and two photographs of model); Leo Lentelli; Herman Wurth; and several identified only by title of design (Achilles; Eureka; Die neue Heimat; Nihil-Sine-Labore; and Rex)
Includes text of a proposed inscription for the monument
Concerns invoice for shipping back to the artists the models they had submitted to the War Department
This series contains papers belonging to Rudolf Cronau that he collected in connection with his role as chair of the NGAA's German Memorial Monument Commission, which concerned the erection of the monument in Vernon Park, Germantown, commemorating Francis Daniel Pastorius and the first German settlers. Correspondence files, arranged alphabetically, are followed by a folder of drafts for the German Memorial Monument Commission; and a folder containing other writings, ephemera, and a photograph.
Cronau first proposed such a German memorial monument at the founding meeting of the NGAA in October 1901, and raised the idea again at the second NGAA convention in 1903. The two other members of the commission were Gustav Bender and John B. Mayer. Included are items written by Cronau that express his justification for the commission's original selection of the design by J. Otto Schweizer (Folder 44); and his critique of the design by Albert Jaegers that was later chosen instead (Folder 45).
The series includes just three items dated after 1917: one letter from Schweizer, in 1931 (Folder 42); a photograph of Cronau with his family, also dated in 1931 (Folder 45); and a miscellaneous clipping from 1938 (Folder 45).
One item is a handwritten draft report of the commission naming the winners of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes in the competition; the other is a copy of a typed statement by Cronau, as chair, justifying the selection of the 1st-place design ("Liberty," which was done by J. Otto Schweizer). The latter includes a passage about Cronau's own background as an artist
This series contains printed ephemera and clippings, grouped roughly according to topic, with oversize materials listed at the end.
Fundraising fliers, blank stationery
See also Oversize
Includes program for the unveiling; draft program; and typescripts concerning the monument
See also Oversize
See also Oversize
Latin inscription "Salve posteritas, posteritas Germanopolitana..." Marked received by Art Jury, submission no. 34, April 14, 1917; signed by secretary Andrew Wright Crawford, May 31, 1917. White lettering on blue ground; scale full size. 41-3/4 x 106" (Original GSP call no. AD 500)