"Deutsche in Lawrence, KS, 1850-1880"

 

Aktivitäten
von Frau Phyllis Farrar
 
 
West Junior High, NEH "Schools for the New Millenium Project" Community Connections

Choose an activity below that suits your interests and learning style.

Verbal: Literature and Language

Dialects and language preservation. Read about research at the University of Kansas concerning the remnants of German dialect islands in Kansas. It only takes one generation to lose a language. What can we discover about the survival of German language in our state? Where, why, how, when, under what conditions? What forces cause the language to be dropped? What forces help preserve it?

Letters to Germany. Pick a prominent German immigrant to early Lawrence. Imagine you are that person, or one of their family members. Write 5 letters 'home' to family in Germany during the period 1854 to 1880. Space the dates out, summarize the news, local social events, weather, and family events. Even though your letter is fictional, use real events, as evidenced by documents in local archives. Provide interesting specifics.

Essay Contest: Earn prize money in the annual contest sponsored by the Society for German American Studies. Follow their directions.

Liederbuch.  Transcribe the table of contents of the songbook in the Turnverein library. 

Poetry. To represent the preservation of language and culture, search the collection at the Max Kade Center to find a poem that you could memorize. Transcribe it. Memorize it. Recite it to the class. (Create a poster according to descript below.)

Artistic

Frame a poem. To represent the preservation of language and culture, search the collection at the Max Kade Center to find a poem from German pioneer literature. Copy it onto a sheet of paper in an appropriate style of caligraphy. Decorate the page with Pennsylvania Dutch Fraktur to create an attractive poster. (see above)

Wild West, Romantic Frontier, Backwater of Civilization? Find the earliest possible drawing, etching, painting, or photo of the landscape of Lawrence or a German settlement somewhere else in Kansas. Write a paragraph (in German) to describe it. Locate a painting of a western landscape by Bierstadt. Write a paragraph to describe it. Try to explain why they are similar or different.

Design a Poster: View the poster: "The Germans - A Nation of Immigrants". Design and create such a poster specifically about the German-American contribution to life in Kansas. What text, pictures, artifacts, etc. should be included? Create a design that is eye-catching, informative, and neat.

Look for storefronts in downtown Lawrence that have German names in the brickwork. Photograph them. Collect facts about them and write short descriptions. Prepare them to add to the resource database of this website. by following your teacher's exact instructions. .

Musical

Liederbuch.  Locate the songbook (or its table of contents) in the Turnverein library.  Look in a modern German song book and find which songs are the same.  Männerchor oder Frauenchor. Organize 4-8 students to sing a song in parts, like a traditional mens choir or women's choir.

Schnitzelbank. Learn what is probably the most well-known German-American folk song. Borrow the poster for it from your teacher and perform it with actions with the class.

Sing. Learn a song from Lawrence Weigel's Volga-German collection. Perform it for the class. Explain its significance. Teach it to the class. (Recommended: "Dorfschulmeisterlied" or "Brautslied.")

Sing more. Find a German folk song on this site. Learn it and sing it.

Brass Band (Blaskapelle). Find a recording of brass band music popular around 1860. Play it for the class. Describe what instruments were included, what type of music was performed. Display a picture of Buch's Brass Band while performing a number. Explain to the class how the summer band concerts in South Park in Lawrence have evolved from Buch's Band performances. See Photo essay by Heather Miller and City Band History by Barb Kelly.

Scientific, Analytical, or Mathematical

Pie Graphs: Using U.S. Census figures, create pie charts or bar graphs showing the ethnic background of Lawrence population in 1865, 1875, 1885. Do the same for Kansas' population.

Crops. Compile information about agricultural products suited to the Great Plains climate. How did the pioneers discover what to grow? See the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railway poster. Click on the "Obst und Wein-Kultur" section.

Active: Health and Sports

Schulturnen. Use the table of contents from a book about gymnastics in the Lawrence Turnverein library to create a schedule of activities for a class. Or demonstrate some of the activities described.

Social Studies

Immigration Timeline. Create a timeline of the three major waves of German immigration to the U.S. Using the Rampelmann thesis Smalltown Germans, create a timeline for Lawrnece. Compare the two.

Turner Movement - Social or Political? Compare two descriptions of the Turnverein movement with Rampelmann's description of the Lawrence Turnverein. In what ways was the Turnverein in Lawrence typical? In what ways unique?

Homestead Recruits. Transcribe a section of text bordering the Santa Fe Railroad poster advertising land in Kansas, found in the Kansas Collection of Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas. Translate a section which you think would most likely convince someone to make the long journey to move here. Sample.

Ein Vergleich mit anderen Einwanderersgruppen,  Sammlung und Arbeitsblatt. (Compare the experiences of the variety of ethnic groups who emigrated, or were forced to emigrate to Kansas.  Some are very recently arrived.  Worksheet provided.  Activity using TrackStar site.)

The German Label. Where were "Germans" from? Compile a list of specific birthplaces by city for all immigrants we refer to as "German". There was no country called Germany at the time Lawrence was settled. Where were these people actually from? Look at a map and identify accurately their political state of origin.

Reasons to Immigrate. Read two accounts of what life was like for an average common man in the mid-19th century in Europe. Create a Venn diagram to show the similarities and differences. Immigration Diary of Michael Friedrich Raldke, 1848 (and "Die schlesischen Weber" p.187 Geschichtliche Weltkunde) or the text of "Ade, Deutschland."

Important Dates in History. Correlate important dates in your family history to historical timelines of significant events in both Europe and America.

Stone buildings. University of Kansas geographer Shortridge speculates about the correlation between stone buildings in rural Kansas and German origin of the pioneers who built them.  Look at barns, houses, fences,schools or churches (Catholic Churches) and other public buildings in the area. Take pictures and identify the heritage of the original builder. Read about the post rock region of Kansas, and include its history in your discussion.


Any page designated as "Arbeitsblatt" will print as a worksheet on standard size paper.

1.

Familiennamen in Douglas County, Wörterbuchübung:  Arbeitsblatt.  (Translating German family names in Douglas County to discover their literal meanings and practice using a translating dictionary.)
2.

Mehr Namen aus dem Telefonbuch, Wörterbuchübung :  Arbeitsblatt.  (Compilation of German names from the Lawrence phone book, for expanding the activity listed above.)
3.

Deutsche Einwanderer, USA-geschichte und Übung von Perfekt: Arbeitsblatt. (History of German-speaking emigrants; combined with practice in using present perfect tense.)
4. Stadtgründung, Lawrence-geschichte und Übung von Imperfekt: Arbeistsblatt. (The founding of Lawrence and who the German-speaking people involved were; combined with practice recognizing verbs in the simple past form and converting them to present tense.)
5. Immigrant Groups: Eudora Neusiedlersverein, Mennonites of Central Kansas, Volga-Germans of Ellis County and the churches of Willow Springs Township settled in groups. Do as "Jigsaw" activity.  Produce Venn diagram to compare and contrast.
6. Map of Kansas. Use color to identify the most significant settlements of German immigrants in Kansas. Use Socolofsy and Self, Historical Atlas of Kansas, University of Oklahoma Press, 1975.
7. German Place Names. Using the Alphabet and Number grids on a modern map of Kansas, quickly locate and circle all the towns that indicate German heritage.
8. Travel Routes. Research, then describe in German, routes and methods of tranportation from their birthplace to Kansas. (coach or railroad in Europe / ships / riverboat, railroad, or coach in America)
9. Document your history. Read, organize, and preserve family photos, letters, diaries, bibles, recipes, and other papers. Myhistory
10. Turnverein library.  Categorize the titles according to school subjects.
11. Lesehilfe (Anyone trying to read German books or newspapers printed in the mid 19th century needs practice with the extremely different styles of print.  Print the Gothic alphabet on a piece of paper and keep it handy as a guide.) Transcribe sample text into typed text.
12 Create a timeline of facts of Lawrence German immigrant history. Worksheet.
.13.

Lawrence Merchants and Craftsmen. Read Rampelmann's Thesis, Chapter 2, Section E, Table 2, about Merchants

  • Merchants. Make a list of businesses, German owners, and their locations. Photograph them.
  • Craftsmen. Create a list of crafts and professions for which Germans were trained in Germany and continued to practice in Lawrence.
Compare your lists to the list on the "Resources" page. Who needs to be added?

 

German at West / Frau Farrar / Community Connections / West Junior High / USD 497 /

Germans in Lawrence / Eutin / Fußball / Kochen / Ausdrücke / Computer / Text / Sprache / Kurs / Wetter

This page last updated on February 10, 2004 .