My opinion is that the percentage of Germans in America is even greater than the given percentage here, because they classify - to this day - immigrants' by origin of their country. I am sure that Austrian-Hungarians were not counted as "Germans." The defining "German" label is strictly for people born within Germany itself. Bohemians immigrating after 1919 are counted as Czechs (like 3 German people of our family). Purely German relatives of mine (who attended German schools in their country of origin and whose home language and culture was German) arrived in America as "Hungarians", etc. and counted as such. There is a huge group of "Ukrainians," Yugoslavians", "Slovaks", "Poles" and "Russians".... who, had they been able to sign in with their ethnicity, in other words the language they spoke at home and the culture they followed, we would see that the percentage given here would be much larger. We can see it in our own genealogical research that we find our German ancestors in "other countries" besides Germany. When they arrived on these shores, they were not counted as Germans but as citizens of a "politically bordered" country (which was in fact their home of origin) rather than by their actual ethnicity. Aida ----- Original Message ----- From: <KarenHob@aol.com> To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006 8:04 AM Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] How German is American? > The message below directs readers to a website. I used AOL to search > and > came up with an error message. Then I searched with Google and found the > website. The site is worth a visit for anyone with interest in German > Americans > or German settlers of Wisconsin. > > Karen > > Cross posted from the GACGS list: -- (German American and German Canadian > Scholars) > > In a message dated 4/18/2006 11:38:02 AM Mountain Standard Time, > jsalmons@WISC.EDU writes: > From: Antje Petty <apetty@wisc.edu> Max Kade Institute for German- > American Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison > Date: April 17, 2006 11:36:12 AM CDT > How German is American? A New Outreach and Educational Project > > According to the U.S. Census conducted in 2000, 42.8 million > Americans identified themselves as being of German ancestry, > representing 15.2% of the total U.S. population. That is more than > the next largest group, Irish Americans (10.8%), or any other group. > At the same time, there is little evidence of a distinct German- > American subculture in America today. How to explain this > conundrum? Has German-American identity been submerged over the last > century? Have German-Americans, consciously or not, come to identify > themselves > according to new categories that cut across ethnic lines? > > > Or can influences deriving from German-speaking immigrants actually still > be > seen flowing in the mainstream and tributaries of American culture? By > asking the question How German is American? the Max Kade Institute hopes > to > engage its audience in examining the various ways, past and present, that > German-speaking immigrants to the United States and their descendants > have > contributed to and been influenced by the American cultures. > > > The project consists of a poster, companion booklet, and Web page. > Featured on the poster are twenty historic and contemporary images > that reflect major themes of German-American-German cultural > exchange. The timelessness of these themes is underscored by the > poster layout based on principles of the Bauhaus school of design, > which was influential both in Europe and in this country. Images > range from an eighteenth century oil-painting depicting Moravian > missionary David Zeisberger preaching to Native Americans and a 1898 map > showing the distribution of European-born German speakers in the U.S., to > a > photo of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and a Zits cartoon prominently > featuring > the word “über” in this century. Together the images portray how > influences > from German-speaking immigrants endure in the United States often in > almost > invisible ways. > > While short captions identify the pictures on the back of the poster, > the more comprehensive 48-page companion booklet puts them into a broader > thematic context in four sections: Settling in America, > Building Communities, Growing into the Nation, and Shaping Culture. Here > the images are touchstones for a broader discussion of continuous > transatlantic > ties and even though they derive from a > specifically German-American context, the issues they raise in this > country apply across cultural lines. > > Poster and booklet are downloadable on the MKI Web site: > http:// mki.wisc.edu > > which represents another important branch of this > project. While poster and booklet represent finished products, the > How German is America? Web site will continue to evolve. In the > coming months we will post additional materials, a German translation of > the > booklet, and lesson plan ideas for teachers on the site. We also very > much > welcome your feedback. We do not expect a definitive response to the > question How German is American?, but we hope that viewers and readers > will be > informed and inspired to think about “Germanness” and “Americanness” in > new > ways. Your insights and comments will be an important part of the > evolution of > this project. > > If you would like to have a free poster or booklet mailed to you, > please contact Kevin Kurdylo, kkurdylo@wisc.edu or 608-262-7546. > Shipping and handling charges will apply. > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ >