Missouri Germans Consortium

In 1834, the largest organized German emigration group to ever set out for Missouri arrived. They came from small villages and large cities, were Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Free-Thinkers. They were lawyers, doctors, and teachers; and blacksmiths, tanners and farmers as well. They were organized, with good character references, who had pledged their entire life savings to join others with the same dream – Freedom and America! This was the life that they had sought for long.

Learn what it took to organize and bring such a large group of emigrants, and how their lives were changed in the U.S.. With a visual array of original documents, and beautiful photographs, listeners hear the first hand accounts of the successes and the failures, and what became of these emigrants. This is a actual story, of an almost forgotten part of history, that fascinates and helps us to understand what it feels like to be an “emigrant” to America.  Program will also include information on the upcoming exhibition Utopia that will be at the German-American Heritage Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. There will also be the new book Utopia available now in the U.S..

This program is being presented by the Saint Charles’ German Heritage on April 2, 2014 at 7pm  by speaker Dorris Keeven-Franke. The program is free, and the public is invited to join us for an interesting evening. Stegton Regency Banquet Center is at 1450 Wall Street, in St. Charles 63303.  Call 636-221-1524 for more information.