Utopia – Revisiting a German State in America is bilingual, in German and English, and the story of 500 immigrants to America from all parts of Germany in 1834. After Gottfried Duden’s Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America, published in Germany in 1829, 120,000 Germans would emigrate to the U.S. in the 1830s. Over one-third of those would choose Missouri, presumably because to Duden’s advice.
St. Louis Community College education class led by historian Dorris Keeven-Franke, who will share the lives of the Muench family who emigrated to Missouri in 1834. Friedrich Muench was a co-founder… Read more Germans in the Civil War: The Muench Family →
Her journal entries share the births, the marriages, the Civil War, the good times and the sad. How the loss of her son left her with an inability to write for three years. She bore 13 children, adopted 2 others, and raised 3 children of her husband’s sister after their mother’s death. Pauline’s diary gives us a rare glimpse into the life of a German emigrant woman during the 19th Century in Missouri.
Finding one’s family treasures is always an awesome discovery for family historians! As the Utopia project began, I felt that if so much could be learned from the papers of Friedrich Muench, how much more could be learned about the plans, dreams and lives of the Giessen Emigration Society members if all of the memories and writings of all five-hundred plus members could be in one location. And so began my quest to find descendants of as many members as possible.
The Descendants Project of the Giessen Emigration Society shares the stories of ALL members of the group. Recently uploaded images of all of the Medora and the Olbers ship list, a list of the members of the Giessen Emigration Society, as taken from the Ship lists, letters, diaries, and journals kept by its members, and that descendants have treasured are there to see as well.
…where the Traveling Summer Republic’s exhibit Utopia brings this nearly forgotten story alive at the Missouri History Museum, where it has enjoyed over 40,000 visitors since it opened last November 23, 2014. If you are a descendant of a member of the Giessen Emigration Society we would like to hear from you.
The exhibition will open soon at the Missouri History Museum on Saturday, November 22nd. To all of the Muench family, we are so glad you enjoyed Utopia! For more information on the Missouri History Museum visit MOHISTORY.ORG and learn all about all of their upcoming events!
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