Germans From Russia Just another NDSU Library weblog

I have always had a passion for storytelling. And as a student of history, I have daily opportunities to hear stories, tell stories, and give voice to those historical figures that no longer have breath to tell their own tales.

During this spring semester of 2009, I have begun work on telling the story of a North Dakota family. Since January of this year I have been processing the Baumgartner Family Collection, an enormous collection of photographs, documents, and various other artifacts.

This is a unique experience for a history student, to independently manage the processing of such a large archival collection. It is also an exciting opportunity for me personally, to help to preserve the history of a family closely tied to the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection.

I have sifted through hundreds of photographs, unfolded dozens of baptismal certificates, and dusted several framed portraits, and through this process have learned about the Baumgartner family.

The collection mainly focuses on Philippine (Baumgartner) Berglund. Over twenty binders of photographs trace Philippine through her high school years, college education, her career as a teacher, and her marriage to Gus Berglund. In the collection, one can see the record of nearly every course she studied in high school, a sample of her wedding lace, and the nameplate that sat on her husband’s desk. The entire collection is comprised of personal belongings and candid family portraits, giving the viewer an intimate glimpse at Philippine (Baumgartner) Berglund’s family.

While piecing together the Baumgartner family’s story has been a puzzle at times, it has been amazing how clearly the family’s voices tell their tale through photographs and letters. So, while no longer around to share her story, Philippine (Baumgartner) Berglund lovingly preserved her history in scrapbooks, saved letters, and documents tucked into photo album pages, and with my help, and the help of the GRHC, we will continue to preserve and share Philippine (Baumgartner) Berglund’s story.

This is the goal of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, to preserve and promote the German Russian history, heritage, and culture, especially in North Dakota. And this is my goal as a young historian, to learn, preserve, and share the stories of those who can no longer tell their own.

Working on the Baumgartner Collection has been an amazing opportunity, and I am certain that the experience I have gained at the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection will be beneficial as I enter the professional history field. And who would have thought that I could someday turn my love for storytelling into a career!

Ann Erling
GRHC Archival Assistant

Ann Erling looking through photographs from the Baumgartner Collection.

David, a native of Sawyer, North Dakota, joined the GRHC staff in 2005. Since then, he has been an integral part of our team. Shortly after joining our staff, David began working closely with Jessica Clark on the Dakota Memories Oral History Project. His work was not only innovative, but also impeccable. He was an outstanding video editor – editing more than 100 DVDs for the DMOHP. He was also the DMOHP web editor, and he saw the project through a complete web redesign. See www.ndsu.edu/ghrc/dakotamemories to view David’s handy-work. In essence, David was the man behind the scenes for the DMOHP.

This past spring, David graduated from NDSU with a BS in Computer Science. Although we were fortunate that David stayed for the summer, it is now time for us to say goodbye and good luck. David has been awarded an internship with NDSU’s Campus Crusades, and will no longer be an official part of the GRHC. However, he will always have a special place at the GRHC.

We wish David the best in his future endeavors, and thank him sincerely for all of his hard work and commitment to the GRHC. Don’t be a stranger, David!

A Special Thanks,
The GRHC Staff

Working with the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection is one of the greatest experiences for me. I have increasingly become familiar with a part of German and Russian history that is still alive and preserved by many German Russians especially in the Dakotas. My translation work at the collection, which concerns German-Russian literature for the most part, has provided the basis for a small insight into the variety of facts and experiences of the people concerned that are connected to the manifold history.

In addition to this, I also came in contact with the oral history of German Russians. After having been here for more than three weeks, I have met many wonderful people whose grandparents or great-grandparents belonged to one of the first waves of settlers or resettlers who fled Russia and immigrated to North Dakota. These people evidently know a lot of interesting stories about the time of their first homesteading relatives. In late September, I had the opportunity to visit an entirely German-Russian town, Fredonia, N.D., through one of the fantastic people I have the chance to work with at the GRHC. In conversations with the people living there, I learned, for instance, how pivotal a horse was to a homesteader back in the day and thus how much care and protection it needed. Even more interesting were dialogues in German with German Russians who had lived in the US all their lives.

Besides information regarding the German-Russian history, I also experienced leisure activities that can probably be considered “uniquely American.” The first one was water-tubing at a cabin at Strawberry Lake, N.D., and the second, even more “American,” was duck hunting in the sloughs and wetlands of North Dakota’s “wilderness.” Given the fact that I never went hunting before, it was an incredibly exciting and enjoyable experience.

Matthias Hofmann

Matthias Hofmann working on translations at the GRHC.