Summary of Activities and Projects

Germans from Russia Heritage Collection Website

May I suggest that GRHS members review the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection website -- http://library.ndsu.edu/gerrus -- including new updates, publications, tours, recipes, folkways, exhibits, and other information.

Fessenden Woman Plans Major Bequest to the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection and the NDSU Libraries

Marie M. Rudel Portner, Las Vegas, born in 1897 on a farm near Fessenden, Wells County, ND, has expressed an intention to leave a substantial portion of her estate to the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection and the NDSU Libraries.

Mrs. Portner's wish for the intended gift is to establish a permanent endowment in memory of her parents, Simon and Dorothea Weber Rudel, who immigrated from South Russia and homesteaded in Wells County in the late 1800s. Annual proceeds from the endowment would support the Libraries' preservation of the Germans from Russia heritage as a unique cultural force in shaping the history of the northern plains of North America.

While the endowment would be established in honor of her parents, the Libraries would also recognize Mrs. Portner for her generosity by setting aside space within the Main Library for the purpose of furthering the bibliographic, preservation, and communication activities of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, and naming it "The Marie Rudel Portner Germans from Russia Heritage Center."

Funds from the endowment will help to support many projects relating to the Germans from Russia, such as the publishing of manuscripts and oral histories, traveling exhibits, video documentaries, expanded facilities for the Libraries' growing historical, ethnic, cultural collections, and the electronic networking of NDSU's special collections with other scholarly research centers throughout the world.

Television Documentary on the Germans from Russia

The NDSU Libraries is collaborating with Prairie Public Television to produce a major television documentary series exploring the history and culture of the Germans from Russia -- past, present and future. The documentary project is a major undertaking, beyond the usual capabilities of either PPTV or the NDSU Libraries. We need financial help from the Germans from Russia community to generate $200,000 in private donations to produce this series at the high level of excellence required for national television audiences. We invite GRHS members to join in this important project.

Bob Dambach, Producer, and Dave Geck, Videographer, joined tours to Ukraine and Germany in June, 1996, and May, 1997, to complete extensive filming and interviewing.

Kempf Family Traveling Exhibit

The traveling exhibit, The Kempf Family: Germans from Russia Weavers on the Dakota Prairies, has the following display dates:

Journey to the Homeland Tours

The North Dakota State University Libraries offers guided tours to the former Black Sea, Bessarabian, and Crimean German villages in southern Ukraine. The upcoming tours are 26 May - 8 June 1998 and May, 1999. The tours include a visit to Odessa, Ukraine and the former Bessarabian and Black Sea German villages and to Stuttgart, Germany. The 1998 tour includes the Bundestreffen on 6 June 1998 in Stuttgart. The tour in June, 2000 includes Odessa, Ukraine, the Bundestreffen in Stuttgart, and the historic Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, performed every ten years. Past tours include June, 1996 and May, 1997.

Special family tours are also available. For further information, contact Journey to the Homeland Tours, Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, PO Box 5599, NDSU Libraries, Fargo, ND 58105-5599 (701-231-8416).

Sounds of the Homeland "Heimatklaenger" Choir Visits North Dakota in July

The choir of Germans from Russia was found in 1984. There are 25 active members many who were born in the former German villages near Odessa, Ukraine, and later sent to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The choir will perform at the GRHS Convention; Streeter (July 20); Strasburg (July 22); Bismarck (July 23-24); Dickinson (July 26); and Richardton (July 27). The NDSU Libraries is pleased to assist in hosting the choir in cooperation with GRHS chapters and local communities. Some of the choir members have relatives in North Dakota and South Dakota.

Journey to the Homeland Tours Featured in Major North Dakota Magazines

The Journey to the Homeland tours of June, 1996, were featured in the North Dakota Horizons Winter 1997 issue with the article, "Journey to the Homeland." The North Dakota REC/RTC Magazine, March, 1997, featured the article, "You Can Go Home Again with the Aussiedlers in Stuttgart, Germany." Both articles were written by Ron Vossler, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. Mr. Vossler was a member of the tours in June, 1996 and May, 1997 as a writer and interviewer.

Ukrainian School Supply Project

The Ukrainian School Supply Project, "Sharing Gift and Caring Hearts for Ukrainian School Children," continues for the 1997-1998 school year. We encourage GRHS chapters and members to assist us in gathering these needed school supplies, or to consider a financial donation. Journey to the Homeland tour members in June, 1996, and in May, 1997, took many school supplies, clothing, needles and thread and other items in their luggage.

1998 Germans from Russia Gatherings in Arizona

The NDSU Libraries, Fargo, will sponsor German-Russian gatherings in the Phoenix area during the winter of 1998. We will sponsor tables at the North Dakota Picnic at Pioneer Park, Mesa, AZ, on Sunday, 1 March 1998.

Growing Up in North Dakota: a Memoir Published

Growing Up in North Dakota: a Memoir by Philo T. Pritzkau is a vivid story of the pioneer period of the state's history. Here are stories of "horse and buggy days", of haying, harvesting, and thrashing; and of hard times, long winters, and one room schools. Philo Pritzkau was born in 1902 in the sod house built by his immigrant German-Russian parents near Burnstad, ND. The book can be purchased from the Germans from Russia Heritage Society. Dr. Philo T. Pritzkau plans to visit North Dakota in September, 1997, to autograph his book including stops in Bismarck, Fargo, Jamestown and Napoleon. Further details will be announced. His daughter is Patricia Pritzkau MacLachlan, internationally acclaimed for the prairie story, Sarah, Plain and Tall.

"In Touch with Prairie Living" Published in Weekly Newspapers

Weekly newspapers in North Dakota and the Timber Lake Topic in South Dakota continue to publish this popular monthly column, "In Touch with Prairie Living," featuring the heritage, folklore, foodways, and culture of the Germans from Russia on the Dakota prairies. The column first appeared in November, 1996, and can be seen at the GRHC website under "Newspaper Articles".

For further information about the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, the official repository of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society, contact Michael M. Miller, Germans from Russia Bibliographer, NDSU Libraries, PO Box 5599, Fargo, ND 581055599. Tel: 701-231-8416; E-mail: Michael.Miller@ndsu.edu.

Germans from Russia Heritage Society Convention
Jamestown, North Dakota - July, 1997