|
Michael M. Miller
Director and Bibliographer, M.Ed., M.S.
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection
North Dakota State University Libraries, Fargo
2008 Librarian of the Year
Recipient
Biography
Michael Miller is the Director and Bibliographer of the Germans
from Russia Heritage Collection as well as a member of the faculty
and staff at the North Dakota State University Libraries since 1967.
Miller's higher education degrees are Bachelor of Science, (English, Journalism,
Library Science) Valley City State University, Valley City, ND; Master
of Science and Master of Education, (Library/ Media Education, Secondary
Education) University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. Miller attended
elementary and secondary schools in Strasburg, in south central
North Dakota.
At the Valley City State University homecoming events
in October 2002, Miller received the Award of Merit
from the Alumni Association. In April 2003, Miller
donated to the Allen Memorial Library, Valley City
State University, a
special collection of learning resources about
the Germans from Russia including books, maps, and
videotapes. In 1990, the Mountain Plains Library Association
presented Miller with the Distinguished Service Award
The Peter Miller (Müller) Genealogy compiled by Michael M. Miller and Linda M. Haag, was published in 2008. The Johannes Baumgartner Story and Genealogy: Bicentennial Editon: 1774 - 1974 compiled by John J. Baumgartner, Jr., was published in 1974.
 |
Grain fields near Odessa,
Ukraine, May, 2001 |
| University Room Address |
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection Room 114C
Libraries
NDSU Dept #2080
PO Box 6050
Fargo, ND 58108-6050 |
| Library Phone |
701-231-8416 |
| Library Fax |
701-231-7138 |
| University E-mail |
Michael.Miller@ndsu.edu |
 |
|
| Marriage photo of Peter and
Mary Baumgartner Miller, Strasburg, North Dakota. |
Peter & Mary (Baumgartner) Miller
Family: (l-r, back row): Donald (deceased); Ramona (deceased);
Harold & Oswald (deceased); (l-r, front row): Pearl, Mary &
Peter (deceased) & Michael. Circa late 1940s. |
Ancestry of Michael's parents, Peter P. Miller & Mary M. Baumgartner,
Strasburg, North Dakota
Peter P. Miller is the son of Peter & Agnes (Schreiner) Miller
(Müller), born at the Catholic German village of Krasna, Bessarabia,
South Russia (today Krasnoe, Ukraine). Peter & Agnes Miller immigrated
from Bessarabia to Emmons County, ND, in 1894, settling in the Krasna
area, west of Strasburg, ND. Mary Baumgartner is the daughter of
Michael & Otillia (Wolf) Baumgartner. Michael & Otillia were born
in the Black Sea Catholic village of Strassburg (Kutschurgan District),
South Russia (today Kutschurgan, near Odessa, Ukraine), immigrating
to Strasburg, ND, in 1889.
In 2008, he was compiler of the book, The Peter Miller (Müller) Genealogy.
Family Heritage of Michael M. Miller
Michael son of Johannes Baumgartner, born September
5, 1874, died November 11, 1942; married on April 29,1892
Otillia [nee Wolf], born on December 25, 1872, died on March
7, 1954 Strasburg, North Dakota
Children:
Eva Wikenheiser, April 29, 1893 - October 7, 1970
Michael, Jr., March 7, 1895 - January 23, 1969
Barbara Wikenheiser, May 17, 1897 - July 16, 1955
Margaret Klein, October 10, 1898 - deceased
Frank, July 22, 1902 - March 1, 1952
John, October 2, 1904 - January 13, 1974
Mary Miller, born August 28, 1987 - July 17, 1970
Philippine Berglund, March 23, 1910 - November 5, 2005
Agnes Wudtke, January 25, 1914 - February 10, 1975
Odelia Davis, June 11, 1917, - October 5, 1979
_____________________________
Peter P., son of Peter and Agnes [nee Schreiner]
Miller, born on June 4, 1904, died on August 1, 1984; married
Mary Baumgartner, born on August 28, 1907, died on July 17,
1970
Strasburg, North Dakota
Children:
Oswald, September 18, 1927 - March 8, 2006
Harold, September 21, 1929
Donald, April 3, 1936 - October 10, 1998
Pearl, June 15,1940 - November 7, 2003
Ramona Becker, December 22, 1937 - February 14, 1978
Michael, July 3, 1943
|
Growing up in a North Dakota German-Russian Community
Michael Miller's hometown of Strasburg was settled primarily by
Germans from Russia immigrants who came to south-central North Dakota
in the 1880's from the former German villages near Odessa, Ukraine.
His Müller grandparents immigrated to North Dakota from the Catholic
village of Krasna, Bessarabia. His Baumgartner grandparents immigrated
to North Dakota from the Catholic village of Strassburg, Kutschurgan
District, South Russia (today near Odessa, Ukraine).
Miller grew up speaking both English and German and became interested
in the heritage, culture and history of his ancestors. An important
focus throughout Miller's life and career has been the preservation
and documentation of the rich heritage within the German-Russian
community in North America.
 |
| Baumgartner Family
Circa late 1910s/early 1920s.
My grandparents, Michael &
Otilla (Wolf) Baumgartner. Michael was born in 1874 and died
in 1942. Odelia was born in 1872 and died in 1954. Married
in 1892 at Strasburg, ND. For complete information, see the
Johannes Baumgartner
Story and Genealogy. Front row (l-r): Michael, Jr.,
Michael, Sr., Agnes, Philippine, Tillie, Odelia and Eva. Back
row: Frank, Margaret, Barbara, John and Mary. |
| |
| The Michael and Odellia Wolf Baumgartner
Family, Strasburg, ND, circa 1950s. Front row (l-r): Philippine,
Odelia, Michael (father), Odellia (mother), Agnes, and Mary;
Back row (l-r): Frank, Barbara, Michael, Margaret, John, and
Eva. |
Miller's rural hometown on the Dakota prairies became quite well-known,
due to one of North Dakota's most famous native sons. Bandleader Lawrence
Welk was born in a sod house on a farmstead
near Strasburg homesteaded by his German-Russian parents. Mr. Welk
conducted America's most famous television orchestra, with the Lawrence
Welk Show entertaining North American television audiences for 27
years. Miller's friendship with the Welk family in Strasburg led to
locating the musical
archives of Lawrence Welk, being donated to NDSU in 1993.
Since June, 1994, Miller has been privileged to tour his ancestral
villages of Strassburg and Krasna in southern Ukraine. He has directed
annual tours for educating Americans of German-Russian heritage
to their Ukrainian and Moldovan homeland villages: June, 1996; May,
1997; May, 1998; and May, 1999, June, 2000, May 2001, May 2002,
May 2003, June 2004, May 2005, May 2006, May 2007, and May 2008 including
the Russlanddeutschen
Bundestreffen at Wiesbaden, Germany. The 1997 tour also included
viewing cultural treasures of Russia in St. Petersburg.
Producing the Germans from Russia Award-Winning Documentaries
In February, 1999, Prairie Public Television, Fargo, North Dakota,
premiered the 60-minute award-winning television documentary, The
Germans from Russia: Children of the Steppe, Children of the Prairie.
The program received a wonderful response from throughout North America.
The documentary received the prestigious Silver Telly Award from the
Center for Creativity. Executive producers of the program were Bob
Dambach, director of television at Prairie Public Broadcasting, and
Michael M. Miller.
In March, 2000, Prairie Public TV premiered a television documentary
on the foodways and recipes of the Germans from Russia culture brought
to the central and northern plains of North America: Schmeckfest:
Food Traditions of the Germans from Russia.
In September, 2002, Prairie Public Television premiered Prairie
Crosses, Prairie Voices: Iron Crosses of the Great Plains.
Miller was pleased to be an executive producer of the third videotape
documentary of the Germans from Russia Series. For filming and interviews,
the crew traveled in the Dakotas, western Kansas, and southern Saskatchewan.
In April, 2005, Prairie Public Television premiered the a documentary
A Soulful Sound: Music of the Germans from Russia.
This will be the fourth in the "Germans from Russia" documentary
series. The concert choirs of the University of Mary, Bismarck,
ND, and Jamestown College, Jamestown, ND, are cooperating partners
with the music documentary.
In July, 2006, the one-hour documentary premiered, We'll
Meet Again in Heaven. This program is a searing chronicle of
a forgotten genocide and a lost people. The lost people are the
ethnic German minority living in Soviet Ukraine, who wrote their
American relatives about the starvation, forced labor, and execution
that were almost daily fare in Soviet Ukraine during this period
of 1928 to 1938.
Dakota Memories Oral History Interview Project
The Dakota
Memories Oral History Interview Project began in the spring
of 2005 in cooperation with the Department of History at North Dakota
State University. For further information, visit: www.ndsu.edu/grhc/dakotamemories
Photographer
Michael Miller's photography interests have developed into a rewarding
experience that has enriched his life. He has developed many global
friendships by traveling to do photography in North America and
other international locations. Miller's involvement with sports
photography for North Dakota State University Bison Athletics was
from 1978 until the winter of 1997 (www.sportsphotosmmm.com).
His olympic and photographic experiences include the following
Olympic Games: 1984 Los Angeles, California; 1988 Seoul, Korea;
1988 Calgary, Alberta; 1992 Albertville, France; 1992 Barcelona,
Spain; 1994 Lillehammer, Norway; 1996 Atlanta, Georgia; and 2002
Salt Lake City, Utah. Miller has photographed at these World Wrestling
Championships: Edmonton, Alberta; Skopje, Yugoslavia; and Atlanta
and San Diego, California. His photographs from the 1984 Los Angeles
Summer Olympics were included in a 1986 calendar published by Knight
Printing, Fargo, North Dakota.
Now Miller's photographic interests relate to historic architecture,
nature, wildlife, and the outdoors. He uses Canon 35mm A-1 cameras
with color print and color slide film.
Recent
Photographs from the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics
Article for The Fargo Forum "Olympic-size
Hobby"
Professional Memberships
|
