Home

Michael M. Miller

Director and Bibliographer, M.Ed., M.S.
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection
North Dakota State University Libraries, Fargo

Deutsch

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.

Travels to the Homeland of Ancestors in Southern Ukraine

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"

Michael M. Miller and Bob Dambach, standing in a wheat field near the former German village of Elsass, Kutschurgan District (today Kherbanka), June 2, 1999. Miller and Dambach are co-producers of the documentary, "The Germans from Russia: Children of the Steppe, Children of the Prairie."

Professional Memberships


Permission to use any images from the GRHC website may be requested by contacting Michael M. Miller
North Dakota State University Libraries
Germans from Russia Heritage Collection
Libraries
NDSU Dept #2080
PO Box 6050
Fargo, ND 58108-6050
Tel: 701-231-8416
Fax: 701-231-7138
Last Updated:
Director: Michael M. Miller
Site Design: Tyler Simonson
Site Editor: Web Editors
North Dakota State University Library North Dakota State University North Dakota State University GRHC Home