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Esther (Mintz) Blecha Collection

 Collection
Identifier: GRHC SC 070

Scope and Contents

The Esther (Mintz) Blecha Collection contains a family photograph and Esther’s Baptism and Confirmation certificates as well as miscellaneous German-Russian events and family photographs, and Germans from Russia Heritage Society programs and memorabilia. The materials date from 1929 to 2006.

The matted photograph is of the Matthias family circa 1906 with the inscription on back, “Moss and Pally Mantz”. The miscellaneous photographs folder contains both family and German-Russian event photos. The GRHS programs are for the 1980 and 1986 conventions. One of the pins is also from the 1980 convention. One of the buttons is for The Grand Forks GRHS chapter, the last has “Guten-Tag!” on it. Esther wore these pins in photographs during events with the Germans from Russia Society in Grand Forks. The two commemorative medallions have the inscription, “Centennial Germans from Russia in Dakota Territory” on one side, and on the reverse, “1873-1973 In Amerika Durch Gottes Gnade: Arbeit Macht Das Leben Süss”. There is also a photocopy from a page of a magazine included showing photos of Dr. Gordon Iseminger, Gwen Pritzkau, Fr. William Sherman, and Esther Blecha. There are also two women from the Quilters Guild of North Dakota Edde Keuhl and Lea Wolff and Helen Niess.

Esther’s Baptism Certificate is from March 4, 1928 at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Monango, ND. She was confirmed on July 27, 1941 at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Monango, ND.

Dates

  • 1929 - 2006

Access

Access to the physical collection is available upon request. Request must be made at least three (3) business days prior to ndsu.grhc@ndsu.edu.

Copyright

Copyrights to items in this collection remain with original copyright holders or are in the public domain.

Biography

Esther was born in Monango, North Dakota to William and Katherine (Fiechtner) Mintz. She attended and graduated from Monango High School. She then attended the State Normal and Industrial School in Ellendale and graduated in 1969 from the University of North Dakota with a degree in education. She married Clarence Blecha in 1946 in Monango. They lived in Ellendale, ND, Lawrence, KS, and Kansas City, KS, before moving to Grand Forks, ND in 1951. She was a German teacher at Central High School in Grand Forks for 16 years, retiring in 1985. She was active in the Retired Teachers Association and Germans from Russia Heritage Society. Esther died on November 11, 2008.

Extent

8 Folders

Language of Materials

English

German

Provenance

Materials donated by Jane (Blecha) Plumhoff on January 20, 2017.

Separated Materials

Due to their larger size, the certificates from this collection have been separated from the rest of the collection and are housed in the GRHC's Oversized Storage.

Property Rights

The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection owns the property rights to this collection.
Title
Finding Aid to the Esther (Mintz) Blecha Collection
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Germans from Russia Heritage Collection Repository

Contact:
NDSU Dept 2080
PO Box 6050
Fargo ND 58108-6050 United States
(701) 231-6596