By Michael M. Miller
The dedication of the Dr. Joseph S. Height Collection was celebrated during the 50th Anniversary Convention of the Germans from Russia Heritage Society on July 21, 2021. Margaret Height, daughter of Dr. Height, donated his personal library. Margaret shared, “It was his library, personal papers, and research materials, and it’s what he did his whole life.” Margaret is a member of the GRHS Board of Directors. The GRHS annually awards the Dr. Joseph S. Height Literary Award to four outstanding essays, articles, or translations published in the Heritage Review.
I share Dr. Height’s presentation from September 23, 1972, at the 2nd convention of the North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia. “I’m no stranger to North Dakota, I’ve been through this state several times in the last 20 or 25 years. In fact, it’s the best road from Indiana to my native Saskatchewan. I also feel somewhat native of North Dakota because my father, my grandfather, my uncles, pioneered, for some time in North Dakota, for about five years. Then, they moved to Saskatchewan where they found greener pastures, but blacker earth. So, I feel right at home here. Your family names are familiar to me. I have friends and even relatives in North Dakota, along the Devils Lake and Rugby area.
Click here to continue reading In Touch with Prairie Living, September 2021.
