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FormatDissertation
CreatorTischauser, Leslie Vincent
TitleThe Burden of Ethnicity: The German Question in Chicago, 1914-1941
Dissertation Note (type -- academic institution)Ph.D (History) -- University of Illinois at Chicago Circle
Date1981
Extent of Workiii, 282 pages
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AbstractBetween 1914 and 1941 most German Americans in Chicago rejected the assertion of an ethnic identity. During those years community leaders made several attempts to rejuvenate an ethnic consciousness but they failed to find any issues around which German Americans could unite. During the First World War the anti-Hun campaign in the city almost annihilated German culture. The German language was banned, German schools were burned, German-American citizens were arrested, and allegiance to the Old Country became a symbol of un-Americanism. Only a small group of militant defenders of Germanism, including editors of German language newspapers, German language teachers, leaders of German ethnic societies, and businessmen with a direct interest in the survival of an ethnic community such as restaurant owners, saloon-keepers, and brewers, emerged from the war experience with an interest in rebuilding a German-American ethnic consciousness. During the 1920s and 1930s these "Germanists" became leaders without followers.
Call NumberDigital file
MKI TermsAnti-German sentiment/ Chicago (Ill.)/ German-Americans/ Nativism/ History/ 20th century/ World War, 1914-1918/ Ethnic identity/ World War, 1939-1945