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FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticPeterson, Mark Edwin
Title, AnalyticGerman Readers and the Formation of the Henkel Press in Virginia
Journal TitleYearbook of German-American Studies
Date of Publication2016
Volume ID51
Location in Work135-146
View Onlinehttps://doi.org/10.17161/ygas.v51i
ISSN0741-2827
AbstractDuring the second half of the 18th century, German speakers established their own communities in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, but the creation of German-language publications was left to the established industries in large northern towns. The Lutheran pastor, Adolph Neussmann, wrote in 1793 that "no German-language presses existed between Maryland and Georgia to print Lutheran documents." Thus, while it was "a very clear effort to protect the religious traditions and language of Lutherans in the South that spurred the Henkel family to create an influential press in New Market, Virginia, the Henkels would produce a wide range of German-language works over the course of the next century, many of them appealing to different groups of German readers." However, "while the effort to preserve faith and heritage largely succeeded, the program of encouraging German literacy fell away as the community found ways to assimilate as Americans," and the press would stop printing German-language materials entirely [with its last German imprint reportedly appearing in 1854].
NotesIncludes bibliographical notes and references (pp. 144-146).
Call NumberMKI Periodicals
MKI TermsGerman Americans -- Virginia/ Newspapers, German-American/ Lutheran Church/ German language/ 18th century/ 19th century