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Reviews
| Ethnicity Matters: A History of the German Society of Pennsylvania, by Birte Pfleger. Washington, DC: German Historical Institute, 2006. 138 pages. Paper. Also available at <http://www.ghi-dc.org/publications/ghipubs/other/ethnic ity/em.html>.
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| Ethnicity Matters is a fairly straightforward account of the German Society of Pennsylvania, which was founded in Philadelphia in 1764 and continues to exist into the twenty-first century, making it, as Pfleger puts it, "the oldest German ethnic organization in the Western hemisphere." This work chronicles the ups and downs of the organization, beginning with the Society's origins as a relief agency, its leaders' support of the American Revolution, and its transformation into a cultural broker between newly arriving German immigrants and the larger Philadelphian and American landscape. Pfleger also examines the changing role of the German Society throughout the nineteenth century, during the tumultuous times of World War I when anything German was suspect, into the Nazi era, and beyond. She carves out a particularly important chapter on the role that the Women's Auxiliary played, especially during the Second World War. Finally, this book concludes with the harsh realities and struggles this organization has had to face due to dwindling numbers of German immigrants and members, urban changes that have occurred at the Society's current locale, and shrinking financial resources and options. |
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The word "matters" in the title intimates that ethnicity itself is the subject of concern. However, Pfleger carelessly assumes that the German Society reflected German American ethnicity. The weakest part of this study covers the mid-to-late nineteenth century, when the rapidly growing German immigrant population in Philadelphia brought strongly held regional and provincial allegiances. During this time, the majority of skilled working-class southern Germans who had arrived in the 1840s and 1850s created their own organizations, while professional and middle-class Germans from other parts of Germany who arrived in Philadelphia slightly later decided to reinvigorate the German Society of Pennsylvania. Both groups created German American ethnic communities that often differed economically, socially, politically, and culturally. Yet, Pfleger concludes that middle-class Germans who joined the German Society held onto their ethnic identity, while those working-class Germans who did not join the German Society were more class conscious. The vagaries of the German Society of Pennsylvania throughout its 244-year history reflect these dynamic alternative constructions of German and German American interests and ethnicity. Those who emigrated from Germany in the 1890s or later brought still another variation of German ethnicity compared to those who had arrived earlier. Being German and joining the organization are not enough to define German ethnicity in nineteenth-century Philadelphia. |
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This book is more successful in showing that the organization reflected specific concerns of particular individuals from its origins to the present. The creation of the German Society of Pennsylvania to provide assistance and relief to immigrants was the core focus of the organization. However, its mission transformed with changing historical and demographic forces, continuing to reflect the on-going concerns and affairs of a specific group of German Americans and German immigrants. One new mission was the creation of the library and archives. The freshest part of this study details the behavior, beliefs, and actions of the German Society's leadership during the difficult periods of World War I and the era leading into and including World War II. Pfleger documents the pro-German activities and stances of the Society's leaders not only during the First World War, but more critically, during the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. Two previous books on the Society could or would not: one was published in 1917, just as the U.S. entered the war against Germany; the other, a Bicentenary Edition of the Society's history in 1964, made no mention of any overtly pro-German activities. Until increasing anti-German hostility from Philadelphians made it difficult, the leadership and members of the German Society had collected pro-German materials. In particular, volatile pro-Hitler and pro-Nazi materials were discreetly removed from the archives. This aspect of German American behaviors, as also shown in Russell A. Kazal's Becoming Old Stock: The Paradox of German-American Identity, has helped to temper earlier historical interpretations that the remnants of German ethnic identity rapidly assimilated under the onslaught of twentieth-century anti-German sentiment. |
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Ultimately, this work raises the issue of the Society's future and the fortunes of the library's resources. As someone who has used the library, I fully appreciate the wealth of materials that remain and could disappear or be destroyed if not properly preserved. By raising awareness of this prospect, one hopes that ethnicity matters. |
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| Santa Monica College, California |
Leslie Kawaguchi |
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