Have you started to plan for German-American Day?  For information check
Robert Shea's German-Americana Website: http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/germusa.htm

     October 6 is German-American Day. Just as Irish-Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day and invite everybody to participate in the celebration, on German-American Day Americans of German descent invite everyone to celebrate with them.

     In the late 19th and early 20th century, communities with a sizable German-speaking element would celebrate in grand style the day of theGerman-Americans. In Indiana, it was a real Community-Fest with Indiana governors and Vice President Fairbanks (1899) as speakers. In Evansville, the grand German Day celebration in 1911 lasted for one week (September 24-30).

     After the United States entered WW I against Germany in 1917, anti-German hysteria swept through the country. Many states passed legislation banning German in schools, religious services, newspapers and associations. Even in regions predominantly settled by German- speaking immigrants, cultural tolerance turned to Germanophobia, followed by abrupt abandonment of German-language programs in schools and colleges, churches, and associations.

     Individual German settlers are documented already in Jamestown, Virginia (1608), the "birthplace" of America. (see October 1: First Germans at Jamestown). However, it was on October 6, 1683, when a group of Mennonites from Krefeld disembarked from the "Concord" (the German Mayflower) in Philadelphia, constituting the first group immigration of Germans to America. Over 7 million would follow them over the next 300 years making German-Americans the largest ethnic group in the United States. In the 1990 Census 1 out of 4 Americans reported German ancestry.

     In 1983, for the German-American Tricentennial of this first group immigration, President Reagan proclaimed October 6 as "German- American Day," honoring the contributions of German immigrants to the life and culture of the United States. The tricentennial of the arrival of the first German immigrants was celebrated on that day in Washington and around the Nation.

     In 1986, in an effort to reinstate this old tradition, a national campaign and petition drive was begun by German-Americans and others who thought it appropriate that the nation recognize and celebrate its German-American heritage every year.  Subsequently, resolutions were introduced in the House by Reps. Thomas Luken of Cincinnati and Lee Hamilton of Indiana, and in the Senate by Senators Richard Lugar of Indiana and Don Riegle of Michigan. The resolutions received great support from around the nation in a concerted effort of national, regional, and local German-American organizations and countless individuals.

     There are celebrations  on or around German-American Day in Washington, D.C. particularly also at the German-American Friendship Garden--followed by receptions and other events such as a German-American Day Festival.  More recently an ecumenical church there are celebrations in clubs and  organizations around the Nation.

   German-American Day is a time of celebration, of raising awareness, strengthening a sense of identity and pride in the contributions of German-speaking immigrants and their descendants to the building of this nation.  The designation  "German" is used  in a cultural, not in a political sense, thus including the German-speaking Swiss, Alsatians, Austrians, Germans from Eastern Europe, and German Jews.

If you have access to the WWW, on Bob Shea's German Americana Webpage
http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/germusa.htm 

You will find a section called:

October 1: First Germans at Jamestown
http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/jtown1a.htm

October 3: Day of German Unity/Tag der deutschen Einheit - written by Eberhard Reichmann

October 6: German-American Day with a variety of articles: history, proclamations, greetings from the German Ambassador, das Sternenbannerlied, Declaration of Independence in German
http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/usafrg.htm

This has links to the Max Kade Center German-American Teaching Resources Page
http://www-lib.iupui.edu/kade/teaching.html

The German-American Day Unit: German Immigration and Famous German-Americans
Equally well suited is the Unit: German-Americans and Their ontributions to the American Mainstream Culture: German Names and Words or the Units from: Learning About Our World: Germany
Unit 16 - America, Here We come
Unit 19 - Emigration and Immigration

Max Kade German-American Center
reichman@indiana.edu
http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/

Updated in September 2003