Many of Ohio's earliest inhabitants came from Germany. Gabriel shares the difficult times they had in our state, and the lasting influence of their culture.
Class Discussion Questions:
1) What is your family's heritage?
2) What factors led to Germans settling in Ohio?
Read the Script:
Where is your family from? I mean of course you're from Ohio now, but where are your parents from, your great grandma, your great-great-great-grandpa?
For a lot of Ohioans the answer is Germany. It's a big part of our state's heritage. Heritage is the epic or cultural background that we carry from one generation to the next.
Germans were among the earliest settlers of Ohio. Many moved here from Pennsylvania along Zane's Trace, a rudimentary trail based on Native American walking paths in the 1790's.
But others followed construction jobs here, they helped to build the Ohio Erie Canal that opened in 1833 and some of the first railways to cross the state in the 1840's. Other Germans left their home country in search of farmlands. They moved to Ohio to grow crops. They brought many skills to the region like jewelry making, tailoring, and cabinet making.
Many of these immigrants left their home country because of the economic oppression, or due to political or religious persecution, but their lives weren't easy in Ohio either. Many native born U.S. citizens were distrustful of German immigrants. Some saw Germans as outsiders, and thought they would steal jobs from native born Americans. Others didn't like different customs and culture the immigrants brought with them.
So, many Germans set up their own communities within cities like Cincinnati and Cleveland. They wanted to preserve their culture and their history, so they established German churches and schools. They even printed their own German-language newspapers. One German-language paper in Columbus called Der Weitbote describe a German community in Columbus in 1855.
"The people who live in these small houses work very hard. You will not find silver on the doors, but you will find many little gardens which produce vegetables for the city's market. You will not find silk or other very expensive things; but the houses are very clean, the people work hard, and are very healthy, and they are very happy."
In 1917 when the U.S. declared war against Germany, a lot of people thought German Americans were the enemy. They changed street names that sounded German, banned schools from teaching German, and got rid of German publications. They even changed the name of an Ohio city. New Berlin, which was named after Germany's capital city, was changed to North Canton.
But the hard work of these early immigrants can't be erased. German churches were responsible for founding hospitals that are still around today. Many buildings throughout Ohio were created by German architects, like the Samuel Mather Mansion. It was built in 1910 on Millionaire's Row, and at the time it was the most expensive home in Cleveland and the largest ever built on that street.
Today, Ohioans celebrate the state's early immigrants and remember their history. There are festivals celebrating German heritage throughout Ohio, maybe there's even one in your town. And it doesn't matter where your ancestors are from, you can always celebrate the state's German heritage with a traditional bratwurst or a pretzel, mmm!
00000184-9c00-d6f8-a1cf-be049afb0001Instructional Links
Website Article: Ohio History Central, German Ohioans
Website Article: Cleveland Memory Project, German Americans of Cleveland
Website Article: DinoLingo, German Facts and Statistics, German Culture for kids