Program on 19th Century European Immigrants Coming to Fayette Museum & Archives
The Fayette Heritage Museum and Archives is pleased to host a program, “European immigration to Texas in the 19th century,” presented by Colorado County author and historian, James C. Kearney, Ph. D. at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 16.
For several semesters Dr. Kearney taught an upper division course on this topic at the University of Texas. In the nineteenth century waves of immigrants from several Central and Northern European countries—principally, but not exclusively, from the German and Czech speaking lands— altered the demographics of Texas significantly, while accelerating both economic and agricultural development of the republic and (later) state.
Kearney points out that painted churches, dance halls, sausage festivals, etc. still speak to the cultural legacy of these immigrants in large swaths of Texas while, amazingly, pockets of bilingualism still survive after several generations. Although there are isolated stories of despair and disenchantment, the European immigrant story in Texas is, on the whole, one of triumph and achievement, with thousands upon thousands of new immigrants successfully making the transition to new home and community in far-away and (to them) exotic Texas!
This talk will examine both the push and the pull: the factors on the other side of the Atlantic that led untold thousands to leave family and friends to seek a new existence across the sea and the factors that attracted them to Texas rather than other parts of the United States.
Dr. Kearney was recognized by his peers and inducted as a fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters in 2016. He is the author of Nassau Plantation: The Evolution of a Texas- German Slave Plantation and co-author of No Hope for Heaven, No Fear of Hell, as well as Duty to Serve, Duty to Conscience. He has edited and translated three early books, Friedrichsburg, The Fortyeighters on Possum Creek: A Texas Civil War Story, and Inside the Texas Revolution; The Enigmatic Memoir of Herman Ehrenberg. Additionally, he edited a translation of Journey to Texas in 1833 and has contributed to other books and publications.
His latest book is due for release this fall by Texas A&M Press. A Life Portrait by Heinrich von Struve, in which Kearney translated and edited Struve’s Lebensbild [Life Portrait], includes Struve’s description of the years he spent in Fayette County and contains a wealth of documents and illustrations provided by J. T. Koenig, one of Struve’s descendants.
Kearney’s program will be held in the meeting room of the Fayette Public Library at 855 S. Jefferson St. in La Grange. Please use the rear meeting room entrance facing Franklin Street. After his program, Kearney will be available to sell and sign some of his books.
For more information, call the Museum & Archives at (979) 968-3765 or email archives@ cityoflg.com.