Looking for last-minute Christmas ideas for your person who's obsessed with German #genealogy? Santa might be slow to deliver, but if they're interested in the history of migration to America this will be worth the wait. Check out: https://tiefenort-auswanderer.shop/ for books (two in English, two in German) about emigrants to the US from the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, chiefly from 1846 to 1892. Are you near Burbank, CA? We own all 4 books at the #ImmigrantGenSoc for Germanic research.

In 2010, Germany dedicated a new postage stamp to Fritz Reuter, German poet and novelist. A Reuter quotation it used read, in high German: "Wenn einer tut, was er tut, dann kann er nicht mehr tun, als er tut. In English: "If one does what he does, then he can do no more than he does!"
At the #ImmigrantGenSoc, our late board member Eldon Knuth, who contributed so much to German #genealogy research, Reuter was one of his prime interests. We have several books of his by/on this man & his work.

Membership in the #ImmigrantGenSoc costs only $35 US a year (for emailed issues of the monthly newsletter) and grants access to our library collection of books, periodicals, and vertical files. You still have to conduct your own research, but we can guide you on that journey. Soon, an updated card catalog will be online, at: <immigrantgensoc.org>. We hope to “connect” with you soon! As president, editor, librarian — and “candidate” to advance your #genealogy, “I approve this message.” 7/7

Especially if you live in “SoCal”: As this election heats up, and you hear “Immigrants” being debated, don’t leave the voices of your Germanic immigrants unheard. The #ImmigrantGenSoc is here to assist as you try to uncover your #genealogy in Germanic Europe. We start with your Germanic name, working with whole shelves of indexed books, looking to see if it’s been changed from the original, if it seems to come from a region we can target, and if we can direct your research to find more. 6/7

Each family has its own story. Some took longer than others to assimilate. My wife was born a SHROYER, an Anglicized German name. Her paternal line family arrived in Philadelphia “pre-list” (i.e., mid-1720s). It took until the 2nd great-grandson of the immigrant patriarch until a marriage partner wasn’t 100% German — Mary Ann Sullivan, whose paternal grandfather was Irish, but whose other 3 gpts. were German! The #ImmigrantGenSoc could perhaps help YOU find your own #genealogy story. 5/7

This is because the #ImmigrantGenSoc feels that a “Germanic” #genealogy which doesn’t either start or end in Germanic Europe is really only about the American experience. We’re looking at both the migrations and in the contrasts each brought about in the families that experienced the “transformation.” There are often essentially 3 story lines: We prospered in a new land. We gambled and largely lost what had been ours. We’ve had ups and downs, but through it all we’ve met challenges. 4/7

The #ImmigrantGenSoc library is unique for Southern California, located now for years in Burbank. It’s smaller now because we downsized as we changed our mission. For example, our #FamilyHistory section of our #genealogy collection also downsized as we donated to other libraries books which were only based in American ancestry, possibly with a vague reference to Germanic origins. Those which remain place Germanic ancestors within the context of a specific place; some are wholly “German.” 3/7

We also once emphasized the British Isles and Ireland, Norway and Sweden, Italy, and the early settlement of New England states. But today we have focused on helping people find their Germanic roots, with other discoveries being tangential to that mission. Some have suggested that we thus change our name to include “German(ic)” as a keyword. Nevertheless, we remain the #ImmigrantGenSoc as we seek to help people with their #genealogy. It's because "immigrant" stays central to who we are. 2/7

The US political convention season is over. And as Americans move into the final stages of a national election it's time for the #ImmigrantGenSoc to, as the candidates have, “introduce itself.” Our flyer states that: “The Immigrant Genealogical Society (IGS) was founded in North Hollywood, CA, in 1982 to help Americans trace their ancestors’ origins, particularly in the German speaking areas of Europe.” It doesn't say is that we used to have a strong #genealogy interest in other origins. 1/7