German Newspaper Research

Are you searching for a village of origin? A place of burial? Date of establishment? A specific surname or maiden name? Location of a church building or a schoolhouse? A relative in the "old country" of Ukraine or Russian Poland? Often the very clue needed to resolve a research puzzle can be found in the German newspaper. The German newspaper is often a treasure, a goldmine of historical and genealogical information!

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While newspapers are a valuable resource for genealogists, knowing how to effectively make use of them can be a bit elusive for some of us! Peggy Goertzen of Hillsboro, Kansas will present a workshop entitled German Newspaper Research with Particular Reference to Germans from Russia at 2:00 p.m., Friday, August 1st at the 2008 International Convention of Germans from Russia in Casper.

The session is one of more than 40 workshops that will be offered to some 1,000 attendees during the week-long gathering at the Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Center. Peggy's presentation will be in Ballroom C.

Peggy Goertzen has been the Director of the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies at Tabor College since 1992. Active in German newspaper research, she has compiled and published two books of extracts from the German newspaper, Vorwarts, which printed news about Germans from all over the United States and Canada with connections to south-central Kansas. The paper started publication in 1908. She has researched extensively the German-Russian/Mennonite immigration and settlement story in south central Kansas and western Oklahoma. Peggy has also extensively researched German newspapers, including those used by all Germans from Russia.

Peggy has been engaged in extensive research into families, churches, and communities of Mennonites and other Germans from Russia and serves on numerous historical boards throughout the United States. She and her husband, Gaylord, have four married children.