Newsletter of the Texas German Dialect Project (TGDP) The Texas German Times DECEMBER 2019 ISSUE 12 Premiere of All Güt Things: The Texas German Story ElderHall Texas Inde- TGDP Milestones pendent Film Festival in 2018– 2019 Blanco, and Best Local Film at the Billy the Kid The TGDP has inter- Film Festival in Hico, viewed 68 new speakers Texas. The film has also since December 2018. been submitted to TGDP members presented SXSW in Austin. outreach talks at the LBJ Due to its success, the State Park and Historic Site team behind All Güt in Stonewall, the Annual Things has decided to Convention of the Texas All Güt Things: The Texas screenings in Arlington, continue to develop the German Society in March German Story started in Houston, Dallas, Austin, film into a feature length 2019 and the 2019 Annual 2014 as a five-minute and Stonewall. It premi- version. As part of their conference of the German- short film by Chase Ho- ered at the Hill Country efforts to raise funds to Texas Heritage Society in naker. Since then, Ho- Film Festival in Freder- help accomplish this, Temple (September 2019). naker and his team have icksburg in April and the All Güt Things team TGDP members presented expanded the film into a played at the Rockport has made their merchan- academic talks at work- 35 minute documentary Film Festival in October dise available on Etsy shops and conferences in film about German im- and at the University of (store: WorkshedCrea- Bloomington (IN), Madi- migration to Texas, the Würzburg (Germany) in tive). A digital download son (WI), Iowa City (IA), Texas German experi- July. The film was of the film is included Berlin (Germany), and Seoul (South Korea). ence, and the rise and awarded Best Short with purchases over fall of the Texas Ger- Documentary and Best $30. To watch the film, For a list of recent TGDP man dialect. of Festival at the Trib- visit https:// publications, see p. 5. The documentary has ute Film Festival in Abi- vimeo.com/313558411 been screened through- lene, best Texas Short (password: out Texas, including test Film at the inaugural Texasgerman). African American Texas German speakers Inside this issue: It was both unexpected UT Austin graduate to amicable dealings Texas Polish update 2, 3 and peculiar when our David Huenlich has set between Germans and Alkek Foundation 2 interviewers learned out to investigate these African Americans in during a 2015 TGDP accounts of African- the era of Jim Crow. A donation field trip that there used American German German enthusiast re- TGDP resources 4 to be black German speakers: why did they calls: “It’d be ten or speakers throughout acquire German in an twelve of us maybe, African American 1, 5 central Texas. Texas increasingly English- normally half of them Texas Germans Germans related stories speaking environment? black and half white… Featured TGDP 4 about German-speaking Were the reasons mainly But that didn’t make Alum African Americans in economic or were there any difference. We’d Lee County, Fayette other factors? How did have us a ball TGDP publications 5 County, and Austin Germans relate to racial game” (Vaught 2013, County. Some of the segregation? Research The Farmers Game, speakers passed away on baseball in rural Tex- p.68). only recently. as, for example, points cont on p. 5 Texas German Dialect Project (TGDP) ISSUE 12 Page 2 Update: The Texas Polish Dialect Project (TPDP) It has been a year since the Boas and the TGDP, they The Texas Polish Dialect these interviews in the Texas announcement of the found- began to interview as many Project (TPDP) continues Polish Dialect Archive ing of the Texas Polish Dia- speakers of Texas Polish as to conduct research in (TPDA) online, which will lect Project (TPDP). In early they could as quickly as pos- representative Texas soon be available. The TPDA 2017, the TPDP’s founders, sible. Many very enthusiastic Polish speech communi- will allow users to listen to Agnieszka Makles and John people have expressed their ties. The main goal of the these interviews and hear ex- Benjamin, began meeting interest and readiness in par- TPDP is to preserve the amples of this rich language. about Texas Polish and de- ticipating in the TPDP. To Texas Polish dialect as a Future interviews conducted cided to learn more about date, the TPDP has record- record of the rich cultural will then be added to the the community and the lan- ed interviews with 27 speak- and linguistic traditions of TPDA. Please look out for guage. Following initial re- ers from Cestohowa, Panna its residents and to allow the web address, coming search, they discovered that Maria, Pawelekville, Kenne- anyone interested, espe- soon! there was much more work dy, and San Antonio. The cially community mem- to do to learn about and TPDP thus consists of ap- bers and researchers ac- Polish Texans preserve the language and proximately 15 hours of vo- cess to a repository of the Immigrants from Poland, spe- thus proposed a project cabulary and stories from dialect. Members of the cifically from Upper Silesia modeled on the Texas Ger- Texas Polish speakers along TPDP thus carry out in- near Opole, first arrived in man Dialect Project with an additional 10 hours terviews with speakers of Texas in the mid 19th century (TGDP) and the Texas of biographical background Texas Polish. The TPDP and became the first perma- Czech Legacy Project. After to better understand the is currently in the process nent Polish settlers in the receiving support from Hans wider community. of digitizing and storing cont on p. 3 Alkek Foundation makes a generous donation to support TGDP graduate research assistant One of the most port the Texas Ger- important tasks of man Dialect Project the TGDP is to with funding for a find and interview year-long Graduate people across the Research Assistant Lone Star State who position during the can still speak Tex- 2019-2020 academic as German. Organ- year. This generous izing and conducting these herself, while at other times outreach workshop in funding has allowed the interviews requires a lot of the GRA takes a group of January, presenting talks TGDP to hire Margo Blevins, time and is typically handled undergraduate and/or grad- at meetings of German who is currently writing her by a graduate research assis- uate students along to help heritage organizations dissertation in the Depart- tant (GRA) from the De- out with interviews, which across Texas, and pre- ment of Germanic Studies, to partment of Germanic Stud- can take up to an entire day. senting talks at academic continue recording more of ies at UT Austin. Over the The GRA then also oversees conferences. In other the remaining speakers of past five years, various grad- the editing, transcription, words: the GRA is crucial Texas German and to archive uate students have filled that and translation of the inter- to the on-going success these recordings in the Texas role, some of which you views by other students of the TGDP. However, German Dialect Archive. We have read about in this working for the TGDP and finding sufficient funding are extremely grateful for the newsletter: Ryan Dux, David is crucial to a number of to support a GRA year-by generous support by the Al- Huenlich, Alexander Lorenz, other important TGDP -year is no easy task. bert and Margaret Alkek and currently Margo tasks and activities, including In the spring of this year, Foundation. Blevins. the following: publishing the we learned that the Albert Sometimes the GRA con- yearly TGDP newsletter, and Margaret Alkek ducts interviews by him-/ organizing the TX German Foundation would sup- Texas German Dialect Project (TGDP) Page 3 ISSUE 12 TPDP Update, cont. cont. from p. 2 Hansa One. While in the United States. They fol- Slavic Department at UT lowed Father Leopold Austin from 2016–19, she Moczygemba, born in 1824 met many Polish speakers in the Silesian village of and members of the Texas Płużnica, who arrived in Silesian community who 1852 to provide missionary expressed interest in a pro- service to German settlers ject preserving the language in New Braunfels. The first and was inspired by the 150 settlers set sail in Octo- Texas German Dialect Pro- ber 1854 and reached Gal- ject (TGDP) to start the veston on December 3. Via TPDP. Agnieszka is origi- Indianola, they headed to nally from Silesia near San Antonio to meet Father Częstochowa and feels Moczygemba, arriving on strongly tied to Texas Silesi- December 21. The majority ans as they share a common traveled with him and The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church homeland. founded what is today Pan- in Cestohowa, TX John Benjamin (john.benjamin@westpoint. in ebbs and flows, and in disperse around the state edu) is Assistant Professor 1867, the founding of New and country seeking other of German in the Depart- Waverly in Walker County opportunities. The language ment of Foreign Languages signaled the beginning of was also taught less in at the United States Military the East Texas Polish com- schools. Whatever the rea- Academy West Point. While munities of the Diocese of sons, the rapid process of receiving his PhD in the Galveston. Americanization intensified Department of Germanic Well into the 20th-century, after World War II and Studies at UT Austin, he the Silesians maintained continues to this day. Yet worked with Hans Boas on strongly knit communities. many of these communities the Texas German Dialect The Polish language, a still exist. Each year all over Project (TGDP) and be- strong part of this close- Texas descendants of these came interested in Texas Father Leopold Moczygemba ness, was used in many immigrants meet to cele- immigrant dialects.