Research Guide to the Turner Movement in the United States

(Hardback)

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From the mid-19th century through World War I, Turner societies were among the most important secular organizations in German immigrant communities in America. Brought to the United States by refugees from the failed Revolution of 1848 in Germany, the Turner movement became a home for German abolitionists, workers' rights advocates, and other reformers. This book is the result of a project to locate the surviving documentation on the Turner movement. With an annotated bibliography, descriptions of archival collections, historical sketches of more than 150 Turner societies, and an annotated list of all societies in the United States, this research guide opens up new opportunities for examining the influence of the Turners. This book is the result of a project to locate the surviving documentation on the Turner movement, little of which was found in libraries or archives at the time the project began. The book shows that the extent of the movement, the range of its interests and activities, and the richness of its publishing record were much greater than has been appreciated. With an annotated bibliography, descriptions of archival collections, historical sketches of more than 150 societies, and an annotated list of all societies found in the United States, the research guide opens up new opportunities for examining the influence of Turners and German-Americans on the development of American society.

Reviews

"A long needed research tool for all students of German American culture and life. Beyond its significance for scholars interested in German Americana, this superb guide offers access to a wide range of material for social, political, and cultural historians."-Dr. Jorg Nagler Director, Kennedy House Kiel
"The compilers of this superb [guide] have combed neighborhoods and libraries throughout the country to make available for the first time comprehensive information on surviving collections of manuscripts and publications produced by the American Turners, combined with an exhaustive bibliography of books and articles about them...The Guide offers an invaluable model for how to identify, preserve, and make accessible the wealth of sources that document America's ethnic past."-Kathleen Neils Conzen Professor in American History The University of Chicago
"The Research Guide to the Turner Movement in the United States restores some of the luster to this powerful organization and insures that its impact can be properly studied by scholars. The extent of the available records is massive, and the guide itself is a treasure trove of historical information."- John Bodnar, Department of History Indiana University, Bloomington
The first Turner society was established in 1848. At the pinnacle of the movement in the 1890s more than 300 societies with membership in excess of 40,000 were affiliated with the American Turnerbund nationwide. The Turner halls served as community centers for German immigrants....Pumroy and Rampelmann's guide successfullly fills a void in research on the American Turners and early German-American organizations.-Choice
This is a well-organized, comprehensive, model guide to a social, political, and athletic movement in American history.-Reference and User Services Quarterly
"This is a well-organized, comprehensive, model guide to a social, political, and athletic movement in American history."-Reference and User Services Quarterly
"The first Turner society was established in 1848. At the pinnacle of the movement in the 1890s more than 300 societies with membership in excess of 40,000 were affiliated with the American Turnerbund nationwide. The Turner halls served as community centers for German immigrants....Pumroy and Rampelmann's guide successfullly fills a void in research on the American Turners and early German-American organizations."-Choice

Author Bio

ERIC. L. PUMROY is Director of the Library and Archives at the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies in Philadelphia. He is the author of A Guide to Manuscript Collections of the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana State Library (1986). KATJA RAMPELMANN is a doctoral student at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. She was the Project Archivist for the American Turners Historical Records Survey Project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.