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Book Review: "Nathaniel Hawthorne Meets Swiss Immigrants: A Research Note"

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Walter L. Robbins , "Nathaniel Hawthorne Meets W Immigrants: A Research Note."

Randall Stewart reports in his work Nathaniel Hawthorne. A Biography (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1948), p . 42, that Hawthorne had undertaken during the "solitary years" 1825 to 1837 various journeys, in 1833 or 1834 possibly to Niagara and Detroit. He published his apparently firsthand descriptions in the New England Magazine Volume XI (December 1835), 398-409, which contains a report entitled "The Canal-Boat." In that sketch Hawthorne tells of his encounter with a Swiss immigrant group. It is quoted here after the following edition: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses …

The Thirteenth Annual Meeting Of The Swiss American Historical Society, Bruno Gujer, Leo Schelbert

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

The thirteenth annual meeting of the reactivated SAHA was held on Saturday, October 30, 1976, at the Embassy of Switzerland, 2900 Cathedral Avenue, N.W., in Washington, D.C.

Book Review: "Americans From Germany: A Study In Cultural Diversity", Leo Schelbert

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Robert H. Billigmeier, Americans from Germany : A Study in Cultural Diversity. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1974. 189 pp. $5.00.

Historians interested in immigration to the territory of the United States or in the ethnic dimension of American social history will welcome this synthesis of the story of immigrants from German-speaking lands. It describes "in both general and specific terms the complex social experience of one of America's most significant cultural and population components" (Preface).

Contents

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Book Review: "A Guide To Foreign Genealogical Research", M. A. W.

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Maralyn A. Wellauer, A Guide to Foreign Genealogical Research. A Selected Bibliography of Printed Material with Addresses.

This is a reference guide for genealogists who want to extend a pedigree line beyond the Immigrant Ancestor without engaging the services of a professional genealogist.

Introductory Remarks, Heinz K. Meier

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

This issue of the SAHA news letter is late due to the fact that it was more difficult than usual to get the materials together. We still plan to publish three letters in 1977 as we have become accustomed during the past five years.

Book Review: "The Postage Stamps Of Switzerland 1843-1862", H. K. Meier

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Paul Mirabaud and Alex de Reuterskiold, The Postage Stamps o f Switzerland 1843-1862, Paris, 1899 . Reprint by Quarterman Publications, Inc., 5 South Union Street, Lawrence, Massachusetts 01843, 1975. $35.00.

Quarterman Publications provides the following description: "The Postage Stamps of Switzerland was originally published in 1899 in a limited edition of which only 150 copies were in English. Chapters on the various Cantonal issues, the transitional Hayone [sic: should be Rayons), and the seated Helvetias are among those Mirabaud, and his colleague Baron Alex de Reuterskiold, assembled from information obtained from the existing literature a well as the records and …

Book Review: "Ein Lesebuch, Choix De Textes, Raccolta Di Testi, Collecziun De Texts", Lukas Burckhardt

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Herausgegben vom Schweizerischen Bundesrat. Ein Lesebuch, Choix de textes, Raccolta di testi, Collecziun de texts. Schweizerische Bundeskanzlei, Bern, 1975, 684 Seiten, Fr. 25 .--.

The Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848 was totally amended in 1874. The Swiss government wanted to commemorate these two 28 basic dates in an appropriate way, by publishing a textbook which presents statements by politically and culturally active Swiss of all walks 0f life and beliefs in the past hundred years.

Book Review: "Einführung In Die Schweizerische Auswanderungsgeschichte Der Neuzeit", Heinz K. Meier

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Leo Schelbert, Einführung in die Schweizerische Auswanderungsgeschichte der Neuzeit. Zurich: Verlag Leemann, 1976. 443 pp. S. Fr. 50. Printed as Beiheft 16 of the Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Geschichte.

Leo Schelbert's "Introduction to the history of the Swiss emigration in modern times" is a massive work of more than 400 pages of relatively small print. The work is divided into four parts, titled "Theoretical Foundation," "Historical Survey," Selected Documents," and "Historiographical Introduction." Each of the four parts is almost self contained and covers the subject of Swiss emigration from a different angle. As a consequence there are certain repetitions and overlappings. …

Pierre-Frederic Droz: The 'American': The Story Of An Itinerant Watchmaker, Leo Schelbert

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Most immigrants, especially those who came to stay in a certain country for only a short while, belonged to the "inarticulate," that is to those whose experiences, joys and trials went largely unrecorded. A few of them, however, did leave rich and vivid accounts of their journeys and adventures. To them belongs Pierre-Frederic Droz, known to his countrymen as the "American" who remained for a good part of his life a man on the move.

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Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

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Recent Swiss Immigration Into Nebraska: An Empirical Study, W. Ernst Study

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

In the Bicentennial Year it appears fitting that social scientists, especially those with a historical bent and with ties to the fount of immigration into the Western Hemisphere, address themselves to the role played by non-American ethnic minorities in the United States today.

Kaspar Schnetzler: Der Fall Bruder. Neues Aus New Hampshire: Book Review, Marianne Burkhard

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

In his first novel the young Swiss author Kaspar Schnetzler demonstrates a quite remarkable talent. Choosing the framework of a detective story--the search for a disappeared student named Gordon Schuster--Schnetzler ably leads the reader into the dark and complex area of Germany's Nazi past, her "unbewaltigte Vergangenheit." As a matter of fact, his story illustrates how hard, even impossible it is for some Germans to cope with their experiences of the Third Reich.

Letter From The President, Leo Schelbert

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

The Annual Meeting of the Swiss American Historical Society will be held this year at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. Ambassador and Mrs. Dr. Raymond Probst have moreover most generously invited the participants to a luncheon at their residence. May I kindly urge you to attend this meeting which will enable you not only to shape the affairs of the Society, but also to meet with Ambassador and Mrs. Probst at their residence and to renew many personal contacts.

Piero Bianconi, Albero Genealogico (Cronaca Di Emigranti): Book Review, Lukas F. Burckhardt

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

"C'e piu distanza effettiva tra l'infanzia e la vechiaia di mia madre che tra lei bambina e gli uomini delle caverne" (There is more real distance between the childhood and the old age of my mother than between her as a little girl and man in the stone age), the author exclaims, as he observes from the new power dam, which has been constructed in his native Verzasca valley in the canton of Ticino, how a great part of the rural world of his ancestors is being submerged for ever. In such surroundings his mother had not been allowed by …

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Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

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Postal "Helvetica" In The United States: Non-Historic Observations Of A Stamp Collector, Felix Ganz

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

A ~ew weeks after arrivi ng in this country, thirty years ago, fr iends drove me to a place called LAKE GENEVA, Wisconsin, and on t he way back we passed a town called LAKE ZURICH Illinois. Neither of these two towns seemed to have direct 1 ties to Switzerland; but a few months later, in NEW GLARUS Wisconsin, l earned much about that town's being founded by' Swiss immigrants--a story well known to all members of the Swiss American Historical Society.

The American Revolution: A Lesson In Dissent. The Case Of John Joachim Zubly, Leo Schelbert

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

On September 3, 1775, John Joachim Zubly, pastor of the Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia, and at that date a delegate of that province to the Second Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies assembled in Philadelphia, put the final touch to a manuscript which soon thereafter went to press . It was entitled The Law of Liberty. A Sermon on American Affairs Preached at the Opening of the Provincial Congress of Georgia. The manifesto consisted of three parts: The first was an introductory address "To the Right Honourable William Henry, Earl of Dartmouth" (3/III),** which presented an incisive view …

Banziger, Hans, Zwischen Protest Und Traditionsbewusstsein: Arbeiten Zum Werk Und Zur Gesellschaftlichen Stellun Max Frischs: Book Review, John Holley

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Lest the reader be frightened away by the author's promise to recount in the service of information those minor details which seldom find a place in "broad attempts at interpretation," it should be mentioned at the outset that this book has more to recommend it than such a pedantic statement of intent might lead one to believe. Indeed, Hans Banziger, appropriately for a peripatetic review of Frisch's work, takes us through a knowledgeable discussion of the major tenets that have long informed the thinking and writing of this most interesting, engaging, and thought provoking contemporary, reminding us of Frisch's abiding …

A Farewell And A Welcome, Heinz K. Meier

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

According to the Constitution of the Swiss American Historical Society the Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States is an honorary member of the society. For the last nine years (1966 to 1975) this post was held by Ambassador Felix Schnyder.

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Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

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The Swiss In Hawaii, Niklaus R. Schweizer

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

SWITZERLAND AND HAWAII, at first glance, seem to have little to do with each other and any connection appears coincidental. A high government official in Honolulu recently was of that opinion and many would have readily corroborated his notions.

Editor's Remarks, Heinz K. Meier

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

It is my sad duty to inform the members of the Swiss American Historical Society of the recent death of Emil J. Schaefer. Emil Schaefer was born on May 10, 1892, in Zurich and came to this country in his late teens. After some traveling he settled in Madison, Wisconsin, where he worked in several capacities, founded a family and became one of t he active members of a number of Swiss organizations.

The Meaning Of The American Bicentennial, Hans R. Guggisberg

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

People who deal professionally with historical research , historical writing or the teaching of history, tend somewhat to look down their noses at anniversaries which commemorate historical events or personalities. Why is it, they ask, that the general public suddenly seems to take an interest in history when the latter takes the shape of a roundnumbered date, while otherwise in our world so exclusively concerned with the present and the future, none but the professional historians still believe that we can learn from the past? It would not be easy to answer that question and I shall not attempt to …

Scrutinizing A Giant: Frisch's And Duerrenmatt's Views Of America

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Ever since its discovery America has fascinated, intrigued and also repelled Europeans. And ever since in the 17th century Europeans have started to emigrate in greater numbers to North America, this land has been a puzzling giant to the transatlantic contemplator. For quite some time, the Europeans' direct experience and even their factual information was limited and, thus, the new continent was understandably prone to be mythified-be it as some sort of earthly paradise where goodness and freedom reigned, be it as a degenerated place infected by all imaginable vices of modern times. Yet even with today's array of information, …

Relf Kieser, Max Frisch: Das Literarische Tagebuch: Book Review, John F. Holley

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

The significance of Max Frisch's Diaries as literature is not dependent on a formal satisfaction of structural norms: it is not a art that strives for the perfection of a traditional model, but rather an attempt to move through a linguistic game ("ein linguistisches Spiel") toweard ther boundries of the expressible - toward that point at which, as Rolf Kieser puts it, the reader recognizes the significance of the white spaces between the words ("das Weisse zwischen den Worten"). In his book Max Frisch: Das literarische Tagebuch Professor Kieser bring calls " diaristisch," to the fore and, in a examination …

Plinio Martini, Nicht Anfang Und Nicht Ende: Book Review, Marianne Burkhard

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Martini's book provides the reader with an insight into the harsh life in one of the least known parts of Switzerland the Val Eavona in the upper Ticino. Far removed from the more luxuriant southern landscape around Lugano and Locarno this is a world of steep dangerous mountains and poor soil, of hard work and little recompense. For generations emigration has been a part of every family's life: the older sons were forced to seek their livelihood in distant countries, thus making room for the younger children and leavng behind mourning women-mothers , sisters, fiancees and even wives. All this …

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Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

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The Twelfth Annual Meeting Of The Swiss American Historical Society, Bruno Gujer, Leo Schelbert, Guido Schuler

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

The twelfth annual meeting of the reactivated SAHS was held on Saturday, November 8, 1975, at the Swiss Town House, 35 West 67th Street in New York City.

Daniela Weinberg, Peasant Wisclom, Cultural Adaptation In A Swiss Village: Book Review, Elinor Sosne

Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter

Traditional anthropological wisdom holds that peasantry as a cultural type is declining in the modern world as the social and economic conditions for its existence disappear. Modern peasant community studies, therefore, often trace the transformation that is occurring throughout the world as typically peasant communities change and new "post-peasants'' emerge .