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CURRICULUM GUIDEThe Effect of World War Ion German Americansby Bob Guernsey and Jane Hedeenfor the Indiana Historical Society Indiana ExperienceYou Are There 1914The Violin Maker Upstairs

This is a publication of the Indiana Historical SocietyEugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center450 West Ohio StreetIndianapolis, IN 46202-3269 USATeacher Resource available online: http://www.indianahistory.orgCover Image: “Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Conrath in the Violin Shop ” (Indiana Historicl Society, Digital Image Collections,Item ID: P0404 FOLDER1 MR AND MRS CONRATH)Copyright 2010Indiana Historical SocietyAll rights reservedExcept for copying portions of the teacher resources by educators for classroom use, or for quoting of brief passages for reviews, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any formor by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without written permission of the copyrightowner. All inquiries should be addressed to the Public Programs Division, Indiana Historical Society.

IntroductionThis lesson coordinates with the You Are There1914: The Violin Maker Upstairs component of theIndiana Experience at the Eugene and Marilyn GlickIndiana History Center in Indianapolis. In thisexperience, visitors are invited to step back in timeto 1914 to visit the re-created workshop of stringedinstrument maker Joseph Conrath. In his shop,located at 39 Virginia Avenue in Indianapolis,Conrath repaired and crafted stringed instruments,such as violins, violas, guitars, mandolins, banjoes,and cellos. As a luthier, or stringed instrumentmaker, Conrath served the many musicians whoparticipated in Indianapolis’s vibrant cultural sceneof the early 1900s. New instruments and instrumentrepair were in demand due to the number of orchestras and musical societies that called Indianapolishome at the time. Though Conrath could not playany of the instruments he made, his skills as a carpenter and singer helped him produce instrumentsthat looked and sounded beautiful.Conrath was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to immigrantparents. His mother was German and his fathercame from Alsace-Lorraine, a region that had passedbetween Germany and France for many years. In1914 Alsace-Lorraine was once again a battlegroundbetween French and German soldiers. The Conrathfamily moved to Indianapolis around 1887 and onJune 11, 1896, Conrath married Amelia Bush, whosefamily was also German. Being a part of the city’slarge German American population, the Conrathsmight have participated in German cultural societies,such as the Turnverein (a gymnastics and culturalsociety) or the Mannerchor (a music society). Theymay have read German-language newspapers or attended one of the city’s German churches.As Hoosiers with close ties to Germany, the Conraths and other German Americans kept tabs on theevents in Europe. World War I erupted in Europeafter the June 28, 1914, assassination by a Serbiannationalist of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir tothe Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany, an allyof Austria-Hungary, declared war on Serbia and itsallies. President Woodrow Wilson kept Americaout of the war until April 1917, when the UnitedStates joined the Allied powers of Serbia, Russia,France, and Great Britain in declaring war on theCentral powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary.Leading up to and after America’s entry into thewar, there was growing anti-German sentiment inthe United States.This curriculum is intended to provide historicalcontext for German American life and culture inIndianapolis in the 1910s. The materials may be usedto prepare students for a visit to You Are There1914: The Violin Maker Upstairs or as a follow-uplesson. The historical context and themes arerelevant to classroom instruction even if a HistoryCenter visit is not possible. The You Are There1914: The Violin Maker Upstairs experience willremain open through September 3, 2011.Overview/DescriptionIn this lesson students will analyze World War I-erapropaganda posters and consider how GermanAmericans would have reacted to them during thattime. Students will also reflect on cultural bias and itseffect on ethnic groups in the United States.Grade LevelHigh SchoolAcademic Standards for the Social Studies Indiana Standards (as of March 2010) High School, U.S. History, Standard 3,Emergence of the Modern United States:1897 to 1920, USH 3.2.1––Identify theevents and people central to the transformation of the United States into a worldpower, and Standard 9, Historical Thinking, USH.9.2––Locate and analyze primary sources and secondary sources relatedto an event or issue of the past. High School, Sociology, Standard 4,Social Groups, S 4.10––Distinguishthe degree of assimilation that ethnic,cultural, and social groups achieve withinthe United States.1 CURRICULUM GUIDE Indiana Experience The Effect of World War I on German Americans Indiana Historical Society

National StandardsNational Council for the Social Studies, Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (Washington D.C.:National Coucil for the Social Studies, 1994) I Culture Predict how data and experiencesmay be interpreted by people from diverse cultural perspectives and framesof reference. VI Power, Authority, and Governance Analyze and explain ideas and mechanisms to meet needs and wants ofcitizens, regulate territory, manageconflict, establish order and security,and balance competing conceptionsof a just society.Evaluate the role of technology incommunications, transportation,information processing, weaponsdevelopment, or other areas as it contributes to or helps resolve conflicts.Evaluate the extent to which governments achieve their stated ideals andpolicies at home and abroad.Social Studies/Historical ConceptsWorld War I and propagandaLearning/Instructional ObjectivesStudents will: Analyze and interpret World War Ipropaganda posters. Identify the effects that propaganda materials had on people of difference ethnicbackgrounds, especially German Americans,during World War I.Time RequiredTwo class periods of fifty minutes each.Materials Required Paper Pencil, pens, and markers Newsprint or posterboard World War I posters from the Indiana Historical Society Digital Image Collections orother source. Copies of posters from the IHScollection are provided on pages six througheleven of this lesson. “Halt the Hun Buy U.S. GovernmentBonds, Third Liberty Loan”(Indiana Historical Society Digital ImageCollections, Item ID: P0131 FF2C-9THIRD LIBERTY LOANS) “Hun or Home -- Buy More LibertyBonds” (Indiana Historical SocietyDigital Image Collections, Item ID:P0131 FF2C-F10 HUN OR HOME) “Must Children Die and Mothers Pleadin Vain? Buy More Liberty Bonds”(Indiana Historical Society Digital ImageCollections, Item ID: P0131 FF21C-F12BUY MORE LIBERTY BONDS) “Remember Belgium Buy Bonds FourthLiberty Loan” (Indiana Historical SocietyDigital Image Collections, Item ID: P0131FF2C-14 REMEMBER BELGIUM) “The Hun-His Mark-- Blot it Out withLiberty Bonds” (Indiana Historical Society Digital Image Collections, Item ID:P0131 FF21E-F19 BLOT IT OUT) “The Snake - Every Liberty Bond Boughtby You Helps Uncle Sam Uncover the Reptile Which is Hiding Under Old Gloryin Our Own Front Yard. God Pity theSPIES, the TRAITORS, the PROFITEERS,the SLACKERS, the SNAKES, Who areFilling their Pockets with American Gold atthe Cost of American Blood—“WOE BEUNTO YOU!” BUY LIBERTY BONDS”2 CURRICULUM GUIDE Indiana Experience The Effect of World War I on German Americans Indiana Historical Society

(Indiana Historical Society Digital ImageCollections, Item ID: P0131 FF2D-F20SNAJE LIBERTY LOANS) “Poster Analysis Worksheet” Designed and developed by the EducationStaff, National Archives and RecordsAdministration, Washington, D.C.Accessed December 1, 2010, at ts/poster.html.Background/Historical ContextWorld War I was a pivotal time for people ofGerman heritage in America. When a Serbiannationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand,the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in Sarajevoon June 28, 1914, a system of alliances amongEuropean nations was set into motion, eventuallyresulting in war. One month later, Austria-Hungarydeclared war on Serbia. Germany and Turkeyjoined Austria-Hungary, fulfilling their allianceagreements. Russia, France, and Great Britain, inturn, joined Serbia in its fight.Germany came into the war having been unitedin 1871. According to historian Bernd Huppauf,Germany was a latecomer on the European scene:“The world had been carved up before they had arrived. The world in terms of the colonies, the worldin terms of power politics had been finalized, andthe Germans came late. Yet, they felt they deserveda position within this world, according to their selfesteem, according to their size, according to theirgrandiose history leading back into the Middle Ages.There was the fear that with German unification,the power structure had changed to a degree, thatnow war had to be waged. That war had becomeinevitable.”1 It appeared that Germany felt it hadsomething to prove and as a result was seen as anaggressor nation.1. Public Broadcasting Service, “Germany Beforethe War,” by Bernd Huppauf, in The Great Warand the Shaping of the 20th Century, accessedNovember 9, 2009, http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/historian/hist huppauf 01 before.html.President Woodrow Wilson quickly proclaimedAmerica to be neutral in the conflict, a decisionsupported by the vast majority of Americans. ForGerman Americans, however, the war evoked strongfeelings. “With the outbreak of war, many local German Americans rallied to support their homeland,”according to one study by the POLIS Center.2 TheIndiana German American Alliance, led by businessman Joseph H. Keller, supported the German causeby lobbying Congress against unfavorable actionstoward Germany.3 In addition, the GermanisticSociety of Indianapolis encouraged the study ofGerman society and culture beginning in 1916.4 Thisdisplay of German patriotism exacerbated an existing cultural division between Germans and “nativist”or anti-immigrant Americans.As the war proceeded and Germany attemptedto blockade the British Isles, American opinionturned against the Germans. As the United Stateswas one of Britain’s biggest trading partners, itsships were in danger as they attempted to crossthe Atlantic Ocean. American neutrality endedafter German mines and submarines damaged orsunk several U.S. ships traveling to Great Britain.By the time the United States entered the war in1918, anti-German sentiment was prevalent,making the environment uncomfortable for GermanAmericans in Indianapolis and throughout the country.“As the war progressed, the local German Americanpopulation and their institutions became targets ofverbal and physical attacks. Civil service reformerLucius Swift spoke out strongly against Germanaggression. Local women’s groups used the Germanargument to support their temperance activitiesin opposition to German beer gardens,” notedthe POLIS Center.5 In January 1918, the Indianapolis Board of School Commissioners passed a resolution declaring that public schools “should not assist2. Polis Center, Indiana University PurdueUniversity Indianapolis, “World War I, 1914–1920,”in Religion and American Community, accessedSeptember 25, 2009, napolis.asp.3. Ibid.4. Ibid.5. Ibid.3 CURRICULUM GUIDE Indiana Experience The Effect of World War I on German Americans Indiana Historical Society