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Re: German Catholic School & City Directories

BERTHELOT

Posted By: Joe Schallan (email)
Date: 9/27/2004 at 13:52:23

In Response To: German Catholic School & City Directories (Alice Mire)

There were four German-Catholic parishes in the City of Dubuque, so your ancestor could have attended the school at any one of them. They were all on the "North End" of Dubuque: St. Mary's, Sacred Heart, Holy Ghost, and Holy Trinity. There were also German parishes in rural Dubuque County.

My oldest aunt, who attended the school at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Sherrill, IA (just north of Dubuque) recalled that instruction was in both German and English -- a half day spent in each language. The goal was to produce students literate in both languages. My aunt was in first grade in April 1917, and quite distinctly remembered the day the nun told the children that teaching in German was no longer allowed, since the Governor of Iowa had forbidden it by executive order, because the U.S. was now at war with Germany.

In the cemetery next to Ss. Peter and Paul Church, most of the gravestones bear inscriptions in German until around 1920, when English becomes dominant. I have noticed a similar transition at other German-Catholic cemeteries in the area.

In my family, German speaking hung on well into the 1950s -- the "old folks" spoke it regularly, as did my mom (born 1914) when she was with her
parents.

-Joe Schallan, Phoenix

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