Current Featured Content

Andrew Urban, Builder and Craftsman

Andrew (Andreas) Urban, A Wendish Craftsman Introduction by Dr. George Nielsen, Special Features Editor One aspect of Wendish life that is generally ignored in Wendish studies is the daily activity of making a living. While most Wends took up farming, there were also some who became craftsmen. One...

Quarterly Membership Meeting

In 1834, a German immigrant to Texas, D.T.F. (Detlef Thomas Friedrich) Jordt, aka Detlef Dunt, wrote and published a book entitled, Reise nach Texas, in which he described Texas as “a land which puts riches in (the immigrant’s) lap, which can bring happiness to thousands and to their...

Recipe Corner

One of our members recently suggested that we occasionally include a recipe – perhaps a traditional Wendish dish, or one that harks back to our ancestors’ early days in Texas. So we are issuing a challenge to all you readers. Send us your favorite recipes that have been...

Family History Workshop

We are offering another chance for you to work on your own family history with expert guidance from Weldon Mersiovsky, who has many years’ experience in conducting genealogy research. Cost for the workshop is $15 per person or $25 per couple. Bring a sack lunch, your laptop, and...

Wendish Research Exchange

The Wendish Research Exchange is looking for volunteers who can transliterate handwritten German into printed German. Knowledge of the German language is not required, although could be helpful. We have copies of old diaries that we would like to translate, and the first step in that process is...

In and Around the Museum

By the time you read this, the sorting and cataloging of the books in the museum vault will be close to completion. Austin Pierce jump-started this process in the summer of 2013, when he volunteered as a museum intern for a month or so. Jan Slack and I...

Note from the Executive Director

Happy summer everyone – No doubt it’s here! Thankfully the rains soaked everything so we haven’t lost the beauty in our garden. Lilies and roses are still blooming. This year brought an abundance of Schreck-Kräuter, which tells a popular story for visitors. A visitor from 2015 called the...

President’s Message

Seems we’ve slid headfirst into the dog days of summer after a longer-than-usual spring season that also brought rain by the bucket-loads. Those who operate hay cutters and balers in Lee County have been very busy lately cutting and baling what is reported to be a bumper crop....

A Practical Grammer of Upper Sorbian

A Practical Grammar of Upper Sorbian (Wendish)

In the preface to the first edition, I stated that I hoped the grammar would serve at least two purposes: 1) as a self-teaching grammar for those people of Sorbian (Wendish) descent who wished to learn something about the language 2) as a grammar for a continuing education...

A Voyage of Hopes and Dreams

A Voyage of Hopes and Dreams

“A Voyage of Hopes and Dreams” is a work of historical fiction. The story is told by 18 year old Andreas recalling the trip he took 12 years prior with his family and other German Wendish emigrants seeking a new life in Texas. It chronicles the 1853 trip...