INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

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IUPUI'S SCHOOL OF LIBERAL ARTS RECEIVES $1.3 MILLION GIFT
TO STUDY INDIANA'S GERMAN AMERICAN HERITAGE

INDIANAPOLIS - A battered collection of aged documents, and the search for the beginnings of what was once Indiana's wealthiest community, set two women scholars - and their husbands - on pioneering trails to reclaim lost pieces of state history.

Dolores and Giles Hoyt, and Ruth and Eberhard Reichmann have donated $1.3 million to the IU School of Liberal Arts at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) to ensure the continued study, preservation and recovery of documents and other materials reflecting Indiana's German American heritage.

The couples' gift will fund an ongoing salary for a faculty member who will spearhead efforts to enhance the IUPUI German American studies program. Part of the donation will also fund the purchase of supporting library books and materials.

"Our main concern is that Americans of German descent don't know about their history and heritage. Records get lost. If only records of English-speaking (settlers) are left, what kind of history do you have?" Ruth Reichmann said. "That's why it's important that we collect, translate and preserve German American records and make them available and understandable."

Establishing the Hoyt/Reichmann Faculty Chair in German American Studies and German Language and Culture acknowledges the historical presence and contributions of German-speaking immigrants, and the ongoing relationship between Germany and Indiana, Giles Hoyt said.

"One of every three Hoosiers is of German descent. German Americans remain historically the largest immigrant groups to Indiana," Hoyt said. "German-speaking companies, such as Roche Diagnostic, are our major trading partners."

German American contributions to Indianapolis include the founding of Normal College by the national umbrella organization for a number of German American societies known as the Turners. Normal College merged with IU in 1941 to form the IU School of Physical Education.

"Enhancing our German American studies programs is important to the heritage of Indiana and to its future," School of Liberal Arts Dean Herman Saatkamp said. "The funding for this Chair comes from two families of faculty members, making the gift more notable and highlighting the dedication of our faculty to our students and academic programs."

All four donors are members of the IUPUI family. Dolores Hoyt is associate dean of the IUPUI University Library, and Giles Hoyt is associate dean of International Affairs at IUPUI. Ruth Reichmann is director of the IUPUI Max Kade German-American Center. Eberhard Reichmann is editor of the center's publications that include translations of historical and social German American literature and documents.

Ruth Reichmann became fascinated with the history of Indiana's German American population about 30 years ago when she was asked to help trace the European roots of a religious sect of about 700 German immigrants who in 1814 established New Harmony, once the richest community in Indiana.

About the same time Ruth Reichmann was doing her research, Dolores Hoyt, IUPUI acquisitions librarian at the time, began organizing an IUPUI collection of papers and books that includes copies of the minutes and other documents from Indianapolis German American societies, such as the Turners.

"With those records we really became aware of the influence of German Americans in this community and how they helped build the city and the state," Dolores Hoyt said.

While the women were researching German American culture, Giles Hoyt was teaching German at IUPUI and Eberhard Reichmann taught German at IU Bloomington. The couples met in 1983 during planning for the 300th anniversary celebration of establishment of Germantown, Pa., the first German settlement in the United States. They later became founding members of the Indiana German Heritage Society.

The Hoyts and Reichmanns made their donations through estate plans, said Camilyn Kuhns, associate director of Planned Giving Services at the IU Foundation. Because the funds qualify for matching funds, the payoff will be immediate and will amount to about $65,000 the first year, she said.

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Note to Editors and Reporters: Visit the website http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/ for additional information about the Max Kade German-American Center.

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