“Immigration Then & Now: Finding Refuge in the Quad Cities" at the German American Heritage Center -- through September 15.
Through Sunday, September 15
German American Heritage Center, 712 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Through September 15, fascinating stories of struggle, perseverance, tragedy, and triumph will be shared at Davenport's German American Heritage Center in the venue's Immigration Then & Now: Finding Refuge in the Quad Cities, a meaningful, locally themed exhibition presented in partnership with World Relief Quad Cities and supported by the Moline Regional Community Foundation.
The Quad City Area has a history of welcoming immigrants from Europe in the past centuries and continues to be a sanctuary for immigrants and refugees from around the world. This shared history creates a global connection through the universal experience of starting anew in a foreign land. In Immigration Then & Now: Finding Refuge in the Quad Cities, Heritage Center guests are invited to learn about current populations settling in the Quad Cities, and also receive valuable information about the hardships that refugees face today.
In the mid-to-late 1800s, millions of German citizens left their homeland and settled as immigrants in the United States. The 1900 U.S. Census documented that more than half of the citizens in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota were German immigrants or their descendants. Scott County, where the first passenger railroad crossed the Mississippi River, was the entry point for many immigrants to the upper Midwest region and points west. In 1900, Joseph Eiboeck, a veteran German newspaperman, described Davenport as, “the most German city, not only in the State, but in all the Middle West, the center of all German activities in the State.”
Founded on August 1, 1994 as a private, not-for-profit organization, the German American Heritage Center seeks to preserve the heritage of German-speaking ancestors for present and future generations and to enrich the community's knowledge of the German immigrant experience.
Immigration Then & Now: Finding Refuge in the Quad Cities will be on display at the German American Heritage Center through September 15, with regular venue hours Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Exhibit entrance is free with $3-5 museum admission, and more information is available by calling (563)322-8844 and visiting GAHC.org.
