March 19, 2017 - Laurel, Maryland - Celebrating 250th Anniversary of the Volga Germans

Submitted by bmai on Wed, 02/08/2017 - 14:30

Celebrating the 250th Anniversary
of the
Founding of the
Volga German Colonies

Sunday, 19 March 2017
(optional additional day on Saturday, 18 March 2017)

Laurel, Maryland

As part of its seminar series in honor of the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the German colonies along the Volga River in Russia, the Volga German Institute at Fairfield University will be hosting an event in Laurel, Maryland, on Sunday, 19 March 2017. There is also an optional genealogical help session being offered the previous day, Saturday, 18 March 2017.

The public is invited to attend.

Registration

Advance Registration: $20 per person if registration is received on or before 10 March 2017.

Registration at the door will be $25.

To register & pay by credit/debit card, please follow this link for Online Registration.

If you prefer to pay by check, print the Registration Form, and mail it along with your check. To qualify for the Advance Registration rate, payment must be received by March 10.

If you have questions, please call Jill at 203.254.4000 x2648.

[Note: There is no discount for partial attendance of this event. Notice of cancellation before 10 March 2017 will receive a full refund; after 10 March 2017 will receive no refund.]

Location

The day's events will be held at Our Savior Lutheran Church.

13611 Laurel Bowie Rd.
(easy access from both I-95 and the BW Pkwy)
Laurel, Maryland 20708
(Phone: 301.776.7670)

Parking: free on-site parking

Speaker

The speaker for the seminar will be Dr. Brent Mai from Fairfield, Connecticut.

Dr. Mai serves as the Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at Fairfield University in Connecticut, where he also leads the Volga German Institute. Dr. Mai has spoken world-wide on many topics related to Volga German history and culture. He has also published numerous books and articles on the topic of Volga Germans and translated hundreds of documents obtained from Russian archives. Dr. Mai, whose father's side is Volga German, grew up in Western Kansas, graduated from Bethany College in Lindsborg, and continued graduate studies at George Washington University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Vanderbilt University.

Schedule for Sunday, 19 March 2017

12:30 - 1:00	Registration & Visiting

1:00 - 1:45	Session 1: Introduction to the Volga Germans and their Heritage Everyone starts on a different page when it comes to their knowledge of who the Volga Germans are and how they came to be in Russia. This session will bring all attendees to the same place in that understanding - and we'll carry on from there.

1:45 - 2:45	Session 2: The Geography of the Volga Germans The Volga German region in Russia has a fascinating geographical history, both physically and politically. The boundaries of the regions in which the colonies are located changed numerous times. Each Volga German colony had many names during the past 250 years. Add in two languages (Russian & German) and two alphabets (Cyrillic & Latin), and more complications arise in understanding how one Volga German location relates to another. The trek of the Volga Germans around the world has created an interesting study of migration patterns. Today's Volga German descendants today speak a multitude of languages including German, Russian, English, Spanish, Portugese, Kazakh, and Uzbeck.

2:45 - 3:00	Break

3:00 - 4:00	Session 3: Genealogical Resources for the Volga Germans Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were few resources available to those interested in researching the genealogies of Volga Germans. Since about 1990, Western researchers have had access to several archives in the Volga region where many documents have been located. For most, using them is complicated by language - either German or Russian - and the corresponding Latin or Cyrillic alphabets. This session will deal primarily with the resources that are available from Russian Archives - where to get them and how to use them.

4:00 - 5:00	Session 4: Volga Germans Today The descendants of those original Volga German immigrants live today all around the globe with the largest numbers in the United States, Canada, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, South Africa, and Australia. What parts of their ancestral heritage have they taken with them to these new lands? This session will take a look into the lives of Volga Germans around the world - today.

5:00 - 5:30	Wrap-up

Optional Genealogical Research Assistance on Saturday, 18 April 2017

On Saturday, April 18, Dr. Mai will be available to provide one-on-one genealogical research assistance on a first come, first served basis. He will be available in the lobby of the Courtyard Hotel, 2700 Hercules Rd., Annapolis Junction, MD (301.498.8400), from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You must be a registered participant in the 250th Anniversary Event the following day in order to take advantage of this offer. If you are interested in this type of help, please contact Jill at 203.254.4000 x.2648, and she will schedule a time to work with Dr. Mai. He will have available some of the resources that may be helpful in your research, and you are welcome to use them throughout the day. Please tell her from which colonies your ancestors come so that he will know what to bring.