Culture

​German Russian resilience: they came to Russia for the land and left to avoid becoming Russians

April 24th, 2026

By Michael M. Miller

Francie M. Berg, native of Hettinger, N.D., edited an impressive book, “Ethnic Heritage in North Dakota,” published in 1983. She grew up on a ranch near Miles City, Montana. Her son, Richard Berg, is Interim President at NDSU.

In her article, “Most North Dakota Germans came from Russia,” Berg wrote:

They went to Russia largely to obtain free land. They left Russia largely to avoid becoming Russians. But once they came to the United States, they encountered…

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​‘An understanding of the Russia Germans’

February 23rd, 2026

By Michael M. Miller

Rev. Salomon Joachim, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Beulah, North Dakota., delivered an address to the Western Conference of the Dakota District of the American Lutheran Church in 1939. His presentation was called: “Toward an Understanding of the Russia Germans.”

Rev. Joachim pointed to the results of the United States Census of 1930. At that time, 103,532 Russian Germans lived in the country.

“The Russia German element is with us to stay,” he said.…

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​Living history weekend 2026: ND National Guard in WWII

February 16th, 2026

February 28, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

March 1, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

1883 Stutsman County Courthouse State Historic Site

504 3rd Ave. S.E., Jamestown, ND

The 1883 Stutsman County Courthouse and the 164th Infantry Remembrance Association are joining forces to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the regiment’s participation in WWII. Re-enactors and historians will provide interactive experiences, adding to the ambience of the historic courthouse. Programming will center on military life, the sacrifices made…

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​Minnesota in winter

February 13th, 2026

By Winona LaDuke

Napoleon LaDuke was my great uncle. I’ve always had a liking for that name. My great uncle was a brown man from the Northwoods who was in World War I and came back “shell shocked.” He wasn’t even a citizen of the U.S. at the time but nevertheless — like many Native people — went across the big water to combat fascism and more. Today, he is buried in a pauper’s grave at the former Fergus Falls mental hospital.

History teaches us if we pay attention. Napoleon…

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​Angels of the prairie: the role of women in North Dakota folklore

January 15th, 2026

By Kooper Shagena


Just off of I-94 and Highway 83 on State Street in Bismarck, an abandoned Kmart sits behind an empty parking lot, watching the cars roll on and off the interstate exchange. It has been standing there quietly since it closed down in 2020, after providing the Bismarck area with 50 years of Christmas shopping and grocery runs. Then one day in 2023, it began to snow inside the old department store.

Canticle Productions, founded by Daniel Bielinski, the Chair of Dramatic…

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​Glückstal Colonies Research Association celebrates 40 years

January 15th, 2026

By Michael M. Miller


This month we join our colleagues in celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Glückstal Colonies Research Association (GCRA). It was founded in January 1986 by Margaret Freeman and Carolyn Wheeler, aided in consultation with Arthur Flegel and Gwen Pritzkau.

The purpose of the GCRA is two-fold. The first goal is to coordinate the efforts of individuals researching descendants of the Glückstal district colonies. The second goal is to locate, gather, organize and…

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Christmas memories from the Germans from Russia

December 18th, 2025

By Michael Miller

As the holiday season approaches, I extend Yuletide Best Wishes and a special “Weihnachten” greeting to you and your family. I would like to share with you Christmas memories from our Germans from Russia community. Please email me your Christmas memories at michael.miller@ndsu.edu

Fargo resident Sister Collette Werlinger, born in 1931 on a farm near Napoleon, North Dakota, writes, “I fondly remember Santa coming, but never before dark, the cows were milked, and…

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​German Russian scholars of note

October 20th, 2025

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

I would like to recognize some of the scholarly Germans from Russia from Canada and USA shared on the GRHC website. There are additional names not included here. If you have suggestions of other names, please contact me.

Monsignor George Aberle (1891-1981), Hague, North Dakota, was born in the Catholic Kutschurgan District villages (today near Odesa, Ukraine). He authored “Pioneers and Their Sons: One Hundred Sixty-Five Family Stories and…

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‘Phantom of the Opera’ hits the big screen and orchestra pit

October 15th, 2025

By Kooper Shagena

koopershagena@gmail.com

One night, Jane Linde Capistran, associate conductor of the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, sat and drank wine with her friends: “Jennifer Tackling, the associate concertmaster, and Elise Buffett Nelson, who’s the principal cellist,” she recalls. “We thought, ‘It would be fun if the symphony could do a Halloween program to engage with the community.’”

They had done a Halloween show in the previous year with just the quartet,…

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​The enduring power of chamomile

September 16th, 2025

By Michael M. Miller

michael.miller@ndsu.edu

The Northwest Blade, from Eureka, South Dakota, published a wonderful story in August 2020. It’s called “Granddaughter keeps Grandmother’s precious chamomile seeds,” by Cindy Schumacher. Cindy wrote about the experiences of Judy Hooff. Judy grew up in Eureka, founded in 1887, once called the “Breadbasket of the World” for its many wheat elevators and the trains that transported the grain to the rest of the country.

When she was a…

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