Preserving German Texan Identity: Reminiscences of William A. Trenckmann, 1859–1935 ed. by Walter L. Buenger and Walter D. Kamphoefner

Abstract

Reviewed by: Preserving German Texan Identity: Reminiscences of William A. Trenckmann, 1859–1935 ed. by Walter L. Buenger and Walter D. Kamphoefner Robert Briwa Preserving German Texan Identity: Reminiscences of William A. Trenckmann, 1859–1935. Edited by Walter L. Buenger and Walter D. Kamphoefner. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2018. vii + 248 pp. Illustrations, tables, appendixes, bibliography, index. $42.00, cloth. Memoirs are often terrific sources for scholars examining historical events and patterns, especially when presented by skilled editors. In Preserving German Texan Identity: Reminiscences of William A. Trenckmann, 1859–1935 (hereafter Preserving German Texan Identity), historians Walter Buenger and Walter Kamphoefner display how editors can make memoirs more accessible. Focused on the Gulf Coastal Plains of southeastern Texas, Trenckmann's memoir documents German Texan experiences of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Preserving German Texan Identity opens with a preface and introduction that explains the process of editing the memoir and offers an overview of Trenckmann's life. The editors draw on their previous scholarship to set Trenckmann into the contexts of Texas politics and economic histories, patterns of German immigration and ethnic identity in Texas, and twentieth-century race relations between African Americans and German Texans. Similarly, the editors' annotations of the published memoir connect Trenckmann to wider historical contexts while also offering necessary background about individual people and events mentioned in the work. Overall, the text's editorial work is superb. Subsequent sections present Trenckmann's own writings. "Erlebtes und Beobachtetes (Experiences and Observations)," appeared intermittently in Trenckmann's German language newspaper, Das Wochenblatt. Published between 1931 and 1933, the memoir proceeds chronologically, beginning with Trenckmann's childhood during the Civil War and concluding with his views of the United States' perspectives on Germany following World War I. Two nostalgic episodes—an 1863 Christmas celebration and Trenckmann's time at Texas A&M—round out the text, followed by a brief selection of primary and secondary sources for further reading. Trenckmann is less concerned with the minutiae of daily life and instead focuses on selected experiences and topics. These include Trenckmann's experiences in Texas's early public education system, the role of Germanlanguage newspapers in consolidating and maintaining German ethnic identity, and German Texan political interests. Permeating the work is a tension at the heart of twentieth-century German Texan life. On one hand, Trenckmann shows how German Texans sought to maintain a distinct ethnic identity by establishing and participating in German festivals, social clubs, and newspapers. On the other, he felt it necessary for German Texans to assimilate into wider American society, particularly through education and by participating in local and state politics. Trenckmann's explicit focus on these themes throughout Preserving German Texan Identity make it a treasure trove for historical and cultural geographers exploring topics of ethnic boosterism and identity formation in the twentieth- century Plains. [End Page 328] Robert Briwa Department of History Angelo State University Copyright © 2021 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln