October 20-22, 2013

Wartburg College, Waverly, IA USA

Who was America's most remarkable and unique immigrant group? Surprisingly, many historians feel it was a group of a few thousand democratic revolutionary refugees from Europe who arrived in the United States between 1847 and 1856. Although unsuccessful in their struggle for freedom in Europe, these "Forty-Eighters" provided an intellectual transfusion that had a pronounced effect on the political and social history of America during one of its most critical periods.

Indeed, some of the best and brightest began using their finely honed journalistic skills to argue for the freedoms and liberties so dear to them. Ironically, these recent immigrants’ patriotism was grounded more in the bedrock beliefs of America's founding fathers than in many of the attitudes in the United States at the time.

The extraordinary European immigrant group’s legacy, although far-reaching and profound, is little understood by most Americans, many of whom are three or four generations removed from their own immigrant ancestors. The overarching purpose of the Legacy of 1848 Conference is to identify and come to grips with the important, timeless legacy left to all of us by the Forty-Eighters.

Schleswig-Holstein’s Minister-President Torsten Albig is scheduled to deliver the keynote speech opening the conference on October 20, 2013.

We invite scholars to submit panels or individual papers proposals by April 20, 2013, to both Joachim “Yogi” Reppmann (yogireppmann@yahoo.com) and Daniel Walther (daniel.walther @wartburg.edu). Abstracts should be no more than 250 words and should be accompanied by a 1-2 page c.v. Topics might include (but are not limited to):

• Forty-Eighter contributions to life in America (arts, politics, mores, social organizations, music, theater, etc.)
• The acculturation of the Forty-Eighters: Lessons for today’s immigrants
• Biographical sketches of Forty-Eighters
• German-American Immigration Experience,
• Low German in America
• How would widely held Turner beliefs mesh with recent developments in the USA, such as the role of government vs. the rights of the individual, public education vs. private religious beliefs, or public health care programs?

Graduate students and junior faculty are especially encouraged to apply. For these applicants, a limited number of travel subsides is available to defray transportation costs. In your proposals, please indicate if you would like to be considered for the subsidy.

The conference is funded through generous donations from Deutsche Welle and a private individual. Additional support is provided by the Kleinfeld Lecture/Event Series at Wartburg College.

More information about the conference as it becomes available can be found at the conference website: www.wartburg.edu/1848