The Volga-Germans in Topeka

At the Kansas State Historical Society Archives in Topeka, Kansas, I found a self-published book written in 1992 that was just a big collection of newspaper clippings mentioning Volga-Germans arriving in Topeka during the winter-spring of 1875-1876.  I was able to make copies of the book and posted an example picture I took on my iPhone of the piece.

What you have in this collection are several clipped newspaper articles that mention Volga-Germans, cutting out some irrelevant parts of the story, from various Topeka newspapers during this time.  This is a very unique way of gathering newspapers and it saves time for other historians who might be looking at the same topic.  Of course, this method does have drawbacks, namely that the context of the entire paper is taken away.  The quality of this book is also lacking.  I can see this becoming a method for evidence collection, if it were refined a bit.

It is such a short time period, but a very critical one for the Volga-Germans coming to Kansas.  The immigrants stayed in Topeka working odd jobs for very little pay (if any at all) and traveled to Ellis County Kansas, by wagon and train, to search for land to be cultivated for housing.  Many of the Volga Germans stayed in run down, abandoned apartment buildings.  The citizens of Topeka were unsure how to react to these new immigrants.  The Volga-Germans, in the newspapers are described as "Russians" and viewed like aliens from another planet.  In one story from the Topeka Commonwealth on December 3, 1975 it says:

"these Russians go heavy on sheep skin as a wearing material.  The aristocracy wear long sheepskin coats with skirts lie a woman's dress, which reach nearly to the upper edge of their ears.  A round cloth cap, shaped like a sausage in the form known as the "dabs" cover the heads of the Russian gentlemen.  All of the person not covered with sheepskin and cloth cap is covered with high-legged boots of the most substantial character.  Arrayed in this costume our Russian friends might move unharmed through the midst of an Irish row, the flying brickbats rebounding without effect from their sheepskin armor." [1]

This is pretty mild, the description really gets detailed and racy when one analyzes the Ellis County newspapers.  In order to really understand this phenomenon, just imagine living in Topeka at this time.  Suddenly a very large group of immigrants moves into the town by train and are living in the city, seeking employment, and keeping their families together.  Not to mention that this group of immigrants often come with large families and gather together to sing, attend church services, and have large parties.  While this only occurs for about a year, it really changes the socio-economic life of Topeka in a dramatic way.

[1] Isadore Appelhanz, The Volga-Germans in Topeka, Kansas, 1875-1885. (Topeka, Kansas: Privately Printed, 1992), 6.