Talk:Germans in Omaha, Nebraska

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Contents 1 First Paragraph and Lead 2 AfD proposal 3 Germans in beer production 4 Origins of Germans in Omaha 5 National German American Alliance and WWI

[edit] First Paragraph and Lead

This is confusing - you say people of German descent comprised more than half of the population in Omaha in 1910. For context, it would be useful to note what proportion of the state's population they represented. If Germans concentrated in he city rather than the state, what do your sources say the reason was?--Parkwells (talk) 01:43, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Then later you say that German immigrants were second only to Czech nationals in number, but by 1930 comprised only 1%o of the population. You hadn't mentioned Czechs at all before. Were they more numerous than Germans? Or only more numerous in a later decade?--Parkwells (talk) 01:43, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

I'm stressing the confusion - in one place you're writing about people of German descent, in another only about people born in Germany (foreign nationals), I think, but am not sure. If you're writing about the decreasing rate of immigration, you should be more clear about it. In 1930 people of German DESCENT probably still comprised a large portion of Omaha's population, although fewer may have thought it worth reporting. Were these census numbers?--Parkwells (talk) 00:30, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

To say Germans influenced "social, political and economic life" is just too general unless you describe how - what they did. Every word has to count in an encyclopedia article.--Parkwells (talk) 00:56, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] AfD proposal

I suspect the AfD is simply because there may not be enough to say about Germans in Omaha, although they do appear to be the major 19th c. immigrant group in the city and would be more worthy of notability because of that. Should be plenty. I think you may have to look for more material about what is unique about their contributions - looking at the census data in the Omaha article, saying they comprised more than half of a city of 125,00, for instance, would be noteworthy. There doesn't appear to be enough to write about each ethnic group. A more valuable article might be one that compared the ethnicities in Omaha over time - when they came, what jobs they took, what businesses they developed, etc. They seem to have been quite involved in breweries and newspaper publishing. How was this different or the same as other groups? Look for that kind of clarifying info in your sources. --Parkwells (talk) 00:30, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Germans in beer production

You note that many Germans worked in the breweries, but didn't they also start them? That's a unique contribution of Germans to industry in Omaha and the US,isn't it? I know in Houston that the Germans built the brewery businesses and controlled them for years. There were almost exclusively German-owned and operated businesses. You might look at Houston history to see some comparisons.--Parkwells (talk) 00:35, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Origins of Germans in Omaha

Somewhere you write that one of their first churches was Catholic. This suggests that many of the German immigrants to Omaha were from Bavaria and south Germany, which was more Catholic than the north, which was more Protestant. The south was less industrialized, as well, and people were having to get out of rural life to survive - so they came to the US.--Parkwells (talk) 00:35, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] National German American Alliance and WWI

Some of the references are confusing, as in some places the article refers to the "outbreak of war" and in other sections to timing which seems more related to the US entry into the war. I don't have the original source material so am not always sure which the author intends. These sections need to be checked.--Parkwells (talk) 19:07, 7 January 2008 (UTC)