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THE REPORT
Once again the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland is
ready to add another Report to its long list of publications which have
made their appearance since the founding of the Society in 1886. It has
been one of the main goals of this historical association to preserve and
publish historical material related to the immigration and activities of
Americans of German descent in the Free State of Maryland and neigh-
boring states. Since the Society for the History of the Germans in
Maryland is the only one of its kind in the United States, the articles
appearing in the Reports have outgrown their originally local character
and assumed in recent years somewhat of a national scope.
Several Reports in the past have been made possible through liberal
grants on the part of members of the Society. The financial support of
this Report is generously provided by the Karl F. and Gerdaline Y. Stein-
mann Foundation, Inc. to whom this edition is appropriately dedicated.
The work of the Society suffered a great loss when in fall of 1957
Professor Dieter Cunz moved away from Maryland after he had accepted
the position as Chairman of the German Department at the Ohio State
University in Columbus, Ohio.
On the occasion of the Seventy-second Annual Meeting and Dinner on
March 7, 1958, the members of the Society sent Dr. Cunz an expression
of their affection and gratitude for the guidance, counsel and service pro-
vided by him during almost two decades: "Since the autumn of 1939,
when Dieter Cunz came to the University of Maryland, he has been most
actively interested in the Society and its objectives. His services as secretary
and librarian from 1944 to 1956 were of immeasurable value. Shortly after
his arrival he revived the publication of our Reports and edited the volumes
25 through 29 (1942-1956), and thereby helped a great deal to re-establish
the prestige of the Society as a scholarly organization. During seven years
of thorough research he prepared the publication of his comprehensive and
definitive work The Maryland Germans (Princeton University Press, 1948),
which very justly has been described as the culmination of the endeavors
of our Society. For many years Dr. Cunz was the inspiration and the prime
mover of the activities and the growth of the Society.
In recognition of his never-ending efforts and his wholehearted devotion
to the Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland, Dieter Cunz
has been elected to lifetime honorary membership in the Society."
The annual banquet and general meeting which take place regularly in
the month of February and at which the officers report to the members
on the various activities of the Society had since its last publication in 1956
the following outstanding guest speakers:
1957: Karl J. Arndt (Clark University), "German-American Quests
for Utopia."
1958: Charles H. Huffman (President, Germanna Foundation of Vir-
ginia) , "Immigrants of Distinction and Destiny."
1959: Harold S. Jantz (The Johns Hopkins University), "Baltimore
and the German State of Mind."
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The inability of the Enoch Pratt Library to continue housing our library
forced the Society to sell its holdings. Its books and periodicals were
acquired by the University of Maryland, Ohio State University, and the
Virginia State Library. Two steel cabinets containing a limited number of
books, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, as well as the official papers of
the Society were moved to the basement of the Main Library of the Uni-
versity of Maryland in College Park.
The annual membership due of $5.00, which had remained unchanged
since 1886, was by unanimous vote raised to $7.00 at the annual meeting
in 1957.
The membership of the Society shows a slight increase over 1956, which
is evidence of its healthy and vigorous state.
A. J. P.
February, 1959
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