-Reply Harry Needham wrote: I wonder how many of the allegedly "German" immigrants to the USA were actually Austrians or Schweitzerdeutsch? I suspect a great many of these were labeled "German", from the language they spoke, just as most Flemings were labeled as "Dutch". >>>>>> This is a good point you bring up, but you might also be right about it being hair splitting--especially at the research level at which most exhibit curators are forced to settle because of time restraints. The language similarities you mention are a problem for historians and for those researching exhibits. Many historians are unfamiliar with the language subtleties, or religious and cultural differences between those groups--and in some cases, it's impossible for us to sort out. Heck, 20th-century North Americans have a hard enough time distinguishing between the Dutch and Germans (e.g. Pennsylvania "Dutch"), let alone Belgians and Dutch, or Austrians and Swiss and Germans. During WWI, some Dutch-Americans were persecuted by English-speaking Americans for being German. And during the time period of your mother's family in New Netherland, there was sometimes more of a distinction between Lutherans and Calvinists than between Dutch and German speakers, which confuses things further. So, I think it may be a hopeless cause to get people to consider the distinctions, and perhaps very difficult to figure them out historically. I think pride in one's Belgian, Austrian or Swiss heritage would be the main motivating factor for people to stand up and say "Hey, I'm not Dutch or German!", and I'm afraid there are not enough Belgian, Austrian or Swiss around to make enough noise to keep from getting lumped in with everyone else. Another similar thread that might also be worth pursuing on the museum list would be the depth that exhibit research should take. Should we be conducting research at a level that would allow us to publish an article in an historical journal, or do we do as much primary research as we have time for, with mostly secondary research that introduces our visitors to the topic and inspires them to do more reading on their own? Christine Mouw Assistant Curator Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum West Branch, Iowa 52358 [log in to unmask]