Date of Award
12-2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
History
Department
History
Major Professor
Mitchell, Mary N.
Second Advisor
Bischof, Gunter
Third Advisor
Dupont, Robert L.
Abstract
The Germans of Geilenkirchen-Hengesburg region of Germany were convinced by relative and friend, Father Peter Leonard Thevis, of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, to emigrate to the United States for a number of reasons: political, religious, and economic. After establishing themselves on land previously used for grazing cattle, the Germans soon discovered rice could easily be cultivated in large amounts. Along with their success as rice farmers in Roberts Cove, Louisiana, these Germans soon involved themselves in politics and engaged one another and the surrounding community in numerous court cases. These court cases, overlooked by previous historians, demonstrate that the Germans of Roberts Cove had begun to assimilate, prior to World War I and the passage of anti-German legislation.
Recommended Citation
Soileau, Lydia, "The Germans of Roberts Cove, Louisiana: German Rice Cultivation and the Making of a German-American Community in Acadia Parish, 1881-1917" (2010). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1246.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1246
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.