German Iowa in Crisis: The War Years - Banner Text

Conditions worsened for German Iowans when the United States entered the war on April 6, 1917. Nationally, the newly formed Committee on Public Information produced endless anti-German propaganda, and the American Protective League supported spying on German Americans in every setting.

German Iowans suffered mightily under these conditions. Their neighbors listened to their phone calls, watched their mail, scrutinized their participation in Liberty Bond drives, and reported any “suspicious activities.” Iowans who failed to show proper support for the war were often denounced as “slackers,” and many  found their homes and businesses painted yellow. Others were forced to contribute to Liberty Bond drives, and still others were publicly assaulted and humiliated, often while state authorities turned a blind eye.

Conditions deteriorated further after Governor William L. Harding issued the Babel Proclamation on May 14, 1918. In it, he declared that only English was “legal in public or private schools, in public conversations, on trains, over the telephone, at all meetings, and in  all  religious services.” German Iowans were denounced for public and private conversations, for singing songs in German, even  for worshiping in German. Other Iowans used this as an opportunity to undercut German cultural organizations. Preachers turned on neighboring congregations. Schools in Davenport, Spirit Lake, and other towns publicly burned German books.

In an effort to demonstrate their loyalty and defend themselves, many German-Iowan communities changed their names. Berlin, Iowa (Tama  County) became Lincoln, Germania (Kossuth County) became Lakota; towns across the state eliminated German street names. German banks, other businesses, even fraternal organizations and leisure associations changed their names. So too did families fearing harassment.

Not everyone followed suit. The towns of Schleswig (Crawford County) and Holstein (Ida County), named after two North German territories, voted against changing their names. In response, local officials replaced the towns’ names with numbered stops on the wartime train schedule. German choral societies wrote to the Governor from Lee and Muscatine Counties asking if they might continue their meetings. Pastors wrote asking how they could preach to congregations filled with people who had never learned English, although they were demonstrably loyal to the United States and had been building Iowa and paying taxes for decades. A number of clergymen asked sarcastically if Latin was still allowed.

Cities and larger towns saw the greatest  transformations. Rural parts of the state often weathered the storm by relying on strong communities that resisted the denunciations, ostracism, and eager policing of German Iowans. The numbers of German-language newspapers, schools, and associations declined statewide, and German waned as a public language in many locations. Yet the language and customs persisted on farms and smaller towns across the state. There, new waves of German immigrants continued to encounter German cultures, language, and traditions well into the twentieth century.