Talk:Germans in Omaha, Nebraska

A fact from Germans in Omaha, Nebraska appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 7 September 2007. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Fred Astaire, Marlon Brando and Nick Nolte were all born to German-American families in Omaha, Nebraska?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2007/September.

Wikipedia

This article was nominated for deletion on 30 December 2007. The result of the discussion was keep.

Germany Low‑importance

	Germany portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Germany, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Germany on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.GermanyWikipedia:WikiProject GermanyTemplate:WikiProject GermanyGermany articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Urban studies and planning Low‑importance

	Architecture portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Urban studies and planning, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Urban studies and planning on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Urban studies and planningWikipedia:WikiProject Urban studies and planningTemplate:WikiProject Urban studies and planningUrban studies and planning articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Sociology Low‑importance

	Society portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Sociology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of sociology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SociologyWikipedia:WikiProject SociologyTemplate:WikiProject Sociologysociology articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Ethnic groups Low‑importance

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ethnic groups, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles relating to ethnic groups, nationalities, and other cultural identities on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Ethnic groupsWikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic groupsTemplate:WikiProject Ethnic groupsEthnic groups articles

Low

This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

WikiProject Ethnic groups open tasks:

Here are some open WikiProject Ethnic groups tasks:

Meta-tasks:
- Place the {{Ethnic groups}} template on the talk page of articles within the scope of this project.
- Resolve the disparity in importance rankings among different ethnic groups
Articles about ethnic groups that currently have issues needing resolution:
Start an article:
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic groups/Article requests

Feel free to edit this list or discuss these tasks.

United States: Nebraska / Omaha Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Nebraska portal This article is supported by WikiProject Nebraska (assessed as Low-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject Nebraska - Omaha (assessed as Low-importance).

First Paragraph and Lead[edit]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

AfD proposal[edit]

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)[reply]

Germans in beer production[edit]

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)[reply]

Origins of Germans in Omaha[edit]

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)[reply]

National German American Alliance and WWI[edit]

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)[reply]

RfC[edit]

The title of this article is potentially impacted by the outcome of this Request for comment re: entries about ethnic groups in the United States. Page watchers are invited to participate in the ongoing discussion. Thanks! ---Another Believer _(Talk) 00:01, 2 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]