Last updated: 2/2/2012
1125 West Turnpike Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58501
Central Time
Monday - Friday
8 AM - 4:30 PM
The Society collects, lists, and catalogues published materials and personal documents that tell of the European migrations and exodus to the United States and Canada and also of the pioneer life on the plains. These materials can be read and researched in our library at 1125 W. Turnpike Ave., Bismarck, ND 58501. This library at our International Headquarters in Bismarck contains many books and magazines dealing with our ancestors.
There are several places within our organization we could use volunteers. Would you please consider donating a little of your time?
The Society functions as a non-profit, non-denominational, non-political organization, incorporated under the laws of the State of North Dakota. Its aims are educational and social. Its purpose is to bring together people who are interested in discovering the common history unique to Germanic-Russian ethnics and to preserve the many elements of their rich heritage.
The Society was founded on January 9, 1971, at Bismarck, N.D., under the name North Dakota Historical Society of Germans from Russia (NDHSGR). For some time, meetings were held in the Grand Pacific Hotel, with Judge Ray Friederich serving as the society's first president. On July 14, 1979, the membership, by popular vote, changed the name to Germans from Russia Heritage Society (GRHS). Finally on January 21, 1982 the Society moved into its first permanent home on East Central Avenue.
Over the years the Society's activities and physical resources grew until in 1999 the members voted to initiate a fund drive to construct a new and much larger building. The move to the new headquarters took place on December 13, 2000.
The Society's Bismarck headquarters, ideally located in the heartland of our ethnic group on the continental northern plains, has become the leading research center for the Black Sea Germans from Russia in the United States and Canada. Their ancestors migrated in great numbers to Dakota Territory beginning in 1873. By the end of the century, they became a predominant ethnic group of this area. Although descendants of these immigrant forefathers have scattered far and wide, the ancestral ties always go back to the pioneer settlement heartland - the place of new World roots.
One of the primary goals of the Society is to encourage members to research their families, their ancestral villages, and to learn about the history of their lives during their time spent in the villages of South Russia and beyond.
What was going on the world? What were the events that shaped their lives? Why did they leave the homeland in Germany and start over in Russia? Why did the families pick up once again years later and resettle in Canada, USA, Australia and Argentina? We offer Research Services for our members.
Access: General Public, Students, Scholars, Members
Appointment required: No
Explore our assortment of books, videos, research materials, and more...
You can now pay with PayPal. Paypal accepts major credit cards so you do not need to have a PayPal account to shop. You may also use PayPal to make donations to GRHS or purchase or renew your membership.
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