Come hear Dorris Keeven-Franke tell the story of Gottfried Duden and the stories of those who followed him at a free program on Thursday, May 16 at 6 p.m. at the Warren County History Museum. 

Have you ever wondered why Missouri is so "German"? In 1929 a German attorney named Gottfried Duden published "A Report on a Journey to the Western States of North America"  telling his fellow countrymen about a place called Missouri. 

If your ancestors immigrated from Germany to Missouri chances are, they either read Duden's book, or knew someone who did. 

He had purchased land in southern Warren County and spent the years between 1824 through 1827 observing the people and the countryside, and upon returning to Germany, shared his thoughts. 

Immigration needs to have both a push and pull factor, and Duden's "Report"  was just the right words that Germans needed to hear at just the right time. 

Historian, Author and archivist Dorris Keeven-Franke has been writing about German immigrants to Missouri for over thirty years. She has presented papers and led discussions on Missouri's German immigrants , across the country and in Germany. In 2013, she and a group of historians, writers, photographers and museum curators from Germany would lead an exhibition Utopia - Revisiting A German State in America  from Giessen, Germany to the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis. 

In 2016 she was presented the German American Freindship by the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of her efforts on behalf of German American Relations. She is the Executive Director of the Missouri Germans Consortium. 

The event will be free to the public.