Luxembourgish Americans are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

of Luxembourgish ancestry. According to the United States' 2000 Census, there were 45,139 Americans of full or partial Luxembourgish descent. In 1940 the number of Americans with Luxembourger ancestry was around 100,000. The first families from Luxembourg arrived in the United States, around 1842, fleeing of the

overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a phenomenon in which a species' population becomes larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale m ...

and economic change in the newly independent country. They worked in the field, as was traditional in their country.Encyclopedia of Chicago: Luxembourgers
Posted by Kathleen Neils Conzen. Luxembourgish Americans are overwhelmingly concentrated in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, where most originally settled in the nineteenth century. At the 2000 Census, the states with the largest self-reported Luxembourgian American populations were

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

(6,963),

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

(6,580),

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

(5,867),

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

(5,624), and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

(2,824).

History

Between the mid-19th century and the early 20th century, approximately one-third of the Luxembourgish population emigrated. Luxembourg was, at the time, a poor country with an economy dominated by agriculture. The United States was a popular destination for Luxembourgers, as it was for many other European emigrants of the period. The number of Luxembourgers who emigrated to the US in the 19th century is thought to be around 60,000–70,000. Germans-emigrate-1874

Substantial Luxembourger emigration to America took off from about 1845, for several reasons. Advances in medicine caused the rate of infant mortality to decline. This resulted in overpopulation. The lack of work in industry led many to despair. The country could no longer feed its population. In the large families of the time, the dividing up of inheritances led to fragmentation of land ownership. The portion of each child was reduced to a few hectares, which was barely enough to feed a family. Selling one's portion to the elder brother, however, provided enough money for the other siblings to pay for the voyage to America and to start a new life there. Travelling was becoming easier in this period as well. Previously, it had taken as long to go from Luxembourg to Paris as from there to America. After a while, the news came to Europe that there was much unused land available in America. The Homestead Act offered fertile land for low prices. Many therefore took the step of attempting a new start, since staying in one's home country would mean death by starvation. Luxembourgers arriving in the United States would not necessarily be registered as such by the authorities, but instead as Belgians or Germans. After arriving in New York, Luxembourgers tended to move on to

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, as well as

, and

. A small number stayed in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Notable people

John W. Beschter John William Beschter (born Johann Wilhelm Beschter; ; May 20, 1763January 6, 1842) was a Catholic priest and Jesuit from the Duchy of Luxembourg in the Austrian Netherlands. He emigrated to the United States as a missionary in 1807, where he ...

(1763–1842), Jesuit missionary and briefly president of Georgetown College *

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...

(born 1954), tennis player and winner of 21 Grand Slam titles * Red Faber (1888–1976), baseball player and

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

inductee * Hugo Gernsback (1884–1967), inventor and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

writer *

Dennis Hastert John Dennis Hastert (; born January 2, 1942) is an American former politician and convicted felon who represented from 1987 to 2007 and served as the 51st speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007. The longest-se ...

(born 1942), Republican politician and former

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives The speaker of the United States House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives. The office was established in 1789 by Article I, Section 2 of the U. ...

Theodore Hesburgh Theodore Martin Hesburgh, CSC (May 25, 1917 – February 26, 2015) was a native of Syracuse, New York, who became an ordained priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and is best known for his service as the president of the University of Not ...

(1917–2015), priest and academic leader * Paul O. Husting (1866–1917), Democratic politician and former

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

for

Vincent Kartheiser Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor. He played Pete Campbell on the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', for which he received six Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a ...

(born 1979), actor known for playing Connor in ''Angel'' and

Pete Campbell Peter Dyckman Campbell (born February 28, 1934) is a fictional character on AMC's television series ''Mad Men''. He is portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser. Kartheiser has won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble ...

in '' Mad Men'' *

Richard F. Kneip Richard Francis Kneip (January 7, 1933March 9, 1987) was an American diplomat and politician who served as the 25th governor of South Dakota from 1971 until 1978 and the 6th United States Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore. He was a member ...

(1933–1987), Democratic politician and former Governor of South Dakota * Paul Lauterbur (1929–2007), chemist and winner of the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accord ...

John L. May John Lawrence May (March 31, 1922 – March 24, 1994) was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mobile (1969–1980) and Archbishop of St. Louis (1980–1992). Early life and education John May was born in E ...

(1922–1994), clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church; served as Bishop of Mobile and Archbishop of St. Louis * Arno Mayer (born 1926), historian and professor at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

* Nicholas Muller (1836–1917), Democratic politician and former

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Gene Scholz Eugene Milton Scholz (September 28, 1917 – March 9, 2005) was a professional basketball player. Scholz was born in Columbus, Ohio, and attended South High School. He attended Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, leaving before graduation to ...

(1917–2005), professional basketball player *

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...

(1879–1973), photographer, painter, art gallery and museum curator * Matthew Woll (1880–1956), trade unionist and former Vice President of the AFL-CIO * Loretta Young (1913–2000), actress and Best Actress Academy Award winner * Alex Wagner (born 1977), journalist and author

References

External links

Luxembourgish in the United States

English Language contact in the Luxembourgish linguistic enclaves in the Midwest of the USA

Amira Ouardalitou researches the Luxembourgish language in the New World

* ttps://onsstad.vdl.lu/fileadmin/uploads/media/ons_stad_105-2014_41.pdf/ Lëtzebuergesch an Amerika - Amira-Louise Ouardalitou
Englischer Sprachkontakt in den luxemburgischen Sprachinseln im Mittleren Westen der USA - Master thesis Amira Ouardalitou
{{Luxembourgish diaspora European-American society

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links