The most recent German-speaking immigrants to Kansas are from Mexico. Johnson and Lunte received a Kansas Humanities Council grant to seek out the Mexican Germans as part of the linguistic study. This year they are concentrating on interviewing the new Mexican German immigrants in southwest Kansas. They are from Old Colony Mennonites who moved to Mexico from Canada early in the 20th century. They have come to Kansas to escape extreme poverty in Mexico and are working as farm laborers.
Children have little resistance to adopting English.
They may still use German, but not as carefully as their parents. To help them reach more Kansans and because of the urgency in reaching older German speakers for this cultural heritage preservation project, the KU researchers have invited certified German-language teachers in Kansas to join the project. The distance of many communities from Lawrence often means far more driving time than interviewing time. In the past year, Johnson and Lunte have driven 4,000 miles for 12 interviews. A weekend drive from Lawrence to Sublette, for example, is a 900-mile round trip and may allow time for only one or two interviews.