About H.H. Fick and the German-Americana Collection
H.H. Fick
H.H. Fick
The German-Americana Collection is a rich source of material on the heritage of Germans in the United States. Consisting primarily of monographs on literature and history, in recent years it has expanded to include archival materials on everyday German-American life, including photographs, church records, organizational records, and almanacs. However, its existence, and research value, can be traced to a remarkable founding collection.
In 1935, the University of Cincinnati Libraries acquired the H.H. Fick German-Americana collection for its holdings. Over the course of his lifetime, Heinrich Hermann Adolf Fick, a leader in Cincinnati’s German-American community prior to the First World War, assembled an outstanding collection of books on German-American life and culture. Fick gathered this collection for students of German-Americana, but he was much more than just a book collector. Fick was a noted educator, advocate, writer, and a poet.
Born in Lübeck, Germany on August 16, 1849, Fick was educated at theGrossheimsche Schule, and in 1864 he immigrated to New York where he went to work for his uncle. He then moved to Cincinnati where he would spend much of the rest of his life. He initially had the intention of doing work in sales, but quickly grew dissatisfied with the business world.1
In 1870, he was appointed as a teacher at an elementary school in Cincinnati, where he taught both German and art. Fick was so successful as an art instructor that by November of 1878, he was appointed Superintendent of Drawing, a position he held until 1884.2 During Fick’s tenure, the Drawing Department continued to grow in renown. In a 1902 history of the Cincinnati schools, John B. Shotwell wrote that during Fick’s superintendency, “Exhibits of drawing were frequent at institutes and at meetings of the National Education Association, and Cincinnati continued to hold her reputation as a leader in this branch of education.”3 It is not surprising that Fick felt that drawing proficiency was ‘just as important as reading and writing.’4 He even published a book on drawing, Pencil and Brush; An Introduction to the Elementary Principles of Graphic Representation, for the use of students and teachers in Cincinnati's schools.5
In 1884, Fick resigned from his position as Superintendent of Drawing, and moved to Chicago, where he wrote for the German press and gave private lessons in German and art. It is here that that he met and married Clementine Barna, who was also a German teacher. With Barna and a colleague named Louis Schutt, Fick established a German-English school in Chicago, and served as the school’s director.6
He returned to Ohio in 1890, to Ohio University in Athens, and began studying for his Ph.D., which he was awarded in 1892. Fick then took a position as principal of the Sixth District School in Cincinnati. In 1901, he became Assistant Superintendent of the Pub
H.H. Fick
H.H. Fick
The German-Americana Collection is a rich source of material on the heritage of Germans in the United States. Consisting primarily of monographs on literature and history, in recent years it has expanded to include archival materials on everyday German-American life, including photographs, church records, organizational records, and almanacs. However, its existence, and research value, can be traced to a remarkable founding collection.
In 1935, the University of Cincinnati Libraries acquired the H.H. Fick German-Americana collection for its holdings. Over the course of his lifetime, Heinrich Hermann Adolf Fick, a leader in Cincinnati’s German-American community prior to the First World War, assembled an outstanding collection of books on German-American life and culture. Fick gathered this collection for students of German-Americana, but he was much more than just a book collector. Fick was a noted educator, advocate, writer, and a poet.
Born in Lübeck, Germany on August 16, 1849, Fick was educated at theGrossheimsche Schule, and in 1864 he immigrated to New York where he went to work for his uncle. He then moved to Cincinnati where he would spend much of the rest of his life. He initially had the intention of doing work in sales, but quickly grew dissatisfied with the business world.1
In 1870, he was appointed as a teacher at an elementary school in Cincinnati, where he taught both German and art. Fick was so successful as an art instructor that by November of 1878, he was appointed Superintendent of Drawing, a position he held until 1884.2 During Fick’s tenure, the Drawing Department continued to grow in renown. In a 1902 history of the Cincinnati schools, John B. Shotwell wrote that during Fick’s superintendency, “Exhibits of drawing were frequent at institutes and at meetings of the National Education Association, and Cincinnati continued to hold her reputation as a leader in this branch of education.”3 It is not surprising that Fick felt that drawing proficiency was ‘just as important as reading and writing.’4 He even published a book on drawing, Pencil and Brush; An Introduction to the Elementary Principles of Graphic Representation, for the use of students and teachers in Cincinnati's schools.5
In 1884, Fick resigned from his position as Superintendent of Drawing, and moved to Chicago, where he wrote for the German press and gave private lessons in German and art. It is here that that he met and married Clementine Barna, who was also a German teacher. With Barna and a colleague named Louis Schutt, Fick established a German-English school in Chicago, and served as the school’s director.6
He returned to Ohio in 1890, to Ohio University in Athens, and began studying for his Ph.D., which he was awarded in 1892. Fick then took a position as principal of the Sixth District School in Cincinnati. In 1901, he became Assistant Superintendent of the Pub
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