Cymraeg yn iowa

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 The Iowa Welsh  Society (IWS) was formed in 1985 and that summer, Cymdeithas Madog held their  Welsh language course, Cwrs Cymraeg, at Central College, Pella, Iowa, to promote  the new Welsh society. Over the years, Cwrs Cymraeg was hosted by the  IWS 3 times in Iowa,  twice at Simpson College in Indianola.   The original  founders were Ruth Hall, Indianola, and Phillips G. Davies, now deceased, from  Ames. While we are a small society, we continue to attract new members mostly  through the website https://iowawelshsociety.org/. We have a  facebook page as well. https://www.facebook.com/IowaWelsh We have several  members who emigrated from Wales and they are a wonderful part of the  Society.    It has always  been a statewide organization and because members drive such long distances,  meetings are held in the daytime. We meet 2-3 times annually. Certainly for St.  David’s Day and late fall  for a holiday get together. Other times we will have a summer meeting as well. A  Welsh group in southeast Iowa organizes an annual St  David’s parade in Columbus Junction, IA that is attended by  many IWS  members.    We are fortunate  to be able to meet occasionally at the John L. Lewis Memorial Museum of Mining  and Labor, Lucas, IA.  They are located close to Fry  Hill cemetery with  many grave markers in Welsh. The Board of Directors meets at the place of the  meeting, prior to the meeting and program.   The  Society initiated an  oral history project in 1994 to document the history of the immigrants from  Wales and their descendants in the Long Creek Welsh community in Louisa County,  Iowa.  This area was the oldest and least changed Welsh settlement in Iowa.  There were still some Welsh speakers at that time. We  interviewed 24descendants of  the Welsh immigrants.  The results were published in The Welsh Way, a 79 page  book that includes photos and  comments on various topics by those interviewed. The book is on People’s  Collection Wales. https://www.peoplescollection.wales/collections/1364891. The project was  partially funded by a grant from the Iowa Humanities Board and the National  Endowment for the Humanities.    Our fall meeting  in 2019 was held in Columbus Junction, Louisa County in  the Long Creek Welsh  community . We had planned to take a drive to see the Welsh churches, Salem  and Cotter, and stop at Cambrian cemetery, but a heavy downpour kept us indoors  singing Welsh hymns and other Welsh songs.    Current officers  are Margaret Patterson, President, AdaMae Lewis, Vice-President, Wendy Knowles,  Secretary and Jenifer Mercer-Klimowski, Treasurer and  Immediate Past President. Other IWS Board  members are Danny Davis, Ruth Hall, Richard Phillips and Sharon  Rees.  

Croeso To The Iowa Welsh Society's Website

The purpose of the Society is to foster interest in the culture, history and language of Wales.  We seek to encourage fellowship between people of Welsh descent and those interested in Wales and Welsh life, to preserve the history of the American-Welsh in Iowa and to establish connections with other Welsh-American organizations.

In  1993 members of the Iowa Welsh Society realized that the current generations of  Welsh in Iowa were the last to remember the immigrant Welsh families who were  their parents and grandparents. With the purpose of preserving these  remembrances, a committee was formed. It proposed collecting oral histories and  was awarded some financial support from the Iowa Humanities Board and the Iowa  Welsh Society. Members of the project committee worked on a volunteer basis from  the summer of 1994 to conduct the interviews and bring the interview material  together for the book titled

THE WELSH WAY-ORAL HISTORY OF THE LONG CREEK WELSH COMMUNITY IN IOWA