What's New

24 March 2024

• Updated GCRA Newsletter surnames and table of contents added for Vol. 37, No. 1.

3 March 2024

• Women’s History Month is here! GCRA has a brand new gallery of photos of the women of the Glückstal colonies. It's not too late to add your Glückstal ladies. We'll be adding photos all month long. Email submissions to gcra.webmaster@gmail.com.

10 February 2024

• Historical photos of the Evangelical Lutheran churches were added to the pages for each of the four Mother colonies. See the Colonies page. 

4 February 2024

• GCRA in Review is a free publication whose purpose is to highlight articles, photos, and images of primary documents in GCRA sources related to a specific topic and to encourage researchers to explore this rich repository of Black Sea German history. The February 2024 installment on the topic of “Foodways” is available for free here.

1 February 2024 — Help Tell Her Story

• Women’s History Month is coming up in March. Women tend to be the story keepers of families, and we would like to celebrate the women of the Glückstal colonies by telling their stories. The goal is to put together a photo gallery similar to what we did for those who served in the military a few years ago and post them on the GCRA Facebook page throughout the month of March. They may also appear in the GCRA Newsletter later this year.

Can you help? If you have a Glückstal woman you would like to have included, please email Sandy Schilling Payne the following:

1. A photo of your ancestor. Sometimes we have stories but we don’t always have photos. If you don’t have one, maybe send a recipe of hers, or an example of her handiwork (crochet, embroidery, knitting, etc.), or her flower or vegetable garden. If by chance you have none of those, a picture of a flower (hollyhock, sunflower, iris) or an apron or something else will be used so her story can still be included.

2. What Glückstal colony was she connected to? This can be where she or her parents/grandparents/great-grandparents were born.

3. If she immigrated to North America, what was her hometown?

4. Tell me her story or a story about her. This can be her bio, a personal memory you have of her, family lore, etc. Lengthy submissions may be edited, so try to keep it tight.

5. Permission to use your name as the submitter of the entry.

The new gallery will be published on the website on March 1 with more added to it throughout the month as more submissions come in.

Thanks for helping on this project to tell Her Story!

7 January 2024

• The Glückstal Colonies Research Association has researched and published a great deal of genealogical and historical material for over three decades related to the Glückstal enclave of colonies in the former Kherson province of the Russian Empire (Ukraine and Moldova today). Many of the sources are not fully indexed, digitized, or searchable by modern means, and therefore may be overlooked or unknown to many researchers. The purpose of GCRA in Review is to highlight articles, photos, and images of primary documents in GCRA sources related to a specific topic and to encourage researchers to explore this rich repository of Black Sea German history. The January 2024 installment on the topics of “Brauche, Himmelsbriefe, and Midwifery” is available for free here.

4 January 2024

• Updated GCRA Newsletter surnames and table of contents added for Vol. 36, No. 2.

20 June 2023

• GCRA meeting at GRHS cancelled. It will be rescheduled at a later date. 

16 June 2023

• Added a collection of source links for Glückstal births, marriages, and deaths on Research page. 

• Announcement about GCRA meeting coming up soon. To be held at the GRHS and/or AHSGR convention both in person and over Zoom. Stay tuned for more information. 

6 April 2023

• Updated GCRA Newsletter surnames and table of contents added for Vol. 36, No. 1.

21 October 2022

• Family Tree Magazine published an article by James Beidler and Annette Unrau Adams entitled "Germans from Russia: A Guide to Finding Your Ancestors" in its Nov/Dec 2022 issue. GCRA is among the organizations listed under the recommended German-Russian resources! Check it out at the link above. 

1 October 2022

• Beginning in 2023, the GCRA Newsletter will be distributed via email instead of postal mail. The costs of printing and postage have become prohibitive. In order to keep membership dues at $20 per year, this step must be taken. Those who really wish to continue receiving the newsletter in paper format by postal mail, the option of doing so comes at a cost of $40 per year as your membership dues. This option is only available to members in the U.S. International members will receive their newsletters via email only. Membership runs for the calendar beginning in January. If you submit your dues later in the year, you will still receive the spring newsletter, and your membership will renew again in January. The Membership and Store pages have been updated with the payment options. If you have any questions regarding this change, please feel free to contact Duane Stabler: destabler@outlook.com. Please put “GCRA Question” in the subject line. 

1 August 2022

• Added photos to Image Gallery: Military

26 May 2022

• Added photo essay for the 20th anniversary of the Glückstal Monument dedication.

• Updated GCRA History page with links to obits of those mentioned.

29 March 2022

• Added pages for the following colonies: Neu Berlin, Topik, Chutor Alexandrowka, Chutor Balitski. 

• Added Volunteer page 

• Added Military photo gallery 

• Added What's New page and link in footer

• Added member discount bundles to the Store

• Updated GCRA Newsletter surnames and table of contents added for Vol. 35, No. 1.

• Updated Research Source Guide: Glückstal Colonies 

• Updated Research Source Guide: Maps Related to Germans from Russia 

• Updated Master Bibliography 

 6 March 2022

• New website launched.