Migrant Identity and Culture Maintenance: The Welsh in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, 1870–1930

Abstract

This paper identifies the Welsh as a distinct ethno-linguistic community in the city of Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio during the late decades of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth. The paper analyses the nature of the Welsh community in the city, assesses the extent of involvement in its cultural expression, and considers socioeconomic improvement as indicated by occupational change. Further, the study considers culture maintenance, and suggests that Welsh ethnic integrity was undermined by a variety of forces, primarily: occupational diversity, bilingualism, high levels of exogamy, and the cessation of immigration from Wales. The article further posits that assimilation was aided by the desire of the Welsh to enter mainstream American society, with some actively abandoning their Old-World characteristics, and the host society’s perception, strongly promulgated by Welsh community leaders, that they were ideal immigrants.