Hexamer, Charles J. b. May 6, 1862; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania d. January 8, 1920; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
President of the National German-American Alliance from 1901 to 1917. Hexamer was the American-born son of a prominent German Forty-Eighter, Ernst Hexamer, who entrenched in him a pride of his German heritage.
He received a law degree from the National University in Philadelphia and a doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1886. Shortly after graduating, Hexamer embarked on a tour of continental Europe. His visit to Germany inspired the desire to promote and preserve that nation’s culture in the United States. Back in America, Hexamer became an active leader of Philadelphia’s German American community. Realizing that most German American cultural societies existed only on a local or regional level, he decided to create an organization that would unite all German Americans.In April 1899 Hexamer cofounded the German-American Central Alliance of Pennsylvania and became its first president. The stated goal of the organization was to preserve German culture in America and to establish a national organization for German Americans. In October 1901 Hexamer invited representatives from various German American organizations in other states to Philadelphia to discuss this vision. The meeting resulted in the creation of the Deutsch- Amerikanische National Bund (The National German-American Alliance, NGAA). In recognition of his leadership, Hexamer was elected president, an office he would occupy until the fall of 1917. The NGAA focused on promoting the teaching of the German language in public schools, preserving
German culture, praising the achievements of German Americans, and fostering closer ties between the United States and Germany. However, whatever its claims, the NGAA represented only a small segment of the German American community.
The outbreak of World War I in Europe in August 1914 began to place strains on the organization.
Early on in the conflict, the NGAA came out in favor of complete American neutrality and fair play for Germany. As relations between both countries began to deteriorate, the NGAA became increasingly supportive of the imperial German government and its aims. In September 1915 Hexamer issued an order to members to boycott all banks that participated in the Allied loans. This measure was only successful in Milwaukee, the country’s most German city, but it was perceived as meddling by most American newspapers. Two months later, Hexamer succumbed to chauvinism by remarking at a Milwaukee meeting of the NGAA: “No one will find us prepared to step down to a lesser Kultur; no, we have made it our aim to draw the other up to us” (U.S., 65 th Congress). This remark caused outrage and left many Americans with the impression that Hexamer and the NGAA were more German than American and were, thus, not to be trusted. All efforts to promote German culture were henceforth viewed as un-American.When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, the NGAA quickly emphasized its patriotism and support for the American cause. This affirmation, however, came too late for many who had come to perceive the organization as a German tool. Hexamer was no longer able to unite the NGAA, and many German Americans cancelled their memberships in a time of national crisis when they felt that their loyalty was being questioned by their fellow Americans. In November 1917 Hexamer resigned his presidency, citing health problems. Six months later, the NGAA voted to disband.
Hexamer was proud of being a German American. He always believed that any American should honor his ancestors’ origin and yet be an American first. By trying to preserve his cultural and linguistic heritage, however, he also became an apologist for imperial Germany’s policies. Many fellow German Americans accepted his leadership in promoting their heritage, but their ways parted once the United States declared war on Germany.
Hexamer failed to realize that by claiming to represent all German Americans with his attitudes and by uttering condescending remarks, he damaged the reputation of his own ethnic group. Despite his well-meant intentions, Hexamer’s arrogance and lack of foresight were among the reasons so many German Americans had to suffer harassment on the American home front during World War I.Katja Wuestenbecker
See also Forty-Eighters; German Society of Pennsylvania; Milwaukee; National German-American Alliance; Politics and German Americans; World War I; World War I and German Americans,
References and Further Reading
Bosse, Georg von. Dr. C. J. Hexamer: Sein Leben und Wirken. Philadelphia: Druck und Verlag, 1922.
Johnson, Charles Thomas. Culture at Twilight: The National German-American Alliance, 1901—1918. New York: Peter Lang, 1999.
U.S., 65th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary on S. 3529: A Bill to Repeal the Act entitled “An Act to incorporate the National German-American Alliance. ” Approved February 25, 1907 (February 23-April 13, 1918), Washington 1918, p. 25.