Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter
Keywords
Swiss-American sculptor, Omaha, immigration
Abstract
Jacob Maag was born in Neunkirch, Canton Schaffhausen, in 1881 and came to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1905. From 1905 to 1961 he worked as a stonecutter and sculptor mainly in Omaha, but also in other parts of the Midwest. In 1962 he became the subject of an oral history project of the Greater Omaha Historical Society as a "pioneer citizen" in their "I Remember" series. The Greater Omaha Historical Society is now defunct, but thanks to Walter Wullschleger (see SAHS Newsletter, XVI, No. 1 (Jan. 1980), 31-36) we received a transcript of that interview. We are pleased to give the text of the interview below together with some additional materials, also produced by the society. The interview carries the title "Chisel and Mallet" and the persons participating in it are Jacob Maag, his two daughters, Mrs. Regina Maag James and Miss Jacqueline Maag, and the interviewer Miss Irma Costello. We also are able to give the text of a letter which Jacob Maag wrote (presumably to Mr. Wullschleger) late in his life, together with the poem mentioned in that letter. They strike me as precious illustrations of the difficult and complicated process of becoming Americanized.
Recommended Citation
Meier, Heinz K.
(1982)
"Jacob Maag (1881-1980), Swiss Stone Carver and Sculptor in the Midwest,"
Swiss American Historical Society Newsletter: Vol. 19:
Iss.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_newsletter/vol19/iss1/5