PRINCETON - The Bureau County Genealogical Society will meet on Thursday evening, Jan. 23 at the Society library, 629 South Main in Princeton. The speaker for the evening will be Heinz-Dietrich Suppan, who teaches at Marquette High School in Ottawa and serves as an adjunct instructor at Illinois Valley Community College.

His program for the evening will be “Anti-German Hysteria during WWI.” By the time World War I broke out, many Germans had already settled in the United States and had become citizens. A great number of them were business owners as well. With Germany being an adversary of the United States in that war, many Anglo-Americans feared that German Americans would be loyal to the Kaiser. Suppan will tell the audience where the “Devil’s Triangle” was located and how social issues changed at that time.

The meeting is free and open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m.

During the business portion of the meeting, an annual financial report will be given. In addition, a new slate of officers will be presented at the meeting for election to serve for the coming year.

For any questions about the meeting, please call BCGS at (815) 879-3133 during regular hours of operation, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. or stop by in person. The library will also continue to be open during those hours on the first Saturday of each month.