Culture and culture maintenance: the Welsh immigrant community in Osage County, Kansas, United States, 1870–1920

Abstract This article identifies the Welsh as a distinct ethno-linguistic community in Osage County, Kansas, at the end of the nineteenth century. The study analyses the nature of that community, assesses the extent of involvement in its cultural expression, considers culture maintenance and suggests that while ethnic integrity was initially maintained, it was ultimately undermined, not only by the general forces of acculturation, but also by specifically Welsh factors. While the Welsh experience in the county differed sharply from that undergone by the other nationalities of the United Kingdom, it did not simply mirror that of other non-anglophone groups.