For decades, Eartha Dengler worked to highlight the lives of immigrants who built the city of Lawrence, coming to work in its mills from all over the world. This week, it was her turn to be recognized.

Dengler, a former Andover resident and founder of the Immigrant City Archives in Lawrence, received Outstanding American by Choice Initiative recognition from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. The president recorded a message that was played.

Tuesday was a homecoming, of sorts, for Dengler, who flew in from Minnesota for a special ceremony on Sept. 15. She reconnected and visited with friends from Andover, and received her award in the courtyard of the organization she founded, now known as the Lawrence History Center, Immigrant City Archives and Museum.

"It was my interest to save the life (stories) of this generation (of immigrants). They are an important part of the American story," said Dengler. "They provided a foundation for America's history in Lawrence and all over."

Dengler was born near Hamburg, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in 1951 with her husband, Claus. She started the Immigrant City Archives in 1979 with a shoestring budget and a few dedicated volunteers.

"Having grown up under Nazi rule, she appreciates freedom more than most of us do. She knows what a dictator is and has fought that all her life," said Chris Young, Andover resident and personal friend of Dengler's. "She comes from having lived through that, knowing what was going on, and seeing their friends taken away. Sometimes it takes someone from another place that has seen something else to sort of wake up Americans to injustice. I think she felt it was an injustice not to record the lives of these people."

Dengler is also almost single-handedly responsible for the acquisition of the old Essex Co. building that now holds the Lawrence History Center and archives at 6 Essex St. The building was the former home to the corporation that essentially built Lawrence, purchasing the land, planning and building many of the canals, mills and homes of the city.

In an era when immigrant histories were being forgotten and records discarded, Dengler sought to collect documents concerning Lawrence's rich immigrant heritage of the 19th and 20th centuries, often sitting down to record oral histories from former mill workers one-on-one.

The archives, now housed in the building of the Essex Company, have grown to more than 750 oral histories, photographs, city records and documents - from maps, directories and census data to School Committee meeting minutes from the 1850s.

"People didn't save records like that. They were too 'ordinary.' Now, scholars come from across the country to consult and read (what Dengler collected). You can find anything about the city there, and a great deal about its people," said Young. "Because she is an immigrant, she understood that their stories have to be told. They were very humble people that came to Lawrence, but are very proud of what they've built and accomplished."

Among the archives, Dengler insists some of the most important records lie in the small details of everyday life, recorded from immigrants themselves.

"We were doing interviews, looking at the every day. How they raised their kids, how did their children play? Questions that are easy to answer," said Dengler.

Once she began to collect oral histories, word spread, said Dengler, and Lawrencians began bringing in old photographs and materials, asking to be interviewed.

"They realized they were an important part of American history," she said. "All of the sudden, they had so much pride that someone thought (their stories) were important."

Dengler said learning and living her German heritage was a natural part of her upbringing, which sparked her interest in preserving history.

"It wasn't anything special, but a feeling that you are a part of a bigger stream of events that links you to other people and communities," she said.

The Lawrence History Center is now directed by Andover resident Barbara Brown, who orchestrated many of the award festivities this week.

Dengler, 88, lived in Andover for more than 30 years before moving to be closer to family in 2000. Eartha and Claus Dengler raised their three children, Anne, Claudia and Thomas in town, and Eartha worked at Memorial Hall Library. She has a degree from the University of Massachusetts and a masters in library science from Simmons College.

At Tuesday's ceremony, Dengler was recognized with Albanian immigrant Eva Millona, executive director at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. Their award, given from the federal government, recognizes significant contributions and achievements of naturalized U.S. citizens who have made a personal decision to become an Americans by choice. Past recipients include Elie Wiesel, author and Nobel Peace Prize winner and General John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"To me, it really is an award given to the archives, to this institution," said Dengler. "So many people have provided assistance, helped with the collection from the community and really put the seeds out. I feel a little bit overrated that it should come to me, and that it should go to the archives."

For more information, to get involved or read a complete bio of Dengler, visit www.lawrencehistory.org

Quotations from Eartha Dengler, founder of the Lawrence History Center and Immigrant City Archives

ON ADJUSTMENTS

"New immigrants always have to adjust to a lot of small, every day habits here. Like cooking - ingredients are named differently, and take a while to learn. I remember going down the aisles in the market, looking for ingredients to make a cake, and having to ask for help."

ON MAINTAINING ONE'S CULTURE

"To keep your culture, you have to really like what you are, feel comfortable and appreciate your background. When I came over (to the U.S.), to be German was a negative term, because of what happened in World War II. I knew that German history, culture was deeper. It would have been hard for me to ignore that and just be American.

"I never felt I was part of German history that supported Hitler or the war, or any of the negative things."

ON LEARNING ENGLISH

"I wanted to learn English, not from a book, but by speaking. So I joined a Girl Scout troop with my daughter, Anne. It was a great way to meet people who are interested in working together."