History Commons^™

Intervention And Reinvention: Rethinking Airport Amenities, Jens Vange

The Bridge

Over the past eight years, I’ve had the rare opportunity to explore in excruciating detail one of the most mundane spaces that most of us have experienced: airport restrooms. My immigration experience influenced the outcome of this exploration. My father, erik Vange, immigrated to the US from Denmark during World War II and never moved back. My mom, Lissi, and my sister, Katrine, came over about ten years later. They settled in the Chicago area, and after a few years my parents decided to adopt a child from Denmark. Fortunately, that turned out to be me. I immigrated to the …

Growing Up In Junction City, Oregon. A Memoir., Lois Christiansen Eagleton

The Bridge

I grew up in a Danish world in America. It seemed that all of my relatives and most of our family friends were Danes. Though my parents did not speak much Danish at home, mainly because their families had come from different parts of Denmark and they could not agree on pronunciation, I learned when I went to college that I had a few Danish words in my vocabulary that I had no idea were not English.

A Danish Lad In America, Fred Delcomyn

The Bridge

“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” So said L.P. Hartley in The Go-Between (1953). Looking back on myself as a young immigrant child in Detroit at mid-century, the phrase seems especially apt. In my past I was quite literally in a foreign country.

A Girl In Two Worlds, Meryem Sert

The Bridge

It is evening in Allerød. I am sitting here by the window, trying to write a little before I go to sleep. In front of me are two photos that were taken only a few months apart.

One photo is of an eight-year-old girl with bare feet, dressed in a long skirt and head scarf. She is standing in the middle of a flock of sheep in front of a low house built of clay and stone. The other photo shows the same girl, taken in front of a red, high-rise apartment with a lot of cars around. She is …

'Det Ny Fra Thy': Historical Innovation In A Peripheral Place, Poul Houe

The Bridge

When we say in English that a certain innovation "takes place" or in Danish: finder sted, which means literally, "finds place" -both linguistic idioms, "takes" or "finds" place, suggest that the role of place is not accidental. This is obviously pivotal in geography, but also in anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and a host of cultural studies, sometimes in the form of "mental geography." Recent Danish book titles suggest as much: Dan Ringgaard's Stedssans (Sense of Place), Anne-Marie Mai's Hvor litteraturen finder sted (Where literature Takes Place) in 3 volumes, and Ringgaard & Mai's anthology Sted (Place).

On Danish-American Cultural Identity, Signe Sloth

The Bridge

In 1967 an article was published which kick-started a discussion that is still going on among sociologists today. The subject of the article is American civil religion and the writer is the American sociologist Robert Bellah who claims that every nation and every people has a religious self-understanding. He advocates an American civil religion that is separated from other denominations and established religious institutions, but just like them demands recognition and understanding. Bellah defines this Civil Religion as " ... A genuine apprehension of universal and transcendental religious reality as seen in or . . . as revealed through the …

A Journey To Denmark In 1928, Anton Gravesen

The Bridge

It is now just 3 months ago that I packed my valise and said goodbye to Askov to make a journey to Denmark. It was with some mixed feelings. Half my life I have lived here and my other half over there in the old country.

Grundtvigian Danish-Americans - A Story Of Preservation And Renewal Of Cultural And Religious Traditions, Henrik Bredmose Simonsen

The Bridge

grant from the Grundtvig Centre at Aarhus University enabled me in 2010 to visit several small towns in the American Midwest, where Grundtvigian institutions and traditions have played and still play a role. The trip was part of the research project "Integration, Identity and Narrative among Grundtvigian Danish-Americans," which Skanderborg Museum launched in 2009.

Remembrances: Early Years By The River: Growing Up In The Junction City Danish Community, 1904-2, Arnold N. Bodtker

The Bridge

I was born December 5, 1904, in Junction City, Oregon, on the farm, which later will be referred to as the "lower place." Quite often my father called it "Sibirien." (This is the Danish word for Siberia.) My memories from that place, where I lived my first five years, are spotty now, but nevertheless vivid

Grundtvig' S Relevance Today: The Current Debate, Henrik Wiegh Poulsen

The Bridge

Hardly any individual has meant more to Denmark and the Danes than Grundtvig. But lately he has suffered a fall from grace in public opinion. Why is this and what does it mean to Grundtvig and to Danish society?

Whose Memory Is It After All?, Inger M. Olsen

The Bridge

The EU (European Union) constitution was issued May 2005 and its preamble states that the writers have "let themselves be inspired by Europe's cultural, religious and humanistic inheritance which is the foundation for the development of the universal values: the individual human being's inviolable and inalienable rights as well as freedom, equality and constitutional state"1 2 The preamble goes on to mention the painful experiences that Europe has undergone and the fact that Europe is once again united. The final note states that Europe "wishes to develop further the public life's democratic and open character and work for peace, justice …

The Greater Challenge: Staying Home Or Emigrating?, Inger Wiehl

The Bridge

This presentation poses the challenge of emigrating versus that of staying home, exemplified by a Southern Jutlander who stayed home during the years of Prussian rule between 1864 and 1920 and one who left for America during those years. It begs the larger question of who endures more, those who leave or those who stay behind, a salient issue underlying all emigration and any significant parting. Put in classical terms: Who faces the greater challenge Odysseus or Penelope? He endures any number of dangers on his way back from Troy; she stays by her loom and keeps home intact for …

N.F.S. Grundtvig's Approach To Christian Community And Civic Responsibility, Mark C. Mattes

The Bridge

A perennial concern of Christian social ethics is the attempt to discern the best paradigm for relating the Christian faith and life to wider culture. H. Richard Niebuhr's typology1 of how Christ relates to culture, i. e., "Christ against culture" (sectarian), "Christ above culture" (Roman Catholic), "Christ transforming culture" (Reformed), "Christ of culture" (liberal Protestant), and "Christ and culture in paradox" (Lutheran) continues to provide a helpful framework in which to understand the role of the Christian ethos in public life. One important interpretation of this latter type, "Christ and culture in paradox" is that of the nineteenth century Danish …

Defining An Immigrant, Helle Mathiasen

The Bridge

Before emigrating in August 1965, I had already experienced America while a child living in Denmark. My first American memory is the smell of Wrigley's Doublement gum. I also remember the green gum package containing the thin, shiny silver paper with the jagged edge you had to remove in order to touch the delectable candy. For me, as a child, chewing gum was America. I was born in Vangede in 1940, the year the Germans invaded Denmark. During much of the five-year Nazi Occupation, our family lived in Sydhavnen, in Copenhagen, on Sjcel0r Boulevard number 3, in a onebedroom apartment. …

Memories From A Danish American Parsonage, Bodil S. Sorensen

The Bridge

Those of us who grew up in the Danish-American

colonies of the 30' s and 40' s experienced a life that has

now disappeared. It was a rich and unique life. It was a

time of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation immigrants adjusting

to the American culture and at the same time cherishing

their particular brand of Danish heritage.

Goals And Objectives Of The Danish American Heritage Society

The Bridge

To promote an interest in Danish American contributions to American life.

To encourage research in the life and culture of Danish Americans. To serve as an agency for the publication of studies of Danish American contributions to American life.

To provide a means of communication and education for individuals interested in the activities of Danish Americans.

Identifying Danish-American Folklife, Gregory Hansen

The Bridge

Danish-American ethnicity has traditionally been studied by examining the literature, religion, social and educational institutions, and business enterprises of Danes in America. In general researchers have looked to Fine Arts and Culture to understand the Danish ethnic identity. But examining only Culture and Art yields an incomplete understanding of culture and art. Danish ethnic culture in America consists primarily of the non-elitist traditions and arts of individuals' everyday lives rather than the contributions of the elite, and the discipline of folklore can provide a more complete concept of Danish heritage. Folklife studies involve the stages of identifying, documenting, interpreting, and …

The Travels Abroad Of H. C. Andersen, Don Mowatt

The Bridge

A complete appreciation of Hans Christian Andersen has always been limited to Danish-speaking readers because so much of his private life is most clearly revealed in his letters, diaries, and travel books which remain largely untranslated into English. There is a handful of exceptions, the majority of which are mid-nineteenth century translations from England.

Enok Mortensen As A Danish-American, Erling Duus

The Bridge

Many years ago, Enok Mortensen wrote about the impact of the first singing of Kristian 0stergaard' s "Bag B0lgende Have" 1at a meeting at Nysted Folk School. For the first time, Danish-Americans had a song which moved beyond nostalgia to affirmation. It filled a need which had become powerful. It gave expression to the fact that the kind of rich cultural and spiritually generative Danishness which came to flower in the Grundtvigian movement had become implanted in the spaciousness of the plains and the prairies, and was transformed in this liberating new environment. This article 2 was characteristic of the …

Danebod Fall Meeting, Elsie S. Hansen

The Bridge

In 1943 when Enok Mortensen and his family arrived in Tyler, Minnesota, to begin his pastorate at Danebod Lutheran Church, they were greeted by a severe blizzard which prevented them from moving into the parsonage for several days. The parsonage, located across from the church, had been redecorated, cleaned, insulated and made ready for their occupancy and soon they were comfortably ensconced. This was to be their home for almost 18 years.

Danebod Family Recreation Camps, Otto G. Hoiberg

The Bridge

"The family that plays together , stays together !" Implied conversely in this generalization , one finds at least a partial explanation of the troubled waters presently navigated by the family in America. Whereas in years gone by , much recreational activity was enjoyed jointly by the various members of a family , in this day and age each member tends to go his own way to satisfy his leisure time needs and desires. After the dinner hour , Dad has a bowling engagement , Mom goes to a meeting of her Study Club , Susie heads for a Girl …

Enok Mortensen And Askov, Hans Henningsen

The Bridge

The connection between Enok Mortensen and Askov Folk High School in Denmark came about accidentally, as it were, in the middle of the 1950s. The background was that rector Knud Hansen made some critical remarks, in an interview, about the United States and American foreign policy. This caused a great to-do in the press, so much so that the American ambassador decided to visit Askov Folk High School to judge for himself whether it were possible that Askov had "gone communist." Shortly thereafter Knud Hansen received an official invitation to spend three months in the United States. The visit, which …

Table Talk, L. C. Laursen

The Bridge

Table Talk was prepared for the wedding of Margaret Hansen and Harvey Phillip of Enumclaw, Washington, at which L. C. Laursen was to have officiated. Laursen's sudden illness, an illness from which he did not recover, precluded him from delivering the talk. Table Talk comes from a Notebook Laursen presented to Margaret and Harvey Phillip, which was shown to Ruth and Ove Nielsen. They thought it deserved a wider readership and received permission from Betty Miller, daughter of L. C. Laursen, and Mr. and Mrs. Phillip to submit it for publication in The Bridge.

Danish-American Literature In Transition, Dorothy Burton Skardal

The Bridge

Danish-American literature was written by Danish immigrants in the United States mainly about and for members of their own group. Their lives were lived in constant psychological and cultural flux undergoing the pressures of assimilation; therefore their literature both grew out of and recorded multifaceted processes of transition. Today the literature Danish immigrants wrote is itself in transition: long unread or forgotten, it is now being rediscovered by Americans of Danish heritage. This brief introduction to the main Danish-American writers is meant to stimulate still more to reclaim their heritage preserved in Danish-language fiction and poetry.

Chapter Iv: Danish Social Life In Chicago -- The Dania Club

The Bridge

Chapters IV and V assumes that one can use ethnic associations to trace the evolution of an ethnic community. This viewpoint has frequently been substantiated by historians studying such diverse ethnic groups as the Cleveland Slovaks, the Boston Irish and the Chicago Italians. 1 These historians recognized that ethnic societies took diverse forms, depending on their constituents and their goals. A thorough study of Danish institutions, then , would require an examination of social, religious, professional, political, national, cultural, charitable, fraternal, athletic, and mutual-benefit societies.

Chapter V: Danish Religious Life In Chicago -- Trinity Church

The Bridge

When the Danes came to America, the Church of Denmark did not follow on their heels. The Danish Church believed that most Danish emigrants were dissenters, not supporters of the established Lutheran church. The Church viewed Danish immigration as too small to support churches, even in a city as large as Chicago. The few Danes in America might join Norwegian congregations, thereby maintaining ties with a similar form of Lutheranism. 1 The problem of not having churches to attend was somewhat unusual among immigrants. Catholic groups were welcomed by the international Catholic Church, wherever they settled. Such Protestants as the …

Conclusion: Chicago And The Evolution Of The Danish Community

The Bridge

As contemporaries and historians noted, the development of the ethnic American depended upon a unique blend of two cultures. This study has illustrated that fact, beginning with the sources of immigration. We found that immigration resulted from a complex interplay of European and American factors, which influenced not only the immigrant and his community, but the old culture as well. For example, the existence of plentiful American farmland led to an immigration to American farms. As American produce then rose in volume, more was exported to Europe, contributing to an agricultural crisis in Denmark. That in turn generated a new …

Marcus Lee Hansen: America's First Transethnic Historian, Moses Rischin

The Bridge

In a world in flux, the historian must strike a balance between change and tradition. The historian of American immigration and culture particularly sits poised on the knife's edge, seeking universal categories of analysis and understanding while immersing himself in a loving study of distinct peoples, places, and ways of life in disarray. He is the boomer engineer committed to democracy and equality, progress and growth, mobility and technology, science and medicine, individualism and freedom. But he is also the artist, priest, and guardian of culture, the admirer of fragile arts and crafts and tastes perfected over generations, of customs, …

A Midsummer Day, Amy R. Thrall

The Bridge

"Where was Chris?; Why didn't he hurry?" He knew Greta was to be the overseer of the dinner. It was Midsummer's Day; she had to be in Linden by nine o'clock to organize the work in the kitchen. The four girls, up since dawn, harassed her with questions; too young to understand that "sol er oppe" meant "sun is up," signifying a blessing to the earth in bringing life to the crops and flowers. The sun doesn't set in Denmark on June 24th until eleven at night and rises at two in the morning. Having lived through the long and …

The Partridge, Martin A. Hansen, Inga Wiehl, Translator

The Bridge

"Martin A. Hansen is considered one of the best and most influential Danish writers of the century. Despite his premature death in 1955 at the age of forty-six, he left a rich artistic legacy of novels, short stories, and travel descriptions as well as essays and books dealing with historical, cultural and philosophical themes.

'The Partridge' ('Agerhonen') is the title story of a collection of twelve short stories, all of which emphasize artistic expression as self-revelation. It is the means whereby the artist transforms the world and makes it new. The twelve stories are divided into three parts, childhood, adolescence …