Digital Commons Network^™

Christian Madsen- A Dane In The "Wild West", Sybil D. Needham

The Bridge

I never tire of hearing stories about Danish immigrants coming to America in the 1800' s. Their courage fills me with admiration because few of them would ever see their homeland or families again. My own great-grandparents Jens and Kristine Bagge arrived in June of 1863. Kristine died a few years later leaving five small children behind. We know she was lonely for Denmark.

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.

Sentenced To Be Hanged: The Tragic Story Of A Danish Immigrant, Peter D. Thomsen

The Bridge

Several years ago, Thorvald Hansen who was then in

charge of the Danish Immigrant Archives at Grand View

College, Des Moines, Iowa, asked if I would be interested in

writing the Peter Mathiasen story. I had previously told him

that in my childhood home I had heard bits and pieces of this

tale and that what I remembered most was how intensely it

was discussed by some of the immigrant people with whom

my parents associated. Little did I realize they were talking

about something that happened fifteen years before my

birth.

Danish Immigrant Archival Listing, Arnold Bodtker, Thorvald Hansen

The Bridge

The Danish Immigrant Archival Listing (DIAL) is a reference book, and guide, which will enable scholars, researchers and others to know something of the existence and whereabouts of source material related to the Danish immigrant in America. This 300 page hard-cover book is a comprehensive listing of books, periodicals, manuscripts, pamphlets, letters, documents, scrapbooks, pictures, and similar items.

The Danish-Language Press In America, Marion Marzolf

The Bridge

By the time Sophus F. Neble, a journeyman printer from Stubbekobing, Denmark, emigrated in 1883 to seek his fortune in the farmlands of the American Midwest, there was already a rudimentary Danish press tradition in the United States. But at that point in his life, Neble little cared or even knew much about it. He had thrown over his years of apprenticeship in the printing trade for a dream of becoming a successful American dairy farmer in order to win the hand of the young woman he loved.

The Acculturation Of The Danish Immigrant, Enok Mortensen

The Bridge

In the very first issue of The Bridge Dr. Otto Hoiberg had a perceptive article on the subject of acculturation. He suggested that a logical concern of the fledgling Danish-American Heritage Society might be to examine this process. I was particularly interested in his challenge because I have observed this process in myself and others for some sixty years, and for most of my adult life I have attempted to describe and to interpret this in lectures and in my books - not least in my stories and novels.

The Feilberg Letters: A Danish Family's Reflections On Canadian Prairie Life (Ii), Jorgen Dahlie

The Bridge

Readers of the previous issue of The Bridge (no. 3, 1979) will have made the acquaintance of the Ditlev and Julie Feilberg family. Their arrival in Saskatchewan some seventy years ago and their subsequent experiences in Canada have been documented in a series of letters sent to relatives in Denmark. In eloquent, often poignant language, the letters tell an absorbing story of the immigrant's hopeful expectations - and of the often harsh reality - in a new land.

The Feilberg Letters: A Danish Family's Reflections On Canadian Prairie Life, Jorgen Dahlie

The Bridge

So wrote Aksel Sandemose, noted Danish-Norwegian writer and himself an immigrant to Canada in 1927. When he spoke of iron determination and perseverance, he might well have been describing the Ditlev and Julie Feilberg family, a small part of whose experiences in Canada are recounted in the excerpts which follow. Without making too extravagant a claim for the uniqueness of any one immigrant encounter with a new land, one is nonetheless forced to acknowledge that each individual or family brought with them their own special cultural and intellectual resources. A reading of the Feilberg letters reveals that this family had …

Do Your Homework!, Thorvald Hansen

The Bridge

I once heard a young American ask a Danish visitor whether or not he was acquainted with the inquirer's uncle in Denmark. It quickly developed that the only thing which the young man knew about his uncle was his family name. Incredible as it may seem, such things happen and though to a lesser degree, they happen frequently when a search is made for overseas ancestors. Denmark is a relatively small country and the unspoken assumption is often made that everyone there knows everyone else and, therefore, one need only know the name and the fact that an ancestor came …