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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Sing Your Ethnicity Aloud! Grundtvigian Danes At The Intersection Of Denmark And America, Tina Langholm Larsen
Sing Your Ethnicity Aloud! Grundtvigian Danes At The Intersection Of Denmark And America, Tina Langholm Larsen
The Bridge
Most people familiar with Danish American history have encountered a narrative about the allegedly quick and unproblematic assimilation of Danish immigrants in the US, as presented here on the website of the Museum of Danish America: “Danes assimilated quickly, aided by the fact that they were white, northern european, and Protestant. Furthermore, Danes are practical and believed that assimilating into American society promised greater rewards than hanging onto their Danish identity and traditional ways.”1 even though this master narrative does, to some extent, capture the larger trajectory of the Danish immigrant experience, it disregards those Danish immigrants who played a …
Ethnic Preservation Or Americanization: A Study Of Language And Ethnicity In The Danish Brotherhood In America, Nick Kofod Mogensen
Ethnic Preservation Or Americanization: A Study Of Language And Ethnicity In The Danish Brotherhood In America, Nick Kofod Mogensen
The Bridge
Once European mass immigration to America began in the mid-nineteenth century, roughly 400,000-450,000 Danish immigrants made their way to the United States,2 with approximately 300,000 of them arriving between 1880-1920.3 Immigrant historians agree that Danish immigrants assimilated rather quickly into American core society, i.e., the white Protestant majority population of Anglo-Saxon descent.4 One of the main reasons for this ease of assimilation was the relative scarcity of concentrated settlements of Danish immigrants compared to other immigrant groups, as Danes oft en sett led in areas in America with few other Danish immigrants.
Jennifer Eastman Att Ebery. Pole Raising And Speech Making: Modalities Of Swedish American Summer Celebration., Christopher Oscarson
Jennifer Eastman Att Ebery. Pole Raising And Speech Making: Modalities Of Swedish American Summer Celebration., Christopher Oscarson
The Bridge
In a conversation with a colleague several years ago, I was surprised to find out that we were both exactly one quarter Swedish—I through my paternal grandfather and he through his maternal grandfather. This was unexpected because based on his appearance, family traditions, and last name, I had never anticipated that we might share this common ancestral heritage. Whereas my family has tended to emphasize its connections to Swedish culture, his has focused on links to Japan. There are good reasons that account for the differences in our families’ respective cultural identification, but the variability of how we each see …
“We Believe That God Speaks Danish.” Assimilation Vs Identity In Sanpete County, Utah, Claus Elholm Andersen, Elizabeth Peterson
“We Believe That God Speaks Danish.” Assimilation Vs Identity In Sanpete County, Utah, Claus Elholm Andersen, Elizabeth Peterson
The Bridge
Most accounts hold that Danes in America assimilated rapidly and effectively into mainstream culture…but was that always the case? This article focuses on a small community in Utah that was home to a large proportion of Danes and other Scandinavians. A close examination of this community reveals that the assimilation process was not always as straightforward a process as we oft en hear.
Danish Emigration: Using Private Letters As A Source - Two Examples, Pernille Buchholtz
Danish Emigration: Using Private Letters As A Source - Two Examples, Pernille Buchholtz
The Bridge
During the research for my master's thesis in history at the University of Copenhagen, I was fortunate to be able to visit the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Hom, Iowa, and the Danish American Archive and Library in Blair, Nebraska. My quest was made possible by the Bodtker Grant from the Danish American Heritage Society, which I was lucky to receive. This article captures the essence of the purpose of my thesis: to examine the assimilation of four Danish women by using their private letters. My thesis was contextualized by a chapter describing Danish emigration at length and, more importantly, …
Becoming American - According To The Jorgensens, Torben Tvorup Christensen
Becoming American - According To The Jorgensens, Torben Tvorup Christensen
The Bridge
For those who have waited a long time for this article about integration among Danish-American immigrants I can only say that I am sorry. Lack of time has kept me away from my Danish-English dictionary and thus prevented me from writing a more public friendly version of my Masters Thesis. Knowing how difficult it would be to convert more than a hundred pages into a few readable lines-I guess-is the real reason why I have not undertaken this task before now. Another reason is simply that I each time I began thinking about doing something I was being overwhelmed by …
Autobiographical Constructions Of Danish American Identity Between The World Wars, Julie K. Allen
Autobiographical Constructions Of Danish American Identity Between The World Wars, Julie K. Allen
The Bridge
One of the most emotionally charged issues related to American immigration, past and present is the question of how quickly and completely immigrants should be expected to assimilate into mainstream American culture. Throughout the nineteenth century, the prevailing attitude in America was that assimilation of immigrants would happen naturally and gradually, but the first decades of the twentieth century saw the rise of nativism and a much more aggressive approach to the Americanization of immigrants.1 While these trends peaked during World War I, their reverberations continued to impact immigrant groups throughout America throughout the decades preceding World War II. One …
Of Two Women In Scandinavian-American Immigrant Literature, Mikael Engelstoft Hansen
Of Two Women In Scandinavian-American Immigrant Literature, Mikael Engelstoft Hansen
The Bridge
Neither politics nor traditional history has ever spelled much interest to me. But then I read in Hilde Petra Brungot's dissertation1 on Dorthea Dahl (1881-1958)2 of this Lutheran Norwegian-American immigrant writer being an outspoken Republican.
The Cups Of Blood Are Emptied: Pietism And Cultural Heritage In Two Danish Immigrant Schools On The Great Plains, John Mark Nielsen
The Cups Of Blood Are Emptied: Pietism And Cultural Heritage In Two Danish Immigrant Schools On The Great Plains, John Mark Nielsen
The Bridge
Following the American Civil War, the vast sweep of the Great Plains exerted a powerful force on the imagination of Americans and Northern European immigrants, resulting in a period of rapid settlement. Within immigrant communities, in particular, attempts were made to establish institutions where the language, beliefs and cultural heritage of a people might be preserved. The history of these immigrant institutions mirror the challenges immigrant communities faced in confronting not only the vicissitudes of climate and evolving economic conditions but also the pressures of assimilation.
Teenage Immigrant, Anne Ipsen
Teenage Immigrant, Anne Ipsen
The Bridge
The poem by Emma Lazarus on the Statue of Liberty defines the classical model of immigrants fleeing from poverty, oppression, or persecution. They are refugees, forced by intolerable circumstances to move from their homeland. Less stereotypic is the highly skilled or educated individual who makes a positive choice towards better opportunity. These immigrants tend to come as individuals or as a nuclear family and are less likely to live in or identify with an ethnic group. They assimilate more readily, especially if they have some English before arrival, while keeping closer ties with relatives and making more frequent trips to …
Stjernen--A Danish Or An American Paper?, Karsten Kjer Christensen
Stjernen--A Danish Or An American Paper?, Karsten Kjer Christensen
The Bridge
On October 8, 1936, The Dannebrog News printed a special issue celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Dannebrog's incorporation as a town. The first Danish immigrants arrived in Howard County in 1871 and founded the settlement of Dannebrog the following year. But it would be another fourteen years before Dannebrog received official status and could establish its first town council. First appearing in 1898, the English-language The Dannebrog News became the longest persevering publication in the Dannebrog area. It was not the town's first, however, as two other newspapers preceded it. In the spring of 1874, an attorney by the name …