European Languages and Societies Commons^™

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.

Hans Christian Andersen's Life And Works: A Danish-American Perspective, Inga Kromann-Kelly

The Bridge

What meaning can Hans Christian Andersen's life and works, spanning almost the entire 19th century, have for the Danish-American of the twentieth and future centuries? What follows is the perspective of only one Danish-American; others may hold quite different views based on their familiarity and experiences with this internationally known and much revered figure. My intent is not to provide a definitive answer to the above question, but rather to stimulate thought on the subject.

Danes And Danish On The Great Plains: Some Sociolinguistic Aspects, Donald K. Watkins

The Bridge

The number of Scandinavians in the upper Midwest in 1850 was insignificant compared to the tens of thousands who arrived annually after the Civil War; but the early settlements, primarily in northern Illinois and eastern Wisconsin, typically served as way stations for the Scandinavians who came later, staying near the Great Lakes for shorter or longer periods of time before moving westward where more favorable conditions beckoned. It is in this connection one finds the nominal beginnings of a Danish presence in the prairie states, the region of the country most favored by the somewhat more than three hundred thousand …

Overgaard, Arizona - How Come?, Ole Overgaard

The Bridge

Have you ever heard about a little town in Arizona by the name of Overgaard? Probably not. I hadn't, until I suddenly saw the name on a map. I, a Danish journalist from the city of Aalborg, and family were planning a trip to the USA, and we decided to find out how our family name got to Arizona. After seeing the beautiful Grand Canyon, we went along Highway 40 to the city of Holbrook. From there it is only 50 miles to Overgaard. It is a very small town, but with a lot of vacation homes in the big …

Book Review, Egon Bodtker

The Bridge

This short book tells the reader what life was like for one young man in a small village in Denmark in the first two decades of this century. As the author writes in the Foreword: " it is a collection of reminiscences, a mosaic of people and places seen from a long distance, both geographically and chronologically." This sensitive sketch of a childhood and adolescence in the first two decades of the twentieth century will make all readers aware of the monumental changes in the world from then until now. While many of the individual behaviors can be related to …

Full Issue

The Bridge

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Table Of Contents

The Bridge

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Danish Immigrant Materials: The Archives At Grand View College, Thorvald Hansen

The Bridge

Will Rogers, who claimed partial Indian ancestry, used to like to point out that his ancestors met the Mayflower at the dock. Be that as it may, it is certain that the dock was not crowded. The fact is, as John F. Kennedy once wrote, that this is a nation of immigrants. The vast majority of us are descendants of immigrants. Therefore, the history of this country, particularly at the grassroots level, is a story enacted by the immigrant.

Editorial Statement

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

My Brother Is Born, Holger O. Nielsen, Harald R. Jensen, Translator

The Bridge

The day was February 14, 1889, and dusk had just fallen. As one looked over the western Nebraska prairie, the whole world was a huge blanket of glittering snow. The bright beams from the full moon fell upon the white snow, almost making day out of the night. Even the harsh Nebraska landscape was now white and soft, as gentle as a fairyland.

Scandinavian American Archives, J. R. Christianson

The Bridge

The problem of locating and preserving Danish American historical materials has been in the spotlight in recent years. It has been discussed frequently in The Bridge and the Newsletter of the Danish American Heritage Society. In cooperation with Grand View College, the society launched a major project, the Danish Immigrant Archival Listing (DIAL), under Thorvald Hansen's leadership in 1979. That project aims to locate all Danish American historical materials presently deposited in archives and elsewhere throughout the United States, Canada and Denmark.

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 …

Front Matter

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

The Immigrant's Challenge To Dahs, Otto G. Hoiberg

The Bridge

During the half century preceding World War I, 300,000 Danish immigrants came to America, according to an estimate by Kristian Hvidt. Why did they come? Among many reasons, the Homestead Act of 1862 certainly stands out prominently. To the small-acreage farmers and the hired men in Danish agriculture, 160 acres of free, fertile land looked mighty inviting. Enthusiasm for migration was also generated by the glowing "Garden of Eden" advertising campaign conducted by America's railroads - a worthy prototype for today's Madison Avenue. Further, there were the so-called " America Letters" , received from relatives and friends already across the …

Rasmus Sorensen And Danish Emigration, 1847-1863, Frederick Hale

The Bridge

Probably no individual played a more seminal role in the limited Danish emigration to North America before and during the Civil War than Rasmus Sorensen. From the late 1840s until the early 1860s this author, educator, politician, and social reformer led three groups of his countrymen to Wisconsin and, through numerous booklets, speeches, and letters encouraged others to settle elsewhere in the United States and Canada. Yet Sorensen has generally been little more than a supernumerary in the historiography of this transatlantic migration. Its pioneering historian, Peter Sorensen Vig, devoted twelve pages to him in his mammoth compendium, a dozen …

Art? Among Danes In America?, Aase Bak

The Bridge

The Danish American Heritage Society has as one of its objectives to "encourage Danish American expression in the arts, humanities, and social sciences." It is to be hoped that the Danish American Heritage Society will have more luck in its endeavors to promote the arts than did another organization with somewhat similar aims. I refer here to Dansk Folkesamfund (Danish People's Society) and the abortive attempt to launch an art committee under its auspices in 1897.

Full Issue

The Bridge

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American Irish Newsletter - November - December 1980, American Ireland Education Foundation - Pec

American Irish Newsletter

No abstract provided.

American Irish Newsletter - September - October 1980, American Ireland Education Foundation - Pec

American Irish Newsletter

No abstract provided.

American Irish Newsletter - July - August 1980, American Ireland Education Foundation - Pec

American Irish Newsletter

No abstract provided.

American Irish Newsletter - June 1980, American Ireland Education Foundation - Pec

American Irish Newsletter

No abstract provided.

American Irish Newsletter - March - April 1980, American Ireland Education Foundation - Pec

American Irish Newsletter

No abstract provided.

American Irish Newsletter - January - February 1980, American Ireland Education Foundation - Pec

American Irish Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Editorial Statement

The Bridge

No abstract provided.

Georg Strandvold: A Progress In Journalism, Olga Strandvold Opfell

The Bridge

A bronze plaque that honors Georg Strandvold's memory hangs in Rebild's Blokhus, succinctly summing up the influence he had in his time on thousands of Danish Americans: Skirbent og redaktor i i Amerika i 57 ar. Trofast talsmand for Danmark.

That long career was also versatile. During those 57 years Georg Strandvold wrote for the best known Danish newspapers in the U.S. - Norden, Nordlyset, Den Danske Pioneer, Ugebladet, Dannevirke, Bien - and worked on two American dailies, the Racine Journal and the Grand Forks Herald. For 31 years he also sat on the editorial staff of Decorah-Posten, the largest …

Hands Across The Sea: Soren Qvist In Danish And American Literature, 1625-1947, Otto M. Sorensen

The Bridge

Anno 1632. Severinus Jani Qvist, pastor in Weilbye and Homme in Aarhus Bishopric, was innocently beheaded and his innocence afterwards established, and this transpired in such a way that the footprints of divine providence, as the precious stones of history, can clearly be perceived.

The Remigrants, Edward F. Sundberg, Gerda Sundberg

The Bridge

"Why did you emigrate to the United States?" Gerda asked.

Mr. R. let a smile play with his lips. " It was an accident," he said.

"Tell us about it," she encouraged.

He told the story of his emigration. Gerda and I listened. Our recording machine captured his words on a cassette tape.

"Now tell us about moving back to Denmark."

Gerda and I were interviewing in Denmark as a part of the research project, RIBBONS OF MEMORIES, an American-Scandinavian Ethnic Heritage Oral History Program.

Principles And Polemics A Chapter In The History Of Grand View College, Thorvald Hansen

The Bridge

Early in 1894 the Danish Lutheran Church in America was divided by a schism . At that time the Synod lost a substantial number of pastors and congregations while some other congregations, and even families, were divided by the split in the Church. That traumatic event did have one beneficial side effect, however. The conventions for the Church became much more peaceable and, for the next few years, the Church was unified and could work with undivided attention to perform the tasks at hand.

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.