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Goals And Objectives Of The Danish American Heritage Society

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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 .

In Debt To Heritage Denmark, Hermansen-Jensen, Nysted, Otto G. Hoiberg, Reviewer, Elise Hermansen Olsen

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This is the life story of the late Elise Hermansen Olsen, as portrayed in autobiographical materials edited admirably by her still-active husband, Dr. C. Arild Olsen. It mirrors the various interrelated ways in which Elise "lived her Danish heritage" - by use of the Danish language in speech and song, by a deep appreciation of that country's literature, by perpetuation of its characteristic customs, and by living a life geared to its distinctive values.

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Chapter I: Emigration And Immigration

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The description of an immigrant group begins in the place of origin, where thousands of individuals chose to abandon their old homes and build new lives in America. In the mid-nineteenth century, this decision required agonizing deliberation by people who knew little about America. Few had traveled abroad. Few had American relatives to provide first-hand accounts of life in the New World.

Conclusion: Chicago And The Evolution Of The Danish Community

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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 …

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Contributors

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Niels Sorensen Lawdahl

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The brief autobiography of Niels S0rensen Lawdahl is dated January, 1925, the day following his 61st birthday. It was written in the last days of his life, a little each day, as his health permitted after he became ill. He died March 4, 1925, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Book Reviews

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Cornelius Jensen: One Of California's First Danes, Harlan Pedersen

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Sixty miles east of Los Angeles, along the Santa Ana River near the community of Robidoux, lies the little Flabob Airport. Because of its difficult approach, it's a challenge to pilots in training and a good place to land for Sunday lunch, particularly on a clear winter's day with the snow-capped San Bernardinos off to the north. One-half mile off the departing end of the Flabob runway, one views a familiar Southern California sight; the inevitable encroachment of more housing tracts. As one of those pilots in training on a bright Sunday morning, I found my curosity aroused when my …

Jens Munk: The Story Of A Sailor Who Embraced His Fate, Inga W. Wiehl

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"Jens Munk was one of the intrepid sixteenth-century explorers who navigated the Arctic seas with inadequate ships, faulty charts and primitive instruments. He was also one of the few who survived the arduous search for the Northwest Passage, who reached Hudson Bay in 1619, wintered there, buried most of his crew, and by a supreme effort of will and skill made the voyage home with the two crewmen left to him. "

The Plow, The Cow And The Pastor, Karl Marg

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That was not so bad, and then, Dagmar was even a queen. I have done that which is worse. I once stole, on a late winter night in Chicago, a pioneer cow with all accessories from Christian Bay. Then I sold the stolen goods to a newspaper in Denmark and got c. 60 kroner out of it. How my conscience has fared since then I will not here relate. I am a Danish Lutheran and I do not confess in a catholic confession booth, and much less would I confess in the modern protestant manner, publicly to Mrs. Somebody in …

A. P. Andersen - Saga Of A Danish Immigrant, Henry Jorgensen

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Pastor Ove Nielsen, retired assistant director of Lutheran World Relief, provided the initiative for this biography when he wrote to the author and suggested that research be done and a biography be written for The Bridge on Anders Peder Andersen. Andersen, a Danish immigrant and farmer in Montana, was knighted by the King of his native land at which time attention was called to his many accomplishments.

The Jens Nyholm Papers, William K. Beatty

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The Chicago area has benefited from the careers of two Danes who had the same first name but completely different occupations: the one indoors and the other out. Both men were alike in having achieved national reputations in their chosen fields. Jens Nyholm served for 24 years as a university librarian; Jens Jensen devoted many years to working with nature in the designing of private and public landscapes in the Midwest. Northwestern University has enjoyed, and still enjoys, the fruits of the labors of both these men for it was at this institution that Nyholm devoted over two decades of …

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Chapter Iii: Occupations Of Danish Immigrants

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When the Danish immigrants arrived in America, their career plans were influenced by economic aspirations and occupational background. Nearly half of the immigrants had worked in agriculture, chiefly as landless laborers. They frequently planned to acquire land of their own. Most of the rest were urban laborers or artisans hoping to find higher wages and broader opportunities in America. The motivating force behind most emigration was dissatisfaction with the economic situation in Denmark. In looking for something new and better, emigrants indicated their willingness to accept the various occupations which America offered. After all, life had to be better in …

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

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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.

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A New Church In A New Land: The Founding Of Det Danske Evangeliske Lutherske Kirkesamfund I Amerika, Peter L. Petersen

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Dana College, Blair, Nebraska, and Grand View College, Des Moines, Iowa, are the two surviving institutions of higher education founded by Danish immigrants in the United States. One part of a year-long celebration of Dana's centennial in 1984 was the publication of a new history of the college and its parent institution , Trinity Seminary. Entitled A Place Called Dana , the book was released October 5 during Dana 's Homecoming observance.

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.

A Midsummer Day, Amy R. Thrall

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"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 …