History Commons^™

Clausens On The Move: Chicago, St. Ansgar, Virginia, 1870-1873, J. R. Christianson

The Bridge

Few Danes in America have been as influential in Scandinavian American life as Claus Laurits Clausen. From his arrival in Wisconsin in 1843 until his retirement in Minnesota more than forty years later, C. L. Clausen was a central figure in the life of Norwegians and Danes throughout the United States of America. H. Fred Swansen' s biography remains the standard work on Clausen's life in English, but an earlier biography in Danish contains important documentary material, and there are numerous biographical sketches, including a particularly sensitive one by Clausen's son-in-law, Svein Strand.