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The Dano-Norwegian Department Of Chicago Theological Seminary, Frederick Hale

The Bridge

When European emigration to the United States surged anew after the Civil War, American Protestants of several denominations extended both spiritual and economic assistance to those newcomers who, in their perception, most closely shared their own religious traditions. Scandinavian immigrants, nearly all of whom were at least nominally Protestant, naturally received a generous portion of this aid, much of which came in the form of ministerial education. Young men who looked forward to careers as Lutheran pastors had access to ethnic theological colleges anchored in that tradition if not always in their respective national heritages. Norwegian Lutheran seminarians in the …