History

It was not until my adult years that I learned why my home congregation in Colfax, N.D., was named “Our Saviour’s,” “Vor Frelsers Menighed” in Norwegian. It was named after the cathedral in Oslo.

“News from Norway” used to mean a letter from the “Old Country” to the family in the “New World.”

When we got a Finnish daughter-in-law from Michigan, I didn’t realize how many Scandinavians lived there.

“Halvdan the Black” (820)-860?) seems a strange name to our ears.

From 1918 to 1935, Peter Julius Rosendahl (1878- 1942), a farmer from Spring Grove, Minn., produced the comic series “Ola og Per” (“Ole and Peter”). It had a large readership, even though produced only in off-seasons.

In the Student Union Building at Minot State University, there is a room dedicated to the honor of Gen. David C. Jones, United States Air Force.

Raul Wallenberg was the most famous missing person in the world. There was a million-dollar reward for his safe return to freedom. Just a few people claimed to know his fate, but most Westerners did not believe their explanations. The Wallenbergs are a respected Swedish family, distinguished...

My first encounter with the work of Carl Milles (1875-1955) was when I moved to St. Louis in 1961. I used to travel a great deal by railroad in those days. Out in front of the old St. Louis train depot is a large set of sculptures titled “Meeting of the Waters.” Milles completed...

It is hard to find a more colorful Scandinavian than Sigurd (“Jerusalemfarer” – Jerusalem Traveler), son of King Magnus Barefoot. It was an exciting time to be a Christian ruler, for those were the years of the Crusades to wrest the “Holy Land” from the hands of the “infidels.”...

When the War Between the States was over, immigration to the New World began with gusto.

My friend Paul Settergren stopped by for a visit before he moved to Jamestown, N.Y. He brought a book for me to read titled “Saga from the Hills: A History of the Swedes of Jamestown.” Its 700 pages offers insight on all Swedes in America.

The Scandinavian countries maintained official neutrality during World War I, though Sweden and Denmark favored the Germans and the Norwegians leaned towards the English cause. There were reasons for that. Norway’s Queen Maud was an English princess. The Queen of Sweden was from...

The ‘Americanization’ of Norwegian immigrants, Part II The Scandinavian countries maintained official neutrality during World War I, though Sweden and Denmark favored the Germans and the Norwegians leaned towards the English cause. There were reasons for that. Norway’s Queen...