Norwegian-American Press: Ethnic Press in America
Berit Skogen
Context of Ethnic Press in America
Many residents of Decorah, Iowa, have heard of the legendary publication Decorah-Posten or The Decorah Post. It was one of the premier Norwegian language publications in the 20th century. It is a small piece of pride for the Norwegian-American community to have had such a widely circulating paper come from the small city in the Driftless Region of the Midwest. Decorah-Posten is part of a larger legacy of Norwegian-American press that served communities of immigrants from Norway and other regions of Scandinavia during the major periods of immigration and afterwards to promote a lively community of Norwegian Americans. This legacy of Norwegian-American press can be situated in a larger trend across the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The demarcation of America as a land of immigrants was never more true than in the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th, with immigrants from every region of Europe making the perilous trek to the United States. These decades before immigration quotas allowed substantial numbers of people to come to the New World as immigrants. With such significant numbers of foreign language speakers and new people coming into the country, a uniquely American phenomenon happened in the press. The 19th century saw the establishment of thousands of different newspapers and magazines printed in languages
Left: Selection of Norwegian-American newspaper mastheads. Kirkelig Maanedstidende, Inmansville, Wisconsin, 1856; Emigranten, Madison, Wisconsin, 1866; Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1872; Amerika, Chicago, Illinois, 1872; Skandinaven og Amerika, Chicago, Illinois, 1873; Fædrelandet og Emigranten, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1888. Vesterheim Archives.
Until the 1850s, all paper had rag content and would last for hundreds of years. By 1870, linen and cotton rags ceased to be sources of raw materials for paper, and wood pulp became the primary material for making newsprint. The lignin in the wood pulp causes acids to discolor, embrittle, and disintegrate the paper.
Newsprint made with wood pulp has a useful life expectancy of less than 50 years, even with care.
from German to Hebrew, including a notable contribution to the ethnic press by the Scandinavians. The phenomenon of the ethnic press has been written about by scholars of immigration and history in the United States because these publications provide such treasure troves of the immigrant experience and how communities were established. By far the largest ethnic press in the United States belonged to the Germans. They had the largest overall numbers of immigrants and were spread out across states allowing for multiple national newspapers to be established and successful. They also had the longest legacy of foreign language press because German immigrants were of the first to arrive. While the Norwegian-American press was significantly smaller than that of the Germans, the prevalence of highly concentrated communities of Norwegian immigrants, in the northern Midwest especially, allowed for a devoted readership that in its concentrated communities sustained many publications. Additionally, while the Norwegians might not have had the sheer numbers that the German press had, they had a very high literacy rate compared with other immigrant groups, which contributed to the prevalence of letter-to-the-editor sections. The Norwegian-American press sought to establish and maintain communities. Papers often featured sections that sought assistance for less fortunate immigrants and encouraged readers to help out their fellow Norwegians, with thanks printed in later editions to those who helped. Like many other immigrant groups, Norwegians were seeking community in a foreign land, an endeavor that was greatly assisted by the Norwegian-American press.
Immigration and the Press
The advent and expansion of the Norwegian-American press was unsurprisingly linked very closely to the immigration and migration trends of Norwegian Americans themselves. The first publication to be launched for a Norwegian-American audience was Nordlyset in 1847 from the Muskego settlement in Wisconsin. This came after the first few rounds of ships from Norway but before any of what
Above left: Story of Leiv Eiriksson celebration. Norgesposten, April 23, 1925. Vesterheim Archives.
Above right: Drawing, Biggest Baby in the Bunch, by Lars Jonson Haukaness, c. 1905. Haukaness, a Norwegian-American artist best known for his portraits and landscapes, used the pen name Thjasse for drawing cartoons for Amerika, a Norwegian language newspaper that was printed in Madison, Wisconsin, from 1898-1922. This is one of a number of satirical drawings by Haukaness that show the competition between B. Anundsen, publisher and editor of Decorah-Posten, and Rasmus B. Anderson, publisher and editor of Amerika and one of Haukaness’ patrons. 1979.050.001.8—Gift of Helen Diggs.
Below: Original sketch for Han Ola og Han Per cartoon by Peter J. Rosendahl, 1926. Titled Paa Hjemvei (Homeward Bound), it appeared in Decorah-Posten on June 11, 1926. Peter J. Rosendahl Collection—Vesterheim Archives.
are considered “major waves” of emigrants from Norway had come through. Nordlyset was not a particularly long-lasting publication, illustrating the trend that was to come of many publications being established. Foreign language press, while relatively easy to start up according to historians, was proven to be much more difficult to maintain. This explains the high “mortality rate” of such publications. While renowned Norwegian-American historian Odd S. Lovoll asserts that there were over 400 different Norwegian-American publications during this period of ethnic press, he qualifies this with the statistic that over a third of them would not outlast a year.
The first Norwegian immigrants to come in a group were called the “sloopers” because of the type of ship they used to cross the Atlantic Ocean. They came in the 1820s when immigration to America was sporadic, and only a few ships came in the 1830s as well. This first group of Norwegians to the United States during this period came for religious and political reasons. The followers of Hans Hauge and the Quaker movement were invited to leave by the Norwegian government, and they made up a sizable portion of the earliest immigration. The range of religious and political viewpoints of emigrants from Norway proved to be indicative of the diversity of viewpoints expressed in the NorwegianAmerican press throughout its tenure in the years to come. Following these early, smaller groups, there were three major waves in which the majority of the immigrating population journeyed to the United States. The first came between the years of 1856-1865 amid the lead up to and the fighting of the Civil War in the United States. After which, there occurred what has been called by historians “The Mass Exodus” that characterized the years from 1866 to 1873. During this period there were over 13,000 emigrants on average from Norway per year, totaling over 110,000 in just eight years. Norway’s total population during this time was less than two million. There was also a “Second Mass Exodus” that then took place from 1880 to 1893. These trends in immigration are important and influential to the history and the trends that took place in the NorwegianAmerican press.
The press itself was small and limited in the first few publications of the 1840s and 1850s but began to expand and find success in publications of the 1860s and later. The longest running and most successful papers were established after the first major wave of immigration. Familiar names like Skandinaven (The Scandinavian) based out of Chicago, Minneapolis Tidende (The Minneapolis Times), and Decorah-Posten all came from this period. The history of the Norwegian-American press is also, however, a bit tumultuous. It is characterized not only by the high mortality rate of so many publications but also the constant finagling between papers. Mergers between publications, consolidations, and absorption ran rampant throughout the many decades of their activity. Any of the successful, national publications during the “Golden Age” of Norwegian-American press (1890s-1920s) were the result of several such business interactions. These largest newspapers relied on the takeover of subscription lists from previous papers to grow their publications. In many ways, the progression of NorwegianAmerican publications followed that of a successful pioneer. They had to be able to change with the times.
Creating the Norwegian American
So, what exactly did all these publications write about? Like the number of publications and the distance of their
circulation, the content of these papers was influenced by immigration trends. There were different phases to the evolution of the Norwegian-American press but each contributed to the creation of a distinct, perceived identity among the immigrants themselves.
In the early phase of the press, there were many small enterprises that focused on local issues. This period was characterized by publications supporting or acting as an organ for certain political and religious groups. It’s notable that there was considerable variety in the opinions and agendas expressed through these early papers. While there were many that functioned as an organ for the Republican Party at the time, notably Emigranten, in the years leading up to and during the Civil War, there were also many others that supported other parties. Many papers and Norwegian immigrants were anti-slavery, but there were groups that stood on the other side of the issue. This was also a period where issues of the church were continually present in the press. Many of the first immigrants were associated with Hans Hauge or the Quaker movement, and this is reflected in criticisms of the high church in Norway during this time. Finally, these papers carried a lot of news from Norway itself because most readers had lived in Norway and wished to maintain a connection.
The middle period of the press was largely indicative of a transition happening from the initial coverage by early papers and what would become the Golden Age and subsequent decline of the ethnic press as a whole in the United States. It was in the period after the Civil War that the widest-circulating papers were established, the ones that would become national newspapers. This period carried over many of the religious conflicts from the first. As more immigrants and theologians came from Norway, so too did disagreements multiply. One of the hottest topics was the church, especially education connected to the church. The establishment of different Norwegian-Lutheran colleges was a partial result of these conflicts. The press is what kept the ordinary pioneer up-to-date with such happenings. Extensive reporting was done on such controversies with many of the publications advocating for one side of the debate. Notably, Decorah-Posten, by the efforts of Brynild Anundsen, tried to report the news rather than direct action. While complete neutrality was not possible, Anundsen and his editors worked hard to limit biases, and this appealed to many readers.
During the post-Civil War period, the press transitioned from an emphasis on reporting happenings in Norway and switched to an emphasis on reporting news in the United States and notable individuals who had Norwegian heritage. There were more efforts to connect the communities of Norwegian Americans throughout the Midwest and even nationally. Papers in the Midwest had correspondents from the West that gave them information about wages and job opportunities in places like California for readers who might be considering moving. Also in this period, there continued to be stories about individuals or families who needed assistance, many of whom were recent immigrants. Newspapers ran collection drives from their subscribers to help these people in need, relying on a sense of shared identity as an immigrant from Norway.
The Norwegian-American press created the opportunity for an imagined community of Norwegian Americans that sought connections and fostered the creation of an identity unique from Norwegian and American. An imagined community is when people associate themselves with
until
Linotype machine, made by Mergenthaler Linotype Co. of New York, c. 1907. This machine was first used in about 1909 in the offices of Anundsen Publishing Company, publisher of Decorah-Posten. The publishing company used it
Decorah-Posten ceased publication in 1972. 1973.037.001—Gift of Anundsen Publishing Company.
Photograph of the press room of Reform newspaper, 1908. Reform was a temperance paper, which was published in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and it became a platform for the social and political opinions of Waldemar Ager, who became its editor in 1903. Ager is standing on the left. Ager Collection—Vesterheim Archives.
Vesterheim
others, many of whom they will never have the occasion to interact with, based on an idea of shared traits, history, and identity. Lovoll contends that simultaneity was at work in the functions of the press that aided in furthering Americanization while maintaining connections to Norway. This emphasis on a unique identity that prevented complete assimilation and Americanization of immigrants from Norway was heavier than what is found in the press endeavors of other Scandinavians, and it can be linked to the social context in which people were emigrating from Norway
The strength of the Norwegian-American identity that was cultivated by the press and continues to this day, was a result of the national romanticism and nationalism that was prevalent in Norway during the years of greatest immigration. The national romanticism taking place in Norway during the 19th century was part of a movement across Europe that sought to define a nation’s identity and emphasize its perceived, specific roots. Norway’s national identity became associated with the farmers and striking landscapes of the fjords as seen in artwork from that time. This cultivation of a national identity was carried with emigrants as they journeyed to new places. As the press reported on news from Norway, there was a certain glorification of the motherland, linking this new Norwegian-American identity to hearty roots in Norway.
As time progressed, the role of the press continued to change, and publications were forced to evolve if they wanted to continue. Norwegian Americans were very active in politics both in voting and in also running for office on the local and national level. Candidates regularly sought endorsements from publications like Skandinaven, and Norwegian Americans were very active in the voting booths. The press emphasized the Norwegian-American identity of successful candidates to play to their readers’ ability to relate to the idea of shared heritage and similarity.
The identity of the Norwegian American was really solidified in its distinction between that of Norwegian and American with the aspect of language during the turn of the century between the 19th and 20th. It was during this time that Norwegians sought their own language, distinct from Danish, to replace the Dano-Norwegian that had been in use in governmental situations and the press. In the United States, the priority was continually placed on English. Norwegian Americans became incubated in their identity, distinct from contemporary Norway because of their continued usage of the Dano-Norwegian language that had fallen out of use in Scandinavia. The press in the United States did not adopt the new language from Norway but kept the old because it was what their readers knew.
In the final decades of the Golden Age, this identity continued to become more distinct as the NorwegianAmerican press continued to cover events in their communities and the accomplishments of individuals who shared this heritage of identifying as Norwegian American. This period included days of celebration that “re-invented ethnic identities,” according to Lovoll. One prominent example of this would be celebrations of the Vikings and Leif Erickson discovering the continent of America. The focus on this particular history and coverage of events by the local and national press continued to emphasize the NorwegianAmerican identity as differentiated from American identity and Norwegian identity. Thus, when it comes down to it, the Norwegian-American identity was not specified in characteristics or ideologies agreed upon by a unified press, but rather a state of mind cultivated by a diverse press
catering to a diverse group of people who related to each other based on perceived experiences.
The Decline of Norwegian-American Press
There were a number of factors that contributed to the decline of the Norwegian-American press as part of a trend affecting ethnic press as a whole. Most of these factors can be traced to a rise in nativism that affected politics and policy in the United States during the First World War and decades after. Nativism emphasized the importance of people born in the country, or native to it, over new immigrants with greater attachment to their homeland. American identity was being formed and this gave way to greater pressure to prove one’s loyalty and embrace this American identity that came without hyphens.
This movement had a complicated effect on identity in the immigrant and second-generation communities. On the one hand, it did not stop private dedication to the homeland or celebrations related to heritage, but it did affect legislation that fundamentally diminished and changed the role of ethnic press. In the 20th century, schools that taught in languages other than English came under fire and were discouraged from having classes in languages, like German specifically. This was due to the sentiments that accompanied the outbreak of World War I and subsequent involvement by the United States in the conflict. Language became an issue for Norwegian Americans not just legislatively but also as the number of first-generation immigrants decreased while second generation’s numbers increased.
During the decades after the 1920s the NorwegianAmerican press was in a steady decline. Several publications were still profitable. Decorah-Posten, for example, integrated the failed publications’ subscription lists into their own and continued national circulation. Overall, however, the number of publications continued to decrease and the role of the press became less about news in general and more about specific stories from or pertaining to the community of Scandinavian readers. Many who still subscribed after the 1950s used Norwegian-American publications as mere supplements to the English-language newspapers. Publications also evolved as more published in English and advertised for tourism in Norway.
Legacy of Norwegian-American Press
The Norwegian-American press movement faced significant decline in the second half of the 20th century. The last few papers consolidated and amalgamated to try to continue publishing, but, by the turn of the 21st century, there was only one publication left that claimed explicit Norwegian-American roots. This publication was the Norwegian American Weekly, now The Norwegian American, based out of Seattle. Available today in online and print editions, the paper has a monthly publication that still reaches people who identify as Norwegian Americans and Norwegians who remained in Norway. It is a national newspaper and focuses on providing content for readers that is difficult to find in other places.
It is no surprise that in order to survive, The Norwegian American has had to evolve. It has cultivated a stronger online presence with easy access for younger readers who are less likely to subscribe to print papers. Editor Lori Ann Reinhall explained that in the new digital age, pictures are incredibly important to the stories that they tell in their monthly edition. The aim of the publication is to continue
Lithographic print, Fader Vor (Our Father), originally printed in 1885. This print published by B. Anundsen was given as a premium to subscribers to Decorah-Posten. 1992.127.001—Gift of J. Harry and Josefa Andersen.
the cross-cultural exchange that has been going since the first ships from Norway arrived in the United States by sharing and telling stories in a high-quality publication. The current form has been likened to a sort of Reader’s Digest with articles covering sports, news, arts, and culture and even kitchen-tested recipes. The Norwegian American, while publishing the majority of its articles in English, has also maintained a small part of Norwegian language in its editions. There are specific articles written in Norwegian and even areas meant to foster language learning with the “Norsk 101” section, keeping some part of the Norwegian language active even in 2023.
The Norwegian-American press has had a long and illustrious history. It has told immigrant stories and connected people across the country and across the world. Almost two centuries after the first publications in Wisconsin, there is still an interest in what it means to be Norwegian American. The publications have changed but the legacy has continued.
References
Blegen, Theodore C. “The Early Norwegian Press in America.” Minnesota History Bulletin 3, no. 8 (1920): 506–18. http:// www.jstor.org/stable/20160361.
Jackson, Erika K. “World War I, Nativist Rhetoric, and the ‘White Man Par Excellence.’” In Scandinavians in Chicago: The Origins of White Privilege in Modern America, 136–54. University of Illinois Press, 2019. https://doi.org/10.5406/j. ctv9b2wm9.10.
Litwicki, Ellen M. “‘Our Hearts Burn with Ardent Love for Two Countries’: Ethnicity and Assimilation at Chicago Holiday Celebrations, 1876-1918.” Journal of American Ethnic History 19, no. 3 (2000): 3–34. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/27502578.
Lovoll, Odd S. “The Emigration” in Promise of America: A History of the Norwegian-American People. 7-43. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999.
Lovoll, Odd S. Norwegian Newspapers in America : Connecting Norway and the New Land. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2010.
Lovoll, Odd S. “The Press and Public Life.” In The Promise of America: A History of the Norwegian-American People, NED-New edition, Revised., 173–203. University of Minnesota Press, 1999. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/10.5749/j.ctttt0mc.10.
Miller, Sally M. “Distinctive Media: The European Ethnic Press in the United States.” In A History of the Book in America: Volume 4: Print in Motion: The Expansion of Publishing and Reading in the United States, 1880-1940, edited by Carl F. Kaestle and Janice A. Radway, 299–311. University of North Carolina Press, 2009. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/10.5149/9781469625829_kaestle.22.
About the Author
Berit Skogen grew up in Northern Minnesota and graduated from Luther College in 2023 with majors in Nordic Studies and History and minors in Africana Studies and Religion. She is one of Vesterheim Folk Art School’s Norwegian language instructors. Skogen has received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Norway for 2023-2024, which she will follow with graduate work in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She wants to continue to foster a love of lifelong learning and meaningful conversations through mediums like the magazine, Vesterheim
Notice of nomination of Abraham Lincoln for President in Emigranten, June 9, 1860. Vesterheim Archives.