A CENTENARY OF NORWEGIAN STUDIES IN AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING

Abstract

A CENTENARY OF NORWEGIAN STUDIES IN AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING BY HEDIN BRONNER It seems appropriate to introduce the second hundred years of Norwegian studies in the United States with a brief historical review and a few words about the present situation. The subject has been touched upon several times in books and periodicals, but never treated exhaustively, and the time may soon be ripe for a complete volume based on recent surveys as well as on the rather meager source material from the earliest period. The first chair of Norwegian in the New World was established at New York University in 1858. The Reverend Paul C. Sinding, who was Danish born, was commissioned by the university to teach both Danish and Norwegian upon demand. Only three years later he asked to be relieved of his duties on the grounds that he had never been able to form a class. Whether he tutored some students privately or informally during this period has not been established, but he was actively engaged in research, and published a history of Scandinavia which may have contributed to the awakening of a consciousness of such studies on the American scene. Meanwhile , Augustana College was established as early as 1860 in Chicago and offered Norwegian courses from its very beginning . At university level the language was not revived until 1870, when it was introduced into the University of Wisconsin catalogue; classes apparently first materialized, however, under Rasmus B. Anderson in 1875. After these hesitant beginnings Norwegian spread to other universities and colleges (for example St. Olaf College at Northfield in 1874) and held its ground firmly until 1917.1 1 For historical data I am largely indebted to Esther Chilstrom Meixner, The Teaching of the Scandinavian Languages and Literatures in the United States (Philadelphia, 1941). See also George T. Flom, "Norwegian Language and Literature in American Universities," in Studies and Records , 2:78-103 (Northfield, 1927). 158 NORWEGIAN STUDIES 159 About the turn of the century, Norwegian was also introduced into certain public high schools in areas that had a large Scandinavian population, with Story City, Iowa, blazing the trail. By 1913 the subject had been adopted by nineteen high schools in Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and North Dakota, and combined enrollments numbered about 550. Although precise figures are not available, the numbers certainly increased steadily until American entry into World War I signaled virtually total interruption of foreign-language studies (except French) in American schools of all levels. So far as I know, no systematic survey devoted exclusively to Norwegian studies in American universities, colleges, and high schools has ever been made, and the first complete survey for the whole Scandinavian field was not undertaken until 1940, when Esther Chilstrom Meixner collected the material available at that time.2 Professor Gösta Franzen and I, curious to follow developments after the disruptions of World War II, initiated a series of surveys which we have repeated at four- and three-year intervals since 1947, publishing our findings periodically in Scandinavian Studies, the quarterly publication of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study.3 From time to time I have also prepared reports on courses in Norwegian alone, based on data which could not be included with the all-Scandinavian surveys ; but none of these reports has appeared on this side of the Atlantic.4 Happily Franzen and I were able to celebrate the tenth anniversary of our collaboration on this project as the first hundred years of Scandinavian studies in the United States were being rounded out. We have found that Norwegian, and indeed all Scandinavian studies, are undergoing a shift from the lower to the higher levels of learning. This means simply that they have 3 Meixner, Teaching of the Scandinavian Languages. 9 Scandinavian Studies , 19:239-260, 23:173-198, 27:173-195, 28:99-108, 30 : 157-177 (August, 1947, November, 1951, November, 1955, August, 1956, November , 1958). Aftenposten (Oslo), September 24, 1947, November 4, 1952, October 25, 1956. 160 HEDIN BRONNER reached a stage of development which might have been predicted by anyone who could foresee the course of immigration history. Under the influence of strong and populous firstgeneration communities, the...