A Selection of NORDIC HERITAGE INSTITUTIONS Well Worth Visiting
NORDIC HERITAGE MUSEUM in Seattle is situated in an old school building in the heart of Ballard, a Scandinavian part of the city. The museum, founded in 1979, aims to document the work and life styles of settlers from Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden. The museum has hosted several major exhibitions on, for example, the Vikings, Lapp art and Greenland, but the most spectacular, The Dream of America is now a permanent feature. The museum also functions as a cultural center with festivals, lectures, film series, concerts, language classes, folk dancing etc. There is also a cafeteria and a wellstocked museum shop that add to making the museum the premier Nordic institution on the continent. Closed Mondays, 3014 N.W. 67th St., Seattle, Wa Phone 604-789-5707.
THE AMERICAN SCANDINAVIAN FOUNDATION promotes the exchange of people and ideas between the United States and Scandinavia. The idea for such an exchange carne from Danish emigrant Niels Poulson who founded the organization in 1910. The exchange got a boost in 1964 with a bequest from the Thord Gray Memorial Fund (approx 4.5 million) to be used for scholarship exchange between Sweden and the U.S. The foundation publishes the quarterly Scandinavian Review and SCAN Newsletter. Another popular feature of national membership is travel discounts with flights from 18 gateways throughout the U.S. Members also receive invitations to lectures, art exhibitions and film events as well as dinners and receptions where ASF supporters can meet Scandinavian dignitaries and personalities. The Foundation is headquartered in the Asia Society building but director Lena Bj6rck-Kaplan hopes it will move into its own functional building in the future. There are also American Scandinavian Societies in several cities around the US that are independent of the Foundation, but work for the same goals. Membership $ 20, several sponsorship options. 725 Park Ave., New York Phone 212-751-0714.
THE SCANDINAVIAN CULTURAL CENTER at the Pacific Lutheran University campus in Tacoma, Washington is a place "where the smell of fresh coffee, the sounds of laughter and fellowship, music and harmony permeate the air". There are cooking and language classes and traditional folk art workshops such as wood-carving, wheat-weaving and rosemaling in the specially designed 6 700 square foot building. The Center also serves the community and the Norwegian founded university as a site for lectures, concerts and ethnic festivities as well as a showcase for art and historical items from the more than 1 000 pieces in the Nordic archival collection. Special events include the Swedish Santa Lucia Festival, Norwegian Christmas service, Danish Fastelavn, elegant midsummer banquet of Nordic Night and the Norwegian Heritage Festival. The annual Icelandic Dinner and Finnish Pikko Joulu, staged in nearby facilities, receive promotional support from the center as do the Mayfest Dancers, an active student performing group. In addition to serving the campus community, the Center is made available to Nordic organizations for their banquets, meetings and programs. Outside the cultural Center, rising above the roof, a viking ship prow serves as a dramatic statement and warm invitation to visitors. Open Sundays 1-4pm, Tuesdays and Wednesdays 11-3pm. Admission free. Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Wa 98447 Phone 206-5357131.
THE SCANDINAVIAN CENTER in Winnipeg is a natural meeting place of people with roots in the Nordic countries. The center is open for lunch Tuesday to Thursday, brunch on Sundays and a full "smorg" buffet of hot and cold items every Friday. The licensed dining room has become a popular place to celebrate weddings and anniversaries. Festivities are held throughout the year to celebrate everything from the Finnish Vappu (Mayday) and the Icelandic Thorrablot (midwinter Fest) to Swedish Lucia, Norwegian Luterisk and Danish Julefrokost. In this truly Nordic center where you can even take a high school credit class in Icelandic, the Scandinavian choir sings in all the five Nordic languages. 764 Erin Street, Winnipeg, MB R3G 2W4. Phone 204-774-8047.
THE INTERNATIONAL COTTAGES at the House of Pacific Relations in San Diego is a unique way to see the world. There are 31 nations represented in houses in the Balboa Park (next to the Zoo and the museum) left over from the 1935 San Diego World Exhibition that are open to the public every Sunday afternoon 12 noon to 5pm. You can visit the Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and combined Danish\Icelandic cottages where there are displays and material from each country and always friendly volunteers with coffee and cookies ready for your (-you pay by donation). On May 21 the countries serve up such culinary treats as Aebelskiben in the Danish-, Artesupe in the Norwegian- and Meatballs with coffee and punch in the Swedish cottage. The first Friday and Saturday in December all the cottages are decorated for Christmas and there is a Lucia pageant and gldgg in the Swedish pavilion. Throughout the year individual countries are high-lighted usually on their days of independence. Sweden raises a Maypole and shows midsummer traditions June 18. The educational opportunities are well taken care of at the Elkhorn Friendship Festival when there are passports and each country has its own stamp. At the local Martin Luther King school each class has adopted a country and keeps in touch throughout the year. All San Diego 5th graders take turns to camp out in the Balboa Park for a week to get to know all the countries represented there. Open every Sunday 12 noon5pm and by appointment. Balboa Park, San Diego, Ca Phone 619-264-5657.
OLD WORLD WISCONSIN seeks to capture the lifestyle, ideas and challenges of the early European immigrants that settled in this region in the 19th – and early 20th centuries. 55 buildings have been gathered on 576 acres of rolling, wooded land in the southern part of the Kettle Moraine State Forest where authentically costumed staff goes about their daily chores. There are idyllic Finnish, Danish and Norwegian farmhouses as well as the Otteson Outhouse (a threeholer built in the town of Christiania, Dane County) and the Raspberry School (built by three Scandinavian families in Bayfield in 1896 to see local children educated). There's the Clausing Barn Restaurant and a great museum store full of 19th century reproductions, household items, toys and cards. Throughout the year there are historic re-enactments and many special events. 5103 W 3 7890 Highway 67, Eagle WI 53119. Hours are seasonal so please call 414-594-2116.
CONCORDIA LANGUAGE VILLAGES in Moorhead, Minnesota is a great way each summer for more than 6 500 boys and girls age 6-18 to learn about their roots. The Sjölunden (Swedish), Skovsoen (Danish), Salolampi (Finnish) and Skogsfjorden (Norwegian) immersion programs teach languages in a setting that is sometimes more typical than the country itself. Concordia College, that runs the villages, also has the "Scivias. 95" program with high school credit in Norwegian.
When you, for instance, arrive to the lovely Finnish Salolampi village with passport in hand (mailed in advance from the Language Villages office) you will check in at the border, go through tulli (customs), where tullitarkastajat (border guards) will check your baggage for kieltottavaraa (contraband) - any English language books or tapes, or American food you may have brought with you. You'll exchange your money for Finnish markkoja and choose a Finnish name to use during your stay. You do not need to know any Finnish when you come to Salolampi. This miniFinland is set up to help you learn it! Your mornings may begin with folk singing, crafts, games or sports like Jaalkapallo (soccer), Pesdpallo (Finnish baseball), Kyykkd (a type of lawn bowling), or lentopallo (volleyball). Mealtimes, transactions at the kioski (store), pankki (bank), posti (post office) and earning points for the huutokauppa (auction) all provide opportunities to make the Finnish language an integral part of village life. 901 South Eighth Street, Moorhead, Mn 56562, phone 218-299-4544.
NORDIC CENTER at Augsburg College in Minneapolis is the result of the "Scandinavia Today" Program that celebrated modern Scandinavia. Today the Center celebrates the five Nordic countries with quarterly presentations as well as movies, art exhibits, publications, as well as the "first Friday Kitchen" culinary demonstrations but it is the quarterly calendars of area Nordic activities and all the informal information and referral services provided that is the most appreciated by the students and the general public. 2400 Butler Place, Minneapolis, MN 55454 Phone 612-330-1340.
SCANDINAVIAN CENTER in Vancouver will open its doors in September after completing a renovation of the old Roald Amundsen Center. Constructed as a Norwegian Seamen's Center on a 4-acre site in the Burnaby suburb, it became home of the local Sleipner lodge and a popular place to rent for local Nordic organizations - when seamen no longer had the time to unwind here. When the Norwegian government put the center up for sale, Norway and Sweden House Societies formed the Scandinavian Center Society to get together with other Nordic partners to buy and run the center. The idea is to develop the whole site sot that it provides individual countries with all the facilities they need and that the countries can band together for festivals and larger events with a combined pulling power that no one country can muster. Kick-off and Open House April 30, 2.30pm. Burnaby, B.C. For information call 604-731-6381.
DANISH
SOLVANG an hour and half's drive north of Los Angeles is a whole community devoted to all things Danish. But here among all the tourist stores and restaurants you, also find since 1988 the small Elverhoj Museum devoted to the history of those immigrants who made it all the way to the Pacific. The museum building drew its inspiration from the typical Danish farmhouse and was the home of the artistic Brandt-Ericksen family. The names "Elverhoj" means "elves on the hill" and is the name of Denmark's most famous folk play. Inside people love to study the butter churn wooden tubs and the artifacts from pre-industrial Denmark and the period rooms and art gallery. Old photos, documents and pioneer artifacts evoke the early Solvang era when a group of Lutheran pastors in the Midwest dreamt up the Solvang utopia. Open Wednesday through Sunday 1-4pm. 1624 Elverhoy Way, Phone 805-686-1211.
THE DANISH IMMIGRANT MUSEUM in Elk Horn, Iowa, opened its doors to visitors last year. Quite a feat when you realize that the museum was founded ten years ago without a building, without a collection but with an urgency "to collect, preserve, study and interpret artifacts and traditions which express the experience of Danes in America." Now the museum has Victor Borge's first piano but above all a spectacular selfguiding exhibit that tells the immigrant story from "the Decision to leave" to the "Journey's End". There is a dining room, and a play area for the children with plenty of Legos as well as ambitions expansion plans. Elk Horn, that is located just off Hwy 80, has a high concentration of Danish Americans with a lot of local history. Near the museum is the charming Bedstemor's House that has been completely furnished to the period between 1910-1920 when young Danish American families used to live there. Adults $3, children $1.50, open daily with extended hours during the summer. 2212 Washington Street, P.O.Box 178, Elk Horn, IA 51531 Phone 712-764-7001 or 800-759-9192
ICELANDIC
L'ANSE AUX MEADOWS in Newfoundland is the only authentical
viking site in North America. In spite of its remoteness it is well worth
the trip (by Air Canada to St. Johns, Garden or Deer Lake and then a connecting
flight to St. Anthony where you will need a rental car for the 45 minute
drive to the L'anse aux Meadows National Historic Park). Be prepared for
rain and fog even if you arrive in the middle of the six week long Newfoundland
"summer". What you see are building outlines of eight houses
and four boatsheds but best of all a replica of a Viking long or sod house
(modeled on the Stdng House in Iceland) that really gives you a feel for
how it must have been here a thousand years ago. The site was discovered
by the Norwegian archaeologist couple Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad and
in the adjacent interpretive center you can see some of the artifacts
the Icelanders left behind when they tired of the godforsaken place after
30 years. The UNESCO World Heritage Site was not the Vinland of the Sagas
but unrefutable proof that the vikings were first.
Gimli Icelandic Museum is located in an old fish plant on the shore of
Lake Winnipeg where Icelanders first set foot in 1865. The museum in Heda
Provincial Park was started with government money when Canada pulled the
plug on the Gimli airbase. Now it is hoped that a grant will come through
to pay for the May-September opening season and for additional funds as
the building has just been condemned. The museum recreates an Icelandic
fishing village and descendants of the Icelanders who settled in this
area celebrate their heritage with parades, songs and dances during the
Midsummer Icelandic Festival. Open 10-9pm daily May-September . Phone
204-481-357.
FINNISH
Finn Fest USA proves that one does not need a museum or a community center to get together and celebrate one's heritage. The first festival was held in Minneapolis/St Paul in 1983 inspired by the Finnish Canadian Cultural Federation that had held annual festivals for over 40 years. This year's festival will be held July 13-16 in Portland, Oregon. The event is an annual opportunity for an economical and enjoyable vacation for the whole family. Annual membership $ 15. For more information: Finn Fest'95, P.O.Box 6795, Portland, Or 97228-6795.
PLACE OF DREAMS or Toivlitten Paikka at Suomi college in Hancock, Michigan is a living monument to the dreams of Finnish immigrants. In1896 they "dreamed about an institution that would provide religious education, keep the Finnish language in use, and preserve and document their experience in North America." The result was the Suomi College and in 1990 the Finnish-American Heritage Center that was opened in an adjacent Catholic church. The art gallery features monthly exhibits of not necessarily Finnish or Finnish-American art as well as museum pieces from the college's collection. You can research genealogy on line (by satellite connection) with Finland and study Finnish in the language lab. The archives of the college are together with the Finnish American collection (at the University of Minnesota, 826 Berry St., St. Paul, MN 55114, Phone 612627-4208) a veritable treasure trove for researchers. 9 am-4pm weekdays.
Memberships from $35 Suomi college, 601 Quincy Street, Hancock, Mi 49930 Phone 906-487-7367.
NORWEGIAN
The Westerheim NorwegianAmerican Museum in the Iowa community of Decorah is the largest, most comprehensive museum in the US dedicated to a single immigrant group. With 15 historic buildings occupying most of a city block and two National Register sites just outside Decorah the museum is a veritable treasure trove. The museum has a well-stocked gift shop and the Dayton House Norwegian Cafe where you can sample lapskaus and lefse. For the researcher there is a library with 10 000 volumes, an archive with 15 000 historic photographs and documents as well as the Vesterheim Genealogical Center (based in Madison WI). Adults $ 3, Children $1 SO ($4, $2 May I - October 31 including tours of Outdoor Division) Open daily with extended hours during summer. 502 West Water Street, Decorah, IA 52101. Phone 319-382-9681.
NORSKEDALEN in Coon Valley, Wisconsin (or the Norwegian Valley Nature and Heritage Center) began in 1977 when Dr. Alf Gardensen and his wife Carroll deeded their farm to the University of Wisconsin's La Crosse Foundation. Later a visitor's center and the quaint Bekkum Homestead with reconstructed log buildings was added and there are currently several newly acquired buildings being restored. Every Sunday at 2 pm there is a weekly forum of lectures, movies, storytelling, music etc and throughout the year there are Scandinavian programs and festivities. There is a Troll Trail for the children and hiking, skiing and snowshoeing to appreciate the nature that surrounds the heritage buildings. Daily admission adults $ 3, children $ 2, P.O. Box 225, Coon Valley, WI 54623 Phone 608-452-3424.
SWEDISH
THE AMERICAN SWEDISH HISTORICAL MUSEUM in Philadelphia was built in 1926. The land that the museum is built on was originally part of a grant from queen Christina to Swedish colonists in 1653 and the museum has borrowed its impressive facade from the Eriksberg Castle in S6dermanland in Sweden. You can get background information on the early history of the Swedish settlement in America and see a video on New Sweden. There are plenty of letters, photographs, artifacts and even a "stuga" to give you an idea of what the immigrants left behind in Sweden. You can learn about famous Swedes like Fredrika Bremer and Jenny Lind and see wonderful original works of art by artists like Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn and examples of Swedish glass by Orrefors and Swedish Modern furniture masterpieces. 1900 Pattison Avenue, Phone 215-389-1776.
THE AMERICAN SWEDISH INSTITUTE building in Minneapolis has been described as an architectural "sm6rgåsbord". It was built by newspaper publisher Sven Johan Swan Turnblad on the city's most exclusive residential street. The front of the 33-room residence is of grey Indiana limestone. The interiors are paneled in rich African mahogany. The huge stained glass Brandskattningen av Visby window is one of the finest examples of glass art in America. The museum is home to 7 000 members who come here for movies, concerts, exhibitions, lectures or just a cup of coffee in the kaffestuga. The American Swedish Institute also has a bookshop, a travel program and many affiliated clubs (organized in the same way as the smaller Swedish American Museum Center in Chicago, 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640, Phone 312-728-8111) and is definitely worth a visit. Admission 43 for adults. 2600 Park Avenue, Minneapolis, MN Phone 612-871-4907.
Scandinavian Press, Issue 2, 1995