Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.11.1991, Blaðsíða 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 1. nóvember1991 • 5
The Icelandic National
League - Arborg Chapter
(Esjan) - received agrant of
$2,000 which was put to-
ward the cost of develop-
ing a heritage calendar
highlightingthe pioneerex-
perience of Icelanders in
Canada
“What we have now is
minder of our heritage,
The Heritage calendar
incorporates a
chronological and
pictoral history of the
Icelandic-Canadian
community.
a daily re-
something
that will encourage our young people
to ask questions when they look at it,”
says Svava Simundsson, president of
Esjan.
The calendar contains pictures of Ice-
landic pioneer families taken before the
1900s and includes Icelandic months,
holidays, upcoming chapter events from
the 13 chapters ofthe INL, festivals, and
historical dates such as October 21,1875,
the arrival of the first Icelanders at Wil-
low Point.
Esjan took on the responsibility for
the calendar after agreeingto undertake
the project at the last na-
tional INL convention
held in Vancouver.
Overall co-ordina-
tion including research,
writing, design, set-up, col-
lecting of information, or-
_____________ders and distribution was
done by Nelson Gerrard,
an accomplished historian and a mem-
ber of Esjan. Nelson is credited with a
number of publications and is well
known in the Icelandic community for
his contributions to preserving the Ice-
landic cultural community, says
Simundsson.
The project symbolizes the value the
Icelandic community places on the pres-
ervation and promotion of its heritage,
says Simundsson.
Three thousand copies of the calen-
dar have been printed and distributed,
but of the 150 sent to Arborg only 18 are
left.
The grant for the project has been
Courtesy of
The Interiake
Spectator.
made available through the Department six member chapters in Manitoba in-
of Multiculturalism and Citizenship. cludingBrandon, Lundar, Selkirk.Gimli,
The Icelandic National League has Winnipeg and Arborg.
The lcelandic
National
League’s Arborg
Chapter (Esjan)
includes
Jaqueline
Johnson (front
row left), Thora
Mclnnis, Gudrun
Gislason (centre
row left), Gudrun
Johannsson,
Svava
Simundsson, Addi
Foster (back row
left), Lauga
Einarson and
Hulda Bjornsson.
Cal&ndar PHotos tri&ntifi&dl
by Nelson Gerrard
Since the publication of the Icelan-
dic National League’s ‘1992 Heritage
Calendar’ in August, three of the uni-
dentified, 1890-vintage photos used in
it have been recognized by new calen-
dar owners
Identification for the March photo
came from Mrs. Orville Bemhoft of
Mountain, North Dakota, who recog-
nized her father and grandparents. The
March couple are Matúsalem Einarsson
(from Fagranes on Langanes) and
Ingibjörg Kristjánsdóttirfrom Úlfsstaðir
in Skagafjörður) of Mountain, who are
shown with their children María (stand-
ing at top), (later Mrs. Olafson); Free-
man Einarson (on his father’s lap);
Jóhann Einarson (in middle); and
Þorbjörg (later Mrs. Scheving). The cap-
tion indicated a possible connection
with North Dakota and Saskatchewan,
the suspected identity being correct.
Identification for the April photo
came from Seattle, Washington, from
H. L. Johnson, a grandson of the couple
shown on the picture. Mr. Johnson re-
ceived a calendar from his daughter
who had attended a Seattle club get-
together and was surprised to recog-
nize a picture of his grandparents
Sigurður Bárðarson and Guðrún
Davíðsdóttir, formerly of Winnipeg,
Manitoba, and Blaine, Washington.
Sigurður Bárðarson was from Jörfi in
Hnappadalssýsla and was a well-
known, self-taught doctor, both during
his 20 years in Winnipeg and after mov-
ing west to Blaine. Among his several
children (from his first marriage) was
Eiríkur Bárðarson of the Geysir district
in ‘New Iceland, forefather of the nu-
merous Bardarsons in the Riverton-
Arborg area.
The October photo was identified
by Mrs. Thrúða Floyd of Víðir, Mani-
toba, whose husband, Harry Floyd, rec-
ognized his mother and grandmother
while looking through the calendar.
The October picture of an ‘Unidenti-
fied mother and children’, taken in
Selkirk ca 1895, is of Mrs. Helga
the picture. He was from Húsabakki in
Þingeyjarsýsla and was a brother to
Hildur Friðriksdóttir Johnson of Sel-
kirk, mother of J.K. Johnson, a printer
in Winnipeg.
EvelynThorvaldson, INLpresident,
also made an interesting discovery
while attending the Icelandic National
League conference in Washington,
D.C., in early October. Among the dig-
nitaries presented with copies of the
INL Icelandic Heritage Calendar was
TómasTómasson, Icelandic Ambassa-
dor to the United States, who was sur-
prised to find a picture of his great-
grandmother on the cover of the calen-
dar! Both he and the Icelandic Prime
Minister, Davíð Oddsson, are descend-
ants of Sigurrós Hjálmarsdóttir from
Marðarnúpur in Vatnsdalur, who emi-
grated as a widow in 1888 and settled
in Salt Lake City, Utah, after living in
Winnipeg, Manitoba; Helena, Mon-
tana; and at Markerville, Alberta.
Anyone having further identifica-
tions, please contact INL historian
Nelson Gerrard at Box 925, Arborg,
Manitoba, Canada ROC 0A0. The origi-
nals of these pictures are carefully iden-
tified and will be kept on file for future
generations.
Jörgensdóttir Kröyer Friðriksson of Sel-
kirk and her three children: Óli, Elín,
andjónas. Helga, thedaughterof Jörgen
Jóhannsson Kröyer and Elín
Kristjánsdóttir from Nípá in
Þingeyjarsýsla, emigrated with her par-
ents and husband in 1883. The family
lived in Selkirk until 1909 when they
moved to the Víðir Settlement north-
west of Arborg, and in 1928 they re-
tumed to Selkirk. Óli Friðriksson, the
elder son and a talented and well-
known sleight-of-hand artist who put
on magic shows, moved to Winnipeg
and oversaw the construction of grain
elevators for the Searle Grain Com-
pany. Elín, the daughter, became Mrs.
Floyd. She lost her husband in World
War I and raised her family in Víðir.
The younger son, Jónas, was also killed
in World War I. Magnús Friðriksson,
Helga’s husband, is not included on
Icelandic Heritage
Calendar
for 1992
Icelandic National League
All sold out now at our
Winnipeg Headquarters.
Contact your Local
INL Chapter or Club for copies.
Use your INL Locator List
information about whom to contact.
at $5.00
(please include $1.50 for postage and handling if mailed)
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