Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1942, Blaðsíða 24

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LE NORD
103 congregations, served by 64 clergymen. Each of them has
a high school, attached to which there is a college for the education
of ministers. The total annual budget of the two organizations
may be estimated at about 500,000 dollars. The Mormon church
has 6000 Danish-born members, several of whom occupy leading
positions within it. The Baptist church has 4000 Danish-born
members, distributed on 40 congregations.
The Danish religious communities have contributed greatly
to the preservation of the Danish language, Danish civilization,
and Danish traditions among the emigrants. Danish is still the
language chiefly used in their services, but all the clergymen also
have a command of English, and are gradually using this
language more and more, especially out of consideration for the
second generation of Danish Americans.
Simultaneously with the foundation of congregations, Danish
societies were also formed. But while congregations were general-
ly founded both in the country and in the towns, the societies
are usually confined to the towns. At first the Danes joined with
the Norwegians and Swedes and formed Scandinavian societies.
As early as 1844 there was a Scandinavian society in New York,
numbering Danes among its members. But this Scandinavian
period was short-lived. The first Danish societies — which bore
the name of Dania — were founded in 1862 in Chicago, in 1867
in Racine, 'Wisconsin, and some years later in San Francisco.
Their object was the promotion of social intercourse and mutual
aid in case of sickness. — The early 1880’s saw the foundation
of the mutual benefit society known as The Danish Brotherhood
of America, originally an association of veterans from the Sles-
vig wars, which gradually grew into the largest existing organiza-
tion of Danes outside the old country. It comprises 300 lodges
and has a membership of 15,000 (at one time 22,000). Its prin-
cipal object is sick benefit and burial aid on the insurance prin-
ciple. A similar women’s organization, “Det danske Sostersam-
fund” (the Danish Sisterhood) has 6000 members.
There are Danish societies all over the Union. Some of them
are affiliated to nation-wide central organizations, but others
are local. The latter are mostly mutual aid and benefit societies,
but there are also social, dramatic, and athletic clubs, football
clubs, choir societies, etc. Some of them have their own buildings,
and many have libraries of Danish literature. In the larger towns
the various societies arrange Danish evenings between them.