Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1942, Page 30

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LE NORD
the remainder being Danes who have relatives in the U.S.A. or
Canada — these meetings have been a signal manifestation of
the solidarity which exists among Danish Americans and of their
attachment to the old country. Another practical manifestation
of this sentiment is the foundation of the emigrant archives at
Sohngaardsholm near Aalborg. These archives contain books,
periodicals, and letters, etc. throwing light on Danish emigra-
tion, especially to the United States and Canada, and on the
Danish contribution to American civilization. An important part
of the archives is made up of the collections of literature relating
to Danish-American history gathered the Danish-American pro-
fessor P. S. Vig. Furthermore, there is the Lincoln House in the
Rebild Hills, built in 1933. This is a log house of the type used
by Danish pioneers on the prairie, in which is exhibited imple-
ments, pictures, and objects brought with them by emigrants
from Denmark, or made or acquired by them when they built
their first homes across the ocean.
All the above-mentioned undertakings have been made pos-
sible by the fact that many Danish-Americans used to visit the
old country every summer in the early years of the present cen-
tury. Thousands of emigrants who had left Denmark in the
i88o’s and 1890*5 wanted to see the old country before they died,
and they often brought their children with them. The number
of such visitors was often several thousand in a single year. In
some cases, conducted tours with several hundred participants
were arranged. The greatest of these was that arranged by the
Danish Brotherhood of America in 1925. It was undertaken in
a ship chartered for the purpose, which carried 800 passengers.
It must be regarded as humanly certain that the Danish
language will decline in North America year by year, not only
in the churches and the societies, but also in Danish-American
homes. Among the principal reasons for this decline may be
mentioned the following: The number of Danish-Americans of
the first generation is bound to decrease greatly, seeing that most
of them are getting on in years, and that immigration during the
last 20 years has been inconsiderable and has now come to a
complete stop. Furthermore, it may be regarded as certain that
Danes become merged in the American nation more rapidly and
easily than people of most other nationalities. Of the Danish-
born Americans, more than 70 per cent. are American citizens,
probably a higher figure than that for any other nationality.