Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1942, Page 57
ICELANDIC EMIGRATION TO AMERICA
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hardly more than a good third of the Icelandic population
of America are members of the organized congregations. Some
time ago the total membership of the two church communities
was computed at about 11,000, and the number of churches at
about 60.
1919 saw the foundation in America of the Icelandic Na-
tional Patriotic League, whose object is to provide a nucleus for
the endeavours to preserve the Icelandic language and Icelandic
culture in America, and to promote sympathy and co-operation
among Icelanders on both sides of the Atlantic. The League
publishes a well-written annual, which contains contributions
from Icelanders in America and the old country. Besides, it holds
an annual congress of representatives from the local branches
to discuss matters of common interest. It has also acted as a con-
necting link between the Icelandic Americans and the home-
land. In Iceland there exists a society with the same object. Co-
operation between the two societies has resulted in the organi-
zation of lecture tours by prominent Icelanders, and performances
by Icelandic actors and musicians. Though the League has no
direct connection with the Church, the latter has played a pro-
minent part in its foundation and growth. The two men who
have been most to the fore in the activities of the League from
its very start are both clergymen, viz. the Reverend Jónas A.
Sigurðsson, its president for many years, and the Reverend Rögn-
valdur Pétursson, the editor of its bulletin, and the leader of the
Unitarians since the beginning of the present century.
In the rules of the League, its first object is defined as helping
Icelanders to become good citizens in America. There is no con-
flict between this and the object of maintaining the connection
with Iceland. It is obvious that the first, and to some extent
the second, generation of Icelanders in America cannot feel at
home in the American culture to the same extent as they do in
the immemorial tradition of their home country. If the bonds
which attached them to Iceland had been snapped too suddenly
it would have meant a spiritual blow to them which might have
had disastrous effects on their future in their adopted country.
That this did not happen must be ascribed to the strength of
the cultural tradition which they carried with them. Altogether,
the Icelanders have done surprisingly well in competition with
other nationalities in America, considering their numerical in-