The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.1977, Page 7

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
5
EDITORIAL
THE THIRTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
The first issue of The Icelandic
Canadian appeared on October 1, 1942,
so with the Summer Issue of this year the
Magazine rounded out its 35th year of
publication.
The policy of the Magazine was laid
down in the December, 1942, issue. It
was reproduced on the occasion of its
tenth anniversary (Summer 1952), but it
bears repetition on its thirty-fifth
anniversary.
THE POLICY OF THE
ICELANDIC CANADIAN
1) To assist in making the things of
value in our Icelandic heritage a living
part of ourselves as Canadian citizens
and thus improve the quality of our con-
tribution to the distinctively Canadian
pattern.
2) To provide an instrument by which
the children of our ever increasing mixed
marriages may be reached, and through
which we would seek to instil in them a
better knowledge and a keener ap-
preciation of our heritage.
3) To provide a means whereby
Canadians of Icelandic extraction, pure
or mixed, can become better acquainted
with each other and thus strengthen the
common bond of the past which in itself
will strengthen the common bond of the
future in the larger Canadian scene.
4) To stimulate greater effort by
making known to our readers the contri-
butions of Icelandic Canadians to the
highest and best type of citizenship.
5) To place before the people of
Canada and particularly the other ethnic
groups, our interpretation of the posi-
tion we should take as Canadian citi-
zens, and thus contribute to Canadian
unity by helping to form a common basis
of approach.
THE FOUNDING OF FRAMFARI
by W. Kristjanson
On September 10, 1977, one hudred
years will have passed since the first
issue of Framfari, the first Icelandic
paper published in America, appeared.
In their annual reports for the year 1877
to the Federal Minister of Agriculture,
both the Reverend John Taylor and
Sigtryggur Jonasson recorded the event
and said what they hoped Framfari
would accomplish for the colony.
Taylor wrote, ‘It is expected that this
paper will be an interesting link between
new and old Iceland, and not only help
the colonists here, but be the means of
informing the people of the old country
of affairs of the colony and of advocating
its interests more effectually than could
be accomplished in any other way’.
Jonasson expressed the belief that
Framfari ‘will prove beneficial to the