Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin

The 2022 Swedish American Lucia Day was celebrated on Dec 4 at Whitnall Park Lutheran Church. The Lucia program was performed by 44 children and young adults under the direction of Sonia Hummel. Violin prelude and piano accompany was played by Lindsey Zundel. Hans Shin was reading the Lucia story and introducing the Swedish songs and poems, and Stina Lemery was helping with the songs that were mainly performed in Swedish.

This annual event was attended by about 170 people taking up most of the seats in the church Sanctuary, many moved by the high-spirited beauty of the Lucia procession and performance by children and teenagers ranging from ages 3 to 17.

Josie is also a gifted athlete, competing in the Varsity Tennis State Championship for the last 2 years representing the team as the captain.

While she takes great pride in her own Swedish heritage, she always wants to learn about the cultural traditions of others and currently volunteers to teach and help newcomer young Afghan refugees.

The Lucia Crown

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS CANDLE – Maddie Franke   

När första ljuset brinner, står julens dörr på glänt, och jubel psalmen klingar i helig tid advent. (When the first Christmas candle is burning, we know Christmas is close by.)

THE SECOND CHRISTMAS CANDLE – Alex Franke

När andra ljuset brinner, vi höra löftets ord, om Konungen som kommer med frälsning till vår jord. (When the 2nd Christmas candle is burning, we hear the promise of old that a Savior is coming.)

THE THIRD CHRISTMAS CANDLE – Aubrey Wright

När tredje ljuset tändas i kulen vinter tid. Vi höra himlens klockor, som ringa fröjd och frid.(When the 3rd candle is lit, we hear the bells of heaven wishing all peace and goodwill)

THE FOURTH CHRISTMAS CANDLE – Nadia Wright

Vi se i fjärde ljuset en stjärna underbar, som ger åt livets gåtor ett evighetens svar. (As the 4^th candle is lit, we see a beautiful star with promise to all of life eternal.)

THE FIFTH CHRISTMAS CANDLE – Ida Bussa  

Sist julens lilla tomte med gran och juleljus, nu önskar juleglädje och frid i hem och hus. (At last the little Christmas elf with Christmas tree and lights, is wishing all a joyful and blessed Christmas.)

The Lucia Procession

The Lucia procession in the form of a light-bearing Lucia with an entourage is a relatively recent phenomenon The Lucia procession took on its present character after a competition was announced in Stockholms Dagblad in 1927, in which the chosen Lucia was given a chandelier and led a procession of bridesmaids. The procession was supplemented by star boys, who had traditionally gone around singing in the cottages during Advent to represent the three wise men. The event became popular and similar celebrations were recreated around Sweden. As Lucia processions began to be organised in schools and nurseries, the procession was augmented by Santa’s elves and gingerbread men. (Reference: Allmogens Tryckeri )

LUCIA:  Josie German

ATTENDANTS: Zoe Boschi, Hannah Cutler,  Ella Cutler,   Annika Cutler,   Evie Davauer,   Nova Davauer,   Olivia Davauer,  Violet Davauer, Leighton Ehrengren,   Anna Einhorn,   Ottilia Hoag,   Ella Lemery,    Emilla Lemery,     Mila Leon,    Lily Sparrow,  Addison Woodford,  Ellory Woodford,   Isie Woodford,  Catherine Zundel,   Elizabeth Zundel,   Margaret Zundel,

STAR BOYS: Nathan Boschi,   Thomas Cutler,  Camden Ehrengren,   James Einhorn,   Oliver Hoag,   Axel Roen,  John Snow,   Jacob Snow,   David Whipple. 

PEPPARKAKER: Joseph Kaltenburg,   Emma Snow, Mary Snow

TOMTEN:  Mia Cutler,    Eli Kaltenburg,     Eliza Snow,    Joseph Whipple,   Jane Zundel. 

Julbord, dance around the Christmas Tree, and Jultomten

After the Lucia program the celebration moved to the church Fellowship Hall for food and treats donated by SAHSWI members and others attending the event. The children performed Swedish folk dance and typical Swedish song and dance and everyone was invited to join in the dance around the Christmas tree.

Thank you, Sonia

Thank You

• Whitnall Park Lutheran Church for having us at the church and making the necessary preparations
• Lucia program participants,
• All the volunteers at SAHSWI for all planning and preparations and ensuring the event was successfully completed,
• Everyone that donated food and sweets
• Santa Claus

And finally we thank everyone that came to together celebrate the Lucia Day.

2022 SAHSWI Annual General meeting was held on October 22, 2022, at Martin Luther Lutheran Church, Milwaukee. The past year activities were reviewed, and annual reports from officers and committees presented. The presentation and all reports are available on the website. As shown in the presentation and reports, it was a good year for SAHSWI with the return to face-to-face meetings and celebrations, which all had good participation. It should be noted that membership increased, the new Fika meeting location at Martin Luther Lutheran Church turned out great, and the re-start of the Swedish Genealogy Research Group (SGRG) meetings was accomplished.

2022 Annual General Meeting presentation and annual reports.

Election was held for open positions on the Board of Directos. Martha Bergland, John Elliott, and Jan Ehrengren were elected to serve a 3-year term on the Board of Directors starting January 1, 2023. In addition, Irene Roberts was elected to serve a 2-year term as a replacement for Barbara Froemming, who sadly passed away in May of 2022. Irene is serving as the Treasurer of SAHSWI.

“I like to thank everyone that has made this past year a successful year for the organization. Our members and other meeting participants, all volunteers at our meetings and celebration events, our Board and Committee members, our Historical Project Team members, all successfully overcoming any challenges presented. We can now look forward to a new year of exploring and celebrating our Swedish heritage and advancing our Swedish American agenda in Wisconsin.” Jan Ehrengren, President SAHSWI

The Program presented at the meeting by John Elliott, SAHSWI Vice President, discussing “Swedish themed products marketed during the 1960’s including Berggren tiles” will be the topic for a separate post. 

On May 12, 2022, Barbara Froemming, SAHSWI Treasurer and Past President, passed away peacefully. Barbara was the longest serving President for the Society, serving for 12 years. The society was established in 1975 as a part of planning for the Bicentennial celebrations to recognize the Swedish Americans and their descendant’s impact to the state of Wisconsin. Barbara is one descendent that is recognized for her leadership and dedication to the Swedish-Americans in Wisconsin. Her Grandmother and Grandfather on her mother’s side both came from Småland, Sweden, but from different cities, her grandmother came from Jönköping, her grandfather from Kalmar. Barbara was also officially recognized with an award of merit from the Swedish Council of America on Nov 4, 2016, for her outstanding contributions and many years of dedicated service to the Swedish American Community.

Barbara was a steadfast leader, well organized, ensuring Bylaws were followed, managed state and IRS filings and was the initiator and creator of many interesting programs for the Society meetings. One of her favorite topics was Swedish food and it was unfortunate that a meeting she planned to be held in March of 2020 titled “Exploring our Swedish Food Heritage” had to be cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic. To honor Barbara this meeting is now scheduled to be held on September 10, 2022.

Next meeting – Exploring our Swedish Food Heritage

September 10, 2022, 1:30 PM at Martin Luther Lutheran Church, 9235 West Bluemound Road, Milwaukee located just east of Milwaukee Zoo. Members of the Society will present their favorite Swedish dish, including samples for attendees to taste. The meeting is open to the public.

SAHSWI is not the same without Barbara, she is dearly missed, not only because of her leadership, but for the delightful, generous person she was, and for the delicious open face sandwiches she made for board and Fika meetings.

This unique and popular Scandinavian tradition was celebrated at Heidelberg Park, Glendale, WI, Sunday June 26. Close to a hundred people attended the event decorating the Maypole (Majstången), making flower crowns, raising the maypole and singing and dancing around it. There were sack raises, Kubb playing, tug-of-war, face painting and entertainment by the magnificent violinst duo Goda Vänner. New additions this year were the History table where you could learn about Swedish settlers in Wisconsin and the Sale table offering Swedish items for sale donated by SAHSWI members.

We like to thank so many for keeping the Midsommar celebration a fun filled event recognizing our ancestors coming from Scandinavia. We thank Janet and Karin for the overall planning and brining the flowers and organizing the Swedish items sale, John for adding signage and arranging the Kubb games, Liza and Brent for leading the maypole assembly and decorations, Chris for bringing and setting up the sound system, Bev and Tracy for welcoming all the guests, Sonia for emceeing the song and dance and arranging the kids games, Danielle for leading the face painting and childrens activities, Bob for taking beautiful pictures, Camden the youngest helping from set-up to take-down, Martha and her husband Jim for engaging people in the history of the Swedish immigration to Wisconsin, Mary and Carol for entertaining us with traditional Scandinavian violin music, George who developed the Midsommer pole skeleton, Joann for inviting all our members through her newsletter and mailings and everyone not mentioned that helped, but most of all we like to thank everybody that came so that we could celebrate together Midsommar, one outcome of the Scandinavian immigration to Wisconsin.

Descendents of the Swedish pioneers George Bergwall and Bengt Peterson, arriving to New Upsala at Pine Lake in 1842, attended the Fika meeting at St. Anskar’s Episcopal Church in Hartland on Saturday May 14. At the meeting the story of the founder Gustaf Unonius, the first Swedish settlement in Wisconsin, and the Scandinavian Parish was presented by the team working on a project to honor these events with an official Wisconsin Historical Marker to be located St. Anskar’s church. SAHSWI member Cletus Hasslinger discussed his family history, Bergwall’s and Peterson’s immigration, their leadership at the colony and their life in Sweden before coming to America. These unique stories will be published later on the website in conjunction with the project.

SAHSWI and project team member Tracy Redman talked about her time growing up in the Hartland area and her interest in the Historical plaque of Gustaf Unonius and New Upsala unveiled in 1948 as the state celebrated its centennial. When she became familiar with SAHSWI, she suggested that the organization should initiate this project. Board member and author Martha Bergland discussed the friendship between Gustaf Unonius and Thure Kumlien (The birdman of Koshkonong, book written by Martha), which started when they both attended (old) Upsala university in Sweden, before they immigrated to Wisconsin.

Meg Haag, project team and St. Anskar’s church member talked about how the Scandinavian Parish was split between the Episcopal and Lutheran churches and how the Scandinavian church and cemetery evolved into Holy Innocents and later became a part of St. Anskar’s. On Memorial Day at 10 AM St. Anskar’s is having a short service at the Holy Innocents Cemetery. (On highway C (Lakeland Drive), 3 miles north of C intersection with Highway 16) A walk through the cemetery, looking at the new and old gravestones, Fr Thomas walks with anyone who wishes to have a particular grave blessed. There are 2 bronze plaques placed there “In memory of the pioneer settlers at rest here in the Scandinavian Cemetery”. All are welcome to this service.

“We honor your courage and thank you for our heritage”

After the presentations at the May 14 meeting attendants enjoyed the customary Fika organized by Board member Janet Taylor. St. Anskar’s Junior Warden Sarah Hintz thanked all the guests and offered a tour of the church. From Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin, and the project team we thank St. Anskar’s for having us, and we thank all attendees for coming, and all volunteers for helping.

Please find below a link to a summary presentation of the story of Gustaf Unonius, New Upsala and the Scandinavian Parish.

“Like finding a rare orchid, Martha Bergland has unveiled a rare and important naturalist during the early settlement years in Wisconsin. Fellow Swede Carl Linnaeus, considered the ‘Father of Botany‘, would have nodded in approval at Thure Kumlien’s contributions in helping us understand the biological riches found in early Wisconsin” (Reference Tom Anderson, author of Learning Nature by a Country Road)

SAHSWI Board member and award-winning author Martha Bergland introduced her newest book “The Birdman of Koshkonong, The Life of Naturalist Thure Kumlien” in the society’s first fika meeting in two years. The March 12, 2022, meeting was held at Martin Luther Lutheran Church, Milwaukee with about 50 people attending, among them Betsy D’onofrio and Susan Binzel, great granddaughters of Thure Kumlien.

Martha transported us back to his life and community in 1843 and the contributions he made to Wisconsin and the world as a Swedish immigrant to Wisconsin. Thure Kumlien was one of Wisconsin’s earliest Swedish settlers and an accomplished ornithologist, botanist, and naturalist in the mid-1800s. He settled on the shore of Lake Koshkonong and soon began sending bird specimens to museums and collectors in Europe and the eastern United States, including the Smithsonian. Later, he prepared natural history exhibits for the University of Wisconsin and became the first curator of the new Milwaukee Public Museum.

The Birdman of Koshkonong published by Wisconsin Historical Society Press is available for sale directly from Wisconsin Historical Society Press, Amazon, or your local bookstore. An excerpt of the book was published in the Summer 2021 issue of Wisconsin magazine of history.

After the presentation Marjorie Jothen’s 103rd birthday was celebrated to the tunes of Mary Stetson and Carol Gustafson’s violins and the voices of meeting attendees, Happy Birthday both in English and in Swedish. Carol also baked a special birthday cake for Marge to share with everyone. Coffee and treats were served, and everybody enjoyed this first fika meeting in 2 years.

Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin, Inc. (SAHSWI) is a non-profit volunteer organization focusing on the history of Swedish immigration to Wisconsin and the heritage of cultural Swedish traditions and everyday life, and the impact people of Swedish descent have made.

ZOOM meeting Thursday, February 10, 7 PM Society board and committee members presented the organization programs, projects and activities.

Happy St. Knut’s Day! Today January 13th marks the end of the Christmas season in Sweden, today is the day the Christmas tree should be “plundered” and thrown out, it is the 20^th day after Christmas. Saint Knut’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Knut, is a traditional festival celebrated in Sweden and Finland on January 13. Christmas trees are taken down on “tjugondag Knut”, and the candies and cookies that decorated the tree are eaten. The feast held during this event is called a Knut’s party. It’s the party to Dance Out Christmas.

Maybe this year there are not many St. Knut’s Day dance parties due to the continuous pandemic outbreaks. Once again, the hopes of an end to the Corona Virus pandemic were crushed. Another variant, record infection cases, with a glimmer of hope, it is not as severe as the other strands.

SAHSWI update

Considering the rapid surge of Covid 19 infections mostly of the Omicron variant the SAHSWI board has decided to postpone the January meeting at Martin Luther church until it can safely be conducted. The current belief or hope is that the Omicron will run its course by the end of February, so the Fika meeting scheduled at Martin Luther on March 12, is still on. The programming will be adjusted and the topic for the meeting will be announced at a later date. In addition, on Thursday February 10 at 7 PM the plan is to have a ZOOM meeting for members and others interested to present information about SAHSWI, upcoming plans, and the new meeting place Martin Luther church. 

Hopefully the remaining 2022 general meeting schedule can be maintained as follows:

• March 12, 1:30 p.m. – Meeting, program and fika at Martin Luther Lutheran Church
• May 14, 1:30 p.m. – Meeting, program and fika at Martin Luther Lutheran Church
• June 26, 1 p.m. – Midsommar Celebration, Heidelberg Park, Glendale
• October 1,– Scandinavian Festival, Ronald Reagan School, New Berlin
• October 22, 1:30 p.m. – Annual Meeting, program and fika at Martin Luther Lutheran Church
• December 11, 5 p.m.– Lucia Whitnall Park Lutheran Church

In addition, there will be committee and project meetings

Do you have any ideas of topics to be addressed by SAHSWI, do you know of a story, or any special tradition related to our Swedish heritage? Please don’t hesitate to bring it up. Respond to this blog or send an e-mail to swedishamericanhistoricalwisc@gmail.com. 

What a beautiful day it was. We all came together to celebrate Saint Lucia, the Sicilian maiden who gave her life for her faith and became a saint. Saint Lucia was helping the Christians hiding in the catacombs during the terror under the Roman empire. In order to bring with her as many supplies as possible, she needed to have both hands free. She solved this problem by attaching candles to a wreath on her head.

Saint Lucia came to Sweden in the late 1700’s to bring light and feed the poor in the cold winter darkness of December 13. In 1929 the first Lucia celebration was held in Stockholm, Sweden, and has since developed to be one of the most important traditions there.

The 2021 Lucia celebration at the Whitnall Park Lutheran Church in Hales Corners Wisconsin was attended by over 150 people.

The celebration began with children and the young adults from the area performing the Lucia program in the church sanctuary under the direction of Sonia Hummel.

As the saint Lucia did in the 4th century the SAHSWI Lucia Grace Katsekes was wearing a wreath with live candles while the procession was singing the beautiful Lucia song and Swedish carols and reading poetry, a poem for each candle in the Lucia crown.

The story of Lucia was told by member, and Linde Lodge President Liza Ekstrand. She introduced Lucia and each reader of the candle poems;

The Lucia procession include Lucia and her Attendants (Tärnor), the Star Boys (Stjärngossar), the Gingerbread men (Pepparkaksgubbar) and the little Santas (Tomtar)

Following the Lucia program, a Swedish Christmas Smorgasbord (Julbord) was served including food and pastries all donated by SAHSWI members and people attending the celebration. The children now changed into Swedish traditional costumes and performed folkdances around the Christmas Tree (Julgran). Soon they were joined by others.

As the dance around the Julgran continued, all of a sudden Jultomten (Santa) appeared to the great joy of the children. He handed out candy canes and little jingle bells adding to the festive atmosphere.

Another Lucia day in Wisconsin was coming to an end. How rewarding it was to see the children’s smiles. After two years of “social distancing” everybody could come together and celebrate the old fashioned way. A sigh of relief from the organizers, after a few weeks of preparation, it all turned out to be a great Lucia Day here in Wisconsin.

Thanks

• to Sonia Hummel, the participants in the Lucia program and everyone helping out
• to everyone helping to organize, providing the printed program and song sheets, get all the supplies, setting up and serving the food, and later cleaning up, doing the dishes, etc.
• to everyone bringing and donating the food
• to Santa for coming and bringing more joy to the children
• to everyone that attended the 2021 SAHSWI Lucia Day Celebration

For many Swedes the Lucia Day marks the beginning of the Christmas season. From all of us at the Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin we wish you

The annual meeting 2021 was held via ZOOM (due to the surge of Covid 19 Delta variant) on Thursday October 21 at 7 PM. First an introduction video was played and then past year activities and annual committee reports were reviewed.

The annual meeting elected two directors to serve on the board, Karin Konrad elected for a second 3 year term and Janet Taylor for her first 3-year term. They are congratulated and we thank them for their support.

The photo video included pictures from the past year programs and historical projects. Background music features the adopted signature song for the society “Hälsa Dom Där Hemma” (Greet those back home) popular Swedish immigrant song during the early 20th century. This version is sung by Ann Charlotte Harvey, live recording from the Snoose Boulevard Festival (1973), introduced by Carol Gustafson and Mary Stetson at the March fika Zoom meeting.

A review of the annual reports followed

In addition to the ZOOM meetings and Midsommar celebration the Society activities included 2 projects; the first a reboot of Swedish Genealogy, which summarized material from the Swedish Genealogy Research Group work from the past with a listing of websites now available to support research of Swedish ancestry.

The second project is a historical project to honor the first Swedish Settlement in Wisconsin started by Gustaf Unonius in 1841 and the Scandinavian Parish that evolved with an official State of Wisconsin Historical Marker. These projects are reviewed in the following presentation.

As the last item on the agenda a discussion whether the planned Lucia celebration for December 12 to be held at Whitnall Park Lutheran church can still safely happen. A decision was made to keep it in the plans, however, with a reassessment by the board by November 13.

“I like to thank all Members that have participated in our program for the past year, our Zoom meeting Presenters and Entertainers, all Volunteers at the Midsommar celebration, our Swedish Genealogy Research Group members, our Historical Project Team members, and finally I like to thank our Board Members and Committee Chairs for their dedicated support of our historical society.“

Jan Ehrengren, President, Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin, Inc.