"The Other Swedes"
~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
Ms. Karen A. Humphrey
2012 "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing: The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story"
~The Words of Ms. Humphrey
~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
Ms. Karen A. Humphrey
2012 "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing: The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story"
~The Words of Ms. Humphrey
Ms. Karen A. Humphrey
If her husband had not been called to pastor at the Bethany Lutheran Church, her book would not have been written. But he was, and years later this book was born in 2012. To have an idea of Ms. Humphrey's wonderful writing style, and to learn a little about her subject, Mrs. Alma Christina Lind Swensson, the following is presented in her informative "Introduction:"
"For eight years, I walked in the footsteps of Alma Christina Lind Swensson in Lindsborg, Kansas, where she lived 60 years of her life. I, too, was the wife of the pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, and I always believed I was one of the inheritors of the great work Alma accomplished for the church, the college, and the community. My husband was called to be the pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in 1998. The church was founded by Swedish immigrant pastor Olof Olsson in 1869, and was served by Pastor Carl Aaron Swensson from 1879 to 1904. My own work in Lindsborg was for Bethany College, founded by Swensson in the sacristy of Bethany Lutheran Church in 1881.
"Carl Aaron Swensson's name and image are everywhere – there is a plaster bust of him in every college building and one in the church, too, and an Italian marble statue is the centerpiece of the college campus. Carl was president of the Kansas Conference of Augustana Lutheran Synod, served in the Kansas State House of Representatives, a member of the speakers bureau for McKinley and Roosevelt, the editor of several newspapers, wrote opinion pieces, devotional books, and toured Sweden twice in the 1890s. When he came home he published a doorstop of a volume about his experiences, travelogues of his journeys that were widely read throughout Sweden and Swedish America. He wrote in superlatives--in glowing terms to attract people to his community and capture his vision. He was a gifted orator, one who could take in his audience, convince farmers suffering from drought, depression, grasshoppers, low prices, and devastating wind storms that "tomorrow would be better" -- "i morgan blir det battre"--and help them see a future that they could never have imagined.
"Carl Aaron Swensson was called “The Colossus of the Plains." One of our neighbors, who was 92 and had lived in the community all her life, told the story of a class of Sunday school children in Lindsborg who were learning the creation story from Genesis. The kind teacher asked her eager students, 'Who created the heavens and earth?' A little boy raised his hand and said, 'Why, it was Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson!'
"At Bethany Lutheran Church and Bethany College, there are also portraits of a calm, serene woman, her white hair softly arranged to reveal a high forehead. She wears a black dress with a jewel neckline, a jacket with silk lapels, and a black velvet ribbon encircling her neck. Her metal rim glasses are round and bridge a rather broad nose. There are slight dimples as she smiles. This is Alma Christina Lind Swensson-- Mrs. Rev. Dr. Swensson, as she was called. She was the church organist and choir director for 40 years, and over the winter of 1881 and 1882 taught a choir of farmers, shopkeepers and homemakers, still speaking Swedish, the words and music of Handel's glorious oratorio, the Messiah. She herself sang the soprano solos when the Messiah was presented for the first time on March 28, 1882. Alma also served on the music faculty of Bethany College. She gave birth to two daughters and raise them in the public eye of the parsonage. She kept house, welcomed guests, and kept things going while Carl was on his many, many travels. And later in her life, after Carl’s untimely death, she touched the world.
"There are snippets of Alma‘s life story here and there in the published histories of Lindsborg, Bethany College, and Bethany Church. In this volume, I hope to stitch together a whole story of her life."
"For eight years, I walked in the footsteps of Alma Christina Lind Swensson in Lindsborg, Kansas, where she lived 60 years of her life. I, too, was the wife of the pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, and I always believed I was one of the inheritors of the great work Alma accomplished for the church, the college, and the community. My husband was called to be the pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in 1998. The church was founded by Swedish immigrant pastor Olof Olsson in 1869, and was served by Pastor Carl Aaron Swensson from 1879 to 1904. My own work in Lindsborg was for Bethany College, founded by Swensson in the sacristy of Bethany Lutheran Church in 1881.
"Carl Aaron Swensson's name and image are everywhere – there is a plaster bust of him in every college building and one in the church, too, and an Italian marble statue is the centerpiece of the college campus. Carl was president of the Kansas Conference of Augustana Lutheran Synod, served in the Kansas State House of Representatives, a member of the speakers bureau for McKinley and Roosevelt, the editor of several newspapers, wrote opinion pieces, devotional books, and toured Sweden twice in the 1890s. When he came home he published a doorstop of a volume about his experiences, travelogues of his journeys that were widely read throughout Sweden and Swedish America. He wrote in superlatives--in glowing terms to attract people to his community and capture his vision. He was a gifted orator, one who could take in his audience, convince farmers suffering from drought, depression, grasshoppers, low prices, and devastating wind storms that "tomorrow would be better" -- "i morgan blir det battre"--and help them see a future that they could never have imagined.
"Carl Aaron Swensson was called “The Colossus of the Plains." One of our neighbors, who was 92 and had lived in the community all her life, told the story of a class of Sunday school children in Lindsborg who were learning the creation story from Genesis. The kind teacher asked her eager students, 'Who created the heavens and earth?' A little boy raised his hand and said, 'Why, it was Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson!'
"At Bethany Lutheran Church and Bethany College, there are also portraits of a calm, serene woman, her white hair softly arranged to reveal a high forehead. She wears a black dress with a jewel neckline, a jacket with silk lapels, and a black velvet ribbon encircling her neck. Her metal rim glasses are round and bridge a rather broad nose. There are slight dimples as she smiles. This is Alma Christina Lind Swensson-- Mrs. Rev. Dr. Swensson, as she was called. She was the church organist and choir director for 40 years, and over the winter of 1881 and 1882 taught a choir of farmers, shopkeepers and homemakers, still speaking Swedish, the words and music of Handel's glorious oratorio, the Messiah. She herself sang the soprano solos when the Messiah was presented for the first time on March 28, 1882. Alma also served on the music faculty of Bethany College. She gave birth to two daughters and raise them in the public eye of the parsonage. She kept house, welcomed guests, and kept things going while Carl was on his many, many travels. And later in her life, after Carl’s untimely death, she touched the world.
"There are snippets of Alma‘s life story here and there in the published histories of Lindsborg, Bethany College, and Bethany Church. In this volume, I hope to stitch together a whole story of her life."
2012 Published, 126 Pages
Go HERE to 2012 "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing: The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story"
~ Contents & Illustrations
Go HERE to Mrs. Alma Christina Lind Swensson ~ Remembering her as Mrs. Rev. Dr. Swensson, the “First Lady” of Lindsborg, ~ "Highlights" from Ms. Karen A. Humphrey’s book
* NOTE: "First Lady" was coined by me [FC] after learning all about Mrs. Swensson in Ms. Humphrey's book.
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* These shared selections of Ms. A. Karen Humphrey's book, "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing: The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story"
have been shown to her for approval as of 11-14-22.
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* These shared selections of Ms. A. Karen Humphrey's book, "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing: The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story"
have been shown to her for approval as of 11-14-22.
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"Let Us Remember Them"
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
