"The Other Swedes"
~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
<> The Historians, The Preservationists <>
Their Swedish American Lutheran Kansas Smoky Valley Legacy Listings
Bergin, Swensson, Lindquist, Carlsson, Jaderborg, Billdt, Pearson, Nelson, Lungstrom, Holmquist, Brorson, Marshall, Abercrombie, Stewart, Carlson, Humphrey, Eddy, Sjogren,
Bethany Church, Bethany College, Augustana Lutheran Synod Writers
Bethany Home Writers & SVHA Writers
With Editors: Jaderborg, Pearson, Marshall. With Translators: Billdt, Ringstrom, Winblad
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~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
<> The Historians, The Preservationists <>
Their Swedish American Lutheran Kansas Smoky Valley Legacy Listings
Bergin, Swensson, Lindquist, Carlsson, Jaderborg, Billdt, Pearson, Nelson, Lungstrom, Holmquist, Brorson, Marshall, Abercrombie, Stewart, Carlson, Humphrey, Eddy, Sjogren,
Bethany Church, Bethany College, Augustana Lutheran Synod Writers
Bethany Home Writers & SVHA Writers
With Editors: Jaderborg, Pearson, Marshall. With Translators: Billdt, Ringstrom, Winblad
--------------------------------------------------------------
Without the works of these authors to draw on, SWEDES could have never been as detailed as it is today. In a large or small way, I have used their articles, publications, and books in compiling that foundational and early history on Lindsborg and Bethany College. As old as many of these books are, they are too important to Smoky Valley Swedish cultural history and heritage to be collecting dust, if they are, as their use is timeless and vital for the education of succeeding Smoky Valley generations and educators and Bethany College administrations and faculties who are the descendants and academic caretakers upon which the ongoing preservation and promotion of this Swedish and Swedish American cultural heritage solely depends as it has in the past, for its survival.
In the process of their compositions, these Smoky Valley authors have truly become Kansas Smoky Valley historians and preservationists of this regional Swedish and Swedish American Augustana Lutheran history. They have chronicled Swedish cultural life of becoming American pioneers, entering into a new life in a new land of untilled rich soil, where they could worship God freely while thanking Him for the opportunity of creating a good life for themselves that was before them, in the Native American territory of the Kaw Nation tribe in the late 1860s.
This Swedish American Lutheran Kansas Smoky Valley anthology has laid the foundational infrastructure supporting the origins of Lindsborg's and Bethany College’s true identity revealed in their Swedish Augustana Lutheran practices and traditions which created their treasured cultural heritage histories and legacies. Through the decades to present time, the reading of these works created visions and paths for descendant generations to follow, resulting in seamless Swedish American preservation legacy building. Thus, in turn, strong vibrant colorful Swedish threads have been weaved into the American cultural tapestry of the Great Plains of our nation, establishing, therefore, the thriving Lindsborg, the "Little Sweden," that, in the past, has been a draw for visiting Swedish royalty, Swedish scholars, Swedish folk artists, and Swedish artists, musicians and opera singers. Many of these visits were endeavors to maintain connections with, and provide support to, the last-living-links to this culture that was founded in 1869 by Swedish Lutheran Pietists.
Every effort has been made to pay tribute to these Smoky Valley Writers and to honor their works by sharing selections of their writings with the viewer, particularly with Smoky Valley and Bethany College educators unfamiliar with these books and publications, for the benefit of educating their students in this local foundational Swedish and Swedish American community history. Also, the selections are introductions for those American, Swedish and Swedish American history scholars interested in Swedish Lutheran Lindsborg and Swedish Lutheran Bethany College with the 1860 Swedish Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod component.
In the process of their compositions, these Smoky Valley authors have truly become Kansas Smoky Valley historians and preservationists of this regional Swedish and Swedish American Augustana Lutheran history. They have chronicled Swedish cultural life of becoming American pioneers, entering into a new life in a new land of untilled rich soil, where they could worship God freely while thanking Him for the opportunity of creating a good life for themselves that was before them, in the Native American territory of the Kaw Nation tribe in the late 1860s.
This Swedish American Lutheran Kansas Smoky Valley anthology has laid the foundational infrastructure supporting the origins of Lindsborg's and Bethany College’s true identity revealed in their Swedish Augustana Lutheran practices and traditions which created their treasured cultural heritage histories and legacies. Through the decades to present time, the reading of these works created visions and paths for descendant generations to follow, resulting in seamless Swedish American preservation legacy building. Thus, in turn, strong vibrant colorful Swedish threads have been weaved into the American cultural tapestry of the Great Plains of our nation, establishing, therefore, the thriving Lindsborg, the "Little Sweden," that, in the past, has been a draw for visiting Swedish royalty, Swedish scholars, Swedish folk artists, and Swedish artists, musicians and opera singers. Many of these visits were endeavors to maintain connections with, and provide support to, the last-living-links to this culture that was founded in 1869 by Swedish Lutheran Pietists.
Every effort has been made to pay tribute to these Smoky Valley Writers and to honor their works by sharing selections of their writings with the viewer, particularly with Smoky Valley and Bethany College educators unfamiliar with these books and publications, for the benefit of educating their students in this local foundational Swedish and Swedish American community history. Also, the selections are introductions for those American, Swedish and Swedish American history scholars interested in Swedish Lutheran Lindsborg and Swedish Lutheran Bethany College with the 1860 Swedish Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod component.
Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin
Great recognition must go to Bethany Lutheran Church and those members in charge of creating the archives from the very beginning of the founding of Lindsborg and the other Smoky Valley Swedish communities, and to those who have carried on the work to this very year of 2022. Their early pastors, Rev. Dr. Olof Olsson (1841-1900), Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson (1857-1904) and Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin (1866-1944) ensured that a standard would be set for the keeping of the most accurate archive records on this most important foundational Smoky Valley American Swedish Lutheran cultural history. Rev. Bergin was the first to write and to gather writers about their experiences as Swedish pioneer immigrants which resulted in the two volumes in Swedish that he had compiled in 1909: Lindsborg, Bidrag Till Svenskarnas och Den Lutherska Kyrkans Historia i Smoky Hill River Dalen, and in 1919: Lindsborg, Efter Femtio Ӓr. These books were translated by Rev. Bergin's daughter Ruth Bergin Billdt: the 1909, in 1965 to Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas, and the 1919, in 1969 to The Smoky Valley in the After Years. The contents of these tomes, no doubt, provided the encouragement needed for future Swedes to follow suit and to write their Smoky Valley stories.
The population of Lindsborg was always very small. Her neighboring Swedish communities of Salemsborg and Freemont were even much smaller (about which author Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist's 1994 classic Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs so devoutly memorializes). In the middle of the 20th century, Lindsborg maintained an average population of around 2,300. Yet, out of this little rural Swedish and Swedish American farming community known for its fine Lutheran churches and college, museum, professors, artists and folkartists, musicians and singers, through the years came a small yet fine group of humble and heartfelt history writers who would publish just enough books covering the most obvious subjects which has turned out to be a Smoky Valley Writers anthology used by SWEDES.
Two of these writers, themselves, would each leave an anthology behind: They were Dr. Emory K. Lindquist (1908-1992) and Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg (1918-2016). Three collectively would leave behind what would become a trilogy on Bethany College: They were Dr. Emory K. Lindquist, Dr. Leon Lungstrom (1915-2000), and Mr. Kenneth Sjogren (1935-2022). To that must be added author Mr. A. John Pearson's writing of Bethany College history "in a nut shell" which he wrote for the college's Centennial Celebration of 1881-1981! Then there was the first book ever written on a Lindsborg woman, one of great Christian Lutheran faith and leadership whose good works, among other endeavors, resulted in, for many decades, the internationally known Easter Holy Week Lindsborg's Handel's Messiah performances that began humbly in 1882 in a Smoky Valley Lutheran church. The author of that book is Ms. Karen A. Humphrey. An author that was deeply concerned with the preservation of Lindsborg history and cultural heritage made writing his avenue to preserve what he could as an individual and would ask the "hard questions," making one think seriously of the Swedish and Swedish American cultural history and heritage preservation needs of the community. He always concluded his writings with: "History not recorded, is perhaps history lost!" He was Mr. Bill Carlson (1930-2018). His grandparents, Magnus and Maria Carlson, were married on April 27, 1867, the day before they sailed to America from Sweden, to travel west to the Kansas Smoky Valley. The soon-to-be 1869 Lindsborg founder, Rev. Olof Olsson of Värmland, Sweden, performed their marriage ceremony.
Two of these writers, themselves, would each leave an anthology behind: They were Dr. Emory K. Lindquist (1908-1992) and Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg (1918-2016). Three collectively would leave behind what would become a trilogy on Bethany College: They were Dr. Emory K. Lindquist, Dr. Leon Lungstrom (1915-2000), and Mr. Kenneth Sjogren (1935-2022). To that must be added author Mr. A. John Pearson's writing of Bethany College history "in a nut shell" which he wrote for the college's Centennial Celebration of 1881-1981! Then there was the first book ever written on a Lindsborg woman, one of great Christian Lutheran faith and leadership whose good works, among other endeavors, resulted in, for many decades, the internationally known Easter Holy Week Lindsborg's Handel's Messiah performances that began humbly in 1882 in a Smoky Valley Lutheran church. The author of that book is Ms. Karen A. Humphrey. An author that was deeply concerned with the preservation of Lindsborg history and cultural heritage made writing his avenue to preserve what he could as an individual and would ask the "hard questions," making one think seriously of the Swedish and Swedish American cultural history and heritage preservation needs of the community. He always concluded his writings with: "History not recorded, is perhaps history lost!" He was Mr. Bill Carlson (1930-2018). His grandparents, Magnus and Maria Carlson, were married on April 27, 1867, the day before they sailed to America from Sweden, to travel west to the Kansas Smoky Valley. The soon-to-be 1869 Lindsborg founder, Rev. Olof Olsson of Värmland, Sweden, performed their marriage ceremony.
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Lindquist
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Jaderborg
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Lungstrom
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Sjogren
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Humphrey
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Carlson
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Of all the writers, there is one whose books have impacted the life of the Kansas Smoky Valley people most, especially in Lindsborg and at Bethany College. His name is Dr. Emory K. Lindquist, Lindsborg born, Bethany College graduate of 1930, an Oxford University Rhodes Scholar, serving Bethany College as a professor and then president from 1941 to 1953. Following his death, he was honored and remembered by close friends Rev. Emmet E. Eklund and Mrs. Marion Lorimer Eklund when they published their 1998 book, The Difference He Made, A Biography of Emory K. Lindquist. This title, "The Difference He Made," says it all. It is such a fitting epitaph for the person he was, and he was such a role model to follow.
In Dr. Lindquist's life, the opportunities that were given to him were received by him from a spirit of true humility and gratefulness. A demonstration of this posture was at Bethany College when he learned of the Oxford University Rhodes Scholarship honor. On December 12, 1929, after the morning Old Main Chapel service, following with a special Senior Class session of which he was president, his response to this most distinguished honor was
"There is no personal credit on my own, for we must remember that whatever we ourselves have, God has given us." *
Consistent with his humble attitude are those of the Smoky Valley Writers who were simply answering "the call" in using their God-given gift of writing, and, in so doing, like Dr. Lindquist, were glorifying God. In that same spirit is the legacy listings of these Writers, Editors and Translators presented.
In Dr. Lindquist's life, the opportunities that were given to him were received by him from a spirit of true humility and gratefulness. A demonstration of this posture was at Bethany College when he learned of the Oxford University Rhodes Scholarship honor. On December 12, 1929, after the morning Old Main Chapel service, following with a special Senior Class session of which he was president, his response to this most distinguished honor was
"There is no personal credit on my own, for we must remember that whatever we ourselves have, God has given us." *
Consistent with his humble attitude are those of the Smoky Valley Writers who were simply answering "the call" in using their God-given gift of writing, and, in so doing, like Dr. Lindquist, were glorifying God. In that same spirit is the legacy listings of these Writers, Editors and Translators presented.
<> Their Swedish American Lutheran Kansas Smoky Valley Legacy Listings <>
THE EDITORS
Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg
1918-2016
- Arrived in Lindsborg in 1946 -
Editor of many newly translated early Swedish Lindsborg books to English
An excellent research writer on many topics
Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg
1918-2016
- Arrived in Lindsborg in 1946 -
Editor of many newly translated early Swedish Lindsborg books to English
An excellent research writer on many topics
Mr. A. John Pearson
- Arrived in Lindsborg in 1970 -
Founder of "Smoky Valley Historical Publications" and "Bethany College Press"
"Editor-at-Large" for many Swedish American Kansas Smoky Valley Authors
A behind the scenes' excellent writer for the college and community
Mr. John Marshall
- Arrived in Lindsborg in 2001 -
2022, Kansas Newspaper Hall of Fame Inductee
Former Lindsborg News-Record editor-owner, 2001-2012,
who composed and published most important stories from
Swedish American last-living-links to foundational and early Smoky Valley history
The Lindsborg News-Record "Valley Voice" columnist
-------
THE TRANSLATORS
Ruth Bergin Billdt
1897-1976
1965 Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas
From the 1909 Lindsborg, Bidrag Till Svenskarnas och Den Lutherska Kyrkans Historia i Smoky Hill River Dalen
by Rev. Alfred Bergin
1969 "The Smoky Valley in The After Years."
From the 1919 "Lindsborg Efter Femtio Ӓr”
by Rev. Alfred Bergin
Martha Winblad
1908-1981
1978, Anna Olsson, A Child of the Prairie
From the 1917 En prärieunges funderingar,
by Anna Olsson
Rev. Martin Ringstrom
1908-2009
1984, He Gave God Glory by Bror Carlsson
From the 1955 Jag Sökte Icke Mitt (I Did Not Seek My Own)
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THE WRITERS
Note: Clicking the LINK will direct you to the author in most cases
--
Rev. Bror Carlsson
(1901-1967)
of Sweden
1955
Jag sökte icke mitt / I Did Not Seek My Own
manuscript
LINK
to
2001
He Gave God Glory -- The Story of Olof Olsson
translated by
Rev. Martin Ringstrom
(1908-2009)
of Lindsborg
condensed by
Mr. Alf Brorson
of Sweden
LINK
Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson
(1857-1904)
"Second" Bethany College President (1889-1904)
1898, 1895-1896, 1902
Again in Sweden Bethany Annual Forget-Me-Not Annual
LINK
Bethany Church, Bethany College, Augustana Lutheran Synod Writers
"In Memoriams"
1904
In Memoriam -- Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson
LINK
1943
In Memoriam -- Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad
LINK
Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin
(1866 - 1944)
Ruth Bergin Billdt*
(1897-1976)
1909 / 1965
Lindsborg, Bidrag Till Svenskarnas och Den Lutherska Kyrkans Historia i Smoky Hill River Dalen /
Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas
1919 / 1969
Lindsborg, Efter Femtio Ӓr /
The Smoky Valley in the After Years
Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg shared the authorship of this book with Mrs. Billdt
LINK
Dr. Emory K. Lindquist
(1908-1992)
"Fourth" Bethany College President (1941-1953)
1953, 1975, 1984, 1989, 1993
Smoky Valley People, A History of Lindsborg, Kansas
Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college Hagbard Brase: Beloved Music Master
G.N. Malm: A Swedish Immigrant's Varied Career Birger Sandzén, An Illustrated Biography
LINK
Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg
(1918-2016)
1965, 1967, 1973,
1976,
1990 (1980, 1981)
Lindsborg on Record Living in Lindsborg And Other Possibilities Talk About Lindsborg
Why Lindsborg?
Two Reprints:
1980 Selma Lind and Lindsborg
1981 Swedish Architectural Influence in the Kansas Smoky Valley Community
-----
The Smoky Valley in the After Years
Mrs. Ruth Bergin Billdt shared authorship with Mrs.Jaderborg
LINK
Mr. A. John Pearson
1981
The Centennial of Bethany College
&
1982
The Messiah Centennial
LINK
Rev. Eugene K. Nelson
(1914-2000)
The Bethany Home Writers
1986
The Bethany Home Story
LINK
to
Their "Bethany Lutheran Home"
Since 1907
Dr. Leon Lungstrom
(1915-2000)
1990
"History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas"
LINK
Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist
1994
Pioneer Cross -- Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs
LINK
Mr. Alf Brorson
~ Connecting Lindsborg Swedes to their Swedish Lutheran Christian Founder Rev. Olsson in 2001,
and to
Sweden with the "Sweden Letter" since 2008
LINK
The Sweden Letter is an ongoing publication!
Mr. Chris Abercrombie
(1949 - 2017)
Provided innumerable Lindsborg News-Record articles,
and created the Vår Historia, the Smoky Valley Historical Association's bi-monthly newsletter
during his presidency while writing ongoing Swedish Smoky Valley stories from the past
LINK
\/
Mr. Tim Stewart
Became Smoky Valley Historical Association president in 2017 and
continues writing for and publishing the Vår Historia as his predecessor did
The Vår Historia is an ongoing publication!
Mr. Bill Carlson
(1930-2018)
2011, 2014, 2016
Lindsborg Then And Lindsborg Now The Founding of Lindsborg
Special Visitor to Lindsborg, April 17, 1976, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
LINK
Mrs. Karen A. Humphrey
2012
Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing -- The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story ,
2020
Miss Alma Luise Olson
LINK
Mrs. Margaret Dahlquist Eddy
(1927-2017)
2013
Through the Lens of B.G. Gröndal: Keeper of His Time
LINK
Mr. Kenneth Sjogren
(1935-2022)
2019
6 Decades with Twelve Bethany College Presidents
LINK
Smoky Valley Historical Association Members
1993
(Revised in 1996 and in 2005)
~ Chronicling "Where Did They Live" -- "Early Residences of Lindsborg, Kansas"
LINK
* * *
Finding These Books
If you are interested in checking out these books, below is 2021 information as to where you might find some of them.
Finding These Books
If you are interested in checking out these books, below is 2021 information as to where you might find some of them.
| the_legacy_smoky_valley_writers_collection_count_--_update_2_27_23.docx |
* * *
For a "preservationist" note
go Here
to learn how to have these authors' works preserved for
generations to come, for online reading and research
For a "preservationist" note
go Here
to learn how to have these authors' works preserved for
generations to come, for online reading and research
*Rev. & Mrs. Emmet E. Eklund's 1998 book, The Difference He Made, A Biography of Emory K. Lindquist, Chapter 1: " A Defining Event," found at the beginning of page 5: HERE.
* * *
"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
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