"The Other Swedes"
~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
Mr. Kenneth Sjogren
1935-2022
~ Saving and serving Bethany College, fundraising, preserving college history,
~ The "Hemslöjd"
"The Other Swedes"
~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
Mr. Kenneth Sjogren
1935-2022
~ Saving and serving Bethany College, fundraising, preserving college history,
~ The "Hemslöjd"
After graduating from his high school in the small rural town of Marquette, Kansas, 4 miles west of Lindsborg, Mr. Kenneth Sjogren continued his education at Bethany College, graduating in 1957 with a Business and Arts Degree, where he was a member of the Terrible Swede football team and of the Pi Sigma Chi fraternity. He was also the President of the Student Body when Dr. Robert Mortvedt was the college president and was present at the ground- breaking ceremony with him and Dr. Emil O. Deere, for the boy's dorm, Deere Hall. Ken met his wife-to-be, Marilyn Miller, at Bethany.
Of the Swedish Augustana Lutheran Synod, Mr. Sjogren worshiped at the Salemsborg Lutheran Church in Smolan, Kansas. This church was founded by the Swedish Galesburg Colony leader, Rev. Anders Wilhelm (A.W.) Dahlsten, in 1869, the same year that Lindsborg's Rev. Olof Olsson founded a sister Lutheran church, Bethany Lutheran Church.
Of the Swedish Augustana Lutheran Synod, Mr. Sjogren worshiped at the Salemsborg Lutheran Church in Smolan, Kansas. This church was founded by the Swedish Galesburg Colony leader, Rev. Anders Wilhelm (A.W.) Dahlsten, in 1869, the same year that Lindsborg's Rev. Olof Olsson founded a sister Lutheran church, Bethany Lutheran Church.
The Hahn Years
Mr. Sjogren was hired at Bethany College in May of 1961 as the Public Relations and Alumni Director when Dr. Dale Lund was president. When serious problems hit Bethany, Ken, as he was referred to, was reporting to president Dr. Kenneth Andeen. Sharing his "thought," with Ken, of moving the college to Colorado, ended with Dr. Andeen resigning in 1967, the same year Ken was promoted to the Director of Development at Bethany. Also, in that same year, Dr. Arvin Hahn was hired as eighth college president. One could say that together, in their different gifted capacities, they saved Bethany College from moving and from going under. Dr. Hahn retired in 1983 and Ken retired the next year in 1984.
The 16 years of the Hahn Administration were dynamic years for Bethany. Dr. Emory Lundquist, fourth college president, in his 1975 book, Bethany In Kansas, the history of a college, wrote of the Hahn era as "a miracle in the making;" and Ken was in the center of it, fundraising and assisting the president. Ken, with Hahn and his team, would be the driving force to bring in millions of dollars for Bethany. These 16 years, in the later 20th century, were the most spirited and vigorous where restoration, preservation and promotion of college culture and history prevailed. This, Ken documents in his 2019 book, "6 Decades with Twelve Bethany College Presidents," to be reviewed in the next section.
As a result of Ken's hard work at Bethany College and ongoing commitment to his alma mater, he was honored as a recipient of the Bethany College Alumni Merit and Lifetime Achievement Award. As well, he was so highly appreciated by Bethany College that the alumni office building where he had worked was named after him:
"The Sjogren Center for Advancement & Alumni."
The 16 years of the Hahn Administration were dynamic years for Bethany. Dr. Emory Lundquist, fourth college president, in his 1975 book, Bethany In Kansas, the history of a college, wrote of the Hahn era as "a miracle in the making;" and Ken was in the center of it, fundraising and assisting the president. Ken, with Hahn and his team, would be the driving force to bring in millions of dollars for Bethany. These 16 years, in the later 20th century, were the most spirited and vigorous where restoration, preservation and promotion of college culture and history prevailed. This, Ken documents in his 2019 book, "6 Decades with Twelve Bethany College Presidents," to be reviewed in the next section.
As a result of Ken's hard work at Bethany College and ongoing commitment to his alma mater, he was honored as a recipient of the Bethany College Alumni Merit and Lifetime Achievement Award. As well, he was so highly appreciated by Bethany College that the alumni office building where he had worked was named after him:
"The Sjogren Center for Advancement & Alumni."
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Bethany's Uncertain Future
"a Chris Abercrombie interview with Kenneth Sjogren"
re the late 1960s
Bethany's Uncertain Future
"a Chris Abercrombie interview with Kenneth Sjogren"
re the late 1960s
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" Ken had more to do with saving Bethany then any other man ...and he has never been recognized as much as he should have been."
-- J.J. Walters, Lindsborg News-Record"
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" Ken had more to do with saving Bethany then any other man ...and he has never been recognized as much as he should have been."
-- J.J. Walters, Lindsborg News-Record"
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In 2006 Ken was interviewed about those trying times at Bethany College. This was by Mr. Chris Abercrombie (1949-2017) who was the president of the Smoky Valley Historical Association and Bethany College graduate of 1971. He was also a Smoky Valley writer, and one of his ongoing fortes was interviewing "the old timers" at Bethany Home on the history in the Smoky Valley with a tape recorder. He documented those interviews and from time to time wrote stories from them for the Lindsborg News-Record. All of those interviews were deposited in the archives of the McPherson County Old Mill Museum. Later, Chris, as he was referred to, began creating interviewing videos and then produced them on YouTube, beginning around 2006 and ending around 2016. The production of a 2006 interview with Ken Sjogren was on July 25, 2012. It is titled:
"Ken Sjogren-Bethany College in the 1960's & early 1970's."
Chris Abercrombie writes for the YouTube production the following:
"During a 2006 interview conducted by Chris Abercrombie for the Smoky Valley Historical Association,* former Bethany College Director of Development Ken Sjogren describes the leadership and transition of Bethany College between the mid-60's and the early 1970's. He talks about Kenneth Andeen and Arvin Hahn, former presidents of the institution, and the supporting role former president Emory Lindquist played during this trying period in the school's history.
"The introduction is by J. J. Walters, former editor of the Lindsborg News-Record.
"Bethany, located in Lindsborg, Kansas, is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and was founded by Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson in 1881."
"Ken Sjogren-Bethany College in the 1960's & early 1970's."
Chris Abercrombie writes for the YouTube production the following:
"During a 2006 interview conducted by Chris Abercrombie for the Smoky Valley Historical Association,* former Bethany College Director of Development Ken Sjogren describes the leadership and transition of Bethany College between the mid-60's and the early 1970's. He talks about Kenneth Andeen and Arvin Hahn, former presidents of the institution, and the supporting role former president Emory Lindquist played during this trying period in the school's history.
"The introduction is by J. J. Walters, former editor of the Lindsborg News-Record.
"Bethany, located in Lindsborg, Kansas, is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and was founded by Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson in 1881."
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James J. Walters (J.J.) (1928-2009) was editor of the Lindsborg News-Record for 17 years. He provides Mr. Abercrombie with the introduction to his interview of Mr. Sjogren regarding his place in Bethany College history which is loosely transcribed here:
"The guy [the president] that was at the college had started a movement to move Bethany College to Colorado. That galvanized the community there [in Lindsborg] and ended up with him leaving the college, and Ken Sjogren was named as director of development. He was public relations director first. He basically had more to do with saving Bethany probably than any other one man. He provided the leadership that got it going....
"I have a prejudice viewpoint I realize but I think anybody familiar with this will say that without Ken's leadership and activity Bethany would not be in Lindsborg now. And he has never been recognized for that as much as he should have been."
For the full YouTube story from Kenneth Sjogren with Chris Abercrombie interviewing him, go HERE.
"The guy [the president] that was at the college had started a movement to move Bethany College to Colorado. That galvanized the community there [in Lindsborg] and ended up with him leaving the college, and Ken Sjogren was named as director of development. He was public relations director first. He basically had more to do with saving Bethany probably than any other one man. He provided the leadership that got it going....
"I have a prejudice viewpoint I realize but I think anybody familiar with this will say that without Ken's leadership and activity Bethany would not be in Lindsborg now. And he has never been recognized for that as much as he should have been."
For the full YouTube story from Kenneth Sjogren with Chris Abercrombie interviewing him, go HERE.
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Kenneth Sjogren and Bethany College History
Kenneth Sjogren and Bethany College History
Kenneth Sjogren loved Bethany College and loved her history from the time of his college days to the end of his life. He and the college of his day were definitely into capturing, preserving and promoting history, and writing history, so that is why he visited Dr. Emil O. Deere one afternoon at his home, to get some information with his tape recorder in hand. Nearly 50 years later, when I was visiting Lindsborg, he gave me a copy of that recording.
It was in 1965 as a sophomore at Bethany when I was at my Uncle Emil's and Grandmother Nina's [Fry] home [Deere House] that Bethany College Director of Public Relations and Alumni Affairs Kenneth Sjogren came over to interview my uncle about the history of the college. I remember that day clearly, yet not at all understanding Emil's significance to the College then. At 89 years of age, he was the College's "last-living-link" to the founder of Bethany College and its earliest history, so it was important to grasp onto any additional information from him before it was too late. It had been 12 years ago that Ken had made history with Dr. Deere in the groundbreaking ceremony for Deere Hall as a student in 1957, when he was Student Body President.
Living to the age of 87, Mr. Sjogren, himself, was certainly a "last-living-link" to the "College history of his time." Retired and in his final years, he knew so well the importance of capturing Bethany College history and with encouragement from others, he set out to capture some of that history which he made with twelve college presidents. He did this respectfully, responsibly and humorously in his 2019 book, "6 Decades with Twelve Bethany College Presidents."
It was in 1965 as a sophomore at Bethany when I was at my Uncle Emil's and Grandmother Nina's [Fry] home [Deere House] that Bethany College Director of Public Relations and Alumni Affairs Kenneth Sjogren came over to interview my uncle about the history of the college. I remember that day clearly, yet not at all understanding Emil's significance to the College then. At 89 years of age, he was the College's "last-living-link" to the founder of Bethany College and its earliest history, so it was important to grasp onto any additional information from him before it was too late. It had been 12 years ago that Ken had made history with Dr. Deere in the groundbreaking ceremony for Deere Hall as a student in 1957, when he was Student Body President.
Living to the age of 87, Mr. Sjogren, himself, was certainly a "last-living-link" to the "College history of his time." Retired and in his final years, he knew so well the importance of capturing Bethany College history and with encouragement from others, he set out to capture some of that history which he made with twelve college presidents. He did this respectfully, responsibly and humorously in his 2019 book, "6 Decades with Twelve Bethany College Presidents."
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Ken & Deere Groundbreaking Day
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Deere Hall
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Deere House Dala Horse Sign
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The "Hemslöjd"
In that year of 1984 when Ken retired from Bethany, he and his wife Marilyn started up a Scandinavian Lindsborg business with Lindsborg residents Kenny and Virginia Swisher in the converted old Standard Oil service station on Main and State Streets. It was a gift shop which they named Hemslöjd, meaning handicraft. Artist-in-residence skilled in Swedish folk art painting such as Kurbits were featured. It was and still is a specialty shop offering a variety of Swedish imports, Lindsborg handcrafted Dala horses, and glass etching. It also had a wood working factory, modeled after those in Sweden. The small wood Dala Horse house name signs were, and are, a specialty; Ken, painted, literally, thousands of them, hundreds of which hang from Lindsborg houses. The Sjogrens and Swishers sold Hemslöjd in 2011, yet it still lives on. To learn more, go HERE.
In short, Ken and Marilyn were very involved in the Lindsborg community in various ways supporting the culture and history of Swedish and Swedish American Bethany College and Lindsborg, Kansas.
In short, Ken and Marilyn were very involved in the Lindsborg community in various ways supporting the culture and history of Swedish and Swedish American Bethany College and Lindsborg, Kansas.
Kenneth Sjogren
1935 - 2022
"The Bethany College Fundraiser"
He was an
Augustana Lutheran Christian
a Bethany College graduate: B. A., 1957
Bethany College Director of Public Relations and Alumni Affairs: 1961 - 1967
Bethany College Director of Development and Assistant to the President: 1967 - 1984
Bethany College Volunteer: 1984 - 2020
Honored by: The Bethany College Alumni Merit and Lifetime Achievement Award
Honored by: The Sjogren Center for Advancement & Alumni
Co-founder and co-owner of the Hemslöjd: 1984 - 2011
(A Swedish import shop with folk artists and woodworkers and importer of traditional Dala horses from Sweden)
Augustana Lutheran Christian
a Bethany College graduate: B. A., 1957
Bethany College Director of Public Relations and Alumni Affairs: 1961 - 1967
Bethany College Director of Development and Assistant to the President: 1967 - 1984
Bethany College Volunteer: 1984 - 2020
Honored by: The Bethany College Alumni Merit and Lifetime Achievement Award
Honored by: The Sjogren Center for Advancement & Alumni
Co-founder and co-owner of the Hemslöjd: 1984 - 2011
(A Swedish import shop with folk artists and woodworkers and importer of traditional Dala horses from Sweden)
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Courtesy of Mr. Sjogren to share parts of his 6 Decades with Twelve Bethany College Presidents in SWEDES was given on August 11, 2020.
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Courtesy of Mr. Sjogren to share parts of his 6 Decades with Twelve Bethany College Presidents in SWEDES was given on August 11, 2020.
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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.
