Contacts
Closing Remarks
Closing Remarks
Dear Viewers,
First of all, to those who have played a part in the development of Swedes: TheWayTheyWere (SWEDES), no matter how small it may have been, I want to thank you very much, for your part in growing this historical website. Like myself, many of you are last-living-link descendants to this history. Also, for those who have provided helpful feedback to me during this time, I am most grateful to all of you! SWEDES would not have developed like it has, if not for your participation! As well, the sections on your relatives or friends certainly would not have been so numerous had they not been supported by you.
Looking back on the development of SWEDES, the idea stage began in 2005, during the yearlong celebration of Bethany College's 125th Anniversary, when a select group of 27 matted and framed black and white enlarged images of one hundred-year-old Bethany College photographs taken by my great grandaunt photographer and artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere were being shown at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery. From events following that showing, with the saddening realization that our foundational College history was being forgotten, coupled with shared ongoing quiet concerns that regarded Lindsborg Swedish cultural heritage and historical preservation issues, an embryo stage of SWEDES began in 2011 which led to its birth stage in 2015, when it was first published.
Yet, if it had not been for the last part of the distribution from the Sohlberg Deere Estate, a Swedish and Kansas Smoky Valley Lindsborg estate containing a wealth of historical information, including property and artifacts belonging to my great granduncle and great grandaunt, Dr. Emil O. Deere (1877-1966) and Mrs. Lydia Sohlberg Deere (1873-1943) that was inherited in 1996, there would have been no basis for a website.
In retrospect, SWEDES occurred naturally, initially touching lightly on the earliest history of Lindsborg and Bethany College during the era of my relatives and their contemporaries. Unknowingly, SWEDES was to expand exponentially to the historical document that it is today. This was as a result of the Covid 19 Pandemic of 2020 preventing my return to work, yet on-the-other-hand providing three additional years for researching and highlighting some of the Smoky Valley Writers "works" on "The Other Swedes" which was to enlarge and enriched the contents of this website immensely. It must be also emphasized that the facts, names, places, and dates for SWEDES have been taken from their writings.
Thus, through the reviewing and reading of their books and writings and of those from the inheritance and from other items from the Sohlberg Deere Estate, SWEDES has attempted to provide one with an overall view of this most unique rural well-preserved Swedish and Swedish American Lutheran Lindsborg, "Little Sweden," and Bethany College. It has highlighted the Smoky Valley Värmland Sweden Colony and leader Rev. Olof Olsson and other leaders, the earliest years of the Swedish Lutheran Augustana Synod and its Smoky Valley churches and their pastors; the College, its museum, the curators and science professors; the arts and the professor artists; some of the nationally and internationally known Bethany College Oratorio Society, i.e. the Lindsborg Messiah Chorus performances, conductors, singers and musicians; the more important cultural and historical events as well as the legacy listing of these Swedish, non-Swedish, and Swedish American historical persons found in "The Other Swedes" section.
They were the pioneers and those that followed, the developers, who were responsible for the thriving community that Lindsborg was, in that era. Yet, it continues to be so, due to their descendants, the "caretakers," the "last-living-links" connected or associated to these Swedes, many of whom that are also recognized in "The Other Swedes" legacy listing. For these caretakers, jointly or individually, have been carefully and lovingly restoring, preserving, promoting and carrying-on aspects of Lindsborg Swedish cultural heritage, the handcrafts and traditions that so reflect the earliest years of this community and the neighboring Swedish Smoky Valley communities.
SWEDES has touched lightly on Lindsborg's neighboring Swedes and the Swedish Augustana Lutheran impact that these Swedes from the Illinois Galesburg Colonization Company and leaders such as Rev. Anders Wilhelm (A.W.) Dahlsten and lay pastor Rev. C. J. Brodin had on the Smoky Valley and Lindsborg. This information came from Smolan, Kansas, author Thomas N. Holmquist's 1994 classic Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs. This book, the "first" of its kind, memorializes those Swedes who established the communities of Salemsborg and Freemount and their namesake churches.
It is quite evident that Mr. Holmquist's Pioneer Cross is as ever important to those settlements as Dr. Emory Lindquist's Smoky Valley People is to that of the Lindsborg settlement, as these classics together point to the "Cross" which led these Lutheran Swedes to emigrate to the Kansas Smoky Valley in the first place. Hence, to reflect their devotion to the Cross, musically, arose the first George Frideric Handel's Messiah performances in 1882 with the founding of the Bethany College Oratorio Society in that same year. This brought to Lindsborg, for a long season, the international hosting of renown European opera singers and musicians as well as those from metropolitan USA cities. These performances have continued annually from 1882 to this very Easter Sunday of 2023.
To view the Smoky Valley 1941 Memorial Cross, go HERE.
In the Preface, last paragraph of the Smoky Valley People on page viii, Dr. Emory K. Lindquist writes:
"The central factor in writing this volume is my genuine conviction that Bethany College and Lindsborg present distinctive values that are truly meaningful for individuals and society. I do not believe that this unique combination of cultural and spiritual values in a friendly small-town setting can be readily duplicated." This "is" the way they were.
Like Dr. Lindquist, SWEDES has now further attempted to highlight "the way they were."
As a nearly finished online historical document, with only a few sections to complete, SWEDES has become another "memorial," one that is virtual, honoring the pioneers, the settlers and descendants of the Smoky Valley of Lindsborg and neighboring communities beginning in the late 1860s.
SWEDES has also become an online resource for educational reference and research purposes, to benefit Smoky Valley leaders and citizens, children and students, teachers, professors and pastors, and advocates concerned with Swedish Lutheran Smoky Valley historical, and cultural heritage preservation, restoration and promotion as well as that of Swedish American folklife and folk art, the handicraft and traditions, that in the past through Lindsborg organizations such as the Dr. Greta Swenson and Mr. and Mrs. Mark Esping's 1986 Swedish-American Folklife Institute of Central Kansas (now currently only online) brought scholarly national and Swedish attention to this community. Likewise, in the future, SWEDES might also benefit such scholars.
The relationship between Lindsborg and Bethany College was always very strong due to the Swedish Augustana Lutheran Synod churches in Lindsborg, Freemount, and Salemsborg. It may very well be that this most important work has continued because of their last-living-link Lutheran Swedish descendants. Other individuals and groups no doubt have shared in the work to ensure the restoration, preservation and promotion of this dearly cherished Swedish and Swedish American history and the cultural heritage that gives Lindsborg and Bethany College their true identity, their true brand.
A scenario could be that a majority of the needed restoration, preservation and promotion work, yet to be defined, for the years ahead may likely be accomplished through Americans with no connection at all to this identity who call this Swedish founded Smoky Valley home. Furthermore, target years for such work, yet to be defined, to be completed might even be 2031 and 2032. These are years which will mark the 150th founding year of Bethany College and the Bethany College Oratorio Society, respectively. These will be years of their sesquicentennial celebrations.
From Dr. Lindquist's Bethany in Kansas, page 284, we read: "The founders often use the familiar Swedish word, "Framåt!" "Forward!" to express their belief about the College in the world of tomorrow. This imperative, "Forward!" is still valid. Faith in God and in the Bethany idea will enable succeeding generations to write additional glorious chapters in Bethany's history." And, I must add of course, "Lindsborg's history as well!"
Signing off, in remembrance of these Lindsborg Swedes, are the words of Bethany College's first official seal of 1906,
"Domini, Domino," "Of the Lord, for the Lord,"
Fran Cochran -- April 11, 2023
Bethany College Graduate, 1968
A research writer website designer of 2011 Swedes: TheWayTheyWere (SWEDES)
A compiler of history from Smoky Valley Writers and other sources for SWEDES
A research writer website designer of 2015 SwedishAmericana
A list compiler, with LINKS, for Swedish American institutions, organizations and establishments
First of all, to those who have played a part in the development of Swedes: TheWayTheyWere (SWEDES), no matter how small it may have been, I want to thank you very much, for your part in growing this historical website. Like myself, many of you are last-living-link descendants to this history. Also, for those who have provided helpful feedback to me during this time, I am most grateful to all of you! SWEDES would not have developed like it has, if not for your participation! As well, the sections on your relatives or friends certainly would not have been so numerous had they not been supported by you.
Looking back on the development of SWEDES, the idea stage began in 2005, during the yearlong celebration of Bethany College's 125th Anniversary, when a select group of 27 matted and framed black and white enlarged images of one hundred-year-old Bethany College photographs taken by my great grandaunt photographer and artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere were being shown at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery. From events following that showing, with the saddening realization that our foundational College history was being forgotten, coupled with shared ongoing quiet concerns that regarded Lindsborg Swedish cultural heritage and historical preservation issues, an embryo stage of SWEDES began in 2011 which led to its birth stage in 2015, when it was first published.
Yet, if it had not been for the last part of the distribution from the Sohlberg Deere Estate, a Swedish and Kansas Smoky Valley Lindsborg estate containing a wealth of historical information, including property and artifacts belonging to my great granduncle and great grandaunt, Dr. Emil O. Deere (1877-1966) and Mrs. Lydia Sohlberg Deere (1873-1943) that was inherited in 1996, there would have been no basis for a website.
In retrospect, SWEDES occurred naturally, initially touching lightly on the earliest history of Lindsborg and Bethany College during the era of my relatives and their contemporaries. Unknowingly, SWEDES was to expand exponentially to the historical document that it is today. This was as a result of the Covid 19 Pandemic of 2020 preventing my return to work, yet on-the-other-hand providing three additional years for researching and highlighting some of the Smoky Valley Writers "works" on "The Other Swedes" which was to enlarge and enriched the contents of this website immensely. It must be also emphasized that the facts, names, places, and dates for SWEDES have been taken from their writings.
Thus, through the reviewing and reading of their books and writings and of those from the inheritance and from other items from the Sohlberg Deere Estate, SWEDES has attempted to provide one with an overall view of this most unique rural well-preserved Swedish and Swedish American Lutheran Lindsborg, "Little Sweden," and Bethany College. It has highlighted the Smoky Valley Värmland Sweden Colony and leader Rev. Olof Olsson and other leaders, the earliest years of the Swedish Lutheran Augustana Synod and its Smoky Valley churches and their pastors; the College, its museum, the curators and science professors; the arts and the professor artists; some of the nationally and internationally known Bethany College Oratorio Society, i.e. the Lindsborg Messiah Chorus performances, conductors, singers and musicians; the more important cultural and historical events as well as the legacy listing of these Swedish, non-Swedish, and Swedish American historical persons found in "The Other Swedes" section.
They were the pioneers and those that followed, the developers, who were responsible for the thriving community that Lindsborg was, in that era. Yet, it continues to be so, due to their descendants, the "caretakers," the "last-living-links" connected or associated to these Swedes, many of whom that are also recognized in "The Other Swedes" legacy listing. For these caretakers, jointly or individually, have been carefully and lovingly restoring, preserving, promoting and carrying-on aspects of Lindsborg Swedish cultural heritage, the handcrafts and traditions that so reflect the earliest years of this community and the neighboring Swedish Smoky Valley communities.
SWEDES has touched lightly on Lindsborg's neighboring Swedes and the Swedish Augustana Lutheran impact that these Swedes from the Illinois Galesburg Colonization Company and leaders such as Rev. Anders Wilhelm (A.W.) Dahlsten and lay pastor Rev. C. J. Brodin had on the Smoky Valley and Lindsborg. This information came from Smolan, Kansas, author Thomas N. Holmquist's 1994 classic Pioneer Cross, Swedish Settlements Along the Smoky Hill Bluffs. This book, the "first" of its kind, memorializes those Swedes who established the communities of Salemsborg and Freemount and their namesake churches.
It is quite evident that Mr. Holmquist's Pioneer Cross is as ever important to those settlements as Dr. Emory Lindquist's Smoky Valley People is to that of the Lindsborg settlement, as these classics together point to the "Cross" which led these Lutheran Swedes to emigrate to the Kansas Smoky Valley in the first place. Hence, to reflect their devotion to the Cross, musically, arose the first George Frideric Handel's Messiah performances in 1882 with the founding of the Bethany College Oratorio Society in that same year. This brought to Lindsborg, for a long season, the international hosting of renown European opera singers and musicians as well as those from metropolitan USA cities. These performances have continued annually from 1882 to this very Easter Sunday of 2023.
To view the Smoky Valley 1941 Memorial Cross, go HERE.
In the Preface, last paragraph of the Smoky Valley People on page viii, Dr. Emory K. Lindquist writes:
"The central factor in writing this volume is my genuine conviction that Bethany College and Lindsborg present distinctive values that are truly meaningful for individuals and society. I do not believe that this unique combination of cultural and spiritual values in a friendly small-town setting can be readily duplicated." This "is" the way they were.
Like Dr. Lindquist, SWEDES has now further attempted to highlight "the way they were."
As a nearly finished online historical document, with only a few sections to complete, SWEDES has become another "memorial," one that is virtual, honoring the pioneers, the settlers and descendants of the Smoky Valley of Lindsborg and neighboring communities beginning in the late 1860s.
SWEDES has also become an online resource for educational reference and research purposes, to benefit Smoky Valley leaders and citizens, children and students, teachers, professors and pastors, and advocates concerned with Swedish Lutheran Smoky Valley historical, and cultural heritage preservation, restoration and promotion as well as that of Swedish American folklife and folk art, the handicraft and traditions, that in the past through Lindsborg organizations such as the Dr. Greta Swenson and Mr. and Mrs. Mark Esping's 1986 Swedish-American Folklife Institute of Central Kansas (now currently only online) brought scholarly national and Swedish attention to this community. Likewise, in the future, SWEDES might also benefit such scholars.
The relationship between Lindsborg and Bethany College was always very strong due to the Swedish Augustana Lutheran Synod churches in Lindsborg, Freemount, and Salemsborg. It may very well be that this most important work has continued because of their last-living-link Lutheran Swedish descendants. Other individuals and groups no doubt have shared in the work to ensure the restoration, preservation and promotion of this dearly cherished Swedish and Swedish American history and the cultural heritage that gives Lindsborg and Bethany College their true identity, their true brand.
A scenario could be that a majority of the needed restoration, preservation and promotion work, yet to be defined, for the years ahead may likely be accomplished through Americans with no connection at all to this identity who call this Swedish founded Smoky Valley home. Furthermore, target years for such work, yet to be defined, to be completed might even be 2031 and 2032. These are years which will mark the 150th founding year of Bethany College and the Bethany College Oratorio Society, respectively. These will be years of their sesquicentennial celebrations.
From Dr. Lindquist's Bethany in Kansas, page 284, we read: "The founders often use the familiar Swedish word, "Framåt!" "Forward!" to express their belief about the College in the world of tomorrow. This imperative, "Forward!" is still valid. Faith in God and in the Bethany idea will enable succeeding generations to write additional glorious chapters in Bethany's history." And, I must add of course, "Lindsborg's history as well!"
Signing off, in remembrance of these Lindsborg Swedes, are the words of Bethany College's first official seal of 1906,
"Domini, Domino," "Of the Lord, for the Lord,"
Fran Cochran -- April 11, 2023
Bethany College Graduate, 1968
A research writer website designer of 2011 Swedes: TheWayTheyWere (SWEDES)
A compiler of history from Smoky Valley Writers and other sources for SWEDES
A research writer website designer of 2015 SwedishAmericana
A list compiler, with LINKS, for Swedish American institutions, organizations and establishments
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For Traveling through SWEDES: "The Outline Online" ("Table of Contents"), go HERE.
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For Traveling through SWEDES: "The Outline Online" ("Table of Contents"), go HERE.
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<< The First Official Seal of Bethany College >>
"Domini, Domino" - Latin for "Of the Lord, for the Lord"
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Bethany College's Official Seal was decided upon in 1906 due to the far-reaching influence of its founder Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson. The sacred and powerful symbols of the Seal are "the Lamb" and behind it "the slanted Cross." These identify "the most intimate aspects of Christian faith and life" as written by Dr. Emory Lindquist in his 1953 Smoky Valley People, page 248. Beneath the Lamb and Cross symbols is written "Domini, Domino" - Latin for "Of the Lord, for the Lord." Lindquist continues, "The College Seal furnishes its own eloquent testimony as to the purposes and aims of Bethany College."
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Bethany College's Official Seal was decided upon in 1906 due to the far-reaching influence of its founder Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson. The sacred and powerful symbols of the Seal are "the Lamb" and behind it "the slanted Cross." These identify "the most intimate aspects of Christian faith and life" as written by Dr. Emory Lindquist in his 1953 Smoky Valley People, page 248. Beneath the Lamb and Cross symbols is written "Domini, Domino" - Latin for "Of the Lord, for the Lord." Lindquist continues, "The College Seal furnishes its own eloquent testimony as to the purposes and aims of Bethany College."
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"Let Us Remember Them"
T H E S M O K Y V A L L E Y S W E D I S H P E O P L E
T H E S M O K Y V A L L E Y S W E D I S H P E O P L E
go HERE.
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Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
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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.
