SWEDES: TheWayTheyWere
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    • The Bethany Artist & the Bethany Scientist: Lydia & Emil >
      • ​"First Swedish Agricultural Company" Lindsborg Founders, 1868 >
        • Swedish Pastor Olof Olsson Immigrating to Lindsborg 1869, June 27th Arrival >
          • Church and Lindsborg Founder Pastor Olsson, 1869 - 1876 >
            • ​"He Gave God Glory" The Story of Olof Olsson, ​1841 - 1900
      • Their "Bethany Lutheran Church" 1869 >
        • Their "Augustana Lutheran Synod," 1860 - 1962 >
          • The Augustana Heritage Association, 2000 - 2016
        • Their "Augustana Women's Missionary Society," 1892
      • Their "Bethany Lutheran Home" Since 1907
      • Their Lindsborg's "First" Swedish Smoky Valley Community Chronicle 1909 and Their "Second" 1919 >
        • "Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas," 1965 >
          • "The Smoky Valley in The After Years," 1969
      • Their 1920s Coronado Heights Photographs and their Smoky Valley Historical Association (SVHA)
      • Their 1936 1873 Swedish Homestead, "The Old Deere Farm," The Peter J. Larson Farm, etc. >
        • Their 1873 Swede House
        • A Smoky Valley Swedish Virtual Memorial - ​"Dedicated to the Memory of the Smoky Valley Swedish Settlements" >
          • Recognizing & Thanking >
            • - Claude Koehn -- The Before and After
      • Their 1940 Deere Home >
        • Emil's and Nina's 1961 Thunderbird
      • 1943, After Lydia--The Building of the Lindsborg Hospital
    • Their Bethany College Handel's "Messiah" Performances, 1882 on... >
      • "Messiah" Performers, Venues & Audiences, Press and Broadcasts
    • Their Bethany College 1899 Swedish Artists' Midwest Art Exhibition
    • Their Bethany College 1902 "Terrible Swedes," Coach Bennie Owen, Their 1903 "Rockar Stockar"
    • Their Bethany College 1904 St. Louis World's Fair Swedish Pavilion
    • Their Bethany College Anniversary Celebrations: 15, 20, 25, 100 years >
      • Their Celebrating 15 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1896. The First Bethany Annual, 1895-96
      • Their Celebrating 20 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1901. The "Forget-Me-Not," 1902 >
        • The King of Sweden's Emissary, 1901
        • Yale University's Bethany Club
      • Their Celebrating 25 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1906, "Souvenir of Lindsborg and Bethany College"
      • Their Celebrating 100 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1981, "The Centennial of Bethany College"
    • Their "I WAS THERE" Coin ~ Bethany College Celebration, 1902
    • Their Bethany College's 1937 Introduction to New Sweden, founded in 1638 >
      • Deere's Introduction to New Sweden
    • Their friend, Emory Lindquist, and his 1975 "Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college" >
      • Their friend, Emory Lindquist, and his 1953, "Smoky Valley People, A History of Lindsborg, Kansas"
    • Their friend, Leon Lungstrom, and his 1990 "History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas"
  • Swedish Immigration Story, 1854
    • "The Story of the Old Spoon" by Ingrid Anderson Sohlberg & Daughter Lydia Sohlberg Deere, 1937
    • Who They Left Behind
    • From Sweden with Love Collections >
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Kosta Portraits, 1867 >
        • The Swedish Sohlberg Kosta Glass
        • The Swedish Sohlberg Letters
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Royal Gold Thread Embroidery Sampler (c1890s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Post Cards (c1890s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Magazines, (c1940s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Books, 1819/1886 to 1899
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Albums, late 19th early 20th centuries
      • The Swedish Deere Coins -- 1801-1929
    • Lydia Sohlberg Deere's 1927 "Lindsborg Swedish Club's" Handwork >
      • Lydia's Signatured Black Book of Her Handwritten Sewing Instructions >
        • Nina Sohlberg's Child's Sewing "Little Dots" PICTURE BOOK >
          • The Lindsborg Swedish Club's "Allers Monster-Tidnings" magazine, 1940
  • Artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere
    • Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925 >
      • The Hats
      • The Smoky River
      • The Smoky Hill Bluffs
      • Coronado Heights -- One Winter's Day
      • In and Around Lindsborg
      • Sohlberg House with Parents >
        • Our Sohlberg Home and Neighbor Alma Luise Olson
      • Sohlberg House with Emil 1916 to 1920 >
        • Lydia's Travels with Deere 1916 - 1930s >
          • Lydia's California Photographs for Painting
          • Lydia's Palm Springs Pictorial Magazine, 1938-1939
          • Lydia's California Pressed Wild Flowers, c1930
      • "LYDIA'S WORLD" Photography Exhibitions in Lindsborg, 2005 - 2011
    • Lydia's Art, 1919-1938 >
      • Lydia's Art: The Kansas Collection >
        • The Sketches
      • Lydia's Art: The Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico Collection >
        • The Sketches
      • Lydia's Art: The California Collection >
        • The Sketches
    • Lydia's Art Professor Sven Birger Sandzén, 1871-1954 >
      • Lydia's Assignments for Professor Sandzén >
        • Students of Sandzén 2019 Exhibition
        • Bethany Home ~ Celebrating Artist Birger Sandzén through His Students' Paintings
    • Lydia's Art Professor Birger Sandzén's "Art Exhibitions" ... 1893-1940 >
      • Lydia's Art Professor Sandzén's Exhibition at the Babcock Gallery in New York, 1922
    • Lydia's Sandzén's Body of Work Reviewed by N.Y.C, 1984 "American Impressionism," author William H. Gerdts
    • Lydia's and Sandzén's Swedish Artist Friend Charles Edward Hallberg, 1855-1940
    • Lydia's and Sandzén's Swedish Artist Friend Oscar Brousse Jacobson, 1882-1966
    • Lydia’s Sohlberg Family Connection to Sandzén, 1880-1894-1993
  • Scientist Emil O. Deere
    • Deere's & Lydia's Bethany -- Lydia's Photography, 1906-1925 >
      • Bethany College "Campus from Above"
      • Bethany College "The Gateway" 1917 and "Bethany Campus Association" 1912
      • Bethany College "College Street," today's "North First Street"
      • Bethany College "Campus Life"
      • "Bethany College's Earliest Buildings" >
        • Bethany College "​Ladies Dormitory" / "Lane Hart Hall" 1883 - 1899 - 1983
        • Bethany College "Old Main" 1887-1968 >
          • Lydia's and Emil's Old Main Apartments, 1920 to 1940
          • Deere's Bethany College Classes in Old Main
        • Bethany College "Messiah Auditorium" / "Ling Auditorium" / "Ling Gymnasium" 1895 - 1946
        • Bethany College "Swedish Pavilion" 1904
        • Bethany College "​Carnegie Library" / "Bethany Library" 1908 - 1980
        • Bethany College "​Bethany Academy" 1882 -- Swensson's Bethany's Beginnings
    • Deere's 1959 Interview on Rev. Dr. Carl A. Swensson (On YouTube) >
      • Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, 1857-1904 >
        • Swensson's "Bethany Lutheran Church" and the "Augustana Lutheran Synod"
        • Swensson's Bethany's Beginnings: "The Bethany Academy of 1882"
        • Swensson's Musicians' and Singers' "Messiah", 1882 on ... >
          • Thure Olof Jaderborg
        • Swensson's Swedish Artists of the 1890s
        • Swensson's "Bethany College Museum," 1882 - 1966
      • In Memorium**Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, 1904
    • Deere's Rev. Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1873-1943 >
      • In Memoriam**Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1943
      • Rev. Dr. Pihlblad on Bethany College, 1904 - 1941
    • Deere's Swensson's "Bethany College Museum" 1882 - 1966 >
      • Bethany College Museum Collections' New Location,1966 >
        • Articles on the Bethany College Museum Collections Move of 1966
    • Deere's Bethany College Field Trips -- Lydia's Photography, 1906-1925 >
      • Deere's Swensson's Bethany College Museum Collections >
        • Cliff Dwellers' Pottery Collection
        • Fossils Collection, "The Find"
        • Taxidermy Collection
    • Deere's Dr. Leon Lungstrom on the "Bethany College Museum"
    • Deere's Dr. Leon Lungstrom on "Three Pioneer Scientists of Swedish Descent"
    • Deere's Smithsonian Institution's Souvenir, 1904
    • Deere's 1940 Presidential Address to the Kansas Academy of Science
    • Deere's 1955 Letter to President Eisenhower re Tuttle Creek
    • Deere's Service, 1901-1966 >
      • Deere's Education & Degrees
  • "The Other Swedes"
    • Honoring them and their works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . \\/ >
      • Mrs. Alma Christina Lind Swensson ~ Remembering her as Mrs. Rev. Dr. Swensson, the First Lady of Lindsborg
      • Miss Alma Luise Olson ~ Remembering her as Sweden remembers her as "First Honored American Woman by Sweden," and more
      • Swedish Artist Birger Sandzén ~ Remembering him for "sharing his art with the world," starting "first" at Lindsborg's Bethany College
      • Dr. & Dr. Mrs. Charles Greenough III ~ Remembering them for their gift of the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
      • American Artist Lester Raymer ~ Remembering him as the renown virtuoso artist and "behind the scenes" community supporter
      • Dr. Arvin W. Hahn ​​~ Remembering him for saving Bethany College from going under!​ >
        • Dr. Arvin W. Hahn (1923-2017) ~ Remembering him handing me my Bethany College Diploma on Sunday, May 26,1968
      • Dr. ​Elmer Copley ~ Remembering Bethany College's Oratorio Society Conductor who carried on "that" "Messiah" traditional excellence for 26 years, taking it to new levels >
        • Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the “Messiah” conductor for the Bethany College "Swedish King’s" performance, 1976 >
          • Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the "Messiah" conductor for the Bethany College "Centennial Celebration” performance, 1981
      • Ms. Rebecca Copley ~ Honoring her as Bethany College's “first” graduate to become an International Opera Singer
      • Mr. Bruce Karstadt ~ Honoring him as Bethany College's "first" graduate tohead a national Swedish American institution
      • Dr. Greta Swenson & Mr. and Mrs. Mark Esping ~ Honoring them as Bethany College’s “first” graduates who founded Lindsborg's "first" "Swedish-American Folklife Institute of Central Kansas." 1986 >
        • Recognizing their Folklife Institute's "Swedish-American Heritage Center," 1996
      • Dr. William Holwerda ( MD) ~ Remembering him at the founder of "Svensk Hyllningsfest"
      • Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg ~ Remembering her as the founder of the "Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers"
      • Mr. & Mrs. Hilding Jaderborg ~ Remembering them and their “Swedish Crafts Shop” – 65 years and 50 trips to Sweden
      • The Swedish Lindsborg Builders
    • The Smoky Valley Writers on "The Other Swedes" ​ ~ Their Swedish American Legacy Collection >
      • Mr. Bror Carlsson and Mr. Alf Brorson from Sweden ~ Chronicling Founder Pastor Olof Olsson's missionary journey to Lindsborg from Värmland, Sweden
      • Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson ~ An author of countless Swedish & English publications, newspapers, articles and books ...
      • Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin ​~ Compiling foundational Swedish Smoky Valley Augustana Lutheran settlements' histories and more
      • Dr. Emory Lindquist ~ Chronicling Swedish Augustana Lutheran Lindsborg and Bethany College
      • Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg [Selma Lind] ​ ~ Chronicling the Lindsborg of her day, its early histories, and more
      • Dr. Leon Lungstrom ~ Chronicling college professors and providing the "only known written" account on the Bethany College Museum
      • Ms. Karen A. Humphrey ~ Chronicling highlights of Swedish Augustana Lutheran Lindsborg and Bethany College society and culture in the earliest years
      • Mr. A. John Pearson & Mr. Kenneth Sjogren ~ Chronicling the Bethany College Presidents
      • Mr. Bill Carlson ~ Chronicling Lindsborg's earliest and later histories with a personal connection
      • Mr. Chris Abercrombie ~ Remembering him as the "historian," the SVHA president and his body of work
      • Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist ~ Chronicling key Swedish Augustana Lutheran Smoky Valley settlements other than Lindsborg
      • Rev. Eugene K. Nelson and the Bethany Home Writers ~ Chronicling the "only known written" story on the beginnings of Bethany Home
      • Smoky Valley Historical Association Members ~ Researchers, compilers and writers of " Where Did They Live? "
    • ​Smoky Valley History Research Writers Website Designers ~ Their Swedish American Legacy Websites
    • Bethany College Swedish Knights and Honored Ladies ~ Their Swedish Royal Legacy Listing
    • His Majesty, Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden ~ Honoring him in Lindsborg and at Bethany College, 1976 >
      • Mr. Bill Carlson's Lindsborg's Bethany Home & the Swedish King's Visit
  • Contacts
    • For Lindsborg, 1869, CONTACT Today >
      • 2020 Christmas: "Ljuskröna and Apple Tree Exhibit" online presentation
      • 2020 Christmas; 'Welcome to Annandag Jul Worship from Sunnemo & Lindsborg"
    • ​For Bethany College, 1881, CONTACT Today
    • Traveling through SWEDES & Closing Remarks >
      • The Swedish American Legacy Photographs >
        • ​Lydia's Lindsborg's Photography​, ​1900 - 1925
        • Lydia's Bethany's Photography, ​1906 - 1925
Scientist Emil O. Deere
"Not only has the best man for the place succeeded to it, but this man is the one who was closest to Dr. Swensson during the latter's upbuilding of Bethany, the one most intimately touched with the spirit and the inspiration which the late president sought to weld into its every part ..."
                                                                                                                                                                                                              -- The Messenger, 1904

Deere's Rev. Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad
(1873 - 1943)
As Bethany College President
​(1904 - 1941) 
Deere and Pihlblad and his administration were destined to lead the way beyond the saddest day in the history of Lindsborg, February 16, 1904.  On that fateful day, Bethany College founder and second president Rev. Dr. Carl Arron Swensson, the second pastor of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Bethany Church died suddenly while in Los Angeles.  Thus, the third Swedish president of Bethany College and his administration, inspired by the spirit of Swensson and their Christian faith, would be moving forward through the challenges before them,  to bring "a new day" to Bethany which would last until  a day in April of 1941 when Pihlblad would resigned.

- The Bethany Gateway, College Street meeting Swensson Street, ending at the Swensson Statue at Old Main -
Picture
Source: "Bethany in Kansas" page 74
Among other endeavors, the Pihlblad era of Bethany College would be characterized by patriotic Lindsborg Swedes involved in World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1931-1943), to Swedes, in 1927, hosting Swedish Prince Wilhelm for the ground breaking ceremony of a music auditorium (Presser Hall) to be built, to their going through the very low financial times of the depression years, and to their participating, in 1938, with Swedes from every part of the nation to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the first Swedes to America, to the shores of Wilmington, Delaware.
- Old Main -
Swensson's Building for the Bethany Family

"...the largest building of its kind.  ... west of the Mississippi...'the biggest and best' in Kansas ."  -- CAS
Picture
Source: "In Memoriam, Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad," 1943
 Under Pihlblad's administration, the ongoing development of the College art and music fields would flourish, and the Easter Week Messiah performances' national and international reputation would grow, thereby drawing more world renown musicians and opera stars to preform at Bethany College.  This, in turn, would bring thousands of patron's annually to Lindsborg.  A Smoky Hill Art Club would be started by Swedish Bethany College art professor Birger Sandzén, the membership of which would top out to 400.  The superb art and music found in Lindsborg would  be praised by many declaring this little Swedish city as a very unique cultural center!

- Prince Wilhelm of Sweden and Dr. Pihlblad presiding over the Presser Hall ground breaking ceremony in 1927 -
Picture
Source: "In Memoriam, Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad," 1943
- Presser Hall -
Pihlblad's Auditorium for the Messiah

Picture
Source: "In Memoriam, Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad," 1943
Fourth Swedish American Bethany College President Dr. Emory Lindquist in his 1975 book, Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college, begins the third chapter titled, "Consolidation and Growth, 1904-1921," pages 41 and 42, with the following:

     "When sorrowing Bethany and Lindsborg followed beloved Dr. Carl Swensson to his last resting place in Elmwood Cemetery that February day in 1904, the future seemed uncertain.  Swensson's dynamic leadership had been so dominant it was difficult for some people to envisage what the alternatives might be.  When reality was faced again, there was not only hope but a logical solution.  Professor Ernst F. Pihlblad was the most qualified successor to the man with whom he had been associated for nine years, the last two as vice-president of the College.

     "The Reverend Ernst F. Pihlblad was born in Kansas City, Missouri, March 18, 1873, the first of two sons of Mr. and Mrs. John Pihlblad.  Ernst's brother Arvid, a Bethany graduate, became a well-known physician in Lindsborg.  After attending the public schools in Kansas City, Ernst enrolled in Bethany Academy at the age of eleven.  The family had moved to Lindsborg where John Pihlblad was a merchant.  In 1891, Ernst, at the age of eighteen, graduated with honors in the first baccalaureate class.  He enrolled at Augustana Theological Seminary the following September, and after, returning to teach Latin the next year at Bethany, he continued his studies at the seminary.  He received the bachelor of divinity degree in 1894.  He was ordained as a pastor of the Augustana Lutheran Synod on a call to the Patterson and Passaic, New Jersey, congregations of the Augustana Synod, the year of his graduation from the seminary.  He joined the Bethany faculty in September, 1895, as Latin teacher, thus beginning forty-six (46) years of distinguished and uninterrupted service to the institution.


     "Professor Pihlblad served as acting president until his election to the presidency by members of the Kansas Conference at the annual meeting at the Salemsborg Lutheran Church in April, 1904.  Faculty and students, alumni and citizens of Lindsborg, pastors and members of supporting congregations were unanimous in their endorsement of his election.  The Messenger declared on that occasion: 'Not only has the best man for the place succeeded to it, but this man is the one who was closest to Dr. Swensson during the latter's upbuilding of Bethany, the one most intimately touched with the spirit and the inspiration which the late president sought to weld into its every part .... We have little doubt that President Pihlblad would have been the doctor's choice for the succession.'  In October the Messenger again affirmed faith in the new president by declaring: "Now the future of Bethany has been placed in President Pihlblad's keeping and we who know him best cannot but feel that it will rest secure."
     "Ernst Pihlblad was thirty-one years old when he succeeded to the presidency.  He brought excellent resources of intellect as well as great dedication and will.  He was a fine classical scholar, and as a professor of Latin he was known as a splendid teacher who demanded high standards of achievement.  He was an especially gifted speaker.  His rich vocabulary, classical learning, and extensive reading provided excellent materials for public addresses. His philosophy
- Pihlblad as he was when he became president at age 31 -
Picture
Source: "Bethany in Kansas" page 43
of education was clearly founded upon his understanding of the role of liberal arts and sciences in the Christian context of life and learning.  His view was stated clearly in his inaugural address as president in May, 1905:  'To develop the individual physically, mentally, morally, and spiritually; to teach him his proper place in the universe, his relations and duties to himself, his fellowmen, and his Maker, and to impart to human life that indescribable charm, ripeness, and maturity that we call culture, this I hold to be the purpose of the college.  The college should train the man for the highest of all arts, the art of living, and that irrespective of what his profession or calling may eventually be.'

     "The primary function of teaching and learning engaged the attention of the faculty as a new era in Bethany's history was launched.  In his first report to the Kansas Conference at its meeting in Fremont in 1905, Pihlblad identified the trends in higher education: 'On the basis of the pressure from the outside to follow the modern tendency to make the courses more or less elective, it is necessary to make some modifications in the curriculum . . . . We have sought, however, to retain the traditional approach while at the same time taking advantage of the valuable aspects of the new view by permitting some freedom of choice among areas and within subjects.'  In March, 1906, the college faculty adopted new requirements for the bachelor's degree which included the following required subjects and distribution: ..."

- KANSAS CONFERENCE SMOKY VALLEY MEETING LOCATIONS OF THEIR TIMES -
                        Church in Salemsborg                                                      Church in Fremont
- On May 21, 1891 -
 Eric Glad, J.A. Westerlund, Ernst F. Pihlblad, and Julius Lincoln
became the first baccalaureate degree graduates of Bethany College

Picture
Source: "Bethany in Kansas" page 21
Dr. Lindquist continues on page 57 beginning Chapter 4: "Academic Enrichment (1921-1941)" with the following:

     "When Dr. Pihlblad responded to the popular demand that he continue as president of Bethany, he and his associates initiated action immediately to strengthen the academic status of the College.  Accreditation by the Northcentral Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools was imperative.  President Pihlblad and the faculty fully realized the importance of membership in this association.  The first formal step in that direction was taken in the resolution by the faculty in September, 1921, which read: 'For the best interest of the school and the alumni, definite steps should be taken to gain entrance to the North Central Association of Colleges.'  Professors Deere and Welin were requested to investigate the requirements and report to the board.  The action was endorsed shortly thereafter by the board."


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- Lydia's Photograph of a Pihlblad Faculty Gathering -
Picture
Lydia's photo of Bethany College President Dr. Rev. Ernst Pihlblad and his wife seated, Emil O. Deere standing directly behind Pihlblad.
- Deere and Pihlblad were taking the photographs on this faculty outing. -
Picture
Pihlblad's Photograph
Picture
Deere's Photograph
Picture
Pihlblad's two sons on the horses
For In Memoriam**Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1943, go HERE.
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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.
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