"The Other Swedes"
~ Celebrating Them ~
~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
Mr. Chris A. Abercrombie
~ President of the Smoky Valley Historical Association (2010-2017), creator of its "First" website in 2013;
a historian, writer, researcher, taping & filming interviewer, video producer, and collector of local important historical objects
~ Celebrating Them ~
~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
Mr. Chris A. Abercrombie
~ President of the Smoky Valley Historical Association (2010-2017), creator of its "First" website in 2013;
a historian, writer, researcher, taping & filming interviewer, video producer, and collector of local important historical objects
Mr. Chris Abercrombie
(1949-2017)
Courtesy of Smoky Valley Historical Association
Chris left us too early. This was before my desired appointment to interview him by telephone. His brother, James, said that on top of all of his papers was my most recent email concerning a “virtual museum.”
That interview would have involved his Smoky Valley conservation and preservation works for the community, his dreams concerning the exploration and development of local history and his collection of labeled artifacts important to Lindsborg, Bethany College and the Smoky Valley area history, which some say was extensive.
The artifacts could have presented a smorgasbord of subjects to write about, thus giving the Smoky Valley much more information on its history. In fact, their use in a "virtual museum" could have been the start in growing that thought- about Smoky Valley Virtual Museum.
To me, I considered Chris to be one of the last of the youngest historians who could reach back with his knowledge to the earliest days on the Swedish Smoky Valley who shared it so willingly with the community. And, due to that, Chris certainly deserved to be elected president of the Smoky Valley Historical Association Board in 2010, a position he held until his untimely death in August of 2017.
As a memorial to him, Mr. Tim Stewart, his predecessor as president of the SVHA Board, who had created the "Var Historia Newsletter" in 2016 and authored its stories, wrote a lovely piece about Chris's family's history in the Smoky Valley. The title is Abercrombies—131 Years of Lindsborg Growth. It can be found HERE.
In one of our phone conversations, I learned that Chris was Scottish and not Swedish. He was born in Lindsborg, to Chester A and Doris Ann (Necomer) Abercrombie and attended Lindsborg public schools and Bethany College. He was an Eagle Scout and a member of the Messiah Lutheran Church which was an Augustana Lutheran Synod member. Chris was a former radio personality and advertising executive in this business and was able to use those skills in promoting and preserving the Smoky Valley history.
It was said about him in an online remembrance on August 28, 2017, titled Former KSAL Staffer Remembered:
"He worked in the broadcasting industry much of his adult life, working at multiple radio stations in Kansas and Nebraska. In his later years, Abercrombie moved back to Lindsborg and worked at KSAL Radio. He could be heard on the air working various shifts. Notably, he volunteered to do a live shift on Christmas morning and presented a “Very Chris Christmas”.
... Abercrombie also had a love for radio history. In 2012 he organized a 75th anniversary celebration for KSAL radio. He also put together, and recorded, a history of Bethany College’s Messiah Festival which aired on KSAL.
... It was not just radio history that Abercrombie was passionate about, but also the history of Lindsborg, Bethany College, and the Smoky Valley area. He was President of the Smoky Valley Historical Association Board of Directors and was a member of the Hyllningsfest Committee. He was the driving force behind a recent renovation of the Coronado Heights castle and road.
Found at Former KSAL Staffer Remembered..
That interview would have involved his Smoky Valley conservation and preservation works for the community, his dreams concerning the exploration and development of local history and his collection of labeled artifacts important to Lindsborg, Bethany College and the Smoky Valley area history, which some say was extensive.
The artifacts could have presented a smorgasbord of subjects to write about, thus giving the Smoky Valley much more information on its history. In fact, their use in a "virtual museum" could have been the start in growing that thought- about Smoky Valley Virtual Museum.
To me, I considered Chris to be one of the last of the youngest historians who could reach back with his knowledge to the earliest days on the Swedish Smoky Valley who shared it so willingly with the community. And, due to that, Chris certainly deserved to be elected president of the Smoky Valley Historical Association Board in 2010, a position he held until his untimely death in August of 2017.
As a memorial to him, Mr. Tim Stewart, his predecessor as president of the SVHA Board, who had created the "Var Historia Newsletter" in 2016 and authored its stories, wrote a lovely piece about Chris's family's history in the Smoky Valley. The title is Abercrombies—131 Years of Lindsborg Growth. It can be found HERE.
In one of our phone conversations, I learned that Chris was Scottish and not Swedish. He was born in Lindsborg, to Chester A and Doris Ann (Necomer) Abercrombie and attended Lindsborg public schools and Bethany College. He was an Eagle Scout and a member of the Messiah Lutheran Church which was an Augustana Lutheran Synod member. Chris was a former radio personality and advertising executive in this business and was able to use those skills in promoting and preserving the Smoky Valley history.
It was said about him in an online remembrance on August 28, 2017, titled Former KSAL Staffer Remembered:
"He worked in the broadcasting industry much of his adult life, working at multiple radio stations in Kansas and Nebraska. In his later years, Abercrombie moved back to Lindsborg and worked at KSAL Radio. He could be heard on the air working various shifts. Notably, he volunteered to do a live shift on Christmas morning and presented a “Very Chris Christmas”.
... Abercrombie also had a love for radio history. In 2012 he organized a 75th anniversary celebration for KSAL radio. He also put together, and recorded, a history of Bethany College’s Messiah Festival which aired on KSAL.
... It was not just radio history that Abercrombie was passionate about, but also the history of Lindsborg, Bethany College, and the Smoky Valley area. He was President of the Smoky Valley Historical Association Board of Directors and was a member of the Hyllningsfest Committee. He was the driving force behind a recent renovation of the Coronado Heights castle and road.
Found at Former KSAL Staffer Remembered..
Some major contributions of his to enriching Smoky Valley history
>>>>> Chris -- Recording stories from the Swedish immigrant descendants at Bethany Home
Visiting the "Bethany Home for the Aged" as it was called in the 1970s, Chris may have recorded hundreds of stories from these Swedish immigrant descendants. I was working at the Home temporarily when Mr. Bill Carlson was the administrator when I witnessed many of these interviews not only with Chris but by others.
All of those recordings, Chris told me, were stored at the McPherson County Old Mill Museum, today's Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum.
Visiting the "Bethany Home for the Aged" as it was called in the 1970s, Chris may have recorded hundreds of stories from these Swedish immigrant descendants. I was working at the Home temporarily when Mr. Bill Carlson was the administrator when I witnessed many of these interviews not only with Chris but by others.
All of those recordings, Chris told me, were stored at the McPherson County Old Mill Museum, today's Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum.
>>>>> Chris -- Producing short films on the Swedes, and historical events on Lindsborg, Bethany College and their neighbors in the Smoky Valley.
Chris later made these films available to the world by producing them on YouTube videos. There was a time from approximately 2006 to 2016 when I counted around 65 videos that he produced and made accessible through YouTube. That number has been reduced to around 38 when a count was made in 2024.
To view the videos which remain, click "Chris Abercrombie," and then click on "Videos "on the left below "C."
Two very important videos that Chris produced you can find concerning Bethany College are:
1) The audio production interview of Bethany College's Dr. Emil O. Deere on the College's founder
Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson which you can click on HERE.
2) The 2006 Abercrombie interview with Ken Sjogren on Bethany's challenging times, 1960s to early 70s which
you can click on HERE.
Chris later made these films available to the world by producing them on YouTube videos. There was a time from approximately 2006 to 2016 when I counted around 65 videos that he produced and made accessible through YouTube. That number has been reduced to around 38 when a count was made in 2024.
To view the videos which remain, click "Chris Abercrombie," and then click on "Videos "on the left below "C."
Two very important videos that Chris produced you can find concerning Bethany College are:
1) The audio production interview of Bethany College's Dr. Emil O. Deere on the College's founder
Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson which you can click on HERE.
2) The 2006 Abercrombie interview with Ken Sjogren on Bethany's challenging times, 1960s to early 70s which
you can click on HERE.
>>>>> Chris -- Creating the 2013 Smoky Valley Historical Association website.
This was Chris Abercrombie's masterpiece for the SVHA before he was board of directors president, its FIRST WEBSITE. Due to technical difficulties, it was replaced by current SVHA board president Tim Stewart who did an outstanding job in October of 2024.
This was Chris Abercrombie's masterpiece for the SVHA before he was board of directors president, its FIRST WEBSITE. Due to technical difficulties, it was replaced by current SVHA board president Tim Stewart who did an outstanding job in October of 2024.
>>>>> Chris -- Working tirelessly raising funds for the Coronado Castle Project
Here also Mr. Tim Stewart records in his authored Var Historia Newsletter March 31st edition: "Ground Breaking Ceremony."
He writes:
"March 26, 2016, saw the official groundbreaking and contract signing of the much anticipated renovation project on the castle and restroom to Coronado Heights. The drainage and road will happen during phrase two after this current work is completed."
He continues stating these significant anniversaries:
"2016 marks the 80th anniversary of the current WPA building structure and 475th anniversary of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado traveling to this area looking for gold, or quivera as it was called by the Spaniards."
To read the entire account, go HERE.
This SWEDES photograph of Lindsborg taken from Coronado Heights is dedicated to Chris!
Chris proclaimed this photograph historical because it shows the original grain elevators.
Today you will see one or two modern grain elevators as well.
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Today you will see one or two modern grain elevators as well.
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* * *
"Let Us Celebrate 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.
"Let Us Celebrate 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.
