Book Review by Laura Baker
In I paid all my debts, the author, Lloyd Svendsbye, narrates the
history of his Norwegian-immigrant ancestors. What started as a deeper look
into family genealogy ultimately became a careful consummation of the
incredible survival on the frontier for immigrant farmers. The title, itself,
is a testament to his father's dedication to repay every penny he owed to
lenders, even if it took twelve years of plentiful harvests.
The Svendsbye-Birkelo story begins
in Norway and continues in Williams
county, northwestern North Dakota.
For immigrant farmers at the turn of the century, life on the prairie was
filled with hard work, but also brought new American freedoms. Religious and
educational institutions often had buildings prior to township, and served as
nuclei of community functions.
Religiously, most Norwegian immigrants gravitated towards Lutheranism. The difference between Norway and the U.S. nevertheless was found in the
freedom of each congregation to choose synod affiliation. Yet the traditions of
the Norwegian layman Hans Nielson Hauge, which emphasized prayer and a strict
moral life of no drinking, dancing, and the like, continued. Like many aspect
of immigrant life, religion was not taken lightly.
Schools provided another important
instructional institution. Although many communities could only support
one-classroom schoolhouses, the priority was always to provide an excellent
education. Svendsbye was schooled as such - something he is not ashamed of.
Instead, he found it was beneficial to listen to the lessons of lower grades as
a form of review and to those of the upper grades for preparation. Students
were encouraged to use the library, which although small in quantity, offered
quality titles and all the necessary classics. The teachers were exceptionally
good and knew how to control their classroom with the precise amount of
disciple, while developing a natural curiosity for further knowledge on the
subject matter.
That curiosity led Svendsbye to
further his education at Concordia College at Moorhead,
Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, and at
the University of Erlangen in Germany. In 1956, he was ordained
into the American Lutheran Church. From then on he filled many positions over
the years including teaching, pastoral, editorial, presidential, and committee
needs until retirement in 1992.
One of the main purposes of I paid all my debts is education through
factual documentation. Yet the emotional side of some of the hardships is not
accentuated. The reasoning behind this method, Svendsbye recalls is that "My
parents were not very emotional...you couldn't get excited. Stoicism was required
for life on the prairie." In other words, an emotional depiction would not
reflect the true nature of his parents' life.
Another goal of Svendsbye's book
is to continue the Norwegian-American identity. When asked the significance of
this he replied, "We have as great as responsibility as Norway to make clear to
the United States what our Norwegian heritage is."
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Lloyd Svendsbye is a board member of Norway House.
Laura Baker is a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. Ms. Baker was an intern for the month of January with Norway House and provided this article as part of her internship.
Norway House also worked with Luke Olson, a junior at Gustavus Adolphus college, over the same period. He was instrumental in the upgrades you are seeing on this website. We would like to thank Laura and Luke for their work and time spent with us.
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