The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-15
CITY NEWS.
THEY 4 RE- not BEHIND /:
Scandinavians Have Their Share of
Students in Higher Educa-
tional Institutions.
Prof. J. S. Carlson Refutes the State
ments Made by Sigurd Anker,
...~" Of Nebraska.

! W0AVo AAouo Wy 0AS uAu 0AhVAs
.~" = Of Nebraska.
In the opinion of Professor is. Carlson,
head of the Scandinavian department at
| the state university, Sigurd Anker of
Blair college, Neb., was in error when
he Informed William E. Curtis. the Wash
| 1ngton correspondent of the Chicago Rec
navians attending the state institutions Of
the northwest, Is far below what that
! number should be in proportion to the
! Scandinavian population. ~.
! That is,' said Professor Carlson to-
day, Mr.. Anker is mistaken as to the
meant, as I understand it,, that the
Scandlnavians were staying away from
our higher institutions Of learning.
| Here at the state university we have
no precise statistics as to the nationality
OF our students. We can't judge accu-
Scandinavian and it may be American.
One Of our young ladies is Miss Pen
| mock, or something similar-a very Ameri
can name, at any rate. But her mother
| was a SWede and her father a Norwegian.
| Nothing but a personal canvass Of the
tion."
| "Such a canvass was made by one Of
our Scandinavian instructors altho I
| have reason to believe that he didn't get
full returns. However, he reported that
! the proportion OF Scandinavians in the
| whole student body was at least 15. per
cent. On the other hand, the proportion
of Scandinavian graduates last year from
| the academic department was 25 per cent,
| and l know that there are many Scandi-
| navians attending other departments,
especially the medical department.. Hence
ChN 1,13 ~@IS, ,S,,1y 4f{
| experience of four years here, that the
Scandinavian students constitute more
nearly % than Is per cent of the whole.
We might say very safely that the pro-
portion is about 20 per cent.
| In Other Minnesota Colleges.
Next we could consider the principal
American colleges in the state besides the
university. At Carleton college, North
field, there is the same proportion Of
Scandinavians as there is here. At Ham
line university the Scandinavians might
number 10 per cent. At Manchester, We'll
say, there are practically no Scandina-
| VANS.
! IF, then, the proportion Of Scandina-
vians ranges from 20 per cent downward
at the four principal American institu-
tlons the proportion is all the other way
at a dozen Scandinavian colleges, semin-
aries, normal schools and academies that
could name. [ passed eleven years as
a. teacher at Gustavus Adolphus college,
st. Peter, and I have visited all parts of
the state, collecting funds for our Scan
dinavian schools. so I have fair knowl
edge Of those schools:
l.: AT Gustavus Adophus college the
Scandinavian students are at least IS per
cent. At st. Olof college, Northfield there
must be even 80 per cent. And should
say that the proportion of Scandinavians
is nearer 100 per. cent at Augsburg SEM
| mary In Minneapolis, at the Norwegian
sem1naries, II Hamlfnel and ST.. Anthony
Park; at the Danish college, Hutchinson;
and at the Swedish seminary, wilmar.
The same thing cam be said Of the STU
dents at7the Scandinavian normal schools
IN this city and in Madison, Mimi, as well
as at the Scandinavian academies in Moor
| head, Albert Lea and Fergus Falls. ".
Thirty Per Cent Scandinavian.
Wherefore I feel sure that, balancing
the 20 per cent at the state university
and Carleton, the smaller per cent sa at
Hanline and Manchester, against the Is,
~ and 100 per cent of Scandinavians at
the other institutions, the proportion for
all our advanced schools in the state
must be not less than 80 per cent. In
fact, that would seem too low an esti-
mate, If anything.
Now, compare this percentage of
scandinavian students with the proper
t1on Of Scandinavian residents in Mime
sofa, and you'll see that the Scandna-
VANS are taking even more than their
proportion of educational advancement.
The Scandinavian population, I under |
stand, is about rs per cent; the Scandi- |
navian students, as said, form at least |
30 per cent.
Il included these facts in a. letter I |
wrote to Mr.. Curtis, the Washington cor |
respondent who has been discussing the |
matter. He did not publish my letter, |
perhaps because I did not give exact fig
a fh@
in the state. But I understood him to
say that he had written to the other in
st1tutlons, and I answered for the uni
versity alone. Still, I am confident that
exact inquiries would not materially re-
duce my estimate.''
What the Census Shows.
The federal census of 1900 bears out |
Professor CarlsOn's sur1nise that the
Scand1navians constitute one-quarter of |
the population of Minnesota. The census
shows that III 1900 this state contained |
13,705 natives whose parents were born
In Denmark; 96,35o whose parents were
born in Sweden, and 12o,s95 whose par
ents were born in Norway-a total of 23O,-
900 natives whose parents were born in
scandinavian countries. There were also
In the state 1898 Danes born abroad,
l05,995 Norwegians and 115,417 Swedes-
or 235,410 residents that were born in |
Scandinavia. Thus the Scandinavian |
popuAdllOll VI Inc RSLdl6 was 400, ,5bU, or |
something less than q per cent of the en-
tire population, which, in 1900, was
1,75l,S9 If the proportion Of Scandi- |
navian students is 80 per cent, the Morse
man is more than holding his own be-
meath the cap and gown.
'The public should not forget either,''
says Professor Carlson, that this rec
ord of the Scandinavian student was made
against many difficulties. The Americans
here have lived long enough in the coun-
try to acquire a large share of wealth.
But until very recent years almost every
Scandinavianvf family in the northwest was
poor. The parents Gid not come from the
privileged or fortunate class abroad, and
they had not yet been able to accumulate
property in America. It was great hard
ship for those parents to send their child
rem to college, do without their services
and pay the cost Of their education. New
ertheless. the Scandinavians, embarrassed
as they have been, have found the means
not only to maintain their children in the
higher schools, but to establish and sup
port a large number of Scandinavian col
leges and institutions that receive no aid