Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1939-04-27
Text of Petersen's Talk.


The greeting we bring to your Royal
Highnesses comes from the people of
the prairie and the forest. This was
the country which the immigrants
from Denmark found most to their
liking, for it enabled them to pursue
the industries which were closest to
their hearts, to live in climate and
circumstances that fostered natural
development for the individual and
the group, and to build and expand
the institutions which they brought
with them. From Minnesota and the
Northwest, we greet you with respect
and esteem.
Danish immigrants came here to
virgin soil. Their plows have often
furroWed the land for the first time,
and their toll has changed the wilder
ness into fertile fields. BY aiding
in development of this agricultural
region, they have contributed to the
name and welfare of the country of
their choice, as well as to the name
of the people whence they came. The
ideals of Danish democracy naturally
| fit us into the system of American
democracy.
Praises Denmark.
We are proud to state to Your
Royal Highnesses that even though
Denmark is not large in territory, it
has carved for itself a place of honor
in the intelligent consciousness of
Americans. An American woman, in
a book title, called it, "The Kingdom
of Reason"
Some of the pioneers won renown.
There were men like Niels Ebbesen
Hansen, the famed horticulturist; Jens
Jensen, landscape architect; Carl
Busch, composer and symphony or
chestra director; the late Carl Han
sen, who spent his best years at Tyler
in this state, and who embodied in
his books the soul of the prairie pio-
neer like no one else; Jean Hersholt,
the actor; Gutzon Borglum, sculptor;
w. S. Knudsen, automobile magnate;
the late Jacob Riis, journalist and
philanthropist. There were also out
standing dairymen like Hans and
Martin Sondergaard.
Bring Ideals Here.
The first cooperative creamery in
the United States was patterned after
those in Denmark, and was founded
by Danes at Clarks Grove, Minnesota,
as early as 1875. A very significant
opo ,pJ tho 1ro,foef CONTEMPLATION, of
Danes to the economic life of the
Northwest, is their leadership in the
cooperative movement.
The Danes in this new country had
the opportunity to live group life
in which they could foster the per-
sonal values they brought from the
age-old culture of Denmark. Re-
sultantly, they built and developed
not only their homes and their COM
munities, but also their churches and
their group institutions. These
churches and institutions have proved
to be of immeasurable value to them
selves and their new country. The
pioneers carried on because a part of
their Danish heritage was the ability
to defy difficulties, their courage to
conquer obstacles, their gift of smil-
ing through tears, and of seeing be-
yond the mists of poverty and mis-
fortune, the rainbow of hope.
Thankful for Freedom.
We who came from other shores
are thankful for the freedom and the
opportunity accorded us here in this
rich country of America. In turn,
America has profited by being the
melting pot of the world, for nothing
was done by one group alone. The
Danes and Scandinavians as whole,
along with people of other national
tiles, should make it possible for
Americans to have a sympathetic
understanding of the problems of
foreign countries.
l speak for the common folk, rep
resenting the backbone of our coun-
try. The thousands of faces that you
see here are the faces of people whose
hands are work-worn and whose
backs have bent to toll. Many have