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Newspaper Decorah-Posten Og Ved Arnen (Decorah, Iowa) 1903-1972 Decorah posten / Ved arnen / Issued from Nov. 4-7, 1941 as: Decorah posten og ved arnen skandinaven

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About Decorah-Posten Og Ved Arnen (Decorah, Iowa) 1903-1972

The Decorah-Posten was one of the longest-running foreign-language newspapers in the state of Iowa and one of the largest Norwegian newspapers in the nation. It was established in 1874 by Brynild Anundsen, and he continued to publish for nearly a century. Decorah, located in Winneshiek County in northeast Iowa, became a center of Norwegian-American culture after large numbers of Norwegian immigrants began settling there in the 1850s.

Brynild Anundsen was born in Skien, Norway, on December 29, 1844, and had little formal education during his early years. At age 20, he left Norway for North America, arriving first in Quebec in April 1864. Anundsen soon moved to Milwaukee before finally settling in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In 1865, he married Mathilde Hoffstrom and the following year they purchased a small printing press and began publishing a Norwegian literary magazine called Ved Arnen (By the Hearth). In 1867, Anundsen was offered a new job as a printer for the Synod of the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, so he and his wife moved to Decorah, Iowa.

Anundsen’s first foray into newspaper publishing came in 1870, when he started Fra Fjærnt og Nær (From Far and Near). The paper was short-lived, but Anundsen’s second attempt led to greater success when he launched the Decorah-Posten on September 18, 1874. The Decorah-Posten was strictly nonpartisan and focused on local news as well as items of interest from Norway and Norwegian and Danish communities around the United States. It also stayed true to Anundsen’s literary interests, featuring serialized fiction, popular Norwegian songs, and eventually reviving Ved Arnen as a literary supplement to the newspaper. By its second decade, the Decorah-Posten‘s circulation grew to over 20,000.

As the business grew more successful, Anundsen remained as publisher but passed the editorial role on to others. Johannes B. Wist served as editor from 1901 until his death in 1923. He was succeeded by co-editors Kristian Prestgard and Simon Johnson. The Decorah-Posten continued to prosper, absorbing the Minneapolis Tidende in 1935 and Chicago’s Skandinaven in 1941. After three more decades of publication, the Decorah-Posten ceased in 1972, when it was purchased by the Western Viking.

Provided By: State Historical Society of Iowa

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Decorah-Posten Og Ved Arnen (Decorah, Iowa) 1903-1972

Other Title

  • Decorah posten
  • Ved arnen
  • Issued from Nov. 4-7, 1941 as: Decorah posten og ved arnen skandinaven

Dates of Publication

  • 1903-1972

Created / Published

  • Decorah, Iowa : B. Anundsen, 1903-1972.

Headings

  • -  Norwegians--United States--Newspapers
  • -  Decorah (Iowa)--Newspapers
  • -  Winneshiek County (Iowa)--Newspapers
  • -  Norwegians
  • -  Iowa--Decorah
  • -  Iowa--Winneshiek County
  • -  United States
  • -  United States--Iowa--Winneshiek--Decorah

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly, 29. okt. 1942-28. des. 1972
  • -  30te aarg., nr. 23 (10. nov. 1903)-99de aarg., nr. 17 (28. des. 1972).
  • -  Issues for 10. nov. 1903- called also l. nr. 1980-
  • -  Includes weekly literary supplement called: Ved arnen, <2. jan. 1940-30. aug. 29, 1970>.
  • -  Also issued on microfilm from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, and Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  In Norwegian with some articles and advertisements in English.
  • -  Western Viking (Seattle, Wash.) (DLC)sn 83045796 (OCoLC)9665786

Medium

  • 70 volumes : illustrations

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83045473

OCLC Number

  • 1699348

ISSN Number

  • 2832-9899

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Decorah-Posten Og Ved Arnen Decorah, Iowa -1972. (Decorah, IA), Jan. 1 1903. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045473/.

APA citation style:

(1903, January 1) Decorah-Posten Og Ved Arnen Decorah, Iowa -1972. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045473/.

MLA citation style:

Decorah-Posten Og Ved Arnen Decorah, Iowa -1972. (Decorah, IA) 1 Jan. 1903. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83045473/.