Daughters of Norway

THE BEGINNINGS

Norwegian immigration to the United States in the early 19^th Century grew steadily by the mid 1800's until the early early 20^th Century. By the late 1800's Norwegians, along with many other immigrant groups, formed organizations to provide mutual support and interact socially. By the end of the 19^th century, three organizations had been formed – the Sons of Norway of the Midwest (first starting in 1895 in Minneapolis, Minnesota; the Sons of Norway of the Pacific Coast (started about the same time in Seattle, Washington) and the Daughters of Norway of the Midwest in 1897 in North Minneapolis, Minnesota¹.

In the early 20^th century, nationalism in Europe was in vogue. Many Norwegian Americans felt great pride in the newly independent Norway which had terminated their union with Sweden in 1905. This same year, the first Daughters of Norway of the Pacific Coast lodge was organized in Seattle, Washington (in 1907 taking the name Valkyrien Lodge #1). Within two years, there were two additional independent Daughters of Norway on the Pacific Coast lodges chartered by the Sons of Norway of the Pacific Coast: Embla Lodge #2 (Tacoma, Washington) and Freya Lodge #3 (Spokane, Washington).

  1908 INCORPORATION

The Original DNPC Logo

These three independent lodges incorporated as the Daughters of Norway on the Pacific Coast (DNPC) on February 20, 1908. Members of each lodge signed Washington State letters of incorporation.

The organization's bylaws provided for a governing body, the Grand Lodge, to hold annual conventions promoting social and cultural exchange among its members, as well as conducting business relating to governance and maintenance of the modest fraternal burial fund that existed at that time for the benefit of individual members. All convention and lodge meetings were conducted in Norwegian.

  EARLY CHANGES IN THE NORWEGIAN COMMUNITIES

The newly incorporated organization grew, adding new lodges in Washington and other western states. By 1910, some Sons of Norway lodges started admitting women. This direct competition, coupled with the merger of the two Sons of Norway groups in 1910, affected recruitment efforts of DNPC and their midwest counterpart . The DNPC responded by doubling their efforts and organizing twenty-one new lodges between 1909 and 1914. However, by 1919, the Sons of Norway began making inroads into the DNPC membership when some DNPC lodges began joining the Sons of Norway.

1916 DNPC Convention Delegates

  WWI to WWII

The DNPC was affected by both World Wars. As a result of WWI's accompanying deprivations, the DNPC did not hold their annual convention in 1918. The organization was active in supporting the war effort by supporting relief agencies and the American Red Cross.

Between wars, the DNPC initiated changes. In 1926, DNPC conventions became biennial. At the 1930 convention, membership was opened to women married to men of Norwegian ancestry. In addition, a proposal passed that would allow translation of installation ceremonies into English in cases where the candidate did not understand Norwegian.

In 1931, DNPC recruited Thelma Lodge #26 of Everett, Washington, the only Daughters of Norway of the Midwest lodge located in the west, to join them. Two additional lodges were added during the interim war years.

At the 18th Grand Lodge Convention held in 1932, a Memorial Service was held and became a tradition. By 1936's convention, DNPC delegates approved the translation of the Ritual and Constitution into English, and also approved the founding of a newsletter to improve communication. The newsletter, Døtre av Norge, was written in Norwegian and first published on Dec 15, 1936. Further movement toward use of English in the organization occurred during the 1942 convention, when delegates approved "the lodges that find it necessary to use the English language in their meetings are allowed to do so, even though the Norwegian language will still be the official language of the Daughters of Norway."

World War II motivated the Daughters of Norway to help with the war effort in the US and in Norway. Despite being a neutral country in the conflict, Norway was invaded by the Germans in April of 1940. Norway suffered considerable hardship during the war years and many Norwegian-Americans were active in helping the Norwegian Resistance movement. The Daughters of Norway lodges supported the war by helping the Red Cross and other relief agencies. In addition, some lodges spearheaded a drive to supply aid to the Norwegians when the war ended. Many Daughters of Norway members received medals for their war relief and resistance efforts by the Norwegian or Danish governments.