The American-Scandinavian Foundation 
For better intellectual relations between the American and Scandinavian peoples, by means 
of an exchange of students, publications, and a Bureau of Information — 
Officers: President, Hamilton Holt; Vice Presidents, John G. Bergquist, John A. Gade and 
C. S. Peterson; Treasurer, H. Esk. M oiler; Secretary, James Creese, Literary Secretary, 
Hanna Astrup Larsen; Counsel, Henry E. Almberg; Auditors, David Elder & Co. 
Government Advisory Committees: Danish —A. P. Weis, Chief of the Department of the 
Ministry of Education, Chairman; Norwegian —K. J. Hougen, Chief of the Department 
of Church and Education, Chairman. The Swedish Government is represented in the 
Swedish American Foundation (below). 
Co-operating Bodies: Sweden —Sverige-Amerika Stiftelsen, Malmtorgsgatan 5, Stockholm, 
Svante Arrhenius, President; E. E. Ekstrand, Secretary; Denmark —Danmarks Amerikan- 
ske Selskab, 18 Vestre Boulevard, H. P. Prior, President; N. L. Feilberg, Secretary; 
Norway —Norge-Amerika Fondet, L. Strandgade 1, Christiania, K. J. Hougen, Chairman. 
Activities of Fellows 
Miss Dikka Bothne, Fellow of the Foun¬ 
dation to Norway, has been studying sing¬ 
ing in Christiania under Miss Mimi Hviid. 
specializing in the music of Grieg, Kjerulf, 
and Sinding. She made her debut, April 28, 
in a concert which attracted favorable at¬ 
tention. The critics praised her fine mezzo 
soprano voice, her intelligence, and the fresh¬ 
ness of her singing. Verdens Gang writes 
that a group of songs by the American Indian 
composer Codman “brought a new note into 
our academically stiff concert hall, a breath 
from the prairies and the red-skin camp.” 
Miss Bothne will continue her studies next 
year as an honorary Fellow of the Foun¬ 
dation. 
* 
Mrs. Inga Bredesen Norstog, scholar of 
the Foundation to Norway in 1919-20, is, 
like Miss Bothne, a descendant of families 
that have been among the pioneers in the 
cultural work of the Norwegian group in the 
Middle West. She is evidently a chip of the 
old block. It is rare indeed that a woman 
is asked to appear as a public speaker among 
the farmers of the Northwest, but Mrs. Nor- 
stog’s speech at the Seventeenth of May cel¬ 
ebration of the Sons of Norway in Watford 
City, North Dakota, not only got into the 
papers, but had the distinction of being 
praised by the veteran senator, Knute Nelson, 
as the best statement of the immigrant’s al¬ 
legiance he had read. “When one transplants 
an old tree,” said Mrs. Norstog, “one must 
take with it some of the old soil about its 
roots, if it is not to die in the process. Hu¬ 
man beings cannot live without memories. 
Any new home is strange until one has lived 
in it long enough to lay up a store of memories 
to bind one to it and make one feel a part of 
it. The more respect the new American has 
for himself, for his individuality, for the race 
from which he springs, the more loath will 
he be to lose his racial identity. He can not 
bring himself to knock at America’s door 
and say, ‘Here I am—a beggar. Take me in, 
feed me, clothe me mentally and spiritually 
in your ready-made garb. Make of me a 
Mayflower descendant.’ If he is of the right 
stuff, he will rather say: T come to join mv 
fortunes to yours. The treasures of my race 
I will give to you. I wish to give as well as 
to receive.’ Give? Ay, there’s the rub! The 
less thinking American of British descent 
does not perceive that other nations have 
anything to give America. He prefers the 
role of Lady Bountiful graciously dispensing 
alms to mendicants and paupers. It is more 
blessed to give than to receive. That being 
so, no one should want the monopoly of that 
blessing. One should be willing to receive 
as well as to give. Giving to anything or for 
any cause makes for a sense of ownership, 
both subjective and objective, which is most 
conducive to solidarity.” 
Scandinavian Group in Modern Language 
Association 
At the meeting of the Modern Language 
Association in Philadelphia, December 28, 29, 
and 30, there will for the first time be among 
the group meetings a section devoted to 
papers and discussions on topic, relating to 
the Scandinavian languages and literatures. 
The chairman of this section is Professor 
Adolph B. Benson of Yale University, and 
those who wish to take part should send in 
titles of papers to him not later than Novem¬ 
ber 1. It is expected that there will be prob¬ 
ably three papers of about twenty minutes’ 
length and that after the reading an hour will 
be devoted to discussion. 
