Maybe It Shouldn't Have Been Surprising After All...

It started with a piece of paper I'd found in the bottom of a box.  It looked like a bill of sale for something that my grandmother, Lisa Klungseth Hammer, had purchased.  It had a date and a location to send it to.  I knew she was near Trondheim in 1946, and this piece of paper documented it. 

But in looking at it more closely, I saw this receipt was for a book - the author's name and the title were listed.  The books a person reads says a lot about them, so I decided to see if I could find this work in the stack of books she'd left behind - and about halfway down the pile, there it was.  "Friheten," by Nordahl Grieg.  It was all in Norwegian, so I decided to see what I could find about this book and the man who wrote it.

Nordahl Grieg was born Nov. 01, 1902 in Bergen and died Dec 2, 1943 in Kleinmachnow (near Berlin).  He is described as a controversial man, a long-time member of the Communist Party, and a "poet, novelist, dramatist, journalist and political activist."  Wait ... what?  My grandmother was buying and reading materials written by a controversial Communist political activist??

Grieg had been a member of the Norwegian Communist Party for a long time, and called a "Stalinist" by his enemies.  It was his empathy for the underprivileged that caused him to join the Party.

Interestingly, he was studying in Oslo the same time my Grandmother, Lisa Klungseth Hammer, was attending the Teacher's College there.  

During World War II when the Germans invaded and occupied Norway, Grieg broke away from his support of Stalin.  Communists were being urged to stay neutral, and this invasion changed things for Grieg.  He was passionately opposed to the Nazis and considered himself a Norwegian patriot, and intended to oppose them every way he could.  Grieg did military service in the Norwegian Army in 1939-1940 in Finnmark (Lisa was also in Finnmark at this time).  He escaped the country in 1940 on the same ship as the Royal family of Norway and the National Gold reserves.

His fight against the Nazis continued from Britain, both on the radio and in his writings.  He traveled, speaking with Norwegian soldiers and getting their experiences in his work as a war correspondent.  He took part in various military missions, which was common for a war correspondent at that time.    He was with the Royal Australian Air Force on an allied raid on Berlin, a very risky and dangerous undertaking.  It was during this night-time mission on Dec. 2-3, 1943, that he was killed along with many others. He was and is considered a hero in Norway for his stance on the Nazis and all he did to oppose them, and his anti-fascist poetry is still popular today.

"Friheten" ("Freedom"), the book Lisa had purchased, was a collection of Grieg's war poetry published in 1945.  She, too, was emotional about the Nazi invasion when she first told me about it 30 years afterward. Now it was all starting to make sense.  Perhaps it wasn't so unusual that she was interested in a controversial, political activist after all.

Information on Nordahl Grieg's life from:
Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordahl_Grieg
Ally Poetry https://allpoetry.com/Nordahl-Grieg

Home Economists Newsletter - Lisa Hammer's Presentation

South Dakota Home Economics Association Newsletter Volume 5, December 1958, Number 1

HURON BRANCH 
     
The Huron Branch of Home Economists in Homemaking have chosen as their yearly program foods and customs of foreign countries.  By doing this they plan to have guest speakers who have either visited or lived in another country. 

Mrs. Adolph Hammer, a native of Norway spoke at the October meeting.  Wearing a Norwegian dress which is only worn on special occasions, she told of Norwegian customs, displayed table linen and explained table setting for different occasions.

Thursday afternoon during SDEA the Huron Economists in Homemaking entertained at tea the Homemaking teachers in the Huron Homemaking department.  Miss Imogene Van Overschelde, Pierre and Mrs. Ross Davies, Huron, were at the silver services.

In connection with Huron College Career Day, the Huron Home Economists also take an active part.  For the past three years the group has had Mrs. Cleo Treadwell as their representative.  Seniors from Huron high school and towns in the surrounding territoy [sic] are invited to meet various representatives of professions and colleges in the state.

The group is continuing a project begun several years ago.  This is to help furnish materials for the

interest centers in the Homemaking Department of Huron High School. Officers this year are president: Muriel Simmons (Mrs. Irvin) and secretary, Jessie Chaffee (Mrs. George).

Overseas Club

 From the Huron (South Dakota) Daily Plainsman, unknown date

Overseas Club Anniversary: Members of the Huron Overseas Club are shown at their 15th anniversary meeting at the home of Mrs. James Kaiser who made the anniversary cake held by Mrs. Orval Collins.  Front row left: Mrs. Gustave Guthmiller, Huron; Mrs. Carlisle Peterson, Huron; Mrs. Collins, Huron; Mrs. Clifford Voss, Huron; Mrs. Ralph Schniedewind, Ree Heights; middle row left, Mrs. Duane Picklapp, Huron; Mrs. Desmond Van Zee, Rockham; Mrs. Keith McMillan, Huron; Mrs. Vern Baker, Huron; Mrs. George Streifel, Huron; Mrs. Gilbert Hofer, Huron; back row left, Miss Gabriella Rose, Redfield; Mrs. Adolph Hammer, Sr., Huron; Mrs. Kaiser, Huron; Mrs. Henry Peters, Huron; Mrs. Chester Liedtke, Wessington; Mrs. Harold Steichen, Woonsocket; Mrs. Edwin Forst, Alpena; Mrs. Albert Rose, Redfield.

The Huron Overseas Club enjoyed its 15th anniversary meeting Feb. 10 at the home of Mrs. James A. Kaiser, 429 Idaho Ave. S.E.  Mrs. Albert Rose, Redfield, won the hostess gift among the 20 members present.

Mrs. Kaiser baked and decorated the anniversary cake for the occasion.

Officers elected for the new year are: Mrs. Ralph Schniedewind, Ree Heights, president; Mrs. Clifford Voss, Huron, vice president; and Mrs. Orval Colllins, Huron, secretary-treasurer.  A vote of thanks was extended Mrs. Gustave Guthmiller and Mrs. Carlisle Peterson, outgoing officers.

The next meeting will be March 9 at The Inn with Mrs. Adolph Hammer, Sr., and Mrs. George Streifel as co-hostesses.

The 47th Anniversary of Will and Elvirta Knutz

 An excerpt from the journal of Elvirta Graves Knutz (mother of Bill Knutz)

1957, March 30, Saturday

47 years ago today we were married and such a day as it was; it rained, hailed, wind blew hard and it blizzarded all before noon but that did not stop me; Delbert took me to the depot and waited with me till the train came; I had to go to Huron (from Esmond) to meet Will. Henry Thompson and his girl Stella were there to be married at the same time we were; we were witnesses for each other. We ate our dinner in a hotel which is now torn down and there is a gas station and truck parking lot there now. After dinner we were married and did some shopping and drove home; we used horse and buggy those days, had to drive about 7 miles; got home I got my first meal for us; which was (as I remember) bacon and eggs and potatoes. To night 47 years later 3 of our children and their children had very delicious supper at Dorothy’s; they each brought some portion of the meal. Dorothy roasted a turkey and chicken with dressing; Mabel scalloped some potatoes; Lillian brought corn and peas; there were cakes besides Dorothy baked a 4-tiered angel food, had swans to hold each layer and frosted it so pretty; Mabel helped her with it; Lulu brought a delicious jell-o fruit salad. Everett was there too. He gave us a very pretty card with a dollar bill inside. Later in the evening we had cake and coffee; oh I was so full. Bill took our pictures (dad and I) cutting the cake and of me feeding him a bit.

Races at the Fairgrounds, Huron, South Dakota - Mid-1960s

 

Photos Courtesy of Walt Hammer

Canoe Derby, 1960 or 1961

“Arm-weary but full of life, Huron Explorer Scouts Ward Nickish (right) and Stan Landon slide their canoe ashore before a throng of some 400 gathered just above the James River Dam here Saturday afternoon, the come-from-behind winners of the Pheasant Scout Council's ninth annual canoe derby.” [Huron Daily Plainsman]

Nickish and Landon took first place in both 1961 and 1962, and the team of Landon and Chad McAllister took second place in 1963.

The annual canoe race ensued from Fisher Grove, east of Redfield, along the James River to Huron, some 96 miles. Rowers would stop for a meal break and have their times recorded, then continue through the afternoon, camping overnight and continuing the next day. The winning time was 11 hours, 47 minutes and 10 seconds.

After receiving their congratulations, the winning pair fulfilled a vow by giving their Explorer Post Six advisor, Elwood Harms, a dunk in the river for saying they wouldn't win.

Nickish and Landon were sponsored by the Huron Moose lodge, who also served food and refreshments at the finish line.

Sources:

Huron Daily Plainsman, Aug. 20, 1961, p. 6
Stan Landon
Photos courtesy of Walt Hammer

Virgil High School First Aid Class, about 1955-56

 

Back, from left: Karen Schiltz, Lloyd Wullweber, Marilyn Clouser, Kenneth Falton, Darrell Denison, Hannah Arechuk, instructor.

Front, from left: Sandra Woelpert, Larry Johnson, Betty Knutz, Lila Mae Freese, Donna Meyer, Alice Reilly

 

Mrs. Arechuk, who is from Huron took the first aid instructors course last winter.