SPREADING "THE WORD"
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May 21, 1942

First stop: Omaha, Nebraska 

​"Ordet" discovered that the stage of Bloom Hall on the grounds of the Immanuel Deaconess Institute had very little equipment for anything so unorthodox as a dramatic production. Footlights too were unheard-of in the auditorium. But, thanks to the ingenuity  of some of the cast members, footlights were built; thanks to the friendly co-operation of Dana’s best friend, Dan Greeno, the DCDC [Dana College Drama Club] flats were hauled to Omaha and placed in the hitherto untheatrical sanctity of Bloom Hall. Members of the cast, when not on the stage watched the flats sway dangerously, helped drag open doors that swayed with the scenery and threatened to pull down the entire stage set around the ears of the performers. ...

Financially and gastronomically the Omaha appearance was a success, with Treasurer Hans placing extra dollars in his little brown money-changer’s pouch and with Stage Director Ed Hansen leading the group to King Fong’s for dinner a la Chine. Critics reports, quite favorable, appeared a few days later in Omaha’s “Den Danske Pioneer” [The Danish Pioneer].

“Le Depart”, May 23. At the 8:30 breakfast at Director Nyholm’s home it was announced that Chris Chrysler was to leave at 12 sharp, or possible 12:10. Stu Studebaker was at the same time scheduled to roll down College Hill at 3:00 sharp, or possibly 3:05. But such was not the case. At noon Mrs. Nyholm was hostess at Jordbær and Fløde [strawberry and cream], with such other things as rullepølse [Danish specialty cold cut] sandwiches, salad, o.s.v. [and so on]. And then began the tour … " 
From the "Ordet Odyssey," 1942.
1942 masthead from the Danish-American newspaper
Masthead from "Den Danske Pioneer" (The Danish Pioneer), 1942. This Danish-language newspaper was headquartered in Omaha until it relocated to Chicago in 1958.
Omaha, Nebraska, was home to two key players in Danish American history: 
  • The Danish Brotherhood, a national fraternal insurance organization founded in 1882.
  • The newspaper The Danish Pioneer, founded in 1872, one of only two surviving Danish American newspapers today.
​In Omaha, you can visit the Danish Venneslyst Park and Springwell Danish Cemetery and the former headquarters of the Danish Brotherhood which is now on the National Register of Historic Places. 

​Read more about Scandinavians in Omaha. ​
Vintage postcard of Immanuel Deaconess Institute in Omaha, Nebraska
The Omaha performance took place at Bloom Hall at the Immanuel Deaconess Institute, part of a large Lutheran healthcare center founded in 1887 by Swedish-born Lutheran Rev. Erik A. Fogelström.
When this is being read, the group is on tour in the Midwestern states, and its efforts will probably make people start thinking and speaking. This also has value. 
From a review of the Omaha performance in Den Danske Pioneer, May 28, 1942. The reviewer was a bit critical of the play but appreciative of the students' efforts to perform a play in their non-native language. 

Up next: four performances in Iowa
© The Danish American Archive and Library, 2021. 
  • Home
  • The Play
  • The Tour
    • Nebraska
    • Iowa
    • Illinois
    • Wisconsin
    • Minnesota
    • South Dakota
    • Return to Iowa and additional photos
  • The People
  • Dana College and WWII
  • About