Norwegian-Americans in Politics
The impact that they left on Minnesota politics and the approach they took is much different than other states. According to Clas Bergman, their approach is rooted in heritage, compromise, and an open-minded approach. When you look around the state, you can see the influence of Norwegians. At the Capitol grounds, there are statues of former governors Knute Nelson and Floyd Bjornstjerne Olson – and also a Leif Erikson statue.
Norwegians, and their fellow Scandinavians, worked from the ground up. They started getting involved in local affairs, first in their communities, and counties, and eventually at the state level. The first Scandinavian elected in the Minnesota Territory was Ole Knudsen. In 1856, he was elected county commissioner of Houston County. The next year Minnesota’s delegation to the constitutional convention sent two Norwegians, John A. Anderson and Charles Hanson, allowing Minnesota to join the union and achieve statehood in 1858. Thirty years later, Minnesota elected Knute Nelson to be the 12th governor and the first Norwegian governor.
Prohibition and the Volstead Act
Since Minnesota reached statehood over 165 years ago, Norwegian Americans influenced thoughts and political movements. In the 1920s, we saw the emergence of prohibition. The National Prohibition Act, best known as the Volstead Act, fell to the responsibility of House Judiciary Committee chairman Andrew Volstead. Ratified as the Eighteenth Amendment, it prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. When states ratified the Twenty-First Amendment to the Constitution, the policies regarding alcoholic beverages were left to each state for decisions.
Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association
1907 marked the formation of the Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association (SWSA), and a vast majority of the group were Norwegians and Swedes. The founding president was Jenova Martin, which attracted more Norwegian suffrage supporters. The second president was Nanny Mattson Jaeger, who attracted more Swedish supporters. Despite their cultural differences, the group worked together to fight for women’s voting rights. Often they wrote to Scandinavian lawmakers to get support. The SWSA did not collect dues but raised significant funds to support building a headquarters to be located on the state fairgrounds in St. Paul. Once completed, the headquarters was named the Woman Citizen Building, dedicated on the first day of the state fair in 1917. The building existed on the fairgrounds until 1970. The Birth of the DFL
Minnesota has a unique and successful history of third-party coalitions in American history. The most significant was the Farmer-Labor Party (FLP). The FLP emerged in 1917 with when the Farmers’ Non-Partisan League and the Working Peoples’ Non-Partisan League joined forces. The FLP replaced Democrats as the main rival to the Republican Party. The first U.S. Senators elected to the FLP ticket included Magnus Johnson and Henrik Shipstead. By 1930 Frank Olson won the gubernatorial election to be the 22nd governor of Minnesota. However, by 1944 when the U.S. entered World War II and the economy changed, they merged with the Democratic Party to form the Democratic-Famer-Labor Party. Today, the FLP movement and progressive populism helped leaders such as Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale.Check out the encyclopedia of Norwegian American Politicians based on research by Knut Gjerset. Please note this list is not all-inclusive and some politicians may be missing.
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- Introduction Kristina Warner