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Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle celebrates Norway Day on August 30, 1909.
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On August 30, 1909, Norway Day is celebrated at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle. The A-Y-P Exposition took place on the University of Washington campus in Seattle between June 1 and October 16, 1909, drawing more than three million people. Visitors came from around the state, the nation, and the world to view hundreds of educational exhibits, stroll the lushly manicured grounds, and be entertained on the Pay Streak midway, while Seattle promoted itself as a gateway to the rich resources of Alaska, the Yukon, and Asia. Each day of the A-Y-P was designated as a Special Day for one or more groups. Special Days drew people involved in the featured organizations, and the resulting programs, lectures, ceremonies, parades, and athletic competitions gave local people a reason to visit again and again. Norway Day kicks off with a thrilling landing of a replica of a Viking ship at the fair, followed by an impressive 500-plus person parade representing nine periods of Norwegian history. A bust of the Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) is unveiled at the day's program in the Natural Amphitheatre, and in the evening thousands visit the Auditorium for the Norwegian Sangerfest, a singing competition of Norwegian singing societies from cities up and down the West Coast.
A Majestic Beginning
Viking Ship To Sail Proudly In With Leif Erikson -- Norse Vessel To Bring Sea King Who Opens Norway Day At Exposition,” proclaimed the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on August 30, 1909, and all morning long, the sons of Norway and their families flowed into the exposition grounds to celebrate their special day. Promptly at noon the gates in front of the Lake Washington wharf were opened and the crowd eagerly surged through to watch the Viking ship (actually built in Bothell, but said to be a faithful reproduction of the real thing, all the way down to the dragon head rearing up menacingly from the ship’s bow) make its majestic approach to the fair.
And majestic it was, albeit a couple of minutes late, when the ship rounded the point at Laurelhurst. The crowd oohed and aahed and then burst into a mighty hurrah as the brightly decorated ship, pennants flying, bore down on them; as the boat got closer, the crowd could see and hear the sea king’s scald (a Norwegian poet), otherwise known as Albert Arveschoug, singing an ancient Norse sea ballad from the boat’s gilded prow, while behind him, the ship’s oarsmen stroked a rhythmic beat to his song.
When the boat landed shortly before 1 p.m., the Viking sea king (Erik Thomie) and a cast of warriors -- attired in mail-covered tunics and carrying bright shiny lances -- disembarked in splendid fashion to “a thrilling war song” (Seattle Daily Times, August 30, 1909, p. 4) courtesy of the St. Olaf’s College band, topped off with a song by the United Norwegian Singers. The Vikings were received by the queen, Astri Udness of Bellingham, and the crew then trooped to the stadium past hordes of fascinated onlookers to prepare for the parade to the Natural Amphitheatre.
The Parade of History
The parade was a remarkable feat. Made up of more than 500 people, it represented nine periods of Norwegian history, beginning with the fifth century and concluding with the present day of 1909. Each period was preceded by a page carrying a large pennant with the number of the period on it so everyone would understand what period they were seeing, as well as to provide a line of demarcation to show when one period ended and another began. The first period showcased the warriors of the fifth century, clad in sandals and sporting long hair and beards, representing Norsemen and Visigoths capturing Roman soldiers.
Early Vikings, including the sea king and his warriors, represented the second period, while the third period featured the Valkyries, six young women in mail-covered jackets and long flowing white skirts. The Valkyries were the choosers of the slain in battle, and carried the bravest of these fighters to the hall of Valhalla, the abode of the Gods. The fourth period was made up of a cast that represented the conquest period of Norse heroes from the ninth through the eleventh centuries.
The fifth period highlighted a thirteenth-century coronation cortege of King Haakon Haakonson, and the sixth period honored three famous admirals of the seventeenth century -- Peder Tordenskjold, Niels Juul, and Kurt Sivertson Adler -- and included 16 sailors from the same time period. The seventh period featured statesmen in powdered wigs and velvet coats and breeches, representing the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll, which adopted the current Norwegian constitution. The eighth period showed a peasant wedding procession in native garb, headed by the master of ceremonies and a fiddler. The final period consisted of a float representing a winter mining scene in Alaska, which was followed by seven malamutes pulling a sledge.
A Grand Unveiling
Six thousand people filled the Natural Amphitheatre for the day’s program, which began just after 2 p.m. There were the obligatory speeches, but much of the program was devoted to two themes. The first highlighted the Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg. After the requisite oration, a five-and-a-half-foot-tall plaster bust (later cast in bronze) of Grieg was unveiled. The bust was the work of Finn Frolich (1868-1947), the Director of Sculpture of the A-Y-P Exposition, and still stands on the University of Washington grounds today (2009), on an eight-foot pedestal off Skagit Lane northwest of Suzzallo Library. As payment for his work, Frolich received the Viking ship which had been used by the sea king and his warriors to sail to the exposition earlier in the day.
After the bust was unveiled, a cablegram of greeting from the King of Norway, Haakon VII (1872-1957) was read. Part two of the program followed, a debate taken from events at the 1814 constitutional assembly at Eidsvoll.
Norway Day concluded with an evening performance in the Auditorium, showcasing Grieg’s music played by the Pacific Krystens Norske Sanger Forbund. This sangerfest was actually a continuation of a competition that had started the day before at the exposition, and featured singing societies of Norwegians from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and several other West Coast cities.
HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington History, “Frolich, Finn Haakon” (by Mary Henry), http://www.historylink.org (accessed February 3, 2009); “Viking Ship and History Pageant,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 8, 1909, Sec. 1, p. 10; “Viking Ship To Sail Proudly In With Leif Erikson,” Ibid., August 30, 1909, Sec. 1, p. 1, 3; “Norway’s King Sends Greeting To Exposition,” Ibid., August 31, 1909, Sec. 1, p. 1, 11; “Fair Offers Musical Treat,” Seattle Sunday Times, August 29, 1909, Sec. 1, p. 4; “Vikings Take Fair By Storm,” Seattle Daily Times, August 30, 1909, p. 1.
Travel through time (chronological order):
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Norway Day badge, Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, August 30, 1909
Courtesy MOHAI (No. 1963.2888.3a)
Replica of a Viking ship used in Norway Day festivities, Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, August 30, 1909
Courtesy Nordic Heritage Museum
Bust of Edvard Grieg by Finn Frolich (1909), University of Washington Campus, Seattle, December 4, 2008
HistoryLink.org Photo by Priscilla Long