In an earlier number of the Skandinaven an outline of the history of the Norwegian Singing Society since 1875 was presented; it was a record of those early days of struggle until the time came when the Society had gained a firmer foothold. In the present article will be presented an outline of the most important events in the history of this well-known Society from 1875 up to the present.

The Society had met a number of obstacles but had also experienced much encouragement during its first four years. Nor did its work during the following years shame the good beginning it had made. It was about this time that the first serious attempts were made at a closer connection between the various Scandinavian societies. A so-called Convention was formed; statutes were adopted; a banquet was held to complete the unification, and a masked ball 2and a picnic were given. This however, culminated the attempts; previous efforts at Scandinavian organization seemed to lack the necessary vitality from the start and such organizations did not last long as a rule.

As to the Norwegian Singing Society, it went on with its every-day tasks for a while, without meeting with any exceptional occurrences. There were dances, concerts, and assistance at concerts. In regard to the matter of assistance, the Norwegian Singing Society has always been generous. Thus we find that in one year the Society assisted on no less than thirty occasions. The Society loved singing and loved to be heard in those early days. The Society performed at weddings, funerals, and on the occasion of a member's departure for other places. The heart and the hand of a singer is open to those in sorrow and in need. Often the assistance extended was not merely by way of singing but also in a more substantial manner.

In the meanwhile the Society grew and grew; in 1875 the membership had reached 3seventy-five. Several of its public affairs resulted in greater or smaller net income. Thus, a bazaar in November 1875, brought a net income of about four hundred dollars. On the other hand, the Society needed money not only for current expenses but for many other things in addition, sometimes things which one would hardly expect to pay for. At that time as now, there was a scarcity of first tenors, and it was necessary to tie those who were available, to the Society by bonds more substantial than just their interest in singing and in music.

In 1878 the Society felt strong enough financially to discontinue the membership fee for active singers, and that rule has been in force since then until the present time.

There is one thing one cannot help but notice in those early days--the parade. Off and on processions have, of course, occurred even up to the present days, but in the early period, a procession was considered a necessary appendix to 4every picnic, and the members of the Norwegian Singing Society were the ones who on all occasions had to don the procession-trousers. Thus, in the year 1878, the Singers marched in procession on four occasions during the one month of June.

In the same year the Society held a great picnic in the Chicago Avenue Park. Of course there was a great procession, and best of all, there was a surplus of more than three hundred dollars. During this year the Society moved to Ericson's Hall which hitherto had housed Det Norske Selskab (The Norwegian Society). The latter Society had of late begun to suffer from old age weakness. The Norwegian Singing Society took over the furniture of the Norwegian Society and added a piano to the furnishings of the place....

In 1881 the singers ventured into the center of the city and gave a concert at the Central Music Hall. The venture succeeded in every respect. At the Palmer House they serenaded the Norwegian author and poet Bjornstjerne Bjornson.

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With his usual bluntness the poet criticised the singers' interpretation of his songs.

In the meanwhile the Scandinavian Convention had dissolved and at present there was only the Scandinavian Labor Union besides the Singing Society which made serious attempts at livening the "dead bones" of the Norwegian group. The attempts were not always successful.

In the memorial procession for President Garfield, the Singing Society participated, sixty-five men strong. The following year the Society gave a concert at the North Side Turner Hall for the benefit of the sufferers in Finmarken, Norway, and had the satisfaction of taking in $375 net. This money together with $25 from the treasury of the Singing Society was sent to the needy in North Norway.

Six Scandinavian societies arranged for a big union picnic. The affair was a 6great success, and the net income was very considerable. This added new life to the Scandinavian Convention.

In 1883 the Norwegian Singing Society held a most successful bazaar from which a net income of $950 was realized. This added greatly to the courage of the Singers. There had long been talk, off and on, of building a hall for the Society. The large income from the bazaar gave new significance to the talk.

There was, however, another matter which had taken hold of many of the singers; a great song festival was to be held in Trondhjem, Norway, and the singers would have been happy to have been able to visit the festival city on the occasion. Both these plans, however, evaporated. The Scandinavian Convention had also been thinking of building its own hall but the matter was dropped. The Norwegian Singing Society held a pleasant picnic that year at Willow Springs.

The Society was steadily growing, and it became necessary to hold two business 7meetings each month and to employ a special financial secretary. The work had become too heavy for the treasurer. The amount in the treasury. in 1884, amounted to $1,600. In 1886 the amount had grown to $2,500. Every year the library of the Society had been increased; every year the sick-aid fund was made larger. The sick-aid fund was then and is yet a separate institution having its own statutes, officers, and treasury. It has also had, from time to time, its own money-producing affairs solely for the benefit of its treasury.

Having given several concerts in Humboldt Park, the Norwegians' Singing Society, together with the Nora Lodge, held a Seventeenth of May festival in 1884. Then, in 1885, the Singing Society held a summer excursion to Madison, Wisconsin, where the Society gave a well-attended concert on July 4. Not only did the singers enjoy this tour, but they also brought home with them considerable money for the treasury of the Society.

During this time the Bjorgvin Singing Society had been organized, and in 1885 8was giving its first concert. The Norwegian Singing Society assisted both at the concert and at a banquet held by the two singing societies a few days after the concert. Another concert was given that year at the North Side Turner Hall for the benefit of "needy Norwegians in Chicago". The concert netted about two hundred dollars.

At this time a number of years had elapsed since the Society had obtained its first banner, and as the years passed this banner had been exposed to many kinds of hard wear. The ladies of the Society complained that the banner looked dilapidated; they did not think much, then, of the fact that the banner in question was the first in the history of the Society, nor of the fact that the same banner had led the way on many a glorious occasion. What they did realize was that the banner was getting old, and like other old things needed to be replaced by something new and fresh. Consequently the Society got a bright new banner. In order to more fully satisfy the ladies, the Society voted itself two silk flags. Now, admitted the ladies, the Society could appear with 9deserved dignity at the Seventeenth of May celebration in 1886. In addition, with the new banner and flags, the Society could appropriately represent Chicago during its summer excursion to Minneapolis, Minnesota. On the occasion of this excursion the Society paid the members' expenses connected with the trip and the stay in Minneapolis. With banners aloft and music in the air the members marched to the depot, and with open arms were received in Minneapolis, where they gave a concert on July 17. Two days later they gave a concert in St. Paul. They were quite pleased to return safely to their dear ones in Chicago.

The last two years had been favorable to the Norwegian Singing Society, both in financial standing and, especially, in regard to renown. In Chicago matters had come to such a pass that a man was hardly considered a good Norwegian unless he was a member of the Norwegian Singing Society. There was a steady influx of new members; at some meetings as many as fifteen to twenty new members joined the Society. Not all of these were good, reliable ones, and time 10and again a "cleaning-out" process, a revision of the membership list, had to take place. In the books one may find dozens of names scratched with the frequently recurring notation in the margin, "on account of debt".

Apparently every undertaking by the Norwegian Singing Association was successful at this time, and quite naturally, the thought of a hall owned by the Society came to the forefront once more. The matter developed so far that a building committee was appointed, and one thousand dollars was put aside as the beginning of a building fund. Thus far the movement developed, but no further. The one thousand dollars was found most convenient to fall back upon at a later date when the Society had reason to say that days were not pleasant.

In 1887 the passive membership had reached one hundred and fifty. Of the money owned by the Society, $1,700 had been invested in City Water Bonds. Besides there was $1,300 cash in the treasury, and the sick-aid treasury held three to 11four hundred dollars. The sums which at this time were passing through the hands of the treasurer were not inconsiderable. To give an example, during the second half of 1890 the Society had an income of $1,362.46 and expenditures of $1,120.84.

The year 1887 witnessed the first great Scandinavian song festival in Philadelphia. During the previous year the Norwegian Singing Society had joined this great movement among the Scandinavian singers in the United States. In 1887 the Singing Society gave two concerts for the benefit of two member singers who had taken ill; each of these concerts netted about $200. Afterwards the singers went on their way east to Philadelphia, forty-eight men strong, the Society having appropriated $100 for traveling expenses. Half a year earlier Mr. T. Lammers had joined the Society and it was a matter of course that he was chosen baritone soloist during the song festival.

The Singers will long remember the reception given them in Philadelphia as 12well as the hospitality accorded them during their stay there. They were, of course, the only singers from the west; no wonder that they were given special care.

As a reward for their singing and in token of the esteem in which they were held, the Singers received a drinking horn which even today revives in the men pleasant memories of this tour to the east. So successful was the Philadelphia song festival in every way that it was decided to hold a similar festival in 1889, this time in Chicago.

During the latter part of 1887 the Norwegian Singing Society had started Sunday concerts and continued these until the summer of 1888. This year saw a chorus of singers one hundred strong, and it was decided to put the brakes on for a while to prevent the chorus from getting unwieldy.

It seemed necessary to gather as much money as possible for the song festival 13in Chicago, and money-making affairs succeeded each other in swift order. A pause was made for the celebration at Battery "D" of the United States' Centennial. The Singers Union had been resurrected, and that Society was at the helm during the centennial celebration.

It had been intended to rent the Auditorium for the Song Festival, but this would not be available until November. Battery "D" had to do service, and here the concert was held and later the banquet. Afterward the tour went to Sharpshooters' Park where nature and freedom were enjoyed. This song festival had been put over primarily by the Singing Society; later this Society had to suffer for it; the honor of having the leadership in the affair cost the Singing Society about twelve hundred dollars.

In 1889 Mr. J. W. Colberg had been the leader of the Norwegian Singing Society for fifteen years. The singers showed their appreciation of his devotion and service to the Society through a valuable present and a joyous banquet.

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The singing societies Bjorgrin, Harmony, and the Norwegian Singing Society were at the time "bosom friends," frequently working together for common ends. They even gave a concert together in Racine; on this occasion they enjoyed themselves greatly besides earning some money for their societies.

The twentieth anniversary of the organization of the Society was celebrated with a brilliant banquet. The day after, however, the Singers awakened with acute headaches; there was a deficit of one hundred dollars in their treasury. In 1891 there were one hundred and five active singers in the Society; in 1893 there were one hundred and twenty-two....but there were rarely more than sixty to seventy at rehearsals. There were also about four hundred passive members in the Society...

The various singing societies now began to prepare for the third Song Festival to be held in Minneapolis in 1891. The Norwegian Singing Society managed to 15build a traveling fund of seven hundred dollars. Four hundred dollars was added from the main treasury of the Society, giving the forty-five singers who went to Minneapolis a substantial aid toward their expenses.

On July 16 the singers from the east came to Chicago where they received the most cordial reception. No doubt there was cheerfulness of a quite noisy kind that evening at Nora Hall. Seven societies had joined in acting host to the out-of-town singers. The following day the whole crowd, hosts and guests, set out for the Mill City where a total of forty-eight singing societies met.

In 1892 the Singing Society held its most successful bazaar. All the honorary members of the Society had been appointed to a committee on arrangements, and the result, $1,400 net, showed that the idea was feasible.

The Exposition year, 1893, brought the fourth and last Song Festival; this 16year the Vikings came to Chicago. The Norwegian Singing Society on this occasion rented a steamer of their own and later on was connected with the meeting at Central Music Hall where the Vikings were presented both to the Scandinavian and to the American public.

As to the Song Festival of this year, it was a success from beginning to end. In spite of this the Scandinavian Singers Union of America ceased to exist the following year, and it is not likely that it will ever be resurrected. The Chicago Union expired about the same time. This Union has a sort of an heir in the Norwegian Singers' Union of Chicago, organized last year....

We have now come so close to the present that it is no longer necessary to give a year by year story of the Society. The Norwegian Singing Society is known by most of our people. The years following the World's Fair were bad not only for individuals but for societies as well. The Norwegian Singing Society escaped the sad lot that befell so many. Among events worth 17mentioning is the singing contest at the Auditorium in 1895 in which several nations participated and where the Norwegian Singing Society received a fine medal for their rendering of "Brudefarden i Hardanger" (The Bridal Procession in Hardanger).

This same year the Society moved from Ericson's Hall which had become too small, to Concordia Hall which henceforth was named Normania Hall. Here the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Society was celebrated with a most successful banquet.