Prince Bertil of opens the exhibit "Scandinavian Roots of Our State" at the American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis, May 10, 1958.

Luncheon at the American Swedish Institute, May 10, 1958. From left to right: Algot F. Johnson, chairman of Executive Committee; Prince Bertil; Emerit M. Anson, member of Executive Committee; Ambassador Erik Boheman; Mrs. Algot F. Johnson; Elmer Albinson, Director, American Swedish Institute. Photos: Stanley Berglund MINNESOTA CELEBRATES CENTENNIAL

This issue of The Pioneer features the Minnesota State• hood Centennial which is being celebrated during 1958. Since the Swedish contributions to the history of the North Star State are considerable this magazine wishes to record the highlights of the official celebration in the Twin Cities May 8-11, 1958, where the Swedish delegation played a prominent role. The group was headed by Prince Bertil, third son of the present King of Sweden, Gustaf VI . It also included the Chamberlain to the Prince, Capt. Ove Borlind of the Royal ; the Swedish Ambassador, Erik Bohe• man and Mrs. Boheman; the Swedish Press Counselor, Kjell Öberg and Mrs. Öberg; and Allan Kastrup, general manager of the American Swedish News Exchange in New York. Locally the group was augmented by the Swedish Consul General in Minneapolis, Gösta af Petersens and Mrs. af Petersens and the Swedish Consul, Gustaf Lundh and Mrs. Lundh. The first major event on the program was the visit May 9 to St. Peter, Minn., the seat of College, where the royal party and Governor Orville Freeman of Minnesota were met by Dr. Edgar M. Carlson, President of the college. In perfect spring weather Prince Bertil crowned the Queen of the May of the campus, Miss Jean Hilding of Duluth, and later placed a wreath on the name plate of the late Count Folke Bernadotte at the entrance of the college library bearing his name. At the lunch that followed in the Student Union faculty members of the college conferred an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws upon Prince Bertil. At 5:30 that afternoon Consul General Gösta af Petersens and Mrs. af Petersens entertained the royal group at the 79 Swedish Consulate General and opened a special exhibit of Swedish glass. At noon the following day Prince Bertil opened a special centennial exhibit at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, honoring the Scandinavian element, which set• tled in the state. Entitled "Scandinavian Roots of Our State" and organized by Elmer Albinson, director of the Institute, it traced the beginnings of Scandinavian immigra• tion to Minnesota and depicted in a graphic manner the various influences it has had upon its development. A lunch, given by the Board of the Institute followed, arranged by Mrs. Elmer Albinson, Mrs. George R. Anderson and Mrs. Stanley Berglund. Presiding at the lunch was Algot F. Johnson, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Institute. The high point in the four day festivities so far as the Swedish part was concerned was the official dinner for Prince Bertil at Hotel Radisson, that evening. A committee composed of Consul General af Petersens, Consul Lundh, Algot F. Johnson, C. Albert Carlson, Dr. Hamlin Mattson and Mrs. Emil Berglund, had been hard at work for weeks to organize and plan this event. The address by Dr. Alrik Gustafson, of the University of Minnesota, is reproduced elsewhere in this magazine, as is also the talk given by Prince Bertil. Sunday evening May 11 the festivities ended in St. Paul, where Americans of Swedish background played an im• portant role in the Festival of Nations in the St. Paul Audi• torium. An attractive exhibit of Swedish industrial wares held the interest of thousands of visitors. This was followed by a Swedish folk dancing group which gave an exhibition of Swedish folk dancing.

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