“Everyone is Norwegian on the Seventeenth of May” The Celebration of May 17th in Seattle 1945-2009 Siri Høie MA Thesis in History, submitted to the Institute of Archaeology, Conservation and History UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Fall 2010 Photo of illustration: Siri Høie Seattle; May 17, 2009. ii Contents CONTENTS _____________________________________________________________________________________ III FIGURES AND TABLES _______________________________________________________________________ VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ____________________________________________________________________ VIII 1 INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________________________________ 1 Approaches and Research Questions ___________________________________________________________ 2 Why Study National Celebrations beyond the Country of Origin? ___________________________________ 3 Why Norwegian Americans in Seattle? ________________________________________________________ 3 An Historical Outline of Norwegian May 17th ___________________________________________________ 4 An Historical Outline of the Focus of Migration History ___________________________________________ 5 Immigrant? Ethnic? Definition_____________________________________________________________ 6 Previous Research ___________________________________________________________________________ 7 A Theoretical Approach ______________________________________________________________________ 9 Ritual –an Anthropological Approach? ________________________________________________________ 9 The Interpretation of Symbols____________________________________________________________ 11 Key Symbol ___________________________________________________________________________ 12 What is the Nation? ______________________________________________________________________ 13 Invented Traditions? ___________________________________________________________________ 15 Nationalism and the Ethnic Perspective ____________________________________________________ 15 The Methodical Approach ___________________________________________________________________ 17 Sources and Limitations ___________________________________________________________________ 17 Finding Information ______________________________________________________________________ 18 The Interviews ___________________________________________________________________________ 18 Reflections on the Interviews ____________________________________________________________ 19 The Aspect of Time ____________________________________________________________________ 20 Participating Observation __________________________________________________________________ 20 Presentation of the Chapters and Structure _____________________________________________________ 21 2 NORWEGIAN SEATTLE ________________________________________________________________ 22 Why Seattle and the Northwest?______________________________________________________________ 23 The Development of Seattle and Ballard _______________________________________________________ 24 iii Norwegian Migration to Seattle _____________________________________________________________ 25 Norwegian Emigration and Settlement after the Second World War _______________________________ 27 Norwegian Ethnic Organizations ______________________________________________________________ 28 The 17th of May ____________________________________________________________________________ 31 Americanization and Xenophobia ___________________________________________________________ 32 3 1945-1973: AN EXCLUSIVE EVENT? _________________________________________________ 34 Organization and Arrangement _______________________________________________________________ 34 Participants _____________________________________________________________________________ 36 Spectators ______________________________________________________________________________ 37 What type of audience? ___________________________________________________________________ 39 Program __________________________________________________________________________________ 40 Evening Program _________________________________________________________________________ 43 National Symbols in the Celebration. __________________________________________________________ 44 Use of Language _________________________________________________________________________ 45 What type of Celebration? ___________________________________________________________________ 46 Speeches _________________________________________________________________________________ 48 Group Cohesion- Homeland Myth ___________________________________________________________ 48 Ethnicity and Civic Nationalism _____________________________________________________________ 51 Different Nations- Same Goals? _____________________________________________________________ 52 Public Debate –Unity or Diversity? ____________________________________________________________ 53 The new Ethnicity __________________________________________________________________________ 55 Summary and Concluding Remarks ____________________________________________________________ 57 4 1974-2009 AN INCLUSIVE EVENT? __________________________________________________ 59 Ethnic Revival or Symbolic Ethnicity? __________________________________________________________ 59 The new Ethnicity and the 17th of May _______________________________________________________ 63 Organization and Arrangement _______________________________________________________________ 64 Ethnic Background of Committee Members ___________________________________________________ 66 Participants _______________________________________________________________________________ 67 Spectators ________________________________________________________________________________ 68 Program __________________________________________________________________________________ 70 iv Luncheon and Patriotic Program ____________________________________________________________ 70 Ethnic Symbols in the Patriotic Program ____________________________________________________ 73 Speeches _______________________________________________________________________________ 74 Historic Content of the Celebration _______________________________________________________ 75 Similar Nations, same Goals? ____________________________________________________________ 76 National Identity: Norwegian or American? ________________________________________________ 76 The Parade ________________________________________________________________________________ 78 Norwegian Elements in the Parade __________________________________________________________ 79 American Elements in the Parade ___________________________________________________________ 82 Local elements in the Parade _______________________________________________________________ 84 What type of Participants? ___________________________________________________________________ 84 What type of Celebration? ___________________________________________________________________ 86 Public debate- or Media Coverage _____________________________________________________________ 87 Summary and Concluding Remarks ____________________________________________________________ 88 5 THE CELEBRATION OF MAY 17TH- MICRO PERSPECTIVES _____________________ 90 Finding Informants _________________________________________________________________________ 90 The Function of the Celebration ______________________________________________________________ 92 Entertainment ___________________________________________________________________________ 93 Competition ____________________________________________________________________________ 94 Community and Unity _____________________________________________________________________ 95 The Social Aspect ________________________________________________________________________ 95 Memory and Identity _____________________________________________________________________ 96 The Meaning of the Celebration ______________________________________________________________ 98 A Norwegian and/or an American Celebration?_________________________________________________ 100 A Seattle Celebration? ___________________________________________________________________ 101 Other Ethnic Events _____________________________________________________________________ 103 4th of July Celebrations _____________________________________________________________________ 104 The use of Flags _________________________________________________________________________ 105 Nationality _______________________________________________________________________________ 107 What they Label Themselves ______________________________________________________________ 110 Summary and Concluding Remarks ___________________________________________________________ 111 v 6 CONCLUSION _________________________________________________________________________ 112 Attachment to the Country of Origin __________________________________________________________ 112 Concepts of the Norwegian and American Nations ______________________________________________ 113 National Symbols _________________________________________________________________________ 114 The Function of the Celebration _____________________________________________________________ 115 Why have Norwegian Descendants in Seattle Maintained the Tradition of Celebrating the Norwegian Constitution Day? _________________________________________________________________________ 117 Micro Perspectives on the Celebration: 1945-2009 and the Future _________________________________