PIA VISCOR

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Emigration from Jystrup and Valsølille

The Bridge, Vol. 25, n. 1, 2002, p. 11-45.

This investigation is based on traditional emigration history methods and analyses, but a substantial contribution to the results is also based on information about every emigrant's family and social status, and religious background. The conclusions, I was able to draw on the micro level, were in good agreement with the overall emigration historical theories.

The investigation shows, moreover, that with roots in a massive emigration of Baptists, an emigration tradition was created in the area. By using 4 well defined criteria, 80% of the emigrants can be shown to pull each other over the Atlantic Ocean in one long emigration chain.

Danish immigration to Racine County, Wisconsin

- a detailed study of the pull-effect as it developed in the nineteenth century.

Published in Danish as

De drog til Racine

Den danske indvandring til Racine County, Wisconsin, USA

- et detailstudie af pull-effekten som den udfoldede sig i 1800-tallet

Publisher: Books on Demand GmbH, København, Danmark, 2007

ISBN 978-87-7691-218-5

Prize 79 Dkr.

English version in preparation

This investigation aims to describe and analyse the continuity of Danish immigration to Racine County and demonstrate the probable influence of chain-migration on the whole pattern of Danish immigration to the area.

The first Danes to find their way to Racine arrived in the 1840s and subsequent Danish settlement in the region rests on this. Chain-migration, which began early and led to traditions of emigration from Sorø, Maribo and Hjørring Counties, shaped a distinctive pattern of Danish immigration to Racine throughout the period of mass immigration.

The earliest Danish settlers in Racine were the founders of subsequent waves of immigration. The foundation of the first Danish Baptist Church in the United States in Raymond, Racine Country in 1856 and the First Scandinavian Baptist Church in Racine City in 1864, had the effect of attracting dissenting immigrants especially from Sorø and Hjørring Counties.

Throughout the period of mass immigration, Racine remained an attractive goal for Danish emigrants, despite a general tendency in Danish immigration for emigrants to head for destinations further west. The investigation reveals that although Racine was a focal point for Danish immigration to the U.S.A. and continues to reflect this, it became a springboard from which Danish immigrants spread to other parts of the United States. A number made Racine their first stop, but stayed only a few years before moving on to further destinations.

This investigation will contribute to Danish-American emigration history through describing the course of Danish emigration to a specific American settlement, and at the same time by presenting an explanation for its distinctive characteristics. Danish emigration to Racine can be traced back to religious motives, a phenomenon which until now has only been taken into consideration in connection with the emigration of Mormons.

I'm heading for America

A travel diary and 20 emigrant letters written by Jens Christian Andersen

Published in Danish as

Jeg tager til Amerika

En rejsedagbog og en samling udvandrerbreve fra Racine, Wisconsin, USA

Publisher: Books on Demand GmbH, København, Danmark, 2007

ISBN 978-87-7691-217-8

Prize: 119 Dkr.

English verison in preparation

In 1894 a 17 years old man left Denmark heading for Racine, Wisconsin.

On his way from Denmark to America he wrote a diary, and within the first 9 months after he arrived to Racine, he sent 20 letters back to his parents.

In this book, the full text of the diary and the letters is published with comments.

The content of the letters is unique compared to other emigrant letters. Jens Christian Andersen describes in details the society of Racine in 1894-95.