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Resources
The Crumley Archives offers many educational and interpretive services, including archivist conducted research and workshops upon request. Please contact us to discuss your educational and archival needs.
Onsite consultation is also available. Our staff is able to assist during scheduled appointments to share information about: preserving and maintaining records, organizing materials, and preparing resources for public access. Individuals may also request that our staff visit your church to learn about: preserving and maintaining its own records, archival standards and best practices, as well as learning about what documents are most valuable.
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Lutheran Ethnic Groups
These study aids to materials in the Crumley Archives are intended for use by students of the "Lutheranism in North America" course at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, but may be useful to other researchers as well.
The Danes
The Danes came to America later and in fewer numbers than the Norwegians, originally settling in Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Starting with the first Danish congregation in 1851 in Racine, Wisconsin, they initially founded distinctly Danish congregations, institutions and schools when their numbers were great enough. There were two pronounced divisions of Danish Lutherans: 1) the followers of Nikolai F.S. Grundtvig who made up the Danish Lutheran Church and because of the tone of their piety were called the Happy Danes, and 2) the members of the United Church and Inner Mission group who were called Holy or Sad Danes, also because of the tone of their piety. The Grundtvigians and Danish Church supported the continuation of the Danish culture and language in America. The United Church favored using English and assimilating into American culture. Today there are over 1.5 million Americans of Danish descent, with the greatest concentrations found in California and Utah. More than other Scandinavians, they have been absorbed into the American "melting pot." Danish Lutherans were part of the United Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church which dropped the word "Danish" in 1946 and later joined the American Lutheran Church in 1960.
Click here for a description of resources currently available in the Crumley Archives
The following websites contain additional information on the Danes:
German Lutherans of the Midwest
After the English, Germans were the largest and most influential immigrant group in Colonial America. From their original seaboard settlements in New York, Pennsylvania and down to the Carolinas, they pushed into the Midwest to colonize the Mississippi River Valley. Along the way, they organized Lutheran synods in Ohio (1818), Buffalo (1845), Missouri (1847), Wisconsin (1850) and Iowa (1854). Unlike other immigrants, there was no German government sending them to the New World. Remarkably, they came unsponsored on their own--families in search of a better life.
Click here for a description of resources currently available in the Crumley Archives
The following websites contain additional information on the German Lutherans of the Midwest:
The Norwegians
In the 1800's Norwegians were the second most numerous immigrants to America after the Irish, as they emerged from centuries of political and social domination by Sweden and Denmark. They settled in the upper Midwest, Texas, Seattle and Brooklyn. Their church life until the Civil War had much in common with the Ohio Synod. As their numbers increased to sustain their own congregations and synods, they left behind initial alliances with Germans, Swedes and Danes. Although united by dialects of a common language and by common hymns, catechetical instruction and devotional books, they nevertheless represented the full spectrum from the most Pietist low church (Eielsen Synod, Hauge’s Synod) to the most orthodox high church (Norwegian Synod), with the United Norwegian Lutheran Church in America representing the middle.
Click here for a description of resources currently available in the Crumley Archives
The following websites contain additional information on the Norwegians:
The Salzburgers
Georgia's Lutheran Salzburgers were exiled from Austria and recruited at Augsburg in August 1733 to settle at Ebenezer near Savannah, Georgia. Despite huge hardships, they became Georgia's most successful settlers. The major Salzburger collections are located at Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Rincon, GA; the University of Georgia Library in Athens; and the Georgia Historical Society in Savannah.
Click here for a description of resources currently available in the Crumley Archives
Click here for a detailed Reports on the Salzburger Emigrants Who Settled in America
The following websites contain additional information on the Salzburgers:
The Swedes
Swedish Lutherans first came to the New World in 1638, encouraged by their late king Gustavus Adolphus. They settled in the Delaware River Valley of eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware. The second wave came 200 years later when Sweden started experiencing "America Fever," as its citizens searched for land and an escape from rigid class society, heavy taxes and compulsory military service. By 1870, there were 97,000 in America, with thousands more on the way. Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota were their primary destinations. Unlike many ethnic groups, they stayed together. They formed the Augustana Synod.
Click here for a description of resources currently available in the Crumley Archives
The following websites contain additional information on the Swedes:
Rev. Dr. Scott H. Hendrix Scholarship
The Rev. Dr. Scott H. Hendrix Scholarship was established in Fall 2021 to recognize the significant contributions Dr. Hendrix has made to Lutheran church history and to ensure that work will continue to be done to encourage and fund scholarship and research.
The scholarship is awarded annually to Region 9 ELCA seminarians, leaders, or laity conducting significant research in Lutheran church history at the Crumley Archives.
The deadline for applications is April 21, 2024. Any questions can be directed to crumleyarchivist@gmail.com, or by calling 803-461-3234.