Fearless Fedde Faced America - 1887
Elisabeth Fedde
Introduction
On Christmas Day, 1882, a Norwegian Lutheran deaconess was celebrating her thirty-second birthday when she received a letter from her brother-in-law in America. Gabriel Fedde challenged her to undertake a work among Norwegian Seamen and immigrant families in New York. “If you dare, can, and will,” he added. Elisabeth Fedde was up to the challenge. Next April she arrived in New York. That same day she began a diary that chronicled the ups and downs of her work. Before she returned to Norway in 1895, she had founded hospitals in New York, Minneapolis, and Chicago. Her efforts were not without opposition as is shown by her cryptic entry for this day, February 8, 1887.
Quote
“A terrible board meeting. We gathered in peace and started with prayer and ended with he most vehement outbreak from all sides. Pastor Everson had to express himself…on the bazaar; he aroused the consternation of all and I will say that his strategy was as maliciously laid out as though an enemy had planned it. For myself, I will always remember it, but it should be kept secret. Was out a little in the evening and am in a turmoil.”
Fedde, Elisabeth. Diary. Translated and edited by Beulah Folkedahl.