Camp Little Norway Club, Chicago

viii p h o t o g r a p h f e a t u r e Camp Little Norway Club, Chicago Deborah Miller During World War II, many in Chicago’s Norwegian community threw themselves into supporting the Norwegian war effort. To aid the Toronto-­ based Camp Little Norway, where Norwegian airmen trained for Norway’s air force, forty-­ eight men organized the Camp Little Norway Club of Chicago (CLNCC) on November 3, 1941. Its aim was to collect gifts and funds for Norway’s armed forces. Most of the members were what the secretary described as “Little Fellows—­ tradesmen and professional men and their families,” so the dues were set at $1 a year. The work of the Camp Little Norway Club of Chicago was divided between men’s and women’s efforts. The men organized fund drives and charity events, using meeting space at the Chicago Norske Klub at no charge. They sold stamps from the American Friends of Norway with pictures of a very young Prince Harald to help supply the Free Norwegian Fighting Forces with medical supplies. During 1 Figure 1. American and Norwegian flags followed the banner of the Camp Little Norway Club of Chicago as men, women, and children, some in Norwegian costumes, marched in Chicago’s Seventeenth of May parade, ca. 1941­ –­ 1944. From the Hermana Rye Haugan papers, 1906–­ 1993 (P908). Courtesy of the Norwegian-­ American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota. 2 photograph feature the five-­ year life of the club, they raised some $45,000 in cash to donate to the Norwegian cause. The women helped supply the demand for knitting, especially wool socks, for the Norwegian armed forces. Some of the money raised by the men went to buy yarn for the women to use. Groups of women, including Daughters of Norway lodges, Ladies Aids, and the eleven women who informally organized Mina’s Knitting Club, met in each others’ homes to knit. At one point the knitters asked their leader, Hermana Rye Haugan, to inquire whether other woolen goods were needed along with socks, but the response from Olav Sørensen, welfare officer of the Royal Norwegian Air Force in Toronto, was clear: “Our continual need is socks.” The CLNCC report in 1946, which summarized its history and accomplishments after it closed down, noted that Chicago women had knitted and sent the following items to Camp Little Norway: 205 sweaters, 1,477 pairs of socks, 67 pairs of wristlets, 160 scarves, and 75 chest warmers. The preferred stockings were Badger Socks No. 1019. The women also hosted fundraising events such as a talk by Sigrid Undset. Figure 2. A cardboard membership card of the Camp Little Norway Club of Chicago includes the names of the club’s president, financial secretary, and corresponding secretary in 1944, along with the name and address of the member. From the Hermana Rye Haugan papers, 1906–­ 1993 (P908). Courtesy of the Norwegian-­ American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota. 3 camp little norway club, chicago After the war ended in 1945, Norwegian-­ American groups continued to organize aid to Norwegians in Norway, who were in great need of clothing, food, and other necessities. The CLNCC sustained its efforts into 1946. A larger Chicago women’s group called Kle Norge Bua (Clothe Norway Shop) collected fifty thousand pounds of mostly used clothing to send to Norway, each piece of which had Figure 3. The American Friends of Norway pictured curly-­ haired Prince Harald, age 9, heir to the throne of Norway, on the victory stamps they sold to help purchase medical supplies for the Norwegian forces. From the Hermana Rye Haugan papers, 1906–­ 1993 (P908). Courtesy of the Norwegian-­ American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota. Figure 4. The pattern used by hundreds of Chicago’s Norwegian women to knit socks for the airmen at Camp Little Norway. From the Hermana Rye Haugan papers, 1906–­ 1993 (P908). Courtesy of the Norwegian-­ American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota. 4 photograph feature to be sorted, repaired, cleaned, packed, and shipped. The value placed on the donated clothing was $150,000. Records in the Norwegian-­ American Historical Association archives that document these efforts and more include the Hermana Rye Haugan papers, the...

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