The 17th of May Committee, 1899.
[View Larger Image Here.]
A. Dahl
H. P. Rude
Erik Frisch
N. A. Christof
Frank Oleson
Jacob A. Henricks


The Norse Club, organized three years ago, has reveled in healthy sunshine, and smiling tendrils have encircled its prop. The 17th of May, 1899, bespeaks its culmination. The celebration of Norwegian independence under its banner was a marked event among the Scandinavians.

Thousands of people gathered at Madison Park, Seattle, from all parts of the Sound, to participate in perpetuating the memory of the Norse heroes. Honor is due to the following gentlemen for launching and piloting this social ship into a haven of safety: H. P. Rude, C. M. Thuland, Frank Oleson, Christian Bolgen, A. J. Thuland, A. H. Soelberg, B. A. Clausen, N. A. Christof, A. Scottness, Theodore Pederson and Julius Sunde.

Fremad, the social wing of the Norwegian Lutheran church, has lived through many upheavals, and yet looks forward with unclouded eyes. The other Scandinavian churches have their inviting adjuncts, but of more recent date, which tender valuable aids to their respective mothers.

Scandinavians in Seattle have been fortunate in having men and women gifted and willing to make the social feature of life entertaining and successful. Of all the gaudy society flowers, no one merits more applause than the genial photographer, James Eggan. He was born in Osterdalen, Norway, 1872, came to America in 1880, locating in the city of Minneapolis. From boyhood he evinced unusual talent as a comedian and as an artist. He could have gathered jewels on the stage as well as in the photographic studio. In 1889, he set out for the Pacific, and after taking a survey of the picturesque Puget Sound, selected Seattle as his future abode. Though only a youth of seventeen, yet he soon invited the attention of the public in both the social and the artistic world. Not only is Mr. Eggan possessed of natural endowments as a photographer and as a reciter, but is a true type of integrity and honesty.


James Eggan
[View Larger Image Here.]