Babel Proclamation

Sometimes when I'm sitting at my computer pouring over hard-to-read records, or looking at books and maps in an archive or library, or when I find an old photo or visit a grave site of one of our ancestors, I wish I could have one day, one experience, with them.

What was their life really like in Sweden? How did they make the difficult decision to migrate? Why did they choose the prairies of the Midwest? How difficult was it for them to assimilate? To learn the English language and customs? To decide to be naturalized? What was important to them? Were they knowledgeable about politics? Did they vote? How did they feel about the issues of their day? The Civil War? Women's Suffrage? Temperance?

Some family historians are fortunate to have letters or diaries written by their ancestors that give a better picture of their struggles and thoughts and hopes. We have very few items that were written by our direct line. And so, we have to rely on what others wrote, soldiers who served with Gus in the Civil War, people who endured the hardship of the Atlantic crossing at the same time our ancestors did, who lived through prairie fires and tornadoes in the early days of their time in a new country, and, as we saw in last week's post, an autobiography written by a distant family member.

Recently, I learned about a proclamation that was signed by an Iowa governor, William L. Harding (1917-1921). Harding's tenure as a Republican governor was during the first World War. President Wilson had declared that "the world must be made safe for democracy" and that "millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy live amongst us...Should there be any disloyalty it will be dealt with a firm hand of repression."

Governor Harding decided that the way to keep Iowans safe was to force immediate assimilation and loyalty and, thus, he formulated the Babel Proclamation that determined that NO foreign language could be used in any public setting. Not in churches, schools, on the telephone, or in public. Foreign newspapers were forced out of business. The proclamation was signed on May 23, 1918, just before Frank and Peter Linn entered Camp Dodge and their service in World War I.

Catholic masses could no longer be given in Latin. The town of Berlin was renamed Lincoln. In Audubon, Iowa, a German man was dragged through the town square until he agreed to buy War Bonds. Some have said that Iowa became the most intolerant state in the entire United States for all immigrants. A copy of the proclamation wording can be found here. And another article about its impact here.

Wording of the Babel Proclamation

This proclamation was clearly aimed at Germans. And, it might not seem as if the proclamation would have any impact on our ancestors, but I would argue that it did. How well did Elin Andersson Linn speak English? What about her parents and siblings? Did Olivia Rask Olofson or her sister Brita, Olof Olofson's second wife, speak English? (NOTE: In the 1910 US Federal Census, Elin is reported as speaking English; Brita, speaking Swedish; Olivia speaking English; Anna Anderson, English. These are all SELF reported and don't indicate a level of competence.). And even if they did speak and understand English, they certainly would have been more comfortable speaking Swedish and reading Swedish newspapers, going to Swedish churches. Were they fearful of being in public? What about the Swedish ME churches? Some, maybe most, of the services were conducted only in Swedish. My own Czech/Bohemian great-grandmother never spoke English. Would this have kept her isolated during this time?

Perhaps it was Veryl Olofson (I can't remember at this moment) who told me that he had learned enough Swedish to be able to work in a store in Dayton that catered to Swedish clientele. That would have been in the 1930's or even later. And so, even then, some Swedish immigrants either didn't have a command of the English language, or they preferred to conduct their business in Swedish, their native tongue.

Governor Harding took a great deal of criticism over the Babel Proclamation, but amazingly, many fraternal organizations (Czech and Scandinavian and others), newspapers, and churches ended up supporting it. The Proclamation was rescinded in December 1918, but many believe that the intolerance that built up in Iowa during the last half of 1918 carried on for years, giving rise to a Ku Klux Klan movement in the state.

I often do wonder about my own ancestors and how they viewed the issues of the day. Were any of our ancestors living in fear during the time the Babel Proclamation was in force? This is one more example of what I would talk with them about, ask them about, if I only could.