Sacred, Secular, and School Music in the Lives of Germans from Russia and Norwegians in the Dakotas: 1862-1930

After the passing of the Homestead Act in 1862, a large wave of immigrants arrived in Dakota Territory, most of them during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Two of the largest immigrant populations in the Dakotas were the Norwegians and Germans who had spent approximately the last hundred years living in isolated rural colonies in Russia, referred to as Germans from Russia or russlanddeutschen. This document examines the role of music in the lives of these ethnic groups from the 1862 to 1930, and includes the discussion of sacred music, especially hymns, secular music such as folk songs and dance music, and music’s place in the rural one-room schools that their children attended.