Exploring the Scandinavian Woman with Ida and Mina Nancy L. Coleman, Eva-Marie Syversen, Anne Kari Vasaasen
This is the remarkable story of two sisters who immigrated to the United States from Norway and became pioneers in the field of journalism.
The Jensen Girls from Ringsaker Ida Hermanna Jensen was born August 13, 1853, and her sister Mina (Wilhelmina Amalia) Jensen on October 2, 1857, daughters of Anne Pedersdatter Kjos (1824-1908) and Vern Jensen Tande (1819-1882). They were born at Vesle Ringsaker farm near Ringsaker Church in Hedmark, where they lived until 1863, when the family moved to Kommerstad farm in Veldre parish. In May 1870, Anne, Vern, and their four youngest children immigrated to America, sailing on bark Nordlyset with about 215 passengers. The journey was arduous. The trip took three months, they sailed into a terrible storm, eight children died on the crossing, and passengers ran out of food and water. Anne Kjos was a generous woman. She had given much of their food to poorer passengers and had given away the remainder the morning the ship sailed by Newfoundland. People on the shore threw bags of food to the ship. Anne Kjos said that food had never tasted better! The three eldest sons had emigrated a few years before and were working in Minooka, Illinois. The Jensens settled in Chicago, but in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire broke out, and the Jensens lost all their belongings. On January 8, 1875, Ida married Niels Frederick Hansen (1854-1935), a Dane from Flensburg, and settled in Chicago. The couple had seven children, and in 1882, they moved to Davenport, Iowa, then to Kendall Park outside Cedar Rapids in 1884. Here they started a publishing business, and Mina joined them in the work. In 1904, Ida and Niels moved to California, where they lived the rest of their lives. Ida died in 1938. Mina eventually left the publishing business, serving as postmistress, then running a grocery store in Texas. She spent her last years with her nephew Nelson in Nebraska, and died there in 1941.
Vol. 21, No. 1 2023
The Monthly Magazine Kvinden og Hjemmet In Kendall Park, Niels Hansen founded a magazine called Fra alle Lande (From all Countries), and Ida wrote the column, “For Husmoderen” (For the Housewife). That magazine folded in 1888. Ida had seen that women appreciated her column, and it did not take long before she and Mina decided to start a magazine for women. They named it Kvinden og Hjemmet, and published the first issue in May 1888, with Ida as editor and Mina as typesetter. Both in American and Norwegian journalism history, Kvinden og Hjemmet was a pioneering venture, a rare example of an enterprise created and run by women, for women. The largest women´s magazine in the United States, Ladies’ Home Journal, was founded 1883 by Louise Knapp. Similar to Kvinden og Hjemmet, it was developed from a column, “Women and Home” in the weekly newspaper Tribune and Farmer, originally written by Louisa´s husband Cyrus Curtis. Louisa took over that column and soon developed it into a supplement and then a magazine. She served as editor only until 1889, when Edward Bok succeeded her. Except for a husband-and-wife team 1935-1962, the editors were men until 1973. By contrast, Ida Hansen served as editor of Kvinden og Hjemmet for 50 of its 60 years, and subsequent editors were all women. Two magazines in Norway are akin to Kvinden og Hjemmet – Nylænde, founded in 1887 by the Norwegian Association for Women’s Rights (Norsk kvinnesaksforening) with Gina Krog as editor, and Urd, founded in 1897 by journalist sisters Anna and Cecilie Bøe. Nylænde focused on women’s organizations and followed the American movement closely. Like Kvinden og Hjemmet, Urd supported progressive policies and public education to liberate women. Translated articles from Ladies’ Home Journal, Nylænde, and Urd appeared in Kvinden og Hjemmet. In 1902, the magazine founded its own women’s organization, Freja, with Ida Hansen as president. Its objective was to empower women. Goals,
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