Ozark Scandinavian Society
of Springfield Missouri
Recent Newsletter
Back issues can be requested using the email address below. Also, many past issues can be found on the new OSSSM website at osssm.org
March Newsletter
Local Scandinavian influence
A Springfield News Leader article in the 1950s discussed the last days of a church building that was originally the God’s Church of Swedes before urban renewal caused removal of the church. The church was established in October of 1886 by a group of recent immigrants from Sweden. It was a Swedish speaking church until the mid-1920s when the church property was sold to the Presbyterian Church.
Many of the members of the church lived in “Little Sweden” an area in Springfield near Scott and Grant. At its peak Little Sweden had 50 to 60 families. One of the prominent members of the community was the long serving president of the Springfield Park Board, Oscar Blom, a first generation Swede. Oscar’s father and two other young men emigrated from Sweden and settled in Verona, Missouri, before moving to Springfield.
The Springfield Art Museum is home to one of the largest collections of etchings from the Swedish artist, Anders Zorn. Although Zorn was an avid portrait painter he is world renowned for his work with etchings. He produced over 289 etchings during his career and the Springfield Art Museum is home to 93 of those etchings.
An excerpt from the History of Swedish Baptist Churches of Kansas and Missouri 1869-1927 by P. Lovene tells of the establishment of a Swedish speaking Baptist church near Verona, Missouri, in 1872 with the beginning of a Sunday School. A church building was constructed in 1886 and a new structure was built in 1904. The church was served by numerous Swedish speaking pastors until around 1921 when the English speaking church and Swedish speaking Baptist churches merged with the better located Swedish Church becoming the church home. A booklet was created in 1968 by the Historical Committee of the Verona Centennial in which mention is made that the current Verona Baptist church is the successor to the merged churches. A city representative of Verona has verified that the structure still exists but with significant renovations.
