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By John Johnson
President, House of Norway, 1935-1954 and 1959
San Diego played host to the California International Exposition for two years, in 1935 and 1936. A major part of this Exposition was an International group known as the House of Pacific Relations. The membership in this organization was composed of national groups in the local area that were to be free of any international or fraternal ties, in order to function independently within the framework of the Exposition.
In 1934, Sons of Norway was invited to select a committee to accept a cottage in the House of Pacific Relations, to be known as the House of Norway. This committee was to function independently of the Sons of Norway and to elect their own set of officers. After much deliberation as to guidelines, the following committee was selected to look into the proposition and accept if it met their approval. Those selected were John Johnson, Eglund Mathiesen and Hanna Benson. After several meetings with the Exposition Board, we accepted the cottage to be known as the House of Norway.
In January 1935 the following were elected to serve as officers: John Johnson, president; Eglund Methiesen, vice president; Clara Bogstie, secretary; Olof Bogstie, treasurer; Hanna Benson, secretary of hostesses; and Iver Gellien as trustee. This corps of officers complied with the House of Pacific Relations rules.
From then on we set about to recruit members and dollars to furnish the House, which we did very nicely with a generous contribution from the then Norwegian Vice Consul Olaf Engebretsen and his wife. Next duty was to set the date for our grand opening, which was to be before June 1, 1935.
The House of Norway was officially dedicated on a Sunday afternoon in April 1935. Present were Norway’s Consul Nielsen from Los Angeles; Vice Consul Engebretsen of San Diego; Pastor Towe, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church; Edw. Pedersen, president of Sons of Norway; Raymond Johnson, president, School Board; Frank Drugan, manager of the Exposition; and many visitors from both the church and various Norwegian orders. After this we set about to have our House ready for the opening of the Exposition on June 1, 1935.
Our obligation to the Exposition was to be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, furnishing two costumed hostesses at all times, who were to enlighten the visitors about Norway, and on occasion serve a cup of coffee. This was accomplished by the good work of the volunteer hostesses recruited by Hanna Benson. We were also obligated to present a Norwegian program of 90 minutes duration on two days each year. This we did very creditably. We were also to participate in all social functions given for visiting dignitaries, of which there were many. The House of Norway fulfilled every obligation until the end of the Exposition, receiving a special commendation for outstanding service.
The Exposition officially closed in November 1936, but we of the House of Pacific Relations felt our purpose in International Relations must be carried on, having in mind what President Franklin D. Roosevelt said when he visited the House of Pacific Relations group in 1936: "This organization must never be allowed to die, and must be perpetuated."
Therefore, shortly after the close of the Exposition, the officers of the active cottages got together and formed a committee to contact the City of San Diego to acquire the use of the cottages in order to carry on our useful purpose, as the House of Pacific Relations of Balboa Park. After many meetings with the City, we were finally granted a lease contract for an indefinite period of time for a token sum of $75 per year for the entire group of 15 cottages.
Soon after we set about to reorganize the cottage groups and elect a board of officers. A meeting was held in June 1937. Elected were: John Johnson, House of Norway, president; Hans P. Jepsen, Denmark, vice president; H.P.L. Beck, Denmark, secretary; and James Tarantino, House of Italy, treasurer. This new board, with appointed assistants, proceeded to get every cottage reactivated.
The climax of the reorganization was a huge fiesta held on November 1, 1937 in which every cottage group participated fully with programs, dance, and refreshments. This was held at the House of Hospitality in Balboa Park. It was a great success and it forged us all together as a unit. We then proclaimed that a program such as this should be an annual event on the first Saturday of November, and called The Fiesta of Nations.
The House of Pacific Relations flourished and became a credit to Balboa Park and the City, for which we received several commendations.
Our functions were interrupted by World War II. On December 7 we were notified by the City that the Army was moving into the park buildings, to arrive by noon. This entailed quite a job to contact all the cottage presidents about vacating the cottages. In order to expedite the removal, we had two large moving vans move all the contents, properly tagged, to a warehouse for distribution.
This interruption lasted until 1947. However, the Organization was held together by occasional meetings elsewhere. It was then necessary to renegotiate the lease with the City, which was rather routine since we had an excellent performance record.
We reoccupied the House in 1947, moving into a clean, new cottage which we later redecorated in Norwegian motif, also furnishing it with hand-made country-type furniture purchased in Oslo for us by one of our members, Mrs. Ralph Bergstad, and shipped to us free of charge by the Fred Olsen Line.
With the new decor and furniture, the House of Norway was re-opened to the public, but instead of being open every day, was now required to be open only on Sundays from 2 to 5 p.m. Also a lawn program is presented yearly on the Sunday nearest to the 17th of May. This program is very popular with the public, as it consists of Norwegian dance and music, as well as a "barnetog" with the children carrying Norwegian flags. This is also a great time for many of the local Norwegians to get together for a cup of coffee and Norwegian goodies.
The House of Norway continues to serve in the true example of Norwegian hospitality, and for the purpose of extending the education, harmony and good will to all our visitors.
(John Johnson, the author of the above article, died on February 6, 1989.)