This photograph shows a picture of the Augsburg Seminary student body standing in front of Old Main in February 1918. The panoramic photograph allows you to see some of the homes in the surrounding neighborhood. In the 1870s, the Conference for the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly called ""the Conference,"" called two young men to serve as professors at its school, Augsburg Seminary. Sven Oftedal began in 1873, and Georg Sverdrup in 1874.These two men defined the institution and its supporting congregations for the next several decades. Their vision of Augsburg Seminary was for a cohesive nine year program: a two year academy, a four year college, and a three year seminary. In 1890, the Conference merged with the Norwegian Augustana Synod and a breakaway group from the Norwegian Synod known as the ""Anti-Missourian Brotherhood"" to form the United Norwegian Lutheran Church. Augsburg was to be the seminary of the new church body, but a controversy soon developed over the role of Augsburg's college department vis-a-vis St. Olaf College which has been loosely associated with the Anti-Missourian Brotherhood. Known as the ""Augsburg Controversy,"" contentious court battles went to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Eventually, Augsburg Seminary and its supporters formed a new church body in 1897 called the Lutheran Free Church. Front of photograph reads: Augsburg Seminary, Feb. 1918, Craft Studio. Back of photograph reads: Old Main Building.
The daily chapel service at Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary was held in the former dining room and solarium of Passavant Hall, the past residence of the Charles Pillsbury family. In keeping with the rest of the Tudor style home, the refurbished chapel retained the original paneling, stained glass, and plank flooring. Seminary students of the period (1940-1967) remember fondly the beauty and uniqueness of these spaces. Back of photograph reads: NLTS chapel at S. Mpls site ca. 1960.
Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary was justly proud of its music and arts program including its choral activities. The choir recorded albums and toured regularly. Pictured conducting is Robert Paul Wetzler, director of the choir and noted sacred music composer and publisher. Later, Kathryn Ulvilden Moen, a professionally trained organist and choir director, would take on this dual role with great success. Back of photograph reads: Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary Choir, Minneapolis, Robert Paul Wetzler, director, Ray Hanson, manager.
Pictured here is the United Church Seminary's first building at the corner of Franklin Avenue and 26th Avenuein Minneapolis. The United Norwegian Lutheran Church was formed in 1890 by a merger of the Anti-Missourian Brotherhood, the Norwegian Augustana Synod, and the Conference for the Norwegian-Danish Lutheran Church in America, commonly known as ""the Conference."" The Conference brought its Augsburg Seminary to the merger and it was to become the seminary of the new church body. The formerly independent St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn, was made a college of the new church. But Augsburg was a nine-year school (two years preparatory, four years college, and three years seminary) and a controversy soon developed over the future of Augsburg's four-year college vis-a-vis St. Olaf. Augsburg was incorporated with an independent board of trustees which when presented with an ultimatum refused to turn control of the seminary over to the United Church while the college question was unsettled. The United Church formed a new seminary in 1893. After a bitter court battle, the supporters of Augsburg formed a new denomination in 1897, the Lutheran Free Church, with Augsburg as its college and seminary. Front of photograph reads: U.C. Seminary 1893-1901. Back of photograph reads: M.E. Waldeland, donor, son Olaf Waldeland.
This Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary building was named for Dr. G. H. (George Henry) Gerberding, first president of the Northwest Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America and one of the four original Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary professors to leave Maywood Seminary, Chicago, in 1920. Gerberding Hall had been one of the Crosby family homes. The Crosby family was involved in the Minneapolis milling industry. Back of photograph reads: Gerberding Hall, late 50's, NLTS residence, [photo] #14.
From 1922-1940 Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary was located in Northeast Minneapolis in this building at 1018 19th Avenue North East. Following a split with Maywood Seminary in Chicago in 1920, Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary, with strong support from the Northwest Synod of the United Lutheran Church in America, moved with its student body of 34 and its faculty of four, first to Fargo, North Dakota, and by 1922 to Minneapolis. Front of photograph reads: Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary, 1018 19th Ave. N.E., Minneapolis, Minn. Back of photograph reads: Rev. P.H. Roth, 18 & Dupont Ave. NE, Minneapolis, Minn.
Jensen Hall, which included the Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary library, was named for J.K. Jensen, long-time treasurer of the seminary and of the Synod of the Northwest. This mansion, the Alfred Pillsbury family home, was acquired in a second round of property purchases in the South Minneapolis area near the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary now had several buildings in the same area, thus creating a more integrated, cohesive campus. Back of photograph reads: Jensen Hall Library
Controversy over the doctrine of election (or predestination) rocked the Norwegian Synod in the 1880s. A group called the "Anti-Missourian Brotherhood" split off from the Synod and formed its own seminary in Northfield, Minn. The Norwegian Synod then moved its seminary, Luther Seminary, to Robbinsdale, Minn., in 1888. The seminary was housed in the building depicted here which was destroyed by fire in 1895. After the fire, Luther Seminary temporarily met nearby at the Hotel Georgia.
Old Main, dated 1900, was built for Augsburg Seminary, the seminary of the Conference for the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly called ""the Conference."" In 1897, after the ""Augsburg Controversy,"" Augsburg Seminary and its supporters formed a new church body called the Lutheran Free Church. Augsburg Seminary and the Lutheran Free Church maintained autonomous existence until 1963 when the church merged into the American Lutheran Church. At that time Augsburg Seminary was merged into Luther Theological Seminary. Ironically, Luther Theological Seminary was the successor to the school formed by the United Norwegian Lutheran Church in 1893 during the ""Augsburg Controversy."" The four-year college department that remained at this site became Augsburg College. This recent photograph was taken to show Main after a major restoration project returned the building to its original splendour. Back of photograph reads: Augsburg Seminary, Lutheran Free Church until 1963, then w/LTS.
Augsburg Seminary was founded in Marshall, Wisconsin, in 1869 by the Scandinavian Augustana Synod to serve the Norwegian churches in that body. The Norwegians split from that body in 1870 and formed two church bodies: the Norwegian Augustana Synod and the Conference for the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, commonly called ""the Conference."" The Conference gained control of Augsburg Seminary and moved it to Minneapolis in 1872 to a site near the University of Minnesota. The original structure was destroyed by fire and the structure shown here was erected around 1900. This photo appears in the booklet: ""Many members one body"" published for the Lutheran Intersynodical Seminary Conference, Augsburg Seminary, Minneapolis, Minnesota, November 27-29, 1931.
Stereogram of church group outside Our Saviour's Lutheran Church. Back of stereogram has an official label which states, "The Norwegian Lutheran Synode Held at Minneapolis, Minn. 1875. The Representatives."
By the late 1930s, Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary had grown, despite the hardships of the Great Depression, and required larger facilities than the Northeast Minneapolis location offered. Fortunately, a group of historic mansions in South Minneapolis, near the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, became available. In 1940, Northwestern Lutheran Theological Seminary relocated to these homes. Passavant Hall, named for the great Lutheran churchman, W.A. (William Alfred) Passavant, had been the home of the Charles Pillsbury family whose fortune had been made in the milling industry. Back of photograph reads: NLTS, Former Pillsbury Mansion, Passavant Hall, #10, Photo 2 of 8.