What do the woods of Hovland, Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), and St. Olaf College have in common? How about the connections between silence, the eternal value of thought, and generosity? All of these are intricately interwoven in a book by retired St. Olaf College professor Jack Schwandt called The Hong Kierkegaard Library: A Crown Jewel of St. Olaf College” published in 2011 by The Friends of the Kierkegaard Library.
Jack Schwandt and his wife Pamela, also a St. Olaf professor, were close friends of Howard Hong (1912-2010) and his wife Edna Hong (1913-2007), who spent their lives translating the writings of Soren Kierkegaard and building a Kierkegaard library that they gave to the college. The library contains books owned by Kierkegaard himself as well as translations of his writings in a variety of languages.
Howard taught at St. Olaf in Northfield and Edna was an author and public speaker. The Hongs owned 1,320 acres of forest in Hovland, where they cultivated trees and listened for God’s voice in the silence.
“As translators,” Schwandt writes, “they lived in the world of words, but the world of silence, well understood, helped them accomplish what they did with words.”
Giving a library to a college is not necessarily a simple matter. The process took years and involved extensive negotiations and establishment of an endowment fund, a foundation to support the work of the library and scholars who came to study there, a committee to oversee the library, and a “friends of the library” group to advocate for the Hongs’ vision.
Howard Hong’s presence at St. Olaf began in 1930 and spanned almost 80 years. Getting the college to consistently support the library was not easy. He saw a lot of administrations come and go and was fond of quoting a verse from Exodus regarding the enslavement of the Israelites after their forefather Joseph, who had been a great administrator in Egypt, had died: “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.”
Schwandt writes, “The Kierkegaard Library is clear about its mission. It fosters Kierkegaard research, and in the course of carrying out this mission, it also helps energize the intellectual life of St. Olaf College. The Library sets a standard of excellence, visible to anyone who looks, as does the work of the Hongs itself and the work done in Howard Hong’s department….In the Library, …we have an embodiment of what the college aims to be, and we can see why the Library is aptly called ‘a jewel in St. Olaf ’s crown.’”
Current and former residents of Cook County will enjoy references to local people – Bethlehem Lutheran Church Pastor Mark Ditmanson (and his father, Harold, another St. Olaf professor), Trinity Lutheran Church Pastor Kristen Geary, and antique book preservationist Scott Husby, who went on from Grand Marais to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Firestone Library at Princeton University.
Schwandt lauds Husby and others who “have set an example of book conservation at its best” and “enabled the Kierkegaard Library to play its part in the national and international effort to rescue books from decay and so to help prevent this unique form of human memory from disappearing altogether.”
The Hongs, who received many awards and were knighted in 1978 by the queen of Denmark, were known for their hospitality and opened their home to many students and scholars through the years. They also helped build Trinity Lutheran Church in Hovland, bringing in designers and student laborers from St. Olaf. While the college declined the offer of the Hongs’ substantial limestone home, the Kierkegaard House Foundation now maintains a house near the campus for visiting scholars.
Much more can be learned from inside the pages of Jack Schwandt’s book. It is a story with twists and turns through history, with many connections to the North Shore, and it leads to an inspiring vista overlooking the lifelong aspiration of two people with a vision.
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