History, Society, and Practice: New Perspectives on Global Lutheran Traditions

World War I brought significant challenges for American Lutherans who had remained closely connected to German or Scandinavian language and cultural practices. While politicians proclaimed a “return to normalcy” following the war, white nativists seized upon post-war anxiety about immigration and radicalism. The state of Oregon became a hotbed of the Ku Klux Klan. Voters approved a “compulsory education” bill in 1922 requiring all children aged 8-16 to attend public schools. As northern European Protestants, Lutherans could opt to blend into the “100 percent American” mainstream. However, rather than acceding, the Lutheran Schools Committee organized in opposition. Despite the discrimination they had faced during WWI, freedom to pursue Lutheran education for their children overrode any desire to conform. This project illustrates how Lutherans negotiated ever-present tensions between assimilation and distinctiveness during the 1920s—a story with grave relevance for people of faith grappling, theologically and strategically, with Christian nationalism today.