Leif Erikson Day and Ludvig Hektoen

‘America Not Discovered by Columbus’ by Rasmus B. Anderson was published in 1874. This book helped popularize the idea that Vikings were the first Europeans in the New World. During his appearance at the Norse-American Centennial in 1925, President Calvin Coolidge gave recognition to Leif Erikson as the Discoverer of America due to research by Norwegian-American scholars such as Knut Gjerset and Ludvig Hektoen, a native of Westby. In 1930, Wisconsin became the first U.S. state to officially adopt Leif Erikson Day as a state holiday, thanks in large part to efforts by Rasmus Anderson. A year later, the state of Minnesota followed suit. By 1956, Leif Erikson Day had been made an official observance in seven states (Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Illinois, Colorado, Washington, and California) and one Canadian province (Saskatchewan). In 2012 the day was also made official in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

In 1963, the U.S. Representative from Duluth, John Blatnik, introduced a bill to observe Leif Erikson Day nationwide. The following year Congress adopted this unanimously. In 1964, the United States Congress authorized and requested the President to create the observance through an annual proclamation. Lyndon B. Johnson did so, as has each President since. Presidents have used the proclamation to praise the contributions of Americans of Nordic descent generally and the spirit of discovery. In addition to the federal observance, some states officially commemorate Leif Erikson Day, particularly in the Upper Midwest, where large numbers of people from the Nordic countries settled.

October 9 is not associated with any particular event in Leif Erikson's life. The date was chosen because the ship Restauration coming from Stavanger, Norway, arrived in New York Harbor on October 9, 1825, at the start of the first organized immigration from Norway to the United States.

Ludvig Hektoen

Ludvig Hektoen (July 2, 1863 - July 5, 1951) was a noted American pathologist. Hektoen published widely and served as editor of a number of medical journals. In 1942, Hektoen received the American Medical Association's Distinguished Service Medal for his life's work.

Hektoen was born into a Norwegian immigrant community in Westby, Vernon County, Wisconsin. He was the son of Peter P. and Olave Thorsgaard Hektoen. His father was a Lutheran parochial school teacher. He attended the Monona Academy in Madison, Wisconsin and graduated with a B.A. degree in 1883 from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, receiving his M.D. degree in 1888. Between 1890 and 1895, he studied abroad in Uppsala, Prague and Berlin. 

In 1889, Hektoen was appointed as pathologist in the Cook County Hospital, where he served until 1903. In 1889, he was additionally made curator of the museum of Rush Medical College and in 1890 physician to the Coroner's Office of Cook County and lecturer in Pathology at Rush Medical College. In 1898, Hektoen became professor of Pathology at Rush Medical College and in 1901, professor and head of the Department of Pathology at the University of Chicago. He served in these dual capacities until 1932-1933, when he became professor emeritus.

In 1901, Hektoen was president of the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists and in 1929 of the Society of American Bacteriologists. He served as chairman of the Division of the Medical Sciences of the National Research Council in 1924, 1926, and 1929. From 1936 to 1938 he was also chairman of the National Research Council. He also served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public, from 1935-1938. He was chairman of the Section on Pathology and Bacteriology in 1900 and 1901 and was a member of the House of Delegates in 1918 and in 1920 with the American Medical Association. He served the United States Public Health Service from 1934 to 1938 as a member of the National Health Council and from 1937 to 1944 as executive director of the National Advisory Cancer Council.

Former Hektoen house, now the location of the
Bekkum Memorial Library

From 1904 until 1941, he was editor of The Journal of Infectious Diseases. In 1926 he became editor of the Archives of Pathology, serving until 1950. For many years he edited both the Transactions of the Chicago Pathological Society and the Proceedings of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and served as editorial writer for the Journal of the American Medical Association. In 1894 he wrote a book on post-mortem examination and in 1901 he was co-editor of a textbook of pathology.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia