Conrad Bergendoff papers

Conrad Bergendoff was the son of Rev. C. A. Bergendoff who arrived in the United States in 1882 from Småland, Sweden, and of Mrs. Emma Fahlberg Bergendoff, of Princeton, Illinois, whose parents came in 1870 from Västergotland and Osterland, Sweden.

His father was a pastor in Shickley, Nebraska, when Conrad was born on December 3, 1895, but moved to Middletown, Connecticut in 1900. Here Conrad Bergendoff received his early education, graduating from high school in 1912. His father graduated from Augustana College in 1890, while the younger Bergendoff entered Augustana and finished in 1915. Conrad then spent a year at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his MA in English and History in 1916. The following year he served as an instructor at his alma mater, in the English department. He continued his studies at Columbia University from 1917 to 1918, and at the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, 1918 to 1919. During these years, he also served as assistant to Dr. M. Stolpe at the Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church of New York City. In 1919, he returned to continue his studies at Augustana and graduated from the Theological Seminary in 1921.

From 1921 to 1931, he was pastor of the Salem Lutheran Church in Chicago. (During this period the church moved from 28th and Princeton Avenues to 74th Street and Calumet Avenue where a new church plant was built.) Bergendoff continued his studies in the field of history at the University of Chicago. To complete his thesis he went to Sweden and Germany, spending 1926 to 1927 in research. He completed this work and received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1928. MacMillan published the thesis, Olavus Petri and the Ecclesiastical Transformation in Sweden. In 1930, Dr. Bergendoff wrote a book, The Making and Meaning of the Augsburg Confession.

In 1931, he became Dean of the Augustana Theological Seminary, a position he occupied until 1935 when he was elected by the Augustana Synod as president of Augustana College and Theological Seminary. He received honorary degrees from Upsala College (LL.D.) and Uppsala University (Th.D.) and was named Knight of the Order of the North Star.

In educational associations, he served on the Executive Committee of the American Association of Colleges, and on the Commission of Colleges and Universities of the North Central Association. He was president of the Federation of Illinois Colleges, of the Lutheran Educational Conference, and of the American Association of Theological Schools. He was a trustee of the American-Scandinavian Foundation.

Dr. Bergendoff was a member of many boards and commissions in his own Synod. He was a member of the Joint Lutheran Liturgical Commission. In 1937, he attended the ecumenical conferences at Oxford and Edinburgh and was a member of Commission I preparing the Amsterdam meeting of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam (1948). In 1947, he was a delegate to the Lutheran World Federation at Lund, Sweden.

He contributed articles to many educational and religious journals. He was associate editor of The Augustana Quarterly and a member of the publication board of Christendom. He authored Christ as Authority, published in 1947. In 1948, he was Dudleian Lecturer on "Revealed Religion" at Harvard Divinity School.

In his own community, he served as president of the Council of Social Agencies and as Area president of the Boy Scouts. He was a member of the Rotary and enjoyed the recreation afforded by the Black Hawk Hiking Club. Dr. Bergendoff married Miss Gertrude Carlson of Rockford in 1922. They had three children: Conrad L., Beatrice, and Elizabeth Ann. Dr. Bergendoff died at the age of 102 on December 23, 1997, in Rock Island, Illinois.