Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland,  north of Frederikshavn and  northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is Denmark's main fishing port and it also has a thriving tourist industry, attracting 2 million people annually.

The name was applied originally to the peninsula but it now also refers to the town. The settlement began during the Middle Ages as a fishing village, renowned for its herring industry. Thanks to its seascapes, fishermen and evening light, towards the end of the 19th century it became popular with a group of impressionist artists now known as the Skagen Painters. In 1879, the Skagen Fishermen's Association was established with the purpose of facilitating the local fishing industry through the Skagensbanen railway, which opened as a narrow-gauged railway in 1890. The modern port of Skagen opened on 20 November 1907, and with the railway connections to Frederikshavn and the rest of Denmark, tourism began to develop.

During the early 1910s, Christian X and Queen Alexandrine often visited Skagen and brought friends from other European monarchies. They built a summer residence, Klitgaarden, completed in 1914.

Between the 1930s and 1950s the town grew rapidly, with the population more than doubling from 4,048 in 1930 to 9,009 in 1955. Skagen reached a maximum population of 14,050 in 1980, after which it gradually declined. As of 1 January 2023, it has a population of 7,547. Thanks to the artistic community that still remains in Skagen, the local arts and crafts trade remains important to the income of the town with its numerous crafts shops and galleries. Chains such as the international jeweller Skagen Designs have branches in the town, and given the abundance of fresh fish coming in at the port of Skagen, seafood forms a staple in Skagen's restaurants.

St Lawrence's Church was built just outside the village at the end of the 14th century, but after it was buried in drifting sand it was replaced by Skagen Church in 1841 designed by Christian Frederik Hansen. It was redeveloped in 1909–10 by Ulrik Plesner who also designed a number of other buildings in Skagen, including Klitgaarden and the railway station. Several landmarks in the town are closely associated with the Skagen Painters who used to frequent them, including Brøndums Hotel, Skagens Museum, Michael and Anna Ancher's House, and Drachmann's House.

Skagen's first school was the Latinskole, a grammar school, which was in operation from 1549 until 1739. By the end of the 19th century, three schools had been established in Skagen, and in 1921, Skagen's Skipper School was opened to train navigators for both fishing boats and merchant ships, and in 1955, the public school Ankermedets skole was opened on Skagavej. The main gymnasium of the town, Skagen Kultur- og Fritidscenter, opened in 1972, and was later expanded with an aquatic centre and a number of smaller training facilities. Skagen's sports centre was completed in 1974, primarily to accommodate badminton and tennis. The local football club, Skagen Idræts Klub, was founded in 1946 and reached the Jyllandsserien, one of the lower divisions in Danish football, as their best position. The Hvide Klit Golf Club is  south of the town.

Skagen station is the most northerly railway station in Denmark and is the terminus of the Skagensbanen. Nordjyske Jernbaner operates the local train service between Skagen, Frederikshavn and Aalborg with onward national connections by DSB. From Frederikshavn, there are ferries to Gothenburg, Oslo and Læsø. Aalborg Airport is  southwest of Skagen.

History

Early history

Skagen was mentioned as far back as the first century AD by Pliny the Elder:
"Promenturium Cimbrorum excurrens in maria longe paeninsulam efficit quae Tastris appellatur" (Book IV, 97)
"The promontory of the Cimbri running far out into the seas makes a peninsula, which is called Tastris."

This is the only time the name Tastris is mentioned but Skagen itself, first documented as Skaffuen in 1284, simply means narrow, high point of land

The first building in the area, dating from the 12th century, was in Højen on the west side of the peninsula. It belonged to Tronder, a shepherd who also became Skagen's first fisherman. Around 1340, Vesterby, on the east coast (to the south west of today's harbour), developed into the main village. Further to the south west, St Lawrence's Church was built at the end of the 14th century. In 1413, Erik of Pommern granted Skagen the status of market town with the result that for a time it became Vendsyssel's largest community with up to 2,000 inhabitants.

In 1549 a grammar school was opened (closing again in 1739), and in 1561 Skagen's first lighthouse was constructed. In 1568, some 350 fishing boats and merchant ships were wrecked off the coast of Skagen. In the 1590s, successive storms led not only to numerous drownings but to flooding, destroying many of the houses. In 1591, 22 died in a flood and in 1593, 14 houses were washed away. In 1595, 25 farms in the area were covered in drifting sand. As a result, new housing was built in Østerby to the north east, away from the rapidly accumulating sand.

17th–19th centuries

In the 17th century, fishing suffered from a decline in herring stocks. Shortly after the beginning of the Torstensson War, the Swedish army arrived in Skagen in January 1644, plundering the town.  Skagen's White Lighthouse with adjoining accommodation for the keeper was built in 1747. In 1775, accumulations of drifting sand made it difficult to access St Lawrence's Church, finally leading to its closure and partial demolition in 1795. Its remaining artefacts were sold by auction in 1810. St Lawrence's was replaced by Skagen Church, completed in 1841 and redesigned in the local style by Ulrik Plesner in 1910.

On a single day in 1825, 23 ships were left stranded off the coast. In 1833, Martinus Rørbye became the first artist to paint the fishermen and landscapes of Skagen, almost half a century before the arrival of the Skagen Painters. Skagen Church was inaugurated in 1841, and the first guest house in the town opened in 1844. In 1858, the grey lighthouse was inaugurated. The same year, bye-laws were established specifying building requirements including the completion of tiled roofs within five years. Skagen was struck by the cholera epidemic of 1853.

Hans Christian Andersen visited the town in 1859. During his stay at Brøndums Hotel, the future painter Anna Ancher, daughter of the inn-keeper, was born. In 1871, the author Holger Drachmann and the painters Fritz Thaulow and Karl Madsen arrived in Skagen, the first of the colony of artists that became known as the Skagen Painters. They were followed by Carl Locher in 1872, Michael Ancher in 1874 and Peder Severin Krøyer in 1882.

In 1879, the Skagen Fisherman's Association was established with the purpose of facilitating the local fishing industry through the railway. In 1890, the Skagensbanen narrow-gauge railway from Frederikshavn finally arrived in Skagen, connecting the town to the rest of Denmark. The tracks were widened in 1916 to avoid the need to transfer cargoes of fish in Frederikshavn. Many of the town's typical yellow-plastered houses with red roofs that grew up along Sankt Laurentii Vej from 1890 to 1930 were designed by Ulrik Plesner. He was also the architect behind many other buildings in the town, including the railway station, Brøndums Hotel and Skagen Museum. Skagen Missionshus was opened in 1896.

20th century

In 1904–7, the fishing harbour was built with inner and outer sections under the patronage of hydraulic engineer Palle Bruun. It was inaugurated on 20 November 1907, and later additions were made for cold storage and the fish processing industry. The distinctive warehouses next to the harbour were designed by Thorvald Bindesbøll.

In the early 1910s, Christian X and Queen Alexandrine often visited Skagen in the royal yacht Kongeskibet Dannebrog. Occasionally they arrived by train and brought friends from other European monarchies and stayed at the Brøndums and Grenen hotels. They grew fond of the place, befriending many of the artists in Skagen. Christian X bought up land in the vicinity and built the summer residence Klitgaarden as a gift for his wife. Designed by Ulrik Plesner, with furniture provided by Marie Krøyer, the villa was inaugurated on 11 April 1914, with the town celebrating the royal opening with many flags. Klitgaarden was further embellished inside by local artists. It passed to Prince Knud and Princess Caroline Mathilde, and after Caroline's death in 1995, it was converted into a villa retreat for scholars in 2000. Composer Carl Nielsen also frequented Skagen in his youth, and he purchased a plot of land on Vestre Strandvej at Vesterby in 1918 with his sculptor wife Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen, using one of the two small half-timbered houses there as a residence and studio. They named it "Finis Terrae", meaning "end of the world". The Nielsen family owned the property until 1957 when they sold it to Frode Jensen, a machinery manufacturer.

In the 1930s, development of the town as a tourist attraction led to the opening of new hotels. In 1931, the residents of Skagen and their famous friends campaigned for a monument to be established on the square in the town, commemorating the fishermen and lifeboatmen of Jutland. Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen was commissioned to erect a  bronze statue of a lifeboatman in garb, holding a lifeline. The monument was showcased at the Free Exhibition Hall in Copenhagen in the spring of 1931, before fundraising enabled it to be brought by sea to Skagen on 10 November 1932. In October 1938, lightning struck the Skagens Badehotel, affecting the wing with the salons and music rooms. During World War II, the hotel was taken over by the Germans, until it was demolished in 1943. Further facilities were developed in the 1950s. From the 1960s, housing estates were constructed to the north, forming a built-up area extending to Højen. Anna and Michael Ancher's house was opened as a museum (1967) and the new town hall was completed in 1969. The Skagen Festival was founded in 1971, making it the oldest music festival in the country. The primary genre is folk music. In 1977, Drachmanns House was broken into and four paintings were stolen, and then in 1980, a painting by Christian Krohg was stolen from Skagens Museum.

Several fires and industrial incidents occurred in the 1980s. In 1981, an oil slick affected the coastline of Skagen municipality, and in 1985 a pipe bomb exploded at Ankermedet School. Skagen ice factory was affected by a chemical incident in 1989. A new shrimp factory opened in the industrial area in 1991, while the local cinema was closed in 1993. There was a major fire on the Hulsig Heath dunes in 1996.

Skagen Painters

The Skagen Painters were a group of Scandinavian artists who visited the area every summer from the late 1870s until the turn of the century. They were attracted by the scenery, the fishermen and the social community of their fellow artists who encouraged them to paint en plein air following the example of the French Impressionists while sometimes adopting the Realist approach of the Barbizon School. They broke away from the rigid traditions of the Danish and Swedish art academies, preferring the modern trends they had experienced in Paris.

The group was reputed to have adopted a bohemian lifestyle. It encompassed not only painters, but also writers, and other influential people. While only a few were full-time residents of the area, they were often joined by family and friends, especially during the summer months. The group initially revolved around Michael Ancher and his wife to be Anna, the only member of the group who was a native of Skagen. P.S. Krøyer, who arrived in 1882, was perhaps the most colourful member of the group. His painting Hip, Hip, Hurrah! shows several of the artists celebrating around a table out in the garden. The painters included the Swedes Oscar Björck and Johan Krouthén, the Norwegians Christian Krohg and Eilif Peterssen, and the Danes Karl Madsen, Laurits Tuxen, Marie Triepcke Krøyer Alfvén, Carl Locher, Viggo Johansen and Thorvald Niss.  The group also included the writers Holger Drachmann, Georg Brandes and Henrik Pontoppidan and the Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén. They often gathered in Brøndums Hotel whose dining room now forms part of Skagens Museum.

In 1890, the railway to Skagen not only led to the expansion of the village but also brought in considerable numbers of tourists. It was largely responsible for breaking up the regular summer meetings of the artists' colony as they could no longer find suitable accommodation and venues for their meetings. However, some of them purchased homes in Skagen: P.S. Krøyer in 1894, Laurits Tuxen in 1901, Holger Drachmann in 1903. Anna and Michael Ancher, Krøyer and Tuxen continued to paint in Skagen until well into the 20th century and were occasionally joined by their earlier friends. Other painters, sometimes referred to as the younger group of Skagen painters, continued to visit the area. They included Jørgen Aabye, Tupsy and Gad Frederik Clement, Ella Heide, Frederik Lange and Johannes Wilhjelm, some of whom settled in the area until the 1930s or even later. Skagens Museum has a large collection of works from all the recognized artists who painted in Skagen.

Geography

Skagen is Denmark's northernmost town, located  north of Frederikshavn,  northeast of Aalborg, and  northeast of Aarhus by road. It takes its name from the  peninsula that projects into the waters between the North Sea and the straits of Denmark. The oldest areas lie along the south coast. Gammel Skagen (Old Skagen), also known as Højen, is located next to Nordstrand on the western side. Vesterby and Østerby are notable for their little fishermen's cottages and narrow streets. Danish national road 40 to Frederikshavn passes through Skagen.

Grenen (also known as the Skagen Odde peninsula) is bordered by Ålbæk Bay (Ålbæk Bugt) to the east on the Kattegat and Tannis Bay (Tannis Bugt) to the west on the Skagerrak. The area is picturesque, and distinguished by its low, yellow houses with red tile roofs nestled into the beach areas.
The wild landscape was largely formed by a severe process of desertification in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Problems with moving dunes and desertification were subsequently brought under control in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries by establishing large plantations of grasses, bushes and fir trees. Two significant migratory dunes remain in the area, one of which is the enormous Råbjerg Mile.

Bird life in Skagen
Skagen is the place in Denmark where the most bird species can be experienced, a total of 367 out of 471 bird species in the country.(2017)

Year round the area around Skagen, especially Grenen, is visited by hundreds of birdwatchers from all over Denmark, particularly in April–May and the beginning of June and to a lesser degree in August–November. Furthermore, the area is visited by birdwatchers from Sweden, Norway and Germany.

Other well-visited locations for birdwatchers are Ellekrattet, Nordstrand (near Batterivej), Skagen Harbour, Flagbakken southwest of the town as well as horse fields and brushwood near Fyrvej, Bøjlevejen and Buttervej.

Every day all year round Skagen Bird Observatory observes the migration on Grenen from the highest sand dune located between the parking lot and Grenen: "The World's End".

Volunteers at Skagen Bird Observatory ring thousands of small birds in the Skagen area every year with permission from the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen.

Climate
Being surrounded by the sea in three directions, Skagen has a cool oceanic climate (Cfb) with a lack of temperature extremes. Its maritime and moderated characteristics is shared with the rest of the country. Skagen is Denmark's sunniest town with an average of 306 hours of sunshine in the holiday month of July, higher than the 276 hours recorded for Bornholm's Østerlars.

Demographics
The population of Skagen has mostly grown steadily, reaching a peak of 14,050 people in 1980, but has shown a marked decline in the 21st century. In 1672 Skagen had a population of 1,004, but by 1781 this had declined to 650. The 1801 population of 834 began to grow significantly in subsequent decades, reaching 1,052 people in 1824 and jumping to 1,632 by 1840. By 1850, it had dropped to 1,400, after which it again began to grow steadily. Major growth occurred in the 1870s and 1880s, with the population growing from 1,615 in 1870 to 1,954 in 1880 and 2,323 inhabitants in 1890. Several of the new inhabitants were artists, who significantly altered the ethnic composition of Skagen, as they brought their friends and families from abroad to join the colony at Skagen. Noticeable change occurred between 1901 and 1906, when the population grew from 2,438 to 2,936, and again in the late 1910s, growing from 3,212 in 1916 to 3,854 in 1921. Major growth began to take place in the 1930s and 1940s in Skagen, which grew from 4,048 inhabitants in 1930 to 5,358 in 1940. Skagen's population more than doubled between 1930 and 1955 when it reached a population of 9,009. By 1960, Skagen had 10,213 inhabitants, growing to 11,253 in 1965. Following a municipal merger in 1971, the population jumped from 11,749 to 13,513. Thereafter the population grew very steadily, reaching a peak of 14,050 in 1980.  There has since been a steady decline, with 13,724 people recorded in 1990, 13,298 in 1994, and 12,691 in 2000. In the 2000s, the permanent population of Skagen has shown a marked decline, falling from 12,213 in 2003 to 8,088 inhabitants in 2017.

Economy

For generations, Skagen's economy has been based on its fishing industry that continues to prosper today, facilitated by its fishing harbour, the largest in Denmark. Skagen also has the country's main herring processing facility and the world's largest fish oil factory. The town's evolving fishing industry led to considerable growth in the local population that reached 11,500 in the 1960s. A fish auction is held at dawn in the harbour, and between May and October the harbour also attracts yachting enthusiasts.

Tourism has now become the town's main industry. Initially attracted by its associations with the Skagen Painters, well-to-do visitors sought to benefit from its special light, colour and its fishermen. Their interest led to new hotels, summer houses and expensive villas. The old fishing village was transformed into a miniature city with fine streets lined with boutiques. From the 1960s, it became increasingly fashionable for the upper-classes to spend their summers in Skagen.

Galleries selling local art and reproductions of Skagen's most iconic paintings have spread across the town, making it one of the places in Denmark with most galleries. Thanks to the town's growing reputation, sailing enthusiasts from Norway, Sweden and Denmark are now also among its frequent visitors. The quality brand name of Skagen has spread far afield, resulting in the establishment of the successful American watch company Skagen Designs that "set out to create a design driven company centred around the welcoming spirit of the city". Currently a new tourist initiative "The Top of Denmark" targets Skagen as a year-round attraction, not just a summer resort. The harbour is also being adapted to accommodate large international cruise ships. A new 450-meter berth will be completed by 2015 while the existing 170-meter berth will be extended to 200 meters. Skagen now attracts some 2 million visitors a year to its hotels, restaurants, shops and galleries, making tourism a major source of income and employment. An annual attraction is the Skagen Festival, Denmark's oldest music festival, which is held the first weekend of July at various venues in Skagen and the harbour area. The largest campsite in the Skagen area is Grenen Camping, situated about  northeast of the centre, adjacent to the beach.

Until 2007, Skagen was a municipality in its own right with a substantial local administration. With the reforms of 2007, it became part of Frederikshavn Municipality with a resulting loss in administrative jobs. The Bank of Skagen was established in 1862, and in 1865 a telegraph station was established in the town. The pharmacy opened in 1904, a hospital in 1916, and telephone services were automated in 1956. Ankermedet School was established in 1955. Recently, Skagen has seen developments in the offshore sector with an initiative to assist the Norwegian market through the establishment of Skagen Offshorepark in 2012. On the shipbuilding front, Karstensens Skibsværft continues to prosper with orders for trawlers from Norway.

Currently the harbour is being enlarged in order to accommodate larger vessels, especially cruise ships. From 2015 the enlarged harbour is expected to attract up to 40 large cruise ships per year compared to about a dozen smaller ships at present. The new harbour should provide new jobs increasing the workforce in the harbour from 2,000 today to some 2,600 on completion. Karstens Skibsværft, Danish Yacht, and the herring processing firm, Skagerrak Pelgic, are reported to be the most successful companies in Skagen but the town is also home to FF Skagen, the world's top producer of fish meal and fish oil.

Shops and restaurants

Thanks to Skagen's reputation as an artistic community, the local arts and crafts trade is also an important source of income and employment. Artwork and handicrafts are sold in galleries such as the Galerie Skagen on Trondsvej. Sankt Laurentii Vej, one of the main streets away from the harbour area in Skagen, is a known for its glass and pottery shops; of particular note are Skagen Glasvaerksted, which produces some of "Jutland's finest glass pieces", and Skagen Potteri. In addition to its arts and crafts stores, the town has a wide range of shops, including jewellery, clothes and shoes, handbags, souvenirs, flowers and gardening equipment. There are also a variety of food stores with butchers, bakers, a cheese shop, fishmongers, and several restaurants and cafés. Skagen has a  branch of the EuroSpar supermarket, opened in 1998. Skagen Cementstøberi A/S is a local cement firm that produces concrete, paving stones, tiles, granite and other items.

Given the abundance of fresh fish coming it at the port of Skagen, seafood forms a staple of cuisine in Skagen. Of particular note is the Skagen Fiske Restaurant, one of the most renowned seafood restaurants in Jutland that was established in 1907 at the side of the harbour. It serves shrimp, herring, grilled fillets of sole with lemon sauce and Norwegian lobster. Ruth's Gourmet in Ruth's Hotel on Hans Ruth Vej is also of note and has been cited to be one of the top five restaurants in Denmark outside of Copenhagen, serving French cuisine under head chef Michel Michaud. Ruths Hotel was originally built by Emma and Hans Christian Ruth in 1904 as a bath and guest house. It was purchased by J. Philip-Sørensen in 2003. The Restaurant Pakhuset, the restaurant of the Brøndums Hotel, and Jakobs Café are also popular; Jakobs Café is a music venue and bar at night. True foodies are also bound to visit the famous butcher, Slagter Munch, who is known for their sausages and for their ham: Skagen Skinken.

Landmarks

Northern headland and lighthouses

At the headland at Grenen, commonly but erroneously believed to be the northernmost point of Denmark, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet. Because of their different densities, a clear dividing line can be seen. As a result of turbulent seas, beachings and shipwrecks were common. These frequent losses combined with the town's strategic location as the gateway to the Baltic led to Skagen being the site of one of Denmark's earliest lighthouses, Vippefyr, a lever light constructed in 1627. A faithful copy has now been constructed on the site of the original.

The White Lighthouse (det Hvide fyr) just north of the town is Denmark's oldest brick-built lighthouse. With a height of , it was designed by Philip de Lange and lit for the first time in 1747. In 1858, it was replaced by the Grey Lighthouse (det Grå fyr) 2 km further north. Restored in 1960, the White Lighthouse now houses art exhibitions.

Churches

The old village church from the 14th century is now known as The Sand-Covered Church as only its tower can still be seen. Sand began drifting in from Råbjerg Mile around 1600 and the area surrounding the church became affected by the desertification that destroyed the fields. In 1775, the church door had to be dug free for the congregation to be able to attend the service, and for the following 20 years, the Skageners struggled to keep the church free from sand, without being allowed to close it down. In 1795 the church was closed by royal decree and the body of the church demolished.
 A new church was built in 1841 to the design of Christian Frederik Hansen. The design was adapted in 1909–10 by Ulrik Plesner who also designed a number of other buildings in Skagen. Plesner collaborated with Thorvald Bindesbøll on the interior. Anne L. Hansen created interior decorations and a new colour scheme in 1989.
A highlight of the year is the celebration of Midsummer Eve or St. John's Evening (Sankt Hans Aften) on the beach with blazing bonfire and song.

Museums

Skagens Museum

Towards the end of the 19th century, Skagen became the summer venue of a group of artists who were attracted by the way of life in the fishing village and by the opportunities for painting the fishermen and surrounding landscapes. Skagens Museum was founded on 20 October 1908 in the dining room at Brøndums Hotel. Among the founders were artists Michael Ancher, P.S. Krøyer and Laurits Tuxen, who were elected to form the first board of governors together with Victor Christian Klæbel, the local pharmacist, and Degn Brøndum, who was the proprietor of Brøndums Hotel and brother of Anna Ancher. In 1982, the exhibition rooms were extended with an annex designed by the Royal Surveyor, architect Jacob Blegvad. Blegvad also planned the later extension to the museum that was inaugurated in 1989. Today Skagens Museum has more than 1,900 works of art at its disposal.

Anchers Hus

The former residence of the two painters Anna and Michael Ancher dates from 1884 and was expanded with a studio designed by Ulrik Plesner in 1913. Their only child, Helga Ancher, who died in 1964, left the property to a foundation for conversion into a museum. Opened to the public  in 1967, the house contains much of the original furniture, preserving the atmosphere of the artists' home. Together with the adjacent 18th-century Saxild House (Saxilds Gaard), it displays many of the Anchers' paintings as well as those of their artist friends. Saxild House hosts exhibitions and a museum café

Drachmanns Hus

Drachmanns Hus on Hans Baghs Vej in the west of the town is a large property built in 1829. Now a museum, it is dedicated to the writer and marine painter Holger Drachmann who lived in the house from 1902 until his death in a sanatorium in Hornbæk in January 1908. Drachmann had regularly visited Skagen from 1871. Drachmann's House, first opened to the public on 4 June 1911, offers a collection not only of his own oil paintings and sketchbooks, but also of paintings from the colony's other artists including Krøyer, Tuxen and the Anchers. An annex contains a photographic exhibition about Drachmann. Every year, the house hosts a "Drachmann evening"  in which enthusiasts gather together to hear readings, oral presentations and music related to the writer's life and works.

Teddy Bear Museum
In central Skagen there is a teddy bear museum, Skagen Bamsemuseum. The teddy bears on display belong to the private collection of the owner Jonna Thygesen. It is the only teddy bear museum in Scandinavia. Opened in 1998, the collection contains about a thousand bears of all kinds, some of historic value. The museum also has a sculpture garden, an ice café and a teddy bear shop. Special events are arranged at Easter and Christmas.

Skagen Odde Nature Centre

The Skagen Odde Nature Centre located close to the northern tip of the peninsula is a museum specially built to allow visitors to see, hear and understand more about the area's sand, water, wind and light. Each of the pavilions presents one of these elements in a special atmosphere. Designed by Jørn Utzon, it is the most northerly building on Skagen Odde.

Skagen Town and Regional Museum
Skagen Town and Regional Museum (Skagen By- og Egnsmuseum), an open-air museum, was opened by the local population in 1927. In 1938 it was moved to the sand dunes of Vesterby. The museum brings together examples of fishermen's cottages and the homes of less fortunate inhabitants of Skagen in the middle of the 19th century. There is an old life-saving station, a smithy, an old Dutch windmill, pictures of ships in distress and related nautical artefacts as well as a collection of items illustrating the town's history over various periods.

Education
Skagen's first school was the Latinskole, a grammar school, which was in operation from 1549 until 1739. By the end of the 19th century, three schools had been established in Skagen: one in Vesterby, another in Østerby and a third in Højen. As a result of evolving legislation, a new public primary school (Borgerskolen) designed by A. Haunstrup was completed in 1901. A gymnasium was added in 1909 but in 1924 it was converted into classrooms to accommodate the growing number of pupils. A secondary school (Realskolen) was opened in 1904 behind the former local authority building on Sct. Laurentii vej. The secondary school was later moved next to the primary school and in 1948 the buildings were extended. An additional two-storey wing was completed in 1969.

In 1921, Skagen's Skipper School was opened to train navigators for both fishing boats and merchant ships. It is now the only remaining skipper school in Denmark with some 100 students from the whole of Scandinavia and 15 staff. In 2012, the school moved into new premises close to the Kattegat. In 1955, the folkschool Ankermedets skole was opened on Skagavej, initially with 483 pupils and 16 classes. It has been extended several times over the years, most recently when a new wing was added in 2003. The private school Brovandeskolen, a so-called free school, opened in 1977 for parents wishing to offer their children a new pedagogical approach. A primary goal is active cooperation between pupils, teachers and parents.

Sport
Skagen's sports centre dates from 1974 when its large hall was completed. A smaller hall with bedrooms was built in 1999. The centre has facilities for badminton, basketball, handball, hockey and tennis in addition to its football fields. Overnight accommodation is also available. Skagen Idræts Klub, the local football club founded in 1946, plays in Jyllandsserien, one of the lower divisions in  Denmark's football system. Skagen also has a badminton club and a tennis club, The Hvide Klit Golf Club is located some  south of the town on the road to Ålbæk. In season, it is popular with tourists.

Transport

Railway
The Skagen Line connects Skagen with Frederikshavn station in Frederikshavn to the south. Nordjyske Jernbaner operates a frequent train service between Skagen and Frederikshavn with onward connections by train to the rest of Denmark. Skagen station, the most northerly railway station in mainland Denmark, is the principal station of the town. Skagen's first station, opened in 1890, was designed by Thomas Arboe. The current building, completed in 1919, is the work of the architect Ulrik Plesner. The western part of Skagen is also served by the Frederikshavnsvej railway halt.

Bus
In the summer, there are buses from Skagen to Blokhus via Hirtshals.

Ferry
From Frederikshavn, there are ferries to Gothenburg and Oslo. From Hirtshals, there are ferries to Stavanger, Bergen, Larvik, Faroe Islands and Langesund

Airport
Aalborg Airport with flights to and from destinations across Europe is located some  southwest of Skagen. It can be reached by train, bus or taxi.

Road
Skagen lies along Danish national road 40, also known as Frederikshavnsvej, which connects the town to Frederikshavn, via Ålbæk to the southeast. The stretch of the road between Skagen and Ålbæk was asphalted in 1932. Hirtshals on the western side of the peninsula can be reached by taking Road 597 from Ålbæk. The Bøjlevejen road is the main skirt road around the town to the north, along which lies the Skagen Odde Nature Centre. In the peak season during the summer months, Skagen can become congested with traffic.  Free parking facilities are provided for short periods, and there is also a metered car park near the train station. As in other Danish cities, cycling is popular, and Skagen Cykeludlejning, to the west of the train station, and Pedersen on Kappelborgvej rent out bikes to tourists. There are a number of interesting marked cycle routes in and around Skagen. These include circuits for mountain bikes.

Notable people

Among those born in Skagen are:
 Jacob Brønnum Scavenius (1749–1820) a Danish landowner.
 Lars Kruse (1828–1894), fisherman and heroic lifesaver
 Degn Brøndum (1856–1932), proprietor of Brøndums Hotel frequented the Skagen painters
 Anna Ancher (1859–1935), the only member of the Skagen painters actually born in Skagen
 Amalie Claussen (1859–1950), artistic photographer
 Ulrik Plesner (1861–1933), the architect who gave Skagen its distinctive look
 Palle Bruun (1873–1910), the hydraulic engineer who designed Skagen's fishing harbour
 Helga Ancher (1883–1964) Danish painter, daughter of Anna Ancher and Michael Ancher
 Sturla Gudlaugsson (1913 – 1971) Danish-born Dutch art historian and director of the RKD and the Mauritshuis in The Hague
 Ida Marie Suhr (1853–1938), wealthy philanthropist and estate owner, frequent visitor to Skagen
 Hanne Marie Svendsen (born 1933) Danish writer and former broadcasting executive
 Friis Arne Petersen (born 1952) a Danish diplomat, Denmark's ambassador to Germany
 Line Dissing Karred Larsen (born 1996) known mononymously as Line,  is a Danish singer.

Sport
 Viggo Jensen (1921–2005), footballer, played professionally for Hull City A.F.C. 1949 / 1956.
 David Nielsen (born 1976), footballer with 361 club caps, current manager of Lyngby Boldklub
 Kamilla Rytter Juhl (born 1983), badminton player, silver medallist at 2016 Summer Olympics
 Mariann Gajhede Knudsen (born 1984), a retired footballer, over 100 caps for the Denmark
 Nicolaj Thomsen (born 1993) Danish footballer, plays for F.C. Copenhagen

All the painters, writers and other members of the artists' colony also have close associations with Skagen.

Twin towns
Skagen is twinned with:

References

Bibliography

External links

 Skagen Tourist board website – the official guide to the Skagen area
 Skagen Guide – a guide to the Skagen area
 Weather forecast Skagen, Denmark weather-atlas.com

Cities and towns in the North Jutland Region
Port cities and towns in Denmark
Frederikshavn Municipality
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
Natura 2000 in Denmark
Fishing communities in Denmark
1410s establishments in Denmark
Seaside resorts in Denmark

Skagen


Auberon Herbert (1838–1906), English philosopher and politician, a son of 3rd Earl of Carnarvon.

Auberon Herbert may also refer to:
 Auberon Herbert, 9th Baron Lucas (1876-1916), politician and fighter pilot, a grandson of 3rd Earl of Carnarvon.
 Auberon Herbert (landowner) (1922-1974), advocate of Eastern European causes after World War II, a grandson of 4th Earl of Carnarvon.

Auberon Herbert (disambiguation)


The Order of Angell, known for decades as Michigamua, was a senior honorary society recognizing student leaders and outstanding athletes at the University of Michigan. For most of its history, its practices reflected images of Native Americans drawn from Euro-American popular culture. From Michigamua's founding in 1901 until the 1970s, membership was a badge of distinction. From the 1970s on, the society drew rising criticism for admitting only men; for the form of cultural appropriation known as "playing Indian;" and for possessing Native American artifacts.

By 1999, when women were first admitted, the organization had discarded many of its faux-Native American references and practices. But in 2000, protesters took over the group's headquarters and demanded its ouster from the campus. Soon afterward, Michigamua lost its official recognition and its meeting room. In 2006-07 it reorganized as the Order of Angell with a vow to foster diversity and draw its members from the broadest possible array of candidates. But critics continued to denounce the Order on the grounds of its secrecy, elitism, and origins in Michigamua. In February 2021, after several current and former BIPOC members of the organization urged that the Order of Angell be dissolved, the active members disbanded the society and declared that it should never be reconstituted.

History

Founding and early years
The founding of Michigamua in 1901 stemmed in part from a sharp rise in the number of students at Michigan, from some 1,500 in the 1880s to 4,500 by 1910. With the dilution of close relations between students and faculty, students sought community in organizations of their own, including fraternities and sororities, dramatic and musical societies, publications, and athletic teams. Honorary societies arose to recognize the leaders of these groups.

In the academic year 1900-1901, 15 students in a philosophy course taught by Professor Robert Mark Wenley formed the Hot Air Club, a social group that soon declared itself a formal society of seniors that would take, as a founder put it, "an Indian tribe as the means of expression and the name Michigamua." Members believed "Michigamua" was the name of an actual indigenous tribe of the Great Lakes region and the state's namesake. There was no such tribe, though the state's name is indeed a variant of the Ojibwe word gichigami or michigami, meaning "large water".

The founders were inspired by novels featuring senior societies at Eastern colleges. The best known included three at Yale (Skull and Bones, founded 1832; Scroll and Key, founded 1842; and Wolf's Head, founded 1884). Other such groups had emerged at Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others.

Members defined the group's mission as to "fight like hell for Michigan and Michigamua," which meant simply that Michigamua regarded itself as an embodiment of "school spirit", to use the expression then coming into vogue. As on other campuses, allegiance to one's university or college as a whole was promoted as a corrective to the rancorous loyalties to one's class or academic unit that often provoked rowdy and violent "rushes". Promoting school spirit also partook of the boosterism common to U.S. cities and towns in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Michigamua maintained its prestige and remained largely free of controversy through the 1960s. Several factors helped it to thrive in the long term. One was the practice of recruiting honorary "sachems" from among the university's administrators, prominent faculty and athletic directors, and coaches. These included members of the governing board of regents; four presidents of the university (Harry Burns Hutchins, Alexander Grant Ruthven, Harlan Hatcher and Robben W. Fleming); and the varsity football coaches Fielding H. Yost, Fritz Crisler and Bo Schembechler. Connections to the university's upper echelons helped to cement Michigamua's place in campus culture. Close contacts also were maintained with upper-level administrators, especially T. Hawley Tapping, head of the university's alumni association from the 1930s through the 1950s, and John Feldkamp, "sachem" of Michigamua in 1960-61 and director of the university's housing office from 1966 to 1977.

Michigamua's longevity also was supported by an alumni body, the "Old Braves Council," which was founded shortly after World War II. With so many male students in the armed forces, the group's wartime rosters dwindled. Then the campus was swamped with military veterans, older on average than students of pre-war years and less interested in undergraduate traditions. So Frederick C. Matthaei, a member of the university's governing board and an honorary sachem, worked with his son, Frederick C. Matthaei Jr., a member of the "tribe", to recruit a full complement of "fighting braves" for 1946-47 and to start a board of alumni to advise new members on traditions, plan alumni gatherings and raise money for the upkeep of the "wigwam". (Michigamua began to hold some of its activities on Matthaei property a few miles from the university's campus. A totem pole dedicated to Michigamua was erected on the property. In 1957 and 1961, Matthaei donated the acreage to the university; it became the site of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and the Radrick Farm golf course.)

Challenges and responses, 1970s-1999
In the 1970s, critics began to challenge Michigamua's privileged status. Women argued that the university's support violated federal rules against sex discrimination. Native Americans cited state and federal protections against racial bias. The complaints prompted Michigamua to make concessions that changed elements of the organization but preserved its recognition as a sanctioned student body through the 1990s.

The earliest legal complaint came in 1972 from a chapter of American Indians Unlimited (AIU) led by Victoria Barner, a Michigan graduate student and member of the Nisga'a tribe of British Columbia. Addressing the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Barner called Rope Day "demeaning and insulting to the Indian culture and heritage." By sanctioning Michigamua, the university permitted "our culture to be distorted and ridiculed because of our race and national origin". Replying to Barner, members of Michigamua said the "tribe" was "based on principles that reject any insulting or offensive actions" and promised to "eliminate all public actions of our organization". The commission ordered Michigamua to stop "playing Indian" in public. From then on, the "tribe" initiated new members without spectators at the university's off-campus Radrick Farm property. Meetings in the "wigwam" continued. Later cadres were reported to have "played Indian" in public, breaking the pledge to operate solely in private.

In 1976, Michigamua's males-only tradition came under fire from two women students associated with the university's student government, the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA). They were Amy Blumenthal, MSA's vice president, and Anita Tanay, a former member. Blumenthal and Tanay asserted that by providing facilities and aid to the all-male Michigamua — including its rent-free room in the Union, special privileges to use Radrick Farm, and alleged favoritism in access to football tickets — the university was violating Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, which forbade gender discrimination by educational institutions that received federal funding.

A stand-off ensued among Michigamua, the university, and the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW, later the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), which then administered Title IX. The issue turned in part on whether Michigamua was an honorary society or a social fraternity. If the former, its single-sex nature would violate Title IX. If the latter, it could stay males-only, since Title IX specifically excluded social fraternities and sororities from its purview. While HEW considered the complaint, university administers decided Michigamua was indeed an honorary society and offered the "tribe" three options — 1) admit women; 2) abandon its status as a recognized student organization and leave the campus; or 3) declare itself a social fraternity and abide by the rules that governed other such organizations, which would likely end its exclusive use of the "wigwam". Michigamua said it would accept only some version of the third option. The university deferred action pending HEW's ruling.

In 1979, more than three years after Blumenthal and Tanay's complaint, HEW ruled the university had violated Title IX by recognizing Michigamua as a student group and providing a space to meet, thus rejecting the university's claim that Michigamua was independent of the university. HEW also noted that Michigamua was widely understood to be an honorary society, not a social fraternity, so it was subject to Title IX's ban on gender discrimination. The university was ordered to enforce changes in Michigamua or risk a loss of federal funding.

Students and administrators worked out a compromise. They would establish the Tower Society, a new honorary organization with two parts — Michigamua for men and Adara (later renamed Phoenix) for leading women students. Michigamua would continue to meet in the "wigwam" while Adara would meet in a room one floor below, and the two groups would hold regular joint meetings. (The Vulcans engineering honorary would later join the Tower Society, with a meeting room two floors below the "wigwam".)

This arrangement satisfied HEW but not Michigamua's critics, especially Native American students. One of them, Grace Pego, had filed a separate civil-rights claim in 1976 shortly after Blumenthal and Tanay made their Title IX complaint. Pego asserted that Michigamua — and thus the university, by supporting it— was violating an amendment to the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 "by denying membership to minorities and ridiculing Native American culture." The university deflected federal action by pointing to Michigamua's induction of numerous African Americans and citing the group's assertion that it "holds the American Indian in the highest esteem." But Native American students and their non-native supporters would echo Pego's complaint in the coming years, insisting that Michigamua's traditions made a racist mockery of native cultures.

Confronted with such complaints, members of Michigamua usually invoked either of two points of view. Older alumni, echoing the founders, typically argued that Michigamua honored Native Americans. Younger members were more likely to say that critics were mistaking Michigamua's practices as commentary on actual Native Americans, when in fact the "tribe" had crafted a subculture of its own out of pop-culture Indian caricatures. The Michigan Daily quoted an unnamed member of the 1975 cadre as saying: "Michigamua — unfortunately, maybe — has adopted things from the grade-B movies on TV. I don't think anybody in Michigamua considers them to be Indian. It's always Michigamua tradition, Michigamua lore, an identity of Michigamua rather than Indian."

From the 1970s through the 1990s, Michigamua continued to induct new cadres, but its standing had declined. With the departure of Rope Day from the central campus, many Michigan students were no longer even aware of the organization. It also came under scrutiny for hazing activities banned by the Michigan Student Assembly.

In 1988, two new blows challenged Michigamua's grip on its traditions. The Michigan Student Assembly voted to withdraw its recognition of Michigamua as an approved student organization, citing critics' charges of racism and elitism. And the Michigan Civil Rights Commission warned the state's universities that any use of Indian names, logos, or mascots violated state civil rights laws.

In response, Michigamua promised in 1989 to drop nearly all faux-Native American references. Henceforth its rituals and nomenclature would refer only to University of Michigan traditions. Members would be called "fighting wolves" — a reference to the university's team name, the Wolverines — instead of "fighting braves". The group would refer to itself as a "pride" rather than a "tribe". There would be no more "Injun talk" in meetings. Only one explicit reference to Native Americans would remain — the name Michigamua itself, with its echo of the Ojibwe language. With these concessions, the group regained recognition as an approved student organization and fended off state penalties.

In the 1990s, Michigamua tried to adjust to a new era in which multiculturalism and gender equality had been embraced as governing principles. By the late 1990s, each class included at least a few members who identified as progressive. The greatest change came in 1999 when, under pressure from university officials who had rethought Title IX's applicability to single-sex student organizations, Michigamua admitted its first women members.

Tower occupation and aftermath
Complaints about Michigamua and racism persisted. The university's Native American Student Association (NASA) asserted that "playing Indian" remained a part of the group's identity, at least in its name and publications, and that the group continued to improperly possess authentic tribal artifacts. In the spring of 1999, Native American students submitted requests to the administration that echoed earlier demands — better efforts to recruit Native students and faculty; a Native American studies program; courses in the Anishinaabe language; and the end of all recognition of Michigamua. Those demands set the stage for a major escalation in the long-running conflict.

On February 6, 2000, some 20 members of a new group, the Students of Color Coalition (SCC), gained access to the "wigwam" and announced they would stay until the university ejected Michigamua from the campus. University officials allowed a few protesters to remain pending a resolution of the dispute.

The protest attracted significant attention on campus and in the local press. Protesters extracted Native American artifacts — some authentic, some faux-Indian souvenirs — from a storage space in the "wigwam" and displayed them on Michigamua's meeting table, then invited people in to view the materials. Rallies were held in support of NASA's demands. After a report of the occupation appeared in the New York Times, the civil-rights activist Al Sharpton announced plans to visit Ann Arbor to support the protesters.

Spokesmen for Michigamua responded to the occupation by saying the current cadre of members wanted to fully understand the protesters' grievances and remedy past wrongs. "The space is the secondary issue," said Rishi Moudgil, a leader among the members. "The pain is the primary issue... We are questioning what has happened in the past. We don't want to make the same mistakes." Members apologized for offending Native Americans and said they had never seen, let alone put on display, the Native American objects now on public view. The objects had been stored unseen in an attic, they said, and they agreed to hand them over to university officials. Michigamua alumni took the blame, telling reporters they should have removed the objects from the Union long before. Members held firm on retaining their space in the tower but offered to have it renovated under the supervision of a Native American elder.

Joe Reilly, a Michigan senior, Native American activist, and spokesman for the protesters, said Michigamua had forfeited its credibility by breaking past promises and dragging its heels in making changes. Protesters said they would meet only with top officials of the university.

Ten days after the occupation began, the university's president, Lee Bollinger, addressed the protesters' grievances. Michigamua's agreement to turn over native artifacts to the university had put that particular matter to rest, he said. Otherwise, he said, the university would not disallow one student group because its activities offended another; the question must go to the student government, which alone held the power to recognize student groups. As for Michigamua's claim on space in the Union Tower, Bollinger said, that merited review by a neutral committee.

As critics and supporters of the occupation traded views in the press, the occupation continued. Sharpton, appearing before SCC supporters, rebuked Bollinger for his claim that Michigamua enjoyed First Amendment protections. "You have a right to call me a n*****," Sharpton said, "but you don't have the right to make me pay for it. We're talking about a permanent use of this tower that's subsidized by public funds."

After 37 days, protesters left the "wigwam" with only one key issue resolved — native materials were turned over to the university's Museum of Natural History. Soon afterward, members voted to change the organization's name to "Michigamua: New Traditions for a New Millenium" and offered to renovate the "wigwam" to remove all native references. But the latter point became moot when the university ruled that no student group should enjoy exclusive access to the tower rooms and ordered Michigamua, Adara, and Vulcans to vacate their rooms. The student government voted again to terminate Michigamua's status as a recognized student organization. The group continued to meet in private quarters off campus and to initiate new members.

The stand-off between Michigamua and its critics continued for several years. Protesters demanded the group go entirely out of existence. Once again Michigamua said it had ended all practices to which opponents objected except the retention of its name. Efforts were made to further diversify its membership by race, gender, sexual preference, and political ideology. But some students who were invited to join refused to do so, citing the group's controversial past. Early in 2006, three progressive student organizations ousted members who had joined Michigamua. Heated debate culminated in Michigamua's announcement in April 2006 that it would undertake a thorough reorganization and choose a new name.

Order of Angell, 2007-2021
In February 2007, members announced that Michigamua would become the Order of Angell, a name selected to honor James Burrill Angell, president of Michigan from 1871 to 1909, renowned for building Michigan into a leading public university. They apologized for Michigamua's use of Native American themes and artifacts. Like Michigamua, the Order would select new members from the ranks of student leaders, but with increased efforts to ensure diversity. Rosters would be made public. Their aim would be "to bridge the communication gap between the many groups on campus, to help U-M realize the potential of its diverse reputation." Its first "prexy", or president, was Sirene Abou-Chakra, a Lebanese-American student who led the Arab-American Student Association. Other members included the woman president of the Michigan Student Assembly; the leader of Army ROTC; and the co-captain of the men's varsity football team. "Our diversity is our strength," said Andrew Yahkind, the Jewish leader of the LSA Student Government. "I would not have joined this organization if I saw anything that was remotely insensitive." The Order sought and received recognition as an official student organization. Meetings were held in various locations. The old tower meeting space remained closed.

In 2009, the Order of Angell started Leaders for Life, an annual program aimed at fostering leadership skills among 100 invited sophomores and juniors. Each year until 2019, prominent figures spoke to the question: "Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to student leaders?" Participants included three presidents of the university; Michigan's governor; varsity football coaches; and leaders of businesses, community-welfare organizations, and arts groups. In 2012, Leaders for Life surveyed some 1,200 student leaders of roughly 300 student organizations on campus to identify traits that make for effective leadership among college students. A follow-up survey in 2016 surveyed some 8,000 recent Michigan graduates to see if the traits identified in the initial survey were helpful after graduation.

Members met for weekly discussions and encouraged constructive campus activities without officially sponsoring them. One example was Dance Marathon, a non-profit student organization that staged a major annual fundraising event for children with disabilities and serious illnesses. Another was K-grams, a mentoring program that matched Michigan students with elementary-school students in southeastern Michigan, most notably with a pen-pal project that fostered monthly correspondence between mentors and their mentees.

For several years, the Order of Angell operated with little controversy. Then, in the 2010s, several student groups began to object if their members joined the Order, citing its ancestral ties to Michigamua or its reputation for secrecy or both. Some students declined invitations. Then, in 2019, three student organizations — the United Asian American Organizations, La Casa (a Latinx group), and the renamed Arab Student Association — denounced the Order and forbade its members to join it, saying, as the Arab Student Association put it, "an honest platform for diversity, inclusion, and transparency cannot be built on a foundation of the oppression of the Native community."

Members defended the Order, saying its roster and mission were matters of public record and that roughly half its members were students of color and roughly half women. They also acknowledged past wrongs committed by Michigamua.

Early in 2021, current members of the Order told alumni by email they were considering disbanding the organization for good — a decision that any year's membership could make without interference by alumni — and solicited advice. According to the Michigan Daily, the email reported many problems in the 2020-21 academic year, including restrictions on face-to-face meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The email read in part: "Dealing with being labeled as racists on social media, the internal push for further reforms, and the inability to engage in oral and in-person traditions have eroded confidence in selecting another Pride."

The Daily reported a letter sent to the Order by current and past members who identified as BIPOC (Black and indigenous people of color). The signatories urged the current members to disband the Order or, failing that, to implement reform measures that would include "a public-facing truth-telling of the history of Order" and cutting all ties to pre-2006 alumni. Since the reorganization of 2006, they said, the Order had failed to "engage in truth, reconciliation, or healing" or "address the deep, systemic fibers of white supremacy that form the foundation of the organization... The power within the organization was always with white students, backed by a powerful cadre of alumni who pulled strings within the Pride." In meetings, they charged, "students of color often faced a hostile environment riddled with microaggressions and tokenism".

In March 2021, the Order announced its decision to disband. Members acknowledged predecessors' efforts to "rectify past harm by eliminating traditions rooted in Indigenous cultural appropriation, changing the name from Michigamua to Order of Angell, and attempting to open conversation channels with communities who expressed dissent to Order's continued existence." But the group's "historical lack of transparency and sufficient action" made it impossible to carry out its "core mission to make the Michigan campus a better place for students." The letter concluded: "In the strongest terms possible, we condemn any attempts to keep the organization alive in secret, restart the group, or build a new one that seeks to erase the history of the Order of Angell."

Native American themes

Michigamua was not unusual among fraternal organizations in drawing motifs from an idealized past but it was unusual among college honorary societies in its use of Native American themes. White Americans had been masquerading as Indians for various purposes since before the American Revolution. The colonists who posed as Mohawks in the Boston Tea Party of 1773 are only the best remembered of many Americans of the colonial and early national eras who rebelled against authority in Indian costume. A few groups evolved into political organizations, such as the Tammany societies of Philadelphia and New York, named for a Lenape [Delaware] chief named Tamanend. Other Indian-themed groups were purely fraternal, such as the Society of Red Men and its successor, the Improved Order of Red Men. Members found community and camaraderie in gatherings that partook of secret rituals, names, hierarchies and costumes drawn from European-American depictions of Native American life — all elements that would characterize Michigamua from its origins until the late 20th century.

For inspiration, members of Michigamua's founding "tribe" searched the university library for ethnographic research and imaginative literature about indigenous peoples.  Many such writings embraced the white image of Native Americans as "noble savages" living in harmony with nature and representing the inherent goodness of human beings untainted by European-American civilization. Other writings emphasized Indians' supposed courage and fierceness. Both sets of ideas informed Michigamua's ethos.

Symbols and traditions
"Playing Indian" formed the core of Michigamua's identity. Members took faux-Indian nicknames betokening some physical or personal trait (for example, "Heap Chatter" for a talkative member) or activity ("Thunder Arm" for a baseball pitcher). They were expected to use the pidgin English (for example, "me heap big chief") that had evolved in early transactions between English speakers and Native Americans, then was absorbed and modified in the "western" novels and movies of white popular culture. Linguists called the dialect "Native American Pidgin English" and "Hollywood Injun Pidgin." It bore little if any relation to the actual languages of Native American nations.

Each cadre elected a "sachem" (president), "sagamore" (vice president), "keeper of the wampum" (treasurer), and "wiskinski" (secretary). Titles were drawn from New York's Society of St. Tammany (better known as Tammany Hall) and the Improved Order of Red Men.

Michigamua became well known chiefly through rites of initiation held before crowds of spectators every spring. The event was called "Rope Day." Junior men chosen as new members —"young bucks" — would be summoned to a central spot on the campus where the senior members — "fighting braves" — wearing faux-Indian costumes, with their skin stained red, would tie initiates' wrists to a long rope, then run them through the campus and subject them to physical ordeals, including being doused with water and smeared with red brick dust.

Hazing on Rope Day varied in severity. One member reported in 1919 that "Rope Day used to be very impressive...unique and picturesque. But it...has degenerated until it has become the worst offender in the way of brutal and barbaric tortures." Early initiates were often "paddled" — struck repeatedly on the buttocks with a wooden paddle. Later cadres scaled back the ordeals. The smearing of red brick dust on the skin of initiates — an example of "redface" practices, which are widely castigated by Native Americans and others as the equivalent of demeaning "blackface" caricatures of Africans and African-Americans — continued into the post-World War II era.

Michigamua was often called a secret society. That was true in some senses and some periods but not in others. Meetings were private, and in some periods officers' names were kept confidential. But on Rope Day, members' identities were obvious to large crowds of spectators, and the student newspaper and yearbook often published members' names.

Wigwam
Until the early 1920s, members met in fraternities or rooms above stores. Then, for a nominal fee, the Michigan Union (whose top officers often belonged to the "tribe") permitted Michigamua to meet in the room at the top of the Union tower. (Other student groups, including the honor societies Druids and Vulcans, also rented space in the tower.) In the early 1930s, with the backing of Fielding Yost, then the university's powerful athletic director, the Union's officers granted Michigamua the right, at its own expense, to decorate its room for its exclusive use.

In 1933,  the renovated space was dedicated; it was known as the wigwam. Decorations included curved birchbark coverings on the walls to simulate the interior shape and textures of a stereotypical wigwam as well as "relics and tokens of the race of redskins from whom the founders of Michigan's Tribe took their inspiration," according to the student newspaper, along with animal pelts and plaques inscribed with names of past members. From 1933 on, the tribe paid no rent for the space.

For members, the wigwam enhanced a sense of inclusion in a rarified order. It was the end point of the ritual of Rope Day, with initiates required to "duck-walk" across the campus and up the seven-story tower to the "wigwam". (This ritual was photographed for a Life magazine feature on Rope Day in 1954.) Later, the room fueled contention, since the tribe enjoyed exclusive, rent-free access and because it housed Native American artifacts.

Activities
Apart from Rope Day, Michigamua's activities consisted of weekly meetings to discuss campus affairs; outings and parties with dates; and reunions with alumni members, called "Old Braves." By informal understanding, the group refrained from any effort, as a body, to exert influence on student politics or university policies, though members often claimed to advance worthy aims as individuals working behind the scenes. The main exception to that reluctance to act as a group occurred in 1903-04 when Michigamua supported plans for a unifying social club for all Michigan men — students, faculty, and alumni alike — partly in response to tensions between undergraduate fraternity members and "independents". Led by the Michigamua member Edward F. Parker, the campaign established the Michigan Union, one of the earliest such organizations in the U.S., with Parker as its first president. Efforts followed to construct a building to house the organization. Completed in 1919, the Michigan Union building, a campus landmark, housed the Union's own offices and those of many other student organizations, including Michigamua, as well as facilities for dining, recreation, social events, and meetings.

Membership
Michigamua's first cadres chose their successors chiefly based on popularity and "a reputation for originality and class 'deviltry,'" all to promote "good class fellowship". But leadership soon emerged as the key criterion. By 1908, an observer reported the group "aims to draw its members, quite in the manner of the Yale senior societies, from the leaders in all prominent undergraduate activities, studious, social and athletic." Members made efforts to spread invitations roughly equally among fraternity members and "independents".

To make up each new cadre, graduating seniors every spring would choose ten successors from the junior class. The following fall, those ten would choose more members (from 10 to as many as 25) to make up the full "tribe" for that year. Later, all new members would be chosen in the spring of their junior year to make up the following year's membership, with the total limited to 25.

Notable members
(Most of the administrators and coaches who were members were honorary "sachems".

Political figures
Gerald Ford, U.S. president
Frank Murphy, U.S. Supreme Court justice and U.S. attorney general
Mike Bishop, Michigan Senate majority leader and member of the United States House of Representatives
Clifford Taylor, Michigan Supreme Court chief justice
Roger Wilkins, civil rights leader and Washington Post editorialist

Athletics

Bo Schembechler, football coach
Jim Harbaugh, football player and coach
Fritz Crisler, football coach
Lloyd Carr, football coach
Fielding H. Yost, football coach
Red Berenson (1962), hockey coach
Don Canham, athletic director
Jim Abbott, baseball pitcher
Brian Griese, football player and NFL quarterback
Tom Harmon, football player and Heisman Trophy winner
Mike Hart, football player
Jake Long, football player; the #1 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft
Denard Robinson, football player; NFL running back
Taylor Lewan, football player; NFL offensive tackle
Steve Strinko, football player; founder of FAN, Inc.
Marty Turco, hockey goalkeeper
Peter Vanderkaay, swimmer; Olympic gold medalist
Connor Jaeger, swimmer; Olympic silver medalist
Karan Higdon, football player
Brendan O'Reilly, Irish athlete; Olympic high-jumper

University of Michigan administrators
Harry Burns Hutchins, president
Alexander Grant Ruthven, president
Harlan Hatcher, president
Robben Fleming, president

See also
Collegiate secret societies in North America
Honor society

References

Further reading

External links
 Native American Student Association
 Creation of the organization
 Pictures of items claimed to have been found in the tower

Student organizations established in 1902
Collegiate secret societies
Student societies in the United States
University of Michigan
1902 establishments in Michigan
2021 disestablishments in Michigan
Native American-related controversies
Defunct organizations based in Michigan

Order of Angell


St. Michael's Catholic Church is a former parish of the Diocese of Davenport. The church is located in the unincorporated village of Holbrook, east of Parnell, Iowa, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as St. Michael's Church, Cemetery, Rectory, and Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall in 1983.

Holbrook
The parish buildings represent the Irish-Catholic settlement of Holbrook. The area of Iowa County, Iowa that became known as Holbrook was settled by Irish immigrants or descendants of Irish immigrants. Thomas Hanson, one of those settlers, brought the priest from Iowa City in his lumber wagon and Mass was celebrated in his home. People from the surrounding area would gather for the Mass. The former rectory sits across the highway from the church and the former Hibernian Hall is across the cemetery to the west. The cemetery surrounds the church on three sides. Other than a few houses, they are all that is left of the village which at one time had a post office and a store.

St. Michael's Parish
The parish was established in 1843 and plans to erect a church were begun. A small frame church was built in what is now St. Michael's Cemetery, near the site of the present church building. The Rev. Mathias Hannon, who came to Holbrook from St. Mary's in Iowa City for the first time in 1853, described the church thus, "I said mass within before the floor was laid, had the beautiful snow for carpet, and a pine box for an altar in fact a place as forlorn as the stable wherein the Savior was born. There was no more than fourteen families."

Bishop Mathias Loras of the Diocese of Dubuque assigned the Rev. Peter J. Sullivan as the first resident pastor. He built the current church building in the Romanesque Revival style in 1867. The building is constructed of brick, measures , and cost about $2,000 to build. The pastor himself donated the paintings for the Stations of the Cross, which cost $1,000. They are no longer in the church and what happened to them is unknown.

St. Michael's became a parish of the Davenport Diocese when it was established in 1881. Alterations were made to the buildings as the years continued. The bell, which is still in the tower, was cast in St. Louis in 1882. A new dome was placed on top of the bell tower during the pastorate of the Rev. Thomas King (1889–1909). During the pastorate of the Rev. Edward Gaule (1909–1917) a new sanctuary with new altars was added to the church. The new bell tower, the third one constructed on this site, was added at this time as well.  An addition was added onto the rectory when the Rev. John J. Moriarity (1917–1922) was the pastor. The Rev. James M. Ryan (1922–1927) added stucco to the exterior of the church during his pastorate.

In 1885 Bishop Henry Cosgrove assigned the Rev. James Davis as the pastor. He was an Irish immigrant who came to the Dubuque Diocese shortly after his ordination in 1878. At the time, St. Joseph's in Parnell was a mission to St. Michael's, and Davis built both the school and church there. He also built the front part of the present rectory in Holbrook. Four years later he was transferred to St. Margaret's Cathedral in Davenport. He would be the cathedral's rector and direct the construction of the new Sacred Heart Cathedral. The people of Holbrook considered the transfer a demotion seeing as St. Margaret's was a smaller parish. Father Davis went on to become coadjutor bishop in 1904 and then Bishop of Davenport in 1906.

As the 20th century progressed the rural population of Iowa decreased, and the Holbrook area was no different. Toward the end of the century St. Michael's was clustered with other parishes in the area and served by a single priest. Finally, on March 28, 1996, Bishop William Franklin announced in The Catholic Messenger that St. Michael's would close by the end of June. In a little over a century St. Michael's went from being "the largest and best parish in the diocese" to closing. Rev. Richard Okumu of St. Peter's parish in Cosgrove was placed in charge of pastoral management for corporate affairs. The parish buildings were sold to the Friends of St. Michael's, who are now responsible for their upkeep.

Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall
The Hibernian Hall was built in 1899 by the local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. It was deeded to the parish corporation in 1948 and was renamed St. Michael's Parish Hall. It is a 1½-story frame structure that sits to the west of the church. The building is covered in clapboard and it is capped with a gableed roof. The round-arch windows that mimic those of the church are surrounded by drip molds. There is an odd-placed rectangular window above and to one side of the entrance. It appears in an early photo of the structure, but it may not be original.

References

External links
Friends of Old St. Michael's Website

Irish-American culture in Iowa
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1867
19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States
Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport
Former Roman Catholic church buildings in Iowa
Buildings and structures in Iowa County, Iowa
National Register of Historic Places in Iowa County, Iowa
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa
Religious organizations established in 1843
Romanesque Revival church buildings in Iowa
Hibernian buildings
1843 establishments in Iowa Territory

St. Michael's Catholic Church (Holbrook, Iowa)