The Svalbard Lodge of the Sons of Norway was chartered in Juneau, Alaska in 1934.
The formation of the Sons of Norway as a fraternal benefits society came as the result of several historic events in 19th century America—an intense period of Norwegian emigration to the United States in the 1870s and 1880s, the rise of fraternal organizations to address the economic needs of members, and the onset of the economic depression of 1893.
The Norwegian immigrant men responsible for founding the organization lived in the Norwegian colony that had formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the 1870s. What they created was a merger of a love for their homeland, a fierce loyalty to their new country, and the desire for a degree of financial security for themselves and fellow Norwegian-Americans.
The economic consequences of the 1893 depression were dire for Norwegians. Most were farmers who depended on optimum conditions of health, crop production, and market prices to provide a decent quality of life for their families. Smaller numbers of Norwegian tradesman and craftsmen depended on the financial successes of others in their communities for a livable wage. When local, regional and national economies spiraled downward, all were affected negatively.
Practical, cautious, and driven to find solutions to the financial problems many Norwegian-American families faced, the founders looked to their homeland for answers. Several of them had lived in Trondheim, where for a small weekly fee, members and their families acquired free medical care. Borrowing from that plan, the men designed a mutual assistance organization to provide members with security against financial crisis, a forum to celebrate Norwegian-American nationalism, and a means to preserve the treasured literature, music, art, foods and customs of Norway.
Membership was limited to men from 20 to 50 years old who were in good health, capable of supporting a family, morally upright, and Norwegian or of Norwegian decent. All requirements but the last were typical of fraternal insurance organizations of the time. Later in the 19-teens, women were first allowed to join Sons of Norway lodges in places where no Daughters of Norway auxiliary was available.