Edgar Holger Cahill's Inspiring Legacy
By Sunna Olafson Furstenau
Welcome to our Interesting Icelander series for 2025 with a focus on Icelandic Art and Culture. Our January profile is exploring the life and legacy of Edgar Holger Cahill (January 1887 - July 1960).
Our Interesting Icelander for January is a remarkable person whose life story is very compelling. Born in Iceland as Sveinn Kristján Bjarnarson (IR#I523988), he abandoned his Icelandic heritage and became Edgar Holger Cahill. His childhood was marked by severe hardships and challenges. Yet, he became the Director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.1
The 1880s in Iceland were marked by severe hardship, driving many to seek a new life in North America. Among those affected was young Sveinn (AKA Edgar Holger Cahill), born on January 13, 1887, in a humble turf house at the farm Breiðabólstaður near Stykkishólmur in the Snæfellsnes peninsula.2
His parents had married two months earlier.3 By 1889, Sveinn's family had moved to Miklaholt which is the last farm they lived on before emigrating. Seven people left this farm in 1889 including Sveinn (listed as Kristján Sveinn) and his parents.4 (See <2> on the inset map)
Sveinn’s early years were fraught with challenges as his family faced the harsh realities of Iceland's unforgiving climate and food shortages. The winters during these years were exceptionally brutal—long and cold with heavy snowfall. The presence of drift ice in the fjords compounded these difficulties by making fishing nearly impossible. Even when summer arrived, lakes and streams remained frozen longer than usual, preventing grass from growing and leading to widespread food shortages.
By 1887, food scarcity had reached critical levels across Iceland, resulting in
starvation and death among people and livestock. These dire circumstances
compelled many Icelanders like Sveinn’s family to journey towards an
uncertain future in North America. They left in 1889 from the port of Stykkishólmur. [*1]
1887 was the peak of emigration from Iceland, with over 70 individuals departing from the port of Stykkishólmur that year.7 The dire conditions of this decade forced many families to leave their homeland for survival and opportunity.
748 people left Iceland in 1889, along with Sveinn and his parents, Vigdís Bjarnadóttir and Björn Björnsson. After emigrating from Iceland to North America, his family surname changed from Bjarnarson/Bjarnason/Bjornson and Johnson.8
Life presented numerous challenges for Sveinn. The family first lived in Winnipeg. His father's issues, and then his abandonment of the family by 1895, led to a very tumultuous childhood. Sveinn's childhood was marked by neglect and hardship. His mother became very ill, additionally stricken with a mental breakdown, resulting in Sveinn being sent to work on the farm of an Icelandic family.
In the 1900 Census, 13-year-old Sveinn is working as a servant on a farm in Pembina
County, North Dakota.9 Various sources state that he faced mistreatment there, and he
ran away to search for his mother. Vigdís had since married another Icelander, Samson
Samson on 27 September 1902 in Gardar, North Dakota. Samson was 22 years younger than Vigdís and only nine and one-half years older than Sveinn. He did not like this new arrangement nor his stepfather. Sveinn worked on nearby farms before moving to Winnipeg, Manitoba, hoping for help from relatives.
Unfortunately, these relatives rejected Sveinn and sent him to an orphanage in Winnipeg. He lived with an Irish family where he worked and attended school. But again, Sveinn ran away. He traveled around the United States and Canada, finding whatever work he could; he worked as a cattle driver in Nebraska, attended night school in Minnesota, and was a hand on cargo and coal ships to China and Japan before arriving in Vancouver.10
He filed naturalization papers in New York, which state he left Winnipeg in 1912 on the Northern Pacific Railroad for Grand Forks.11
The 1917 World War I Draft Registration Card shows Sveinn, or rather, Edgar claiming a physical disability rendering him unable to serve.12
He married in 1919. The couple lived in various locations in the Manhattan borough of New York City where Edgar worked as a cook, an insurance salesman, a journalist, and an editor. Their daughter, Jane Ann, was born in January 1922. Later that year Edgar travelled on a passenger ship between Gothenburg, Sweden and New York.13 After the divorce in 1927, his ex-wife and daughter moved to Michigan.
In a 1928 news article in The Santa Fe New Mexican:
“Edgar Holger Cahill of the John Cotton Dana Newark Museum, author of the novel, 'Profane Earth,' and who has charge of all the publicity of the Society of Independent Artists in New York City, is an arrival in Santa Fe to spend the summer. As an art critic and general newspaper writer, Cahill is known as a man of brilliant ability and he is an important accession to the writer's colony in Santa Fe.” 14
In 1933, at the depth of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the 32nd
President of the United States. In his nomination acceptance speech in 1932, he pledged a “New Deal” for America. In his inaugural address, he claimed, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” But fear was rampant among the American people, with banks closing, 25% of the population (13 million people) being unemployed, factories and mills shut down, farm prices plummeting, and farmers losing their homes and land. People were living in the worst economic disaster in history. Despite FDR’s efforts, the Great Depression lasted until 1941, when America became involved in World War II.15
The largest of the "New Deal" projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration
was the Federal Art Project. Its primary goals were to employ artists and provide art for
municipal buildings and public spaces. The artists were to create art, music, and theater. They were responsible for community service, where they taught their skills to others and were paid $100 monthly. Edgar Holger Cahill was appointed the National Director of this initiative through the Works Projects Administration in 1935. Holger, with willful determination, ensured this program would succeed.
Under Holger's leadership, from 1935 to 1943, the initiative produced an astounding array of artworks, including 2,500 murals, 18,800 sculptures, and 108,000 paintings and drawings, all destined for public places such as schools, civic buildings, hospitals, and parks. The federal art programs also offered free art classes to children and adults, held
exhibitions, and more. Community art centers were established in over 100 different
towns. He believed that art should be enjoyed everywhere and should not just be a rare
occasional masterpiece in a big city but a wide range of styles, including folk art.
He married again in 1938, but they had no children together.16 In 1939, he
directed the exhibition American Art Today, at the New York World’s Fair.17
Holger did not see his mother for another 45 years, but this was always a cause for grief in his life. In 1948, he met with his mother and sister in Winnipeg. Vigdís had left Samson, who had moved to Vancouver. The photo (18) on the left was taken in Winnipeg in 1948 of Vigdís at age 93 with Holger and his daughter, Anna.
Holger was a prolific writer and wrote many articles and books. The 1950 census indicates Holger Cahill, age 56, born in Minnesota, is a self-employed writer living with his wife, Dorothy, age 45.19 She is listed as born in Massachusetts and works as a curator at the Museum of Arts.
Vigdís died in 1957. Many articles were written about her in the local newspapers20, including a poem by Guttormur J. Guttormsson. She is buried in Winnipeg.21
Holger met Halldór Laxness, Nobel winning author, in 1959. Holger died the following year in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His burial headstone identifies both his Icelandic and American names. His birthplace and Icelandic heritage are acknowledged.
Edgar Holger Cahill's, or Sveinn Kristján Bjarnason's, story is one of transformation against all odds—a testament to how determination can lead one from adversity to make indelible contributions that shape cultural landscapes for generations.
His legacy is one of fostering creativity and rising above one's circumstances. It also serves as an enduring reminder of what can be achieved through passion and perseverance in pursuing one's dreams. The art he extolled is a reminder of how art can unite communities and inspire future generations to embrace new horizons even amidst adversity.
Holger’s story has been immortalized in the film by Hans Kristján and Guðmundur Bjartmarsson, ‘From Turf Cottage to the Cover of Time.’ The documentary includes interviews with family members and art community figures who shed light on his enduring legacy and contributions to art preservation.22
The Smithsonian has a 90-page Holger Cahill papers article about his life in New York and his work.23
Additional Notes from Icelandic Roots:
All the information in this article, documents, passenger lists, ships, ports, ancestral farms, obituaries, photos, census records, interactive maps, and sources, plus much more is found in the Icelandic Roots Database.
The Icelandic Roots volunteers and members will bring two busloads in 2025 to “give back to Iceland” in the Emigration Port Dedication to honor the memory of those who left Stykkishólmur. There were four dedications in 2023 and will be three dedications in 2025.5,6 You can read more about these dedications HERE.
The Icelandic Roots Database in early December, 2024 showed records of 2,051 people who left Iceland in 1887; 1,219 people in 1888; and 748 people who left in 1889 along with Sveinn's family.
The main people from this article and their Icelandic Roots ID#:
Sveinn Bjarnason/Holger Cahill - I523988
Vigdís Bjarnadóttir – I335890
Samson Samson – I412231
Hans Kristján Árnason – I1935
Guðmundur Bjartmarsson – I247788
Anna, sister to Holger - (I523989)
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1. The New York Public Library Digital Collection
2. Breiðabólsstaður á Skógarströnd prestakall 1784-1969
3. Breiðabólsstaður á Skógarströnd prestakall 1784-1969
4. Júníus H. Kristinsson, Vesturfaraskrá 1870- 1914, Institute of History, University of Iceland, pg. 163
7. The Icelandic Roots Database
8. The Icelandic Roots Database
9. 1900 United States Census
10. Smithsonian Archives of American Art Holger Cahill Papers
11. New York Naturalization Records
12. U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards
13. New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1957
14. The Santa Fe New Mexican. 11 Jul 1928. Page 6.
15. Franklin D. Roosevelt National Archives fdrlibrary.org/fdr-biography
16. 1940 US Census
17. Smithsonian Archives of American Art New York World’s Fair 1939
18. The New York Public Library Digital Collection
19. 1950 US Census
21. Icelandic Roots Database