Why the Nordic Countries Emerged as a Haven for 20th-Century African American Expatriates

Saxophonist Dexter Gordon at Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen in 1964 Courtesy of Kirsten Malone In November 1953, Ebony magazine published an essay by African American singer Anne Brown, who wrote about her life in Norway after relocating from the United States. The change was first set in motion during the mid-1940s, when Brown made a stop in Oslo during a five-month European concert tour that also took her to…