Did you know that Superior hosted royals during the World War II era? The Crown Prince and Princess of Norway visited Superior, not once, but twice during that time. Newspapers of the day were filled with information about the royal visitors and their activities and the Crown Prince even took in a Superior Blues baseball game at their newly built stadium.

In this month's podcast, Telegram reporter Maria Lockwood is joined by local historian and retired librarian Teddie Meronek as they look back at the visits from Prince Olav and Princess Martha. The first visit was in 1939 during a goodwill tour of the United States for the royals. That included a few days in Superior, coincidentally at the same time the city observed its 50th birthday of being an incorporated city.

“One of the factors was because of the large Scandinavian population in the Twin Ports,” says Meronek.

Maria and Teddie also discuss another reason for the royals' visit, which included time in Duluth for a dedication of a well-known monument.

While the 1939 trip involved celebrations, the tone was different in 1942 as World War II was underway. Germany had attacked Norway, with the royal family able to escape. Prince Olav and Princess Martha again found themselves in Superior as part of an organized trip to get support from allies as the U.S. was now part of the war.

“Prince Olaf and Princess Martha wanted to make it perfectly clear that they didn’t want a lot of celebration. It had to be a simple visit because of what was going on in the world," says Meronek. “The prince spoke about what had happened and that we all needed to stick together.”

The people of Superior asked the royals to visit again and they said they would. Ultimately, they didn't return to Superior. However, their son, King Harold V, along with his wife, Queen Sonja, visited Duluth in 2011.

New episodes of Archive Dive are published monthly. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes are edited and produced by Duluth News Tribune digital producers Wyatt Buckner and Dan Williamson. If you have an idea for a topic you’d like to see covered, email Maria Lockwood at [email protected].