Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941]]> Prohibition]]> Eau Claire (Wis.)]]> Temperance]]> Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931]]> Folkestad, Sigurd]]> Kvisgaard, Olav]]> Norstog, Jon, 1877-1942]]> Rolfson, Nordahl]]> Selnes, Johan A. N. (Johan Andreas Nilsen), 1882-1949]]> Sneve, O.S.]]> Ager, Trygve M. (Trygve Martinus), 1906-1975]]> History/Biography:
Waldemar Theodor Ager was born in Fredrikstad, Østfold, Norway to Martinius Mathiesen Ager and Marie Fredrikke Mathea Johnsdatter Stillaugsen. Martinius first emigrated to the United States by himself, starting a tailoring business. Eventually, Ager and the rest of the family joined Martinus in Chicago. In Chicago, Ager worked for the Norwegian-language newspaper, Norden. His newspaper career flourished when he moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and was offered a job at a Norwegian temperance newspaper called Reform. Ager became editor from 1903-1941. Ager was a leader in the prohibition movement. He helped organize total abstinence societies and Good Templar lodges across the Upper Midwest. Ager remained a teetotaler his entire life. 

In addition to his newspaper career, Ager also wrote six novels and collections of short stories. Among his best known books are "Paa drikkeondets Konto" (1894), "Kristus for Pilatus" (1910), "Oberst Heg og hans gutter" (1916), "Paa veien til smeltepotten" (1917), "Gamlelandets sønner" (1926), and "Hundeøine" (1929). 

See also "The Problem of Cultural Identity in the Works of Waldemar Ager, Simon Johnson, and Johannes B. Wist," a PhD dissertation by James P. Nelson, University of Washington, 1990.

Scope and Content:
The papers of a Norwegian-born journalist, author, and lecturer include clippings, articles, correspondence, manuscripts of books, poems, programs, records, sketches, and stories dealing with subjects such as Norwegian culture and heritage, Americanism, memorials to Norwegians in America, and temperance. 

Among the correspondents are Carl F. Berg, Arne K. Berger, L. W. Boe, H. A. Eckers, John O. Evjen, Ruth Fjeldsaa, Sigurd Folkestad, Einar Haugen, John Heitmann, H. R. Holand, Simon Johnson, Arne Kildal, Lars Lillehei, E. L. Mengshoel, Jon Norstog, Torkel Oftelie, K. Prestgard, D. G. Ristad, Mrs. O. E. Rølvaag, Johan Selnes, T. A. Siqueland, Edvard Skille, Charles C. W. Storck, J. L. Urheim, and Alexander Wiley.

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View digitized correspondence from Waldemar Ager to O.E. Rølvaag.
This material was digitized through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.]]>
Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941]]>
Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941]]> Bredesen, Adolf]]> Carlson, Carl]]> Dahl, Theodor, 1886-1946]]> Gjerset, Knut, 1865-1936]]> Glasoe, P. M. (Paul Maurice), 1873-1956]]> Hoyme, G. (Gjermund), 1847-1902]]> Temperance]]> Rølvaag, Jennie Marie Berdahl]]> Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931]]> Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941]]> Minnesota]]> South Dakota]]> Immigration & society]]> Berdahl, Clarence A. (Clarence Arthur), 1890-1990]]> Berdahl, Andrew]]> St. Olaf College]]> Augustana College (Canton, S.D.)]]> Rolvaag, Karl F., 1913-1990]]> Tweet, Ella Valborg, 1910-2003]]> Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Colcord, Lincoln, 1883-1947]]> Biography/History:

Ole Edvart Rølvaag was born in a fishing village on Dønna, Norway, on April 22, 1876. He immigrated to the United States in 1896 and worked as a farmhand in South Dakota from 1896–98. After graduating from Augustana Academy in Canton, South Dakota, in 1901, Rølvaag earned a B.A. from St. Olaf College in 1905 and returned to the college to earn a M.A. in 1910. Between his B.A. and M.A., he studied at the University of Christiania.

From 1906 to 1931, he served as a professor of Norwegian language and literature at St. Olaf. During his career he authored Norwegian language textbooks and novels, essays, and poems about the Norwegian-American immigrant experience. Two of his novels, Giants in the Earth (1927) and Peder Victorious (1929), received international acclaim as accounts of immigrant pioneer life on the Dakota prairies in the 1870s. 

Rølvaag worked to preserve and enrich Norwegian-American culture during his lifetime. He helped found the Society for Norwegian Language and Culture in 1910 and the Norwegian-American Historical Association in 1925. In 1926, Rølvaag was knighted (Order of St. Olav) by King Haakon VII of Norway.

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Scope and Content: 

The O.E. Rølvaag papers include correspondence; notebooks; manuscripts of novels, articles, book reviews, lectures and poems; clippings, scrapbooks, essays; and general commentary on Rølvaag as author, educator, and cultural leader.

Rølvaag carried on a voluminous correspondence in both English and Norwegian on subjects such as guidance to students and aspiring writers, assistance to teachers planning courses in Norwegian, the place of Norwegian culture in American life, defense of realism in his novels, the arts of writing and translating, church affairs, immigration history, problems of publication and distribution, state and national politics, and promotion of organizations. His correspondents (approximately 1300) included land prospectors, farmers, students, teachers, editors, artists, historians, theologians, poets, novelists, diplomats, publication houses, and lecture bureaus.

Complete and/or fragments of Rølvaag's published works, including manuscripts of translations of Rølvaag novels done by others are included in the collection. Other complete or fragments of unpublished manuscripts such as articles, poems, stories, and lectures (public and classroom) include "Individualiteten," "Kildahl ved St. Olaf," "Hvis det er sandt," "When a Novelist Is in a Hurry," "Our Racial Heritage," "On Writing," "On Books," "Books and Folks," "Thoughts of Thinking People," "Nils og Astri," "Tois," and "The Romance of a Life." 

The collection includes manuscripts by other authors forwarded to Rølvaag: "The Peer Strømme I Knew," by Helen Egilsrud; "My Visit to St. Olaf in 1878" by Susie C. Ellsworth; "Pioneer Life in Brown County, Minnesota" by Einar Hoidale; "Rølvaag, nordmann og amerikaner" by Gudrun Hovde Gvåle.

Because the preservation of Norwegian culture and its inculcation into American life was Rølvaag's major interest, his papers also relate to the many organizations he supported: Nordlandslag; For Fædrearven; Norsk Luthersk Landungdomsforbund; Det Litterære Samfund; Det Norske Selskap; the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study; and the Norwegian-American Historical Association, which he helped found in 1925, and was its first secretary and archivist. The seven volumes of scrapbooks consist mainly of clippings, most of them classified according to topic: reviews of separate Rølvaag novels, reviews in European papers, articles by Rølvaag, clippings about Rølvaag, memorials and tributes. "Bjarne Blehr and Norwegian-American Authors," are clippings of extended debate in "Duluth Skandinav."

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Arrangement:

Section I: Correspondence
Section II: Manuscripts, Stories, and Poems
Section III: Augustana Academy, St. Olaf College, and University of Oslo
Section IV: Clippings and scrapbooks
Section V: Photographs
Section VI: Personal records
Section VII: Materials collected about Rølvaag
Section VIII: Rokke Name Index

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Funding:

Funding to digitize a portion of the O.E. Rølvaag papers provided to the Norwegian-American Historical Association through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, a component of the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment, ratified by Minnesota voters in 2008.

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Explore the O.E. Rølvaag Digital Collection! Thousands of newly digitized materials can now be explored online.

Select scrapbooks, speech, and diary were digitized by the Minnesota Digital Library. Click here to view those items.
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Location:

Boxes 1-63, 67-69: 8/B/7-8, 8/C/1-8
Boxes 64-66, 69-70: 22/B/4
Boxes 74-73: 23/A]]>
Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931]]> Portions of the collection are restricted. Contact the archivist for permission.]]> Access to Deed of Gift
Addition to the Ole Rolvaag papers (P0584). Includes photographs of the Rolvaag family in
Northfield (MN), Big Island Lake (MN), and Garretson (SD). Tax and reciepts, other publications,
and diploma.]]>
Norse-American Centennial (1925 : Hamline, Saint Paul, Minn.)]]> Immigration & society]]> Bothne, Gisle, 1860-1934]]> Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933]]> Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941]]> Holstad, Sigurd H.]]> Gjerset, Knut, 1865-1936]]> Norlie, Olaf Morgan, 1876-1962]]> Biography/History:
The centennial of organized Norwegian migration provided an opportunity for Norwegian-Americans to celebrate their heritage and, more importantly, to demonstrate their American-ness. The celebrations, held in many North American cities and culminating in a major festival at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in June 1925, showed how Norwegian-Americans had already contributed, as well as how well they fit in their new homes. The celebrations constituted a complex process of identity building and a tricky balancing of old culture and new. 

Advertised as “The World’s Largest Gathering for 1925,” promoters described the Twin Cities celebration as “stupendous” and “monumental.” Events over the four-day period included speeches by Norwegian, Canadian, Icelandic, and American dignitaries, including U.S. President Calvin Coolidge; religious services; musical performances; displays of handcrafts, fine arts, and natural resources; and sporting events. The high point with a lavish “Pageant of the Northmen.” With a cast of 1,500, the melodramatic account of a thousand years of Norwegian history featured stories of heroic settlement, noteworthy individuals, and triumphs in the "new" world.

The Norse-American Centennial was a historical moment that brought national attention to Minnesota’s Norwegian immigrant community. To rapt attendees this was a cultural celebration, but behind the scenes the event challenged Norwegian-American leaders, intellectuals, and the broader Norwegian-American community to reexamine their heritage and role as Americans. One year prior to the celebration, the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924 harshly defined insiders and outsiders. While northern Europeans fared relatively well under the new quota system, many Norwegian-Americans seized this moment as an opportunity to elevate their status and dispute negative stereotypes within the minds of their fellow Americans. 

The celebration was initiated by the general council of the bygdelag — local history clubs for Norwegian immigrants and their descendants organized by region of origin. The materials generated by the Norse-American Centennial, an association incorporated in 1925 in St. Paul, are rich and varied. The collection describes in detail the management of the celebration and gives data on observances outside of Minnesota, including Chicago, Canada, Boston, and Brooklyn. Letters and essays reveal the loyalty of Norwegian Americans to their cultural heritage, the rivalry among groups of Norwegians in America, and their internal struggles of understanding ethnic identity.

Scope and Content:
Correspondence, minutes, financial records, reports, programs, clippings, pictures, pamphlets, and scrapbooks of an association incorporated in 1925 in St. Paul, Minnesota, to supervise the observance of the arrival of the first group of Norwegian immigrants in America. The collection describes in detail the management of the celebration and gives data on observances in Chicago, Canada, Boston, and Brooklyn. Letters and essays reveal the loyalty of Norwegian Americans to their cultural heritage and the rivalry among area groups of Norwegians in America. The celebration was initiated by the bygdelags. The chief officials were Gisle Bothne, S. H. Holstad, J. A. Holvik, Elisa P. Farseth, and Mrs. Wm. O. Storlie. Correspondents include Juul Dieserud, Knut Gjerset, Hanna Astrup Larsen, and O. M. Norlie. The centennial received nationwide press coverage.

Arrangement:

Section I: Correspondence
Section II: Minutes, records, and reports
Section III: Exhibition materials and memorabilia
Section IV: Clippings
Section V: Photographs, Posters, and Film

Funding:
Funding to digitize the Norse-American Centennial papers provided to the Norwegian-American Historical Association through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, a component of the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment, ratified by Minnesota voters in 2008.

Download the Legacy Logo | Minnesota's Legacy

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The Norse-American Centennial Digital Collections is available online here.
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8 flat boxes
5 film reels (3 16mm and 2 35mm)]]>
Civil War]]> Femtende Wisconsin]]> 15th Wisconsin Regiment]]> Heg, Hans Christian, 1829-1863]]> Clausen, Clarence A.]]> Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941]]>
Includes:
  • Copy of "The Battle of Stone's River," from the official report by Col. W. P. Carlin in "The War of the Rebellion" (1887, 1977).
  • Volume of a copy of Catuna's manuscript "prepared in 1989 from a carbon copy… by Robert Kittelson for interim family use. Various 'additions' and 'corrections' by Robert Kittelson following research and additional information by Aunt Della."
  • Translation of "Colonel Heg and His Boys" by Catuna (1976), pages 101-120.
  • Translation of "Colonel Heg and His Boys" by Catuna (1976), pages 121-324.
  • Correspondence between Catuna and Clarence A Clausen about the translation, editing and publication of Ager's book on the 15th Wisconsin (1977-1986). Also included are personal notes.
  • "Life of Dordei, Mrs. Dora Kittleson," the story Catuna's mother. First written in 1929 "as an English assignment," rewritten after her mother's death in 1934 and published in the Blair, Wisconsin, newspaper.
  • ranscriptions of Civil War Letters of Lars and Knudt Olsen Dokken (1862-1863). Included is 1 photograph.
  • Copies of Civil War Letters of Lars and Knudt Olsen Dokken, of whom Catuna was a niece (1862-1863). Included are 3 photographs. The letters are held in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
  • Copy of "The Scandinavian Regiment and Its Colonel," from "Annals of the Army of the Cumberland" (1863, 1977).
  • Translation of "Colonel Heg and His Boys" by Catuna (1976), pages 1-101.
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Catuna, Della ]]>
Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941]]> Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931]]>
See also Ager Papers, P0601 and NAHA Publication papers, box 46.

Box 1
  1. Correspondence regarding: Ager Thesis
  2. Bibliography and plans for thesis;
  3. Notebook 1: Correspondence and notes on interviews;
  4. Notebook 2: Papers collected by Kilde for use in thesis; 
Box 2
  1. Correspondence- Ager, Elvira
  2. Correspondence- Ager, Eyvind
  3. Correspondence- Ager, Roald;
  4. Correspondence- Bergh, Gudrun
  5. Best, Solveig Ager;
  6. Correspondence: Nicolai, Hildur Ager; 
  7. Manuscript, Barbara Bergh "Glimpses into My Grandfather's Scrapbook" 
  8. Snapshots received from Karren Bergh Bloom;
  9. Ager Genealogy; 
  10. Ager Clippings;
  11. Ager Memorial Committee;
  12. Ager Stories translated by Eyvind Evans
  13. Paper for Professor Vecoli, 1976, "Cultural Pluralism Versus Assimilation In the Writings of Waldmar Ager;
  14. Article for Eau Claire newspaper "Waldemar Ager, Editor and Author"
  15. Miscellaneous pamphlets, etc.
  16. Correspondence with University of Nebraska Press regarding translation of " They Went to a Far Country";
  17. Miscellaneous, My Memories of Ole Edvart Rølvaag.
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Kilde, Clarence ]]>