Norse-American Centennial papers, 1923-1927
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Norse-American+Centennial+%281925+%3A+Hamline%2C+Saint+Paul%2C+Minn.%29">Norse-American Centennial (1925 : Hamline, Saint Paul, Minn.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Bothne%2C+Gisle%2C+1860-1934">Bothne, Gisle, 1860-1934</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Coolidge%2C+Calvin%2C+1872-1933">Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Ager%2C+Waldemar%2C+1869-1941">Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Holstad%2C+Sigurd+H.">Holstad, Sigurd H.</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Gjerset%2C+Knut%2C+1865-1936">Gjerset, Knut, 1865-1936</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Norlie%2C+Olaf+Morgan%2C+1876-1962">Norlie, Olaf Morgan, 1876-1962</a>
<p><b>Biography/History:</b><b><br /></b><span style="font-weight:400;">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. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<p><b>Scope and Content:</b><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<p><b>Arrangement:</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Section I: Correspondence<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section II: Minutes, records, and reports<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section III: Exhibition materials and memorabilia<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section IV: Clippings<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section V: Photographs, Posters, and Film</span></p>
<p><b>Funding:</b><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">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.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.legacy.mn.gov/sites/default/files/images/logos/legacy_logo-H_rgb.jpg" class="n3VNCb" alt="Download the Legacy Logo | Minnesota's Legacy" width="262" height="148" style="margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" /><br /></span></p>
<h4><strong><a href="https://nac.omeka.net" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Norse-American Centennial Digital Collections is available online here.</a><br /></strong></h4>
1923-1927
English
Norwegian
Manuscripts
Audiovisual materials
Newspapers
Photographs
P0562
Anne Dahlby papers, 1850-1918
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Dahlby%2C+Anne">Dahlby, Anne</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Voldal%2C+Henrik">Voldal, Henrik</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Mount+Horeb+%28Wis.%29">Mount Horeb (Wis.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Norway--Emigration+and+immigration">Norway--Emigration and immigration</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Wisconsin">Wisconsin</a>
An emigration document and letters (mainly from Kvikne, Tynset, Hedmark, 1883-1890) to Mrs. Dahlby, a Norwegian-born farmer's wife at Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.<br /><br />Correspondence includes 1918 letter from the Rev. Henrik Voldal from Torquay, Sask.<br /><br />Contents:<br /><span>Anne Dahlby Papers, Correspondence. Includes 1918 letter from the Rev. Henrik Voldal from Torquay, Sask.</span>
1 folder
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Dahlby%2C+Anne">Dahlby, Anne</a>
1850-1918
Rights undetermined.
English
Norwegian
Correspondence
P0062
Strommen family history, undated
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Genealogy">Genealogy</a>
Includes booklet “A four generation of Strommen history: How god transformed a Norwegian family” by Merton Peter Stommen.” CD with interview.
Location:
16/C/8
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Stommen%2C+Merton+Peter+">Stommen, Merton Peter </a>
undated
Rights undetermined.
English
Booklet
CD
NAHA 2019/050
<em>An Emigrant's History from Sognal</em>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Sogndal+%28Norway%29">Sogndal (Norway)</a>
This 37-page pamphlet covers the story of Christian Nilson Flagum who was born on Fretland in Sogndal on January 17, 1859 and died in December 13, 1927 in his home near Lake Mills, Iowa. Christian emigrated with his parents and two brothers in 1867. It is noted that this is a local instruction pamphlet about emigration from Sogndal for use in school. In English and Norwegian.<br /><br />Location:<br /><span>16/C/8</span>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Sunde%2C+Rasmus">Sunde, Rasmus</a>
Right undetermined.
English
Norwegian
Manuscripts
NAHA 2019/058
Knut Halverson diary, 1872-1879
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Halverson%2C+Knut">Halverson, Knut</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Telemark+%28Firm+%3A+Poland%29">Telemark (Firm : Poland)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Iola+%28Wis.%29">Iola (Wis.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Emigration+and+immigration">Emigration and immigration</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Pioneer+">Pioneer </a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Portage+County+%28Wis.%29">Portage County (Wis.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Halvorson+Teslow%2C+Hannah+">Halvorson Teslow, Hannah </a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Rosholt%2C+Malcolm+Leviatt%2C+1907-">Rosholt, Malcolm Leviatt, 1907-</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Farm+life">Farm life</a>
A kept by an immigrant from Telemark who came to Wisconsin in 1865. The file includes an edited translation with an introduction by Malcolm Rosholt, who published it in the "Iola Herald," Iola, Wisconsin (date unknown).<br /><br /><span>Two volumes of a journal or diary kept by a 1865 emigrant from Telemark who settled in the "Indian Land [Native American]" in central Wisconsin, Portage County. The first volume covers May 1872-April 1878. The second volume covers 1890-1896, with occasional entries (not always chronological) through 1934 A letter (May 9, 1955) from a niece, Hannah Halvorson Teslow, gives information about the family. Malcolm Rosholt, who knew Halverson and gave the diaries, translated the first volume. Two versions of the translation, with introductions and notes, are included (55,56 p.). <br /><br />Most of the translation was published in the "Iola Herald" in spring 1970. Rosholt published an article, "A pioneer diary from Wisconsin," in "Norwegian-American Studies," volume 21 (1962), pp. 198-211. He says the diary "may be the most significant early document relating to Portage County, Wisconsin, in the Norwegian language" for the period, giving a "fairly comprehensive picture of pioneer farm life on the Wisconsin frontier." The second volume, which was discovered later, has not been translated except for a few pages. The surname is spelling variously; this is the one used in Rosholt's article.</span>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Halverson%2C+Knut">Halverson, Knut</a>
1872-1879
Rights undetermined.
Norwegian
English
Diaries
P0126
Lars Nielssen Nesseim (Nesheim) papers, 1838-1961
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Voss+%28Norway%29">Voss (Norway)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=America+letters">America letters</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Eielsen%2C+Elling">Eielsen, Elling</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Haaeim%2C+Sjur+J%C3%B8rgensen">Haaeim, Sjur Jørgensen</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
<p><b>Biography/History: </b><b><br /></b><span style="font-weight:400;">Lars Nielsen Nesheim, a farmer in Øvre Lemme in Voss, Norway, was responsible for copying all of these letters. A man by the name of Ivar Davidson Hustvedt (who donated one copy to NAHA) knew the man personally, and described Nesheim as a self-taught man, and as an "original.” Hustvedt said Nesheim had "bookshelves that reach from the floor up to the ceiling filling two walls" and “he spared no effort, often traveling great distances in order to get hold of these letters, as a loan or by other means, so he could copy them. He bound these copies into books” These letters were sent from America, and often helped convince or deter a person from emigrating. All of them are carefully copied in gothic script using different colors of ink. </span></p>
<p><b>Scope and Content: <br /></b><span style="font-weight:400;">The Lars Nielseen Nesseim papers consist of two volumes of copied immigrant letters. One volume was donated by Ivar Davidson Hustvedt, and the other by Rev. Sven Tverberg. The two volumes of America letters were written during the 1840s to friends and relatives in Voss and copied into books by Nesseim. Sophie Boe made typed transcriptions and translations of the Tverberg volume. Among the letters are some by Elling Eielsen, Sjur Jørgensen Haaeim, and John Haldorsen Quileqval, uncle of Knut Nelson. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Correspondence between Sophie Boe, O.E. Rølvaag, and Theordore Blegen about the Tverberg volume, and between Blegen and the Chicago Historical Society (now Chicago History Museum) about the Ekse volume. Note, the volume donated by Ida S. Ekse to the Chicago Historical Society may be the Lars Davidsen Reque volume. Two other volumes are at the Voss Folk Museum.</span></p>
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TYI8dfhmHn0nq6rGiybiS0DgmlWAaoG_/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Volume 1</a> and <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AQD9HyExwHkbO97C1oRecIjLpvJIp8V6/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">volume 2</a> of the copied immigrant letters is available online.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Nesseim%2C+Lars+N.">Nesseim, Lars N.</a>
1838-1961
Norwegian
English
Clippings
Correspondence
P0560
John Storseth papers, 1929-1944
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
Manuscripts of a Norwegian-born farmer, lumberman, and self-taught student of literature and religion: "Old Homes and New" and its Norwegian counterpart, "Fra gammel og ny tid i Norge og Amerika," is an autobiography, depicting the problems of adjustments between Norwegian and American cultures; "The Ancients" and "The Mysteries of Space," are sketches on science and astrology; "Djævelskab" is an assortment of sketches. Excerpts from the autobiography were published in "Studies and Records," volume 13, 1943. NB: See Storseth's "Stemninger og minner" in Trønderlagets aarbok 1940-41," pp. 7-20.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Storseth%2C+John">Storseth, John</a>
1929-1944
English
Norwegian
Manuscripts
P0593
June Kompas papers, 1887-1977
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Genealogy+%26+local+history">Genealogy & local history</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Manistee+%28Mich.%29">Manistee (Mich.)</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Petersen%2C+Peter+%281848-1936%29">Petersen, Peter (1848-1936)</a>
Biographical information about a Norwegian-American woman who grew up in the home of her immigrant grandparents, Peter (1848-1936) and Martha Petersen (1854-1951), at Manistee, Michigan. Includes notes, clippings, and photographs.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Kompas%2C+June">Kompas, June</a>
1887-1977
Clippings
Photographs
P0881
Gulbrand Loken clipping, 1980-1982
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
A review of Loken's "From Fjord to Frontier, A History of Norwegians in Canada." Loken, the son of immigrants to Canada from Eidsvoll, Norway, became professor of Educational Administration at Calgary University in 1971.
His book is the first comprehensive account of Norwegian migration to Canada. It centers on the western provinces that have the greatest concentration of Norwegians.
Also includes a copy of the publication within folder.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Loken%2C+Gulbrand">Loken, Gulbrand</a>
1980-1982
English
Clippings
P1235
Ole E. Rølvaag papers, 1896-2020
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=R%C3%B8lvaag%2C+Jennie+Marie+Berdahl">Rølvaag, Jennie Marie Berdahl</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=R%C3%B8lvaag%2C+O.+E.+%28Ole+Edvart%29%2C+1876-1931">Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Ager%2C+Waldemar%2C+1869-1941">Ager, Waldemar, 1869-1941</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Minnesota">Minnesota</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=South+Dakota">South Dakota</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Immigration+%26+society">Immigration & society</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Berdahl%2C+Clarence+A.+%28Clarence+Arthur%29%2C+1890-1990">Berdahl, Clarence A. (Clarence Arthur), 1890-1990</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Berdahl%2C+Andrew">Berdahl, Andrew</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=St.+Olaf+College">St. Olaf College</a>
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<p><b>Biography/History:</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<p><b>Scope and Content: </b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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." </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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."</span></p>
<p><b>Arrangement:</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">Section I: Correspondence<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section II: Manuscripts, Stories, and Poems<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section III: Augustana Academy, St. Olaf College, and University of Oslo<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section IV: Clippings and scrapbooks<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section V: Photographs<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section VI: Personal records<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section VII: Materials collected about Rølvaag<br /></span><span style="font-weight:400;">Section VIII: Rokke Name Index</span><span style="font-weight:400;"><br /></span></p>
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<p><b>Funding:</b></p>
<p><span style="font-weight:400;">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.</span></p>
<img src="https://www.legacy.mn.gov/sites/default/files/images/logos/legacy_logo-H_rgb.jpg" alt="legacy_logo-H_rgb.jpg" width="297" height="168" />
<div class="element-text"><strong><a href="http://rolvaag.omeka.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Explore the O.E. Rølvaag Digital Collection!</a> Thousands of newly digitized materials can now be explored online. </strong><br /><br />Select scrapbooks, speech, and diary were digitized by the Minnesota Digital Library.<span> </span><strong><a href="https://reflections.mndigital.org/?f%5Bcollection_name_ssi%5D%5B%5D=Norwegian-American+Historical+Association" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Click here to view those items.</a></strong></div>
<div class="element-text"></div>
<p><b>Location:</b></p>
Boxes 1-63, 67-69: 8/B/7-8, 8/C/1-8<br />Boxes 64-66, 69-70: 22/B/4<br />Boxes 74-73: 23/A
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=R%C3%B8lvaag%2C+O.+E.+%28Ole+Edvart%29%2C+1876-1931">Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931</a>
1896-2020
English
Norwegian
Correspondence
Manuscripts
Clippings
Photograph albums
Photographic prints
Diaries
Speechwriting
P0584