Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Halvorson, Olaf]]> ]]> Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Norse American Centennial]]> Blizzards]]> Saeter, Johannes O.]]> Bjørnson, Bjørnstjerne, 1832-1910]]> Nelson, Knute, 1843-1923]]> Bratager, Laura Ringdal]]> Rynning, Ole, 1809-1838]]> Minnesota]]> Tvillingbyerne Norsk Literære Forening]]> South Dakota]]> Melby, Hilton J.]]> Sneve, Svend]]> Wee, Mons Olsen]]> Bruce, Gustav Marius, 1879-1963]]> Bygdelag]]> Canada]]> Fox River (Wis. and Ill.)]]> Leif Erikson Monument Association]]> Lutheran Church]]> Lie, Jonas, 1833-1908]]> Gjerset, Knut, 1865-1936]]> Melby, Gustav]]> Wright, Andreas]]>
He was publicity chairman of the Norse-American Centennial, president of Østfoldlaget for 16 years, and of Bygdelagenes Fellesraad for 5 years. He was editor of several religious periodicals, a contributor to newspapers and magazines, and the author of several books on social and educational subjects. Correspondence and reports in this collection deal with Knut Gjerset's proposed encyclopedia on Norwegian Americans, Bruce's work as publicity director of the Norse-American Centennial, Norwegian pioneers in Canada, and bilingualism in the church.

An article, "Lidt pionærhistorie," is an account of the blizzard of 1888, as it affected the Bruce family. Correspondence regarding bygdelag affairs has been transferred to the Bygdelagene Papers; Andreas Wright; Mons Wee; commemorations of Ole Rynning, Bjørnson and Jonas Lie; Leif Ericson Monument Association; NAHA; Century of Progress; Tvillingbyerne Norske Literaere Forening (including information about Laura Bratager, S. Sneve, Gustav Mellby); and Norwegians in Canada

The collection originally filled three boxes. Material directly relating to Bruce's work with the NELC (Luther League, educational survey, negotiations with congregations) was transferred to Region 3 archives at Luther Seminary in 1999. Correspondence as president of the Østfoldlaget and the Bygdelagenes Faellesraad (including record books and scrapbook) was transferred to the Bygdelagene Papers.

Many clippings were transferred to appropriate collections. 1 folder: correspondence & reports concerning merger of Immanuel and Macalester Park Lutheran churches, 1921, forming Immanuel Lutheran church, St. Paul,Mn. 1 folder: Correspondence & reports concerning division of Le Sueur River Luth. church into Le Sueur River and Trinity churches, New Richland, Minn. 1952. 1 folder: Correspondence & reports concerning controversy in Marion, Zoar and St. Ansgar churches, La Moure county, N.D., 1950 1 folder: Correspondence & reports concerning controversy in United Lutheran Church of Brockett, N.D. (formed by merger of Hoff and Vaage churches), 1952-53 1 folder: Correspondence & reports concerning merger of Ny Stavanger and Buxton Lutheran churches, Buxton, N.D., 1948-49(1949) 1 folder: Correspondence & reports concerning division/of Valley Grove Lutheran Church, Nerstrand, Minn., into Valley Grove and Grace Lutheran churches. Includes transcripts of legal documents, maps of the property, inc. 1 folder: correspondence & reports concerning merger of congregations to form Trinity Lutheran church of Faribault, Minn., 1917; merger of North Branch and Our Saviours churches of Petersburg, Neb., 1937; and supply of pastoral services to other Petersburg area churches, 1937.

Select materials from the Gustav Bruce papers digitized and available online here.]]>
Digital Collections
  • Select photographs available online here.
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Bruce, Gustav Marius, 1879-1963]]>
Valkyrien ]]> Fjærestad, C. K.]]> Ulvestad, Martin, 1865-1942]]> Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Ulvestad, Martin, 1865-1942]]> 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.]]>
Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Bjork, Kenneth O. ]]> Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Minnesota Historical Society]]> Slooper]]>
Box 1-2:
  • Miscellaneous correspondence: Arnold R. Alanen. H. Arnold Barton. Dag Blanck. Joan Buckley. Carl Chrislock. Robert B. Firing. Kathryn Fuller. Britt Unni S. Geving. Jon Gjerde. John Graham. Groveland Gallery. Vidar L. Haanes. James Jaastad. Don Kloster. Aud Korbol. Lori Ann Lahlum. Susal Larson. Terje I. Leiren. Mette Lovaas. Lise Lunge-Larsen. Dorothy Kleppen McCall. Linda McShannock. Todd Nichol. Daniel Nikuls. Gary Olson. Janet Pultz. Heather Schacht Reisinger. Kristin Risley. Cyntia Elyce Rubin. Claire Selkurt. Carleton A. Sperati. Lori A. Stanley. Duane P. Swanson. Rudolp J. Vecoli. Irma Wachtler. K. Marianne Wargelin. Angela Cavender Wilson. Soveig Zempel. (These have been indexed).;
  • Moderators. NAHA. NAHA-Norway. Name lists. P
  • lenary session III.
  • Printed programs.
  • Program.
  • Public relations.
  • Registration.
  • Sculpture tour.
  • Thank-yous.
Boxes 3-4:
  • Presenters of papers: Hans Eirik Aarek. Kristin Anderson. Russell & Sylvia Bartley. Bety Bergland. Robert Bly. Erik Brochmann. Carol Colburn. Knut Djupedal. Laurann Gilbertson. Dennis A. Gimmestad. Oyvind Gulliksen. Karen V. Hansen. Terje Hasle Joranger. Chris Kimball. Knut Kjelstadli. Ann Legried. Odd S. Lovoll. Sarah Lund. May Lunde . David Mauk. William C. Melton. Robert Mikkelsen. Deborah Miller. Mary Hull Mohr. Jostein Molde. Heather Muir. Jan Eivind Myhre. Einar Niemi. Erik Opsahl. Nils Olav Ostrem. Orm Overland. Peter Scholl. Solvi Sogner. Kathleen Stokker. Arne Sunde. Rasmus Sunde. Thomas C. Thompson. Gunnar Thorvaldsen. Hallvard Tjelmeland. Dina Tolfsby. Olav Tysdal (These have been indexed; where a copy of the paper is included, its title is noted on the author card.
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Clausen, Clarence Arthur, 1896-1991]]> Lovoll, Odd S., 1934-]]> Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931]]> Clausen, Clarence Arthur, 1896-1991]]> Luther College (Decorah, Iowa)]]> Pacific Lutheran College]]> University of Chicago]]> Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Correspondence, records, articles, reports, and account books of a Lutheran clergyman, educator, and author. Dr. Tingelstad was professor of psychology and education and registrar (1909-1928) and professor of philosophy and Bible (1944-1953) at Luther College, and president of Pacific Lutheran College (1928-1943). 

Personal as well as professional correspondence runs throughout the collection and provides information on family affairs and on educational and professional careers of friends and colleagues. He defended the classical course of study in the colleges he served and in the main took a conservative stance on religious doctrine. Topics discussed are theory of evolution, liberal theology, rationalism in the church, curriculum development, church mergers, student recruitment, building programs and problems related to financing private colleges. In brief, his correspondence treats issues and problems prominent in college and church affairs during the first half of the twentieth century. 

Manuscripts by Tingelstad: "The Historic Position of Lutheranism" (1927), "Registration Procedure and Preparation of Class Lists" (1927), "Academic Freedom and Tenure" (1939), "Brought up a Lutheran-But" (ca. 1945), "Thy Word is Truth" (1948), and "How Do Our Colleges Measure up to Present Day Educational Standards?" (1948). Meticulously kept, the account books contain detailed records of all correspondence and all personal financial transactions for the years indicated. See also correspondence with Mrs. Tingelstad, 1953-1955 in Archives contributions correspondence, NAHA Secretarial Records.

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Tingelstad, O. A. (Oscar Adolf), 1882-1953]]>
St. Olaf College]]> St. Olaf Band]]> Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931]]> To view the digital collections, click here.]]> Thompson, J. Jørgen, 1881-1963]]> Norwegian-American Historical Association]]> Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931]]> Minneapolis Tidende]]> Decorah-Posten]]> History/Biography: 

Kristian Prestgard was born on the Harelstad farm in Heidal, Oppland, Norway. His parents were Gudbrand Kristensen Harelstad (1829-1869) and Marit Prestgard (1841-1897). When his father, Kristian and Marit moved back to her family farm in Prestgard. 

Prestgard attended the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago as a correspondent for Oplandenes Avis, a  Norwegian newspaper. Instead of returning home to Norway, he started working in the Norwegian-American press. In 1897, he married Oline Musum (1873–1919) and took a position with a Norwegian language newspaper company in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

He was co-editor and editor of "Decorah-Posten" (1897-1946); co-editor and publisher of "Symra" (1905-1914); editor of Norske Kvad (1906); translator of "Fra Livet i Vestjylland" by Jakob Jakobsen (1894); author of "Nansenfaerden" (1896), Skrøneboka (1911), En Sommer i Norge (1928), "Streiftog, Stemninger og Skildringer" and "Fjords and Faces" (1937); and a founder of NAHA and a member of its board of editors (1925-1933). 

Scope and Content: 

Correspondence, manuscripts, and a scrapbook of a Norwegian-born journalist and author.

The letters by Prestgard and those by his correspondents deal largely with such subjects as the language controversy both in Norway and America, the tour of Norway by twelve American newspapermen in 1927, Knut Gjerset's unfinished dictionary of Norwegian-American biography, the writings of Ole E. Rølvaag, the Norwegian-American Historical Association, the merging of "Minneapolis Tidende" and "Decorah-Posten" in 1935, genealogy, immigration history, and gladioli. He gained a reputation as a horticulturist by developing 30 new varieties of gladioli. 

The Ola K. Stokkestad letters to Prestgard (1884-1897) are unique in that they treat not the economics of rural areas but cultural pursuits mainly in the city. 

The Arne Odd Johnson letters (1934-1938) deal with editorial and publication problems connected with using the Prestgard-Ivar Kleiven correspondence as basic material in a history of the migration of Norwegians to America. 

The John Heitmann letters (1928-1945) are primarily about the problems of translating, editing, and publishing "Fjords and Faces," the English version of "En Sommer i Norge." 

Among the other correspondents are R. B. Anderson, Henry Armstrong, Mrs. L. M. Boomer, Th. Caspari, Borghild M. Dahl, Juul Dieserud, P. J. Eikeland, Johan Falkberget, Arne Garborg, C. J. Hambro, J. C. M. Hanson, Hjalmar R. Holand, Halvdan Koht, Hanna Astrup Larsen, Fridtjof Nansen, John Norstog, Julius Olson, Franklin Petersen, Ragnhild Prestgard, A. N. Rygg, Ludwig Saxe, Th. H. Svanoe, A. A. Veblen, and Henry A. Wallace.

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Digital Collections:
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Prestgard, Kristian, 1866-1946]]>