Birger Osland papers, circa 1910-circa 1950

Biography/History:

Ole Birger Osland (1870-1963) was an official in various enterprises of Charles H. Wacker (1893-1911); founder and president of Birger Osland and Company, investment bankers (1911-1940); general western manager of the Norwegian America Steamship Line (1911-1923) and for many years a member of its board of representatives; secretary-treasurer of Lake Otis Groves, Inc.; director of the Scandinavian Trust Company of New York until its merger with New York Trust Company; and vice president of Chicago Security Dealers Association. From 1917 to 1919 Osland was an attaché with rank of major in the Military Intelligence Division of the U.S. Army, stationed in Christiania (now Oslo), and also a member of the U.S. Food Administration, Copenhagen. 

Osland was a trustee of the Century of Progress Exposition; member of the Norwegian-American World's Fair Auxiliary Committee; treasurer of NAHA for 25 years; director and also president of the Norwegian-American Hospital; and national treasurer of Norwegian Relief, Inc., during World War II. The correspondence, about half of which is letters by Osland, deals with business enterprises, civic interests, philanthropy, and family. Topics discussed include city, state, and federal politics; banking and investments; Osland's work as organizer of American financial participation in the Norwegian America Line in 1911-1912; and the participation of Norway and Norwegian Americans in the Century of Progress Exposition.

Abstract: 

Includes material on the various Chicago Norwegian organizations and institutions: Arne Garborg Klub, Den Norske Quartet Klub, Det Norske Nationalforbund, Den Norske Klub, Dovre Klub (politics), Sleipner Athletic Club, Norwegian Fish Club (businessmen's luncheon group), American Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, Norwegian Pioneers Club, Norwegian-American Athletic Association, Norwegian Literary Society, Norwegian People's Academy, Norwegian Players, Norwegian Singers' League, Norske Skiklub, Norwegian-American Hospital, Norwegian Old People's Home, and several non-church-affiliated institutions. Osland wrote frequently for the press about his civic interests, including articles on Chicago Norwegians. He promoted the compilation of his family genealogy, "Aasland-ætten," by Ola Aurenes (1947); and he wrote his own biography, "A Long Pull from Stavanger," published by NAHA in 1945. 

Correspondents other than those recorded in the inventory include: C. Martin Alsage, Knud Henderson, Halfdan Lee, R. B. Anderson, Thor Heyerdahl, Sigurd Maseng, John Benson, Knute Hill, Wilhelm Morgenstierne, E. Berentsen, John A. Hofstead, O. M. Norlie, C. F. Berg, Eivind Hognestad, H. P. G. Norstrand, B. E. Bergeson, Hjalmar Rued Holand, Oystein Øre, Olaf Bernts, Pres. Herbert Hoover, Jens A. Paasche, Einar Beyer, Andrew Hummeland, Thomas J. Pihlfeldt, Juul Dieserud, Henry O. Jaastad, Frederick Ring, E. N. Figved, Kristofer Janson, John W. Binding, George Flom, Carl Johnson, T. A. Siqueland, Nicolai A. Grevstad, Joseph M. Johnson, Oscar N. Solbert, Ernest Grundlach, S. Munch Kielland, Jno. J. Sonsteby, C. G. O. Hansen, Arnold S. Kirkeby, Vilhjalmur Stefanson, Harry Sundby - Hansen, Paul Knaplund, Henry A. Stibolt, Ludvig Hektoen, Egil E. Krogh, Carl Søyland Andreas Helland, Henning Larsen, O.A. Tingelstad F. J. Henderson, Victor Lawson, B. Wick.