NAHA is excited to share that the Campbell Norsgaard Digital Collection is now accessible online! This project was made possible through funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Over the next three years, NAHA’s archivist and project digitization archivist will reveal stories discovered throughout the digitization process.
From Fur Trading to Wartime Photography
Campbell Norsgaard was born in the Hadeland region, just north of Oslo. Before the war broke out, he was involved in buying and selling Norwegian furs to international clients. In 1937, he traveled to the United States and later opened an office on Akersgaten in Oslo. Throughout his early years, Norsgaard was passionate about amateur photography, always carrying his camera on his travels. Prior to a trip to Sweden, he took several photos of German military activities, intending to deliver them to the Allies. However, the Germans made his departure difficult. Once they finally allowed him to leave, Norsgaard decided to leave Norway and contribute to the war effort.
His journey to the United States was far from ordinary. He traveled from Stockholm to Riga, then on to Moscow. From there, he took the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, where he boarded a ship to Japan and eventually reached San Francisco. Along the way, he traveled with author Sigrid Undset, who described him as the “handsome blond Norwegian fur trader” in her book Return to the Future, even though she never mentioned her travel companions by name.
Undset provided a detailed account of their travels, particularly sharing her impressions of the Soviet Union during that period. As she and her companions were about to leave the country, authorities confiscated their belongings to prevent the export of propaganda and other sensitive materials. However, Norsgaard managed to take a few photographs along the way, and these negatives were not seized. Today, they are part of Norsgaard’s collection.
Stay tuned for more updates from our NEH project, Alt for Norge: Norwegian-Americans Fighting for Two Homelands.
About the National Endowment for the Humanities
Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this archival work do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.