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Browse Items (5 total)
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Nils N. Rønning papers, 1903-1955
Letters, clippings, articles, pamphlets, reviews, correspondence, and notes of a Norwegian-born journalist and author. Includes reviews of Rønning's books, notes on Hans Nielsen Hauge and Elling Eielsen, and historical sketches of the Homme Home for Boys, Wittenberg, Wisconsin. The reports and articles include materials on fiddlers, sketches of Torkel Oftelie and Th. N. Mohn, and a statement of the value of bilingualism to the Norwegian American by Anna Thykesen. Rønning was editor of "Ungdommens Ven," "Familiens Magasin," "The Friend," and "Telesoga." Correspondents include Richard Beck, Theodore C. Blegen, J. A. Holvik, Hanna Astrup Larsen, K. O. Lundeberg, O. M. Norlie, D. G. Ristad, and Mrs. O. E. Rolvaag. -
Helge Høverstad papers, 1863-1945
History/Biography:
Helge Høverstad was born on March 15, 1870 in Vang, Valdris, Norway. His parents were Torger Anderson Høverstad (1834-1883) and Gjertrude Helgesdatter Leine (1843-1939). Together they had four other children besides Helge, including: Torgeir who emigrated to Minnesota, and Boye, Torstein, and Berit who all stayed in Norway. Helge immigrated in June 1892, first landing in Quebec, Canada. He first settled in Holden, Goodhue County, Minnesota where his uncles, Anders and Torstein, had settled.
Helge first went to the Hamar Seminary in Norway from 1887-1889, and then went on to study at the United Church Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1893-1896 (Now Augsburg University). From 1896-1897, he attended Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary. He served various congregations including: Elliot, Illinois (1897-1904); Perry, Wisconsin (1904-1909); and Sioux City, Iowa (1909-). He served on the board of the Foreign Missions and wrote for St. Petri tidende.
Helge’s father Torger was born to Anders Anderson Hoverstad Berit Hambre. He had four siblings: brothers Anders and Torstein (both settled in Holden, Goodhue Co., MN), and sisters Berit and Kari. Berit married Kristoffer Lockren (Wangs, Goodhue Co.), and Kari married Ole H. Leine (Vang, Norway). Helge’s mother Gjertrude was born to Helge Helgeson Leine and Gjertrud Boyesdatter. She had eight siblings: Helge, Ole, Boye, Ove, Erik, Nils, Karn (married Lars Lenie) and Berthe (Married Trond Hambre).
Helge’s brother Torstein, who stayed in Norway, conceived the idea of establishing a Norwegian teacher's college, and he worked actively from 1916 to 1922 to realize this idea through both the government and the Storting. He served as the publisher and editor of Norsk pedagogisk tidsskrift (the Norwegian Journal of Education). Torstein’s son, Gunnar, was a Norwegian bomber pilot who was trained to fly in Canada at Camp Little Norway during World War I.
(Information gathered from Andrew Veblen’s book “The Valdris Book,” and from bibliography of Norwegian Lutheran pastors in the United States. Both available in the NAHA Archives.)
Scope and Content:
Papers of a Norwegian-born clergyman in the United Norwegian Lutheran Church in America (1897-1917), and in the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America (1917-1945).
The papers consist largely of letters received by Høverstad, including a number from Gertrude Høverstad, his mother, and other Norway relatives, from Torgeir A. Høverstad, his cousin in America; from Kristine Haugen, zealous protagonist of Norwegian-American culture; from Hans C. Ness, Norwegian consular agent in Sioux City, Iowa.
The correspondence deals with personal problems of friends; with affairs of church foreign missions in China, Madagascar, and Africa; with church politics; with relation of church and state and with the use of Norwegian language during World War I; with hypnotism and spiritualism; with personal problems as land owner; with problems connected with settlement of Torgeir Høverstad’s estate; with Torstein Høverstad’s book “Skularne i Amerika og det Praktiske Liv;” with the Veblen family (mostly in the T.A. Høverstad folder); with Valdres Bygdelag, of which he was a founder.
Correspondents include Lars W. Boe, Olaf M. Norlie, Einar Haugen, Missionary Harold Martinson, Governor W.L. Harding (Iowa), Kirkesanger (Precentor) John O. Quale (Bishop Jens Pederson Schelderup, 1557-1582). There are occasional carbon copies of letters by Høverstad.
The papers also contain newspaper clippings concerning his ideas and activities; his poems, lectures, newspaper articles, including such titles as “Rationalismen, Historie og Historie Undervisning,” and “Address at Unveiling of Gjermund Høyme portrait in Valdres, Norway, 1923;” his autobiography, 1893; his mother’s autobiography, 1921; and many photographs.
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Augustana College papers, 1889-2002
Brochures, bulletins, catalogs, clippings, magazines, journals, programs; Emil Erpestad's history of the college; a 1956 dissertation, published in 1971 with a postscript by H. M. Blegen; and Beulah Folkedahl's article about the Marshall, Wisconsin, years.
Augustana College was founded in Chicago in 1860 by Norwegians and Swedish Lutherans. In 1863, Augustana moved to Paxton, Illinois. Eventually, in 1869 the Norwegians withdrew and moved to Marshall, Wisconsin. Divisions among the Norwegians led to several seminaries breaking off, and Augsburg moving to Minneapolis in 1872. The group which stayed at Marshall in turn moved in 1881 to Beloit, Iowa; and three years later to Canton, South Dakota. The 1917 church merger brought a merger of Augustana and the Lutheran Normal School (founded in Sioux Falls, 1889) and a move to Sioux Falls. The preparatory function was later returned to Canton, merging with Canton Lutheran Normal, founded 1920. This complicated history is traced in Beulah Folkedahl's article, "Marshall Academy: a history" (Wisconsin Magazine of History, Spring 1964). -
Elling Eielsen papers 1846-1997
Biography/History:
Elling Eielsen was born and raised on the farm of Sundve in Voss, Norway. The son of Eiel Ingebrigtsen Sundve and Anna Ellingsdatter Sundsvaal. In Norway, he was brought up in the Lutheran religious tradition of Hans Nielsen Hauge. From 1832-1839, he was a lay preacher who toured around Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, where he was often met with opposition and eventually faced imprisonment
Eielsen immigrated to the United States in 1839 first settling in the Fox River Settlement, LaSalle County, Illinois. In 1843, he was formally ordained as a Lutheran minister by Francis Arnold Hoffmann, a German Lutheran pastor. The Eielsen Synod (originally named the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) was founded at the Jefferson Prairie settlement, Wisconsin, in 1846 by Elling Eielsen. Eielsen is considered the first Norwegian Lutheran minister in the United States.
Scope and Content:
Copies of his baptism and confirmation records; Eielsen's certificate of ordination and of letters by him (1836-1862); transcripts of a 15-page typescript article titled "Haugianer Folket på Sundve Fraasegnuppskrifter" (1931) by Knut Bjørgaas; a thesis (208 pages, 1932) titled "Elling Eielsen: Pioneer Lay Preacher and First Norwegian Lutheran Pastor in America" by Clarence J. Carlsen; an Eielsen bibliography by Olaf M. Norlie (106 pages); a Master's thesis (98 pages, 1946) by Ansgar Sovik and his Norway lectures on Eielsen; a list of Eielsen Synod churches and ministers; and assorted articles, clippings, and pamphlets. -
Norse-American Centennial papers, 1923-1927
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 FilmFunding:
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.