CATALOG UPDATES
Hei hei! NAHA is currently undating our archival catalog. Some finding aids are currently unavailable. Please contact the NAHA archivist with any questions.
Browse Items (13 total)
-
Olaf Halvorson papers, circa 1940-1948
Papers of Olaf Halvorson regarding his business with the Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA). Halvorson was President of NAHA from the late 1930s to mid-1940s. Includes investment records, correspondence with Theodore Blegen, Birger Osland, J. Jorgen Thompson, and more. -
Gustav Marius Bruce papers, 1879-1963
Correspondence, reports, clippings, and photographs of a Norwegian-born Lutheran clergyman, theological professor, author, editor, and lecturer. Bruce immigrated to Yankton County, Dakota Territory, in 1884; attended Fremont College, Red Wing Seminary, University of South Dakota, Temple University (Ph.D.), and Hartford Seminary (D.D.). He was a minister in South Dakota, Illinois, Minnesota, and Nebraska parishes; teacher in the public schools of Yankton County, Jewell College, and Red Wing Seminary; professor at Luther Theological Seminary (1917-1949); vice-president of the NELCA; and held a number of offices in the church.
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.
-
Ole E. Rølvaag papers, 1896-2020
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.
-
Kenneth O. Bjork papers, 1935-1997
Correspondence, book reviews, speeches, offprints of articles, personal financial papers of a professor of history at St. Olaf College and NAHA editor, 1960-1980. -
Vandringer Conference planning documents, 2000
VANDRINGER; NORWEGIANS IN THE AMERICAN MOSAIC, 1825-2000; a conference, April 6-9, 2000, sponsored by the NAHA and the Minnesota Historical Society, as part of the celebration of the Slooper Anniversary, 1825-2000, and the millennium of Leif Ericson's arrival in America.
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.
- 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.
-
Clarence A. Clausen papers, circa 1924-circa 1975
Articles and a genealogical chart concerning Clausen himself and his ancestry in Drangedal, Telemark. Clausen, a professor of history, wrote, translated, and edited extensively for NAHA. -
Oscar A. Tingelstad papers, 1899-1953
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.
-
J. Jørgen Thompson papers, 1896-1963
Articles, clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, and records of a Wisconsin-born St. Olaf College administrator and teacher. The papers concern campus life, public relations, counseling, courses of study, student and teacher recruitment, funds solicitation, band and choir tours, and Norwegian-American culture. Manuscripts include: "Rølvaag som lærer," "Min konfirmations dag" (1938), and minutes of the Board of the Norwegian Conference of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Thompson was president of Spokane College (1917-1920); dean of men at St. Olaf college (1923-1942); secretary of NAHA (1931-1958); president of the National Association of Deans and Advisers of Men (1940-1941). -
Kristian Prestgard papers, 1884-1945
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.
-
Olaf Olsen papers, 1857-1939
History/Biography:
Ole Olsen was born March 12, 1871 to Marie Gulbrandsdatter (1841-) and Edvart Olsen (1838-) in Oslo, Norway. He had five siblings: Josephine Bertha (1869-), Marie (1873-), Gulbrand (1875-), Helga (1877-), and Harald (1880-). Olaf and his sister, Bertha, arrived in Castle Garden, New York City, on May 26, 1890 before arriving at their final destination. They traveled through Pittsburg, Columbus, Little Rock, Texarkana, Austin, San Antonio, and Pena. Olaf married Emma Noble on June 14, 1905, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Together they had a daughter, Ena/Ina Frances Olsen, born in 1906.Olsen was a shop machinist in Laredo (Texas), Wilmington (Delaware), and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). He was also machinist on English ships and served in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Services during the Spanish-American War (1898). After 1900, he worked as an engineer with coastal trade steamship lines. He was also a member of the Socialist Party of America.
Scope and Content:
Correspondence, articles, reports, drawings, diaries, log-books, notebooks, clippings, and pamphlets of a Norwegian-born machinist and engineer. The correspondence deals with such topics as problems in engineering, sea disasters, strikes and labor problems, drought, farm crops, recreation, and religion.In a letter dated September 29, 1890, Olsen describes his journey from Oslo to Laredo, Texas, via ship and rail. Most of the letters by Olsen are to his wife. The articles include biographies of members of Olsen's family and also treat Yukon gold rush experiences. One diary concerns his immigration journey to America.