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Browse Items (3 total)
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Vosselag papers, 1857-2007
About Vosselag:
Organized at Albert Lea, Minnesota, June 24, 1909. Two other Vosselag’s formed, one in Minneapolis (1924) and another in Madison, Wisconsin (1911). Lag historian was Knut A. Rene.Past presidents include:
Knude Henderson Løne (1909-10)
S.A. Nelson (1910-11)
Lars W. Boe (1911-13)
Rev. A. Øfstedal (1913-14)
Andrew Grindeland 91914-19)
Rev. K. Bjorgo (1919-20)
Willian Nelson (1920-24)
Gov. R.A. Nestos (1924-25)
Arthur Markve (1925-32, 1937-40)
Arthur F. Giere (1932-37)
A.A. Kindem (1940-47)
Andrew Highland (1947-48)
Stephen White (1948-49)
Sievert Dymbe (1949-69)
Johannes Sherven (1949-)Past secretaries include:
T.L. Righeim (1909-10)
Arthur Markve (1914-17, 1918-20)
Lars W. Boe (1917-18)
Knute A. Rene (1920-47)
Knute Edahl (1947-49)
Sivert P. Shelvik (1949-55)
John Eide (1955-)History of the Bygdelag:
Papers of "bygd" societies and their Common Council ("Bygdelagenes Fellesraad"), clippings, constitutions, correspondence, minutes and financial records, pamphlets, pictures, programs, and reports, dealing with conventions, officers, special projects, and the Norse-American Centennial of 1925. The bygdelag, organized around the turn of the century, are societies based on regional origins in Norway. They were active in the Eidsvoll Centennial in 1914 and the Norse-American Centennial in 1925. While activity dropped off after the beginning of World War II, a revival began in the 1980s as a result of renewal of ethnic interest, and with emphasis on family history. Odd S. Lovoll's "A Folk Epic; The Bygdelag in America" (NAHA, 1975), which includes a bibliography of lag publications.Papers of the various "bygdelag," "social organizations of (Americans) from the same homeland district, usually rural" which began in 1899 with the organization of the Valdres Samband. About fifty other lag with national-wide appeal were formed, as well as many others which were more local. They held annual "stevner" (meetings) and many published periodicals, yearbooks, or monographs which often contained extensive genealogical materials. A decline came after World War II, with a revival in the 1970s particularly through renewed emphasis on genealogical research.
A Council of Bygdelags (Bygdelagenes Faellesraad) coordinates activities of the groups. They were very active in the Eidsvoll centennial celebrations in 1914, and the Norse-American Centennial in 1925. Holdings for the various lag vary, but usually include clippings of newspaper articles about their meetings, correspondence, programs, and copies of their publications, duplicates of library holdings, in the periodical and book collections (monographs and annuals included in the latter). In some cases regional associations are included with the national groups, and in others separate groups which later merged are included under the merged name.
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Lars Nielssen Nesseim (Nesheim) papers, 1838-1961
Biography/History:
Lars Nielsen Nesheim, a farmer in Øvre Lemme in Voss, Norway, was responsible for copying all of these letters. A man by the name of Ivar Davidson Hustvedt (who donated one copy to NAHA) knew the man personally, and described Nesheim as a self-taught man, and as an "original.” Hustvedt said Nesheim had "bookshelves that reach from the floor up to the ceiling filling two walls" and “he spared no effort, often traveling great distances in order to get hold of these letters, as a loan or by other means, so he could copy them. He bound these copies into books” These letters were sent from America, and often helped convince or deter a person from emigrating. All of them are carefully copied in gothic script using different colors of ink.Scope and Content:
The Lars Nielseen Nesseim papers consist of two volumes of copied immigrant letters. One volume was donated by Ivar Davidson Hustvedt, and the other by Rev. Sven Tverberg. The two volumes of America letters were written during the 1840s to friends and relatives in Voss and copied into books by Nesseim. Sophie Boe made typed transcriptions and translations of the Tverberg volume. Among the letters are some by Elling Eielsen, Sjur Jørgensen Haaeim, and John Haldorsen Quileqval, uncle of Knut Nelson.Correspondence between Sophie Boe, O.E. Rølvaag, and Theordore Blegen about the Tverberg volume, and between Blegen and the Chicago Historical Society (now Chicago History Museum) about the Ekse volume. Note, the volume donated by Ida S. Ekse to the Chicago Historical Society may be the Lars Davidsen Reque volume. Two other volumes are at the Voss Folk Museum.
Volume 1 and volume 2 of the copied immigrant letters is available online. -
Iver Kierland papers, 1873-1950
Kierland, who emigrated from Granvin, Norway in 1890 when he was eighteen, brought with him two mindebog journals from his high school years in Voss, Norway. Included in the Iver Kierland papers are these two journals, various examples of his classwork at the Teachers College in Moorhead, Minnesota, work papers, correspondence and certification related to his teaching and further education at the University of Minnesota and a speech he gave in the late 1940s that summarizes his life’s journey.