In 1914, Stefferud began his lifelong career at the Norwegian America Line, a passenger and shipping line connecting the United States and Norway. He served in the Minneapolis, Minnesota office from 1914-1917 and the New York City office from 1917-1930. In 1930 he was promoted to Northwest Manager of the Norwegian America Line in Minneapolis, where he continued except for the interruption of World War II. Stefferud was also a commissioner of Nordmanns-Forbundet, a non-profit uniting Norwegians around the world.

During World War II, Stefferud was a founding board member of the Camp Little Norway Association (C.L.N.A.), helping raise money to support the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s training facilities in Canada. He was the C.L.N.A.’s secretary from summer 1944 until it ended operations in 1947, as well as chairman of its Film and Lecture Committee. When the C.L.N.A. became a unit with American Relief for Norway in 1944, Stefferud served on the new board of directors. He worked to aid occupied Norway as secretary of the Norwegian Relief Committee of Minneapolis, the local committee affiliated with American Relief for Norway, and as secretary and treasurer of the Norwegian Clothing Drive Center in Minneapolis from 1945-1946. 

From April 1941 to May 1944, Stefferud served as Acting Consul for Norway in Minneapolis, maintaining diplomatic ties with the Norwegian government-in-exile. Additionally, he managed the Minneapolis office of the Royal Norwegian Information Service from November 1942 through his time as Consul, handling public relations and arranging films and lectures.

Stefferud was made a Knight of the Order of St. Olav, First Class, in 1940 for his service to Norway while in the United States, and was awarded the Medal of St. Olav in 1946 for his consular work during World War II. He died on February 13, 1968, in Minneapolis.

Scope and Content:
Materials accumulated by Jacob Stefferud during his career at the Norwegian America Line, service as a commissioner for Nordmanns-Forbundet, and Norwegian Consulate duties and relief work during World War II, all primarily based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Includes correspondence, films, photographs, account books, brochures, reports, lecture materials, minutes, clippings, and clippings scrapbooks. 

Correspondence, reports, publicity, and scrapbooks span Stefferud’s career at the Norwegian America Line from the 1910s through the 1960s. Nordmanns-Forbundet materials also span decades and include account books. Besides business materials are Stefferud’s personal correspondence to family and friends throughout his life, including to occupied Norway during World War II.

Many materials are from Stefferud’s World War II activities. Correspondence, clippings, and photographs document his time as Acting Consul for Norway in Minneapolis. Stefferud’s work for the Camp Little Norway Association (C.L.N.A.) includes correspondence and organizational materials, as well as files from C.L.N.A. treasurers Julius P. Blegen and Gustav Svendsen. (Note: much of Stefferud’s own correspondence for the C.L.N.A., especially during his 1944-1947 tenure as secretary, is located in the Camp Little Norway Association Papers (P0466).) Other papers from Stefferud’s relief work include the Norwegian Clothing Drive Center in Minneapolis, Norwegian Relief Committee of Minneapolis, and various lecture notes.

Sixteen 16mm reel-to-reel films are in color and black-and-white. They include 1930s Norway tourism films advertising the Norwegian America Line. Others were made during and shortly after World War II: publicity films for the Royal Norwegian Air Force at Camp Little Norway in Canada, the return of the Royal Family to Norway, and scenes of Norway after its liberation. All the films were used to fundraise for Norwegian relief.

Existence and Location of Copies:
Digital copies of the World War II materials in the Jacob Stefferud papers are available through the Digital Collections of the Norwegian American Historical Association website: https://norwegianamericanhistory.org/digital-collections/collections/show/159. Digitization was completed in 2025.

Funding:
Funding to digitize a portion of the Jacob Stefferud 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.

Processing Information:
Collection rehoused in 2025. Finding aid revised by Erin Wiebe in October 2025.

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.

In addition to his newspaper career, Ager also wrote six novels and collections of short stories. Among his best known books are "Paa drikkeondets Konto" (1894), "Kristus for Pilatus" (1910), "Oberst Heg og hans gutter" (1916), "Paa veien til smeltepotten" (1917), "Gamlelandets sønner" (1926), and "Hundeøine" (1929). 

See also "The Problem of Cultural Identity in the Works of Waldemar Ager, Simon Johnson, and Johannes B. Wist," a PhD dissertation by James P. Nelson, University of Washington, 1990.

Scope and Content:
The papers of a Norwegian-born journalist, author, and lecturer include clippings, articles, correspondence, manuscripts of books, poems, programs, records, sketches, and stories dealing with subjects such as Norwegian culture and heritage, Americanism, memorials to Norwegians in America, and temperance. 

Among the correspondents are Carl F. Berg, Arne K. Berger, L. W. Boe, H. A. Eckers, John O. Evjen, Ruth Fjeldsaa, Sigurd Folkestad, Einar Haugen, John Heitmann, H. R. Holand, Simon Johnson, Arne Kildal, Lars Lillehei, E. L. Mengshoel, Jon Norstog, Torkel Oftelie, K. Prestgard, D. G. Ristad, Mrs. O. E. Rølvaag, Johan Selnes, T. A. Siqueland, Edvard Skille, Charles C. W. Storck, J. L. Urheim, and Alexander Wiley.