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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.
Brief, heavily illustrated articles on many aspects of the history and current situation of the Chippewa Valley region. Of particular interest are "Editor Ager: A Norwegian Advocate" by Clarence Kilde and "Norwegian folk culture being kept alive" by Donald Gilbertson.
Also includes the book Our Story, 1776-1976: The Chippewa Valley and Beyond, edited by Arnie Hoffman.
Papers of a native of Urland parish, Leon township, Goodhue county, Minn., who graduated from St. Olaf college and received a PH. D. from the University of Wisconsin for his dissertation on Rasmus B. Anderson, which was published by the NAHA in 1966. He taught Norwegian at St. Olaf from 1954 until retirement, and served as executive secretary of the Association from 1959 to 1999.
Various editions of the Bible and psalm books collected from various Norwegian-American families, listed by owners when possible, city of publication, and date of publication.
Personal papers and family histories of Minnesota-born California political figure, nurse, and member of U.S. President's Committee on National Medal of Science.
Papers of a Norwegian-born labor leader and author of pamphlets and articles in professional and technical journals. Furuseth's constant agitation for improved status of seamen resulted in the passage of several laws, including La Follette's Seamen's Act of 1915. He was president of the International Seamen's Union of America, 1908-1938, and has been called the "Abraham Lincoln of the Sea."
Encompassing collection that includes monographs, clippings, correspondence, photographs, memoirs and other ephemera illustrating Norwegian-Americans service during World War I.
Nils Flaten taught Romance Languages at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, 1900-1946. Born in Valdres, Norway, son of Ole and Moren (Wagensten) Flaten. Emigrated in 1868 and settled in Dennison, Goodhue County, Minn. Married Inez Ruth Olson of Arkdale, Wisconsin, September 1, 1896. Thirty-seven different correspondents.
Papers of a prominent member of the Norwegian colony in Chicago. A native of Ødehøg, Sweden, educated in Sweden and London, she served as a governess in England and later as a teacher in Norway. In 1934 she married Lars Fletre, a Norwegian sculptor who had earlier lived in Chicago. They moved to Chicago with their three children in 1954, where they became active in the many Norwegian groups which were flourishing at the time, notably DeLiSa (Det literaer Samfund), Nordmanns Forbundet, Norwegian National League, and others. She served on the Sesquicentennial Commission, was co-editor of From Fjord to Prairie, for which together with other services she was awarded the Medal of St. Olaf in 1976. As a staff writer for the newspaper Vinland, she contributed "hundreds" of articles to that paper. She was a familiar figure at symposiums and conferences where she presented papers dealing with Norwegian cultural life in Chicago. During her last years she was helpful in collecting information for A Century of Urban Life, by Odd S. Lovoll, published by NAHA in 1988.