CATALOG UPDATES
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Browse Items (3004 total)
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Rasmus J. Meland papers, 1903-1959
Correspondence, clippings, articles, reports, and notes of a Lutheran clergyman. Much of the material concerns the activities of Nordfjordlag and related enterprises. He made early attempts to found a Norwegian-American archives. Included is a collection of anecdotes submitted to Meland by clergymen for "Pioner presters saga," a publication never realized. Among these anecdotes are reminiscences (7 typescript pages) by Mary Nelsen Wee (Mrs. M. O.) under the title "Church Union." Meland was the author of John J. Meland and Marie Brekke Genealogy (1959), co-author of "Norske settlementer og menigheter i Sherbourne, Benton og Mille Lacs Counties, Minnesota" (1903), and editor of several Nordfjordlag annuals.
Includes:- Book "Norske Settlementer of Menigheder i Sherburne, Benton, og Mille Lacs Countier, Minnesota" (1903)
- Manuscript material for "Fra Pioner Presternes Saga" (27 July 1928-25 June 1932)
- Correspondence and reports (8 December 1896-20 October 1923)
- Correspondence and reports (12 April 1924-1 March 1957).
- Correspondence regarding a Norwegian-American Archive (11 May 1912-5 May 1914)
- Correspondence with O. M. Norlie (1922-1958)
- Clippings (1902-1948, n.d.).
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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. -
Chorus, Solo, Song, and Hymn music collection
Continuation file for vocal music, mostly religious, mainly by Norwegian-American and Norwegian composers. -
Bernt J. Muus papers, 1855-1990
Biography/History:
Bernt Julius Muus was a Norwegian-American Lutheran minister and church leader. He helped found St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota. Born in Snåsa, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway on March 15, 1932. He was the grandson of the priest Jens Rynning and the nephew of the emigrant author Ole Rynning. After graduating from the Latin school of Trondheim in 1849, he entered the University of Christiania to study theology and completed his theological training in 1854. In 159, Muus immigrated to the United States.
Muus was the first pastor of Holden Lutheran Church in Kenyon, Minnesota. Muus also founded St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minnesota, Fox Lake Lutheran Church in Rice County, Minnesota and many other churches in southern Minnesota. Muus was also the bishop of the Minnesota District of the Norwegian Synod, took part in theological disputes, and urged the church to do more in the field of education. In 1874, Muus, along with a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, founded St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. In 1898, due to Muus’ uncompromising nature and stubbornness, he was expelled from the church for failure to conform to doctrine.
Muus married Oline Pind in 1859. They had three children, Nils, Jens Ingebrigt Rynning, and Paul Johan Elster. After a lengthy and highly publicised legal battle, Pind was granted a limited divorce on January 20, 1883. Divorce in the Norwegian-Lutheran community was rare at this time.
Scope and Content:
Articles, clippings, correspondence, lectures, sermons, court documents, family histories, and notes of a Norwegian-born clergyman and the founder of St. Olaf College. The file includes some Oline Muus letters and papers and the papers of Ole Willem Kluver, a great-grandson of B. J. Muus.
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Olaf M. Norlie papers, 1899-1961
Articles, bibliographies, clippings, correspondence, essays, notes, programs, reports, scrapbooks, statistics, and verse of an author, editor, educator, and clergyman. The collection includes annotated bibliographies on Elling Eielsen and on the Beaver Creek, Illinois, settlement; biographical sketches of prominent Norwegian-Americans; statistics and data on Bible translations, church schools, and immigration; typescript copy of a report to the Norwegian government by Consul General Adam Løvenskjold after his visit to America in 1848; and an essay on the similarities between the Norwegian and Indian languages.
Digital Collections -
Norsk-Danske Presseforening i Amerika papers, 1895-1938
Minutes, reports, correspondence, and clippings of the Norwegian-Danish Press Association of America, organized in 1895. The collection deals with such subjects as immigration, influence of the press on the preservation of the Norwegian heritage and Americanization of immigrants, history of the Association, and its annual meetings. The name of the society was changed to the Norwegian and Danish Press Association in 1938.
Includes:- Correspondence
- Reports
- "Excursion Through Western Canada. Going Westward over Canadian National Railways. Leaving Winnipeg, July 11, 1928. Returning Eastward over Canadian Pacific Railway. Reaching Winnipeg, July 23, 1928. A Running story of the scenes and places visited en route." (1928, 51 p.
- Clippings
- Includes a reprint from the "The Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 3, July, 1943 titled "Research Suggestions. Scandinavian-Language Newspapers," by Sverre Arestad. (p. 305-308)
- Photographs
- Scrapbooks, 1895-1933
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Det Norske Selskap i Amerika papers, 1903-1976
Correspondence, reports, and records of a Norwegian society organized on January 28, 1903, for the preservation and the promotion of Norwegian culture in America. Treats subjects such as the Sigvald Quale declamatory contests, folk festivals, Norwegian literature, memorial monuments, and Norwegian-American history. The society published a journal, "Kvartalskrift" (1905-1922), edited by Waldemar Ager. The society was merged with the Norwegian-American Historical Association in 1976. In 1977 NAHA published "Cultural Pluralism versus Assimilation," edited by Odd S. Lovoll, a volume of essays translated from "Kvartalskrift". -
Norway in World War II papers, circa 1945
Papers concerning Norway and World War II consisting of brochures, clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, pamphlets, speeches, scrapbooks, occupation humor, Per Lorentzen and Nortraship, pictures and a collection of 54 slides covering King Haakon VII's return to Norway in June, 1945. -
Norwegian Royal Family papers, 1905-1997
Articles, brochures, correspondence, pictures, and programs dealing largely with royal visits to the United States in 1939 and 1968. -
Norwegian America Line student essays, 1937-1964
Essays by St. Olaf College Students receiving awards from the Norwegian America Line in their annual essay contests.
Includes essays from:- Author unknown, "Herbjørn Gausta." (n.d.)
- Edna (Hatlestad) Hong, ca. 1937. "Ibsen's Social Ideals"
- Esther Thorstensen, "Ibsen's Social Ideas as expressed in four of his social plays: Pillars of Society; A Doll's House; Ghosts; and An Enemy of the People."
- Arne Sovik, "Brand and Savonarola."
- Chauncey Bly, "Sacrifice!" [referring to Ibsen's Brand"
- Katherine (Olsen) Ericksen, "The 'Miracle' is Happening." [The emancipation of woman]
- Roger Juel, "The Boyg: Peer Gynt."
- Albert Anderson, Peer Gynt's Onion
- Margaret (Johnson) Morse, "Home Influence on the Development of the Personality." [study of Ibsenion characters]
- Constance Olson, "The Effect of Suffering upon Character."
- James Hagen, "The Thought and Inspiration Behind Henrik Ibsen.
- Corrine (Nerlius) Erickson, "The Poetry of Henrik Ibsen.
- Eugene Mason, "Brand and Raskolnikov: A Study in Personal Destiny."
- James Mason, "Exiles: The Ibsen Influence in James Joyce."
- Dewey L. Brevik, "The Peer Gynt Fantasy in the Music of Grieg and Sæverud."
- Howard Cole, Brand and the Gospel of St. Matthew."
- Anna Marie (Burgess) Klein, "Hypocrisy in the Domestic Hearth: The Married Life of Selma Bratsberg, Betty Bernick, Nora Helmer, and Helene Alving."
- John K. Norby, "The Kingdom of God is Within You." [author's belief that this title quote is the central thesis of Ibsen's message for the world, and indeed, of his life.]
- John Shier, "A Comparison of 'The Glass Menagerie' by Tennessee Williams and 'The Wild Duck' by Henrik Ibsen."
- Solveig Nelson, "Chekhov and Ibsen."
- Ruth (Swenson) Balas, "The Germinators: A Study of the Drama of Henrik Ibsen and Eugene Gladstone O'Neill."
- Roy Elveton, "Henrik Ibsen and Edvard Munch,"
- A. DeWayne Wee, "Ibsen's Use of Symbolism."
- Andrew M. McLean, "The Influence of Ibsen on the Irish Theatre."
- Larry A. Larson, "William Archer and Ibsen."
- Dennis Griffin, "Despair then! A Comparison of the ethical category of Kierkegaard with Peer Gynt." (n.d.)
- J. Sawyer, "The Evolution of the Nordic Hero." (n.d.)