Browse Items (3064 total)

• Ole Hendricks and his tune book: Folk music and community on the frontier

  Ole Hendricks was an immigrant both representative and exceptional—a true artistic talent who nevertheless lived a familiar immigrant experience. By day, he was a farmer. But at night, his fiddle lit up dance halls, bringing together all manner of neighbors in rural Minnesota. Each tune in his repertoire of waltzes, reels, polkas, quadrilles, and more were copied neatly into his commonplace book. Such tunebooks, popular during the nineteenth century, rarely survive and are often overlooked by folk scholars in favor of commercially produced recordings, published sheet music, or oral tradition. Based on extensive historical and genealogical research, Amy Shaw presents a grounded picture of a musician, his family, and his community in the Upper Midwest, revealing much about music and dance in the area. This notable contribution to regional music and folklore includes more than one hundred of Ole's dance tunes, transcribed into modern musical notation for the first time. Ole Hendricks and His Tunebook will be valuable to readers and scholars interested in ethnomusicology and the Norwegian American immigrant experience. Written by Amy M. Shaw. Shaw is a musician, archivist, and the head of archives and special collections at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. Published by University of Wisconsin Press.
• John Baaken history, 1898-1966

  John Bakken: Well driller, traveler, and family man from Wahpeton, North Dakota.
• The Central Iowa Norwegians, 1855-1905

  The central Iowa Norwegians: Histories, memoirs, and studies of their settlements from 1855-1905 by Arlen Twedt.
• Eva's journey: One Wisconsin women's will to prevail (1918-1954)

  The story of Eva Mildred Johnson who was born in 1909 to Gustav and Caroline Jouhnson in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. The story focuses on her life from 1919-1954. Written by Donald Jennerman.
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  Kontakt (Norsk ungdomsklubb i Minneapolis, Inc.) records, 1956-2021

  Biography/History:
  Kontakt was started by immigrants from Norway who came to the Midwest after World War II, as a way to keep in touch while learning the English language and customs of the United States. Also known as Norsk ungdomsklubb i Minneapolis, Inc., the purpose of the club was to gather members in sociable get-togethers, athletic activities, competitions, and work together with other Norwegian clubs to promote Norwegian culture. 

  Scope and Content: 
  Contains board meeting minutes, flyers, event planning, membership records, and reports for Kontakt in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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  Parelius Rognlie papers, 1870-2000

  Biography/History:
  Rev. Parelius H. Rognlie was born near Trondhjem, Norway, December 21, 1858. In 1870, he immigrated with his parents to the United States and lived in Houston County and eventually Lyon County, Minnesota. In 1881, he entered the preparatory school at St. Olaf's College, Northfield, Minnesota, and later attended Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, earning his way by teaching school and doing farm work. In the fall of 1885, he went to Europe in order to receive treatment for his eyes and was operated on at the State Hospital in Norway. When he returned to the United States, he resumed teaching and continued his studies by himself. In 1888, he was admitted to the Luther Theological Seminary, Minneapolis, and graduated on June 26, 1891. In February 1891, he was called as pastor for the Fort Ridgely, Dale, Palmyra, and Clear Lake congregations, Renville and Sibley counties, Minnesota. On July 22, 1891, he was ordained at Fort Ridgely and Dale church by Rt. Rev. K. Bjorge, assisted by Rev. S. J. Bergh, Rev. N. P. Xavier, Rev. Thomas Johnsen, and Rev. B. Askevold. 

  Parelius Rognlie was married to Ronnaug Marie M. Gullerud. Together, they had six children: Ingolf Herman Marentius (March 26, 1896); Katharina Josephine (December 26, 1897); Parelius Monrad (January 28, 1900, died July 2, 1901); Palma Margrethe (born April 8, 1902); Clarence Parelius Monrad (May 6, 1904); Julia Christine (October 4, 1908). 

  Scope and Content:
  The Rev. Parelius H. Rognlie papers consist of photographs of multiple generations of the Rognlie extended family, personal and professional correspondence, sermons, school notebooks, and various other records that document the life of a pastor in Southwestern Minnesota. Records also include photographs of Nils Xavier, a Sami pastor who originally homesteaded in the Rognlie parsonage. 

  
  Select photographs have been digitized by the Minnesota Digital Library and available online here.
• Hans Ronnevik collection, 2004

  Novel, "100 Percent" by Hans Ronnevik translated by his son, Jorolf Tysver Ronnevik in 2004. The original book was written in 1926.
• Paulson family papers, 2001

  Paulson family reunion document from La Crosse, Wisconsin, July 6-8, 2001.
• Laura M. Gjerde article, 2018

  An article by Hilde Petra Brugot on Laura Marie Gjerde. "Laura Marie Gjerde (1886-1878): A women who spend her life on three contintents with roots and close ties in Gjerdsvika (Sande municipality, More og Romsdal county)."
• Erik F. Storlie collection, 2013

  Go Deet and Take Plenty of Root: A Prairie-Norwegian Father, Rebellion in Minneapolis, Basement Zen, Growing Up, Growing Tender (2013, self-published). 286-page softbound volume. Reviewer Michael Dennis Browne, writes: “In Erik Storlie’s superbly detailed and touching memoir, we see how, by way of many tensions with both parents, and by an evolving liberating attention to their veiled individuality…he gains insights into their hidden natures and comes to an awareness of what he calls at one point ‘sorrow beyond my fathoming.’” The book touches on Storlie family history in eastern South Dakota.