DIGITAL COLLECTIONS UPDATE
We are working to upload thousands of newly digitized materials to the digital collections. We appreciate your patience during this process! Please contact the NAHA archivist if you have any questions.
Browse Collections (58 total)
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Friedrich A. Schmidt Papers (P0588)
History/Biography:
Reverend Fredrich August Schmidt was born on January 3, 1837 in Thüringen, Germany. He graduated in 1853 from Concordia College. Four years later he finished seminary work at Concordia and became minister to a German congregation in Eden, NJ. In 1861, Schmidt became associated with the Norwegian church when he started teaching at Halfway Creek, near La Crosse. The next year, the school renamed itself Luther College and moved to Decorah, Iowa. Schmidt was an instructor at Luther College until 1872. After his stint at Luther College, he took a professorship in Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, which was then supported by the Norwegian synod. Rev. Schmidt headed the faction that left the synod in 1886 and organized "The anti-Missourian Brotherhood." In that year he also became a theological instructor at St. Olaf's College, Northfield, Minnesota, for this faction.Scope and Content:
View the items in Friedrich A. Schmidt Papers (P0588)
Correspondence, clippings, and articles, written in English, German, Latin, and Norwegian. Among the subjects discussed are doctrines concerning absolution, assurance, conversion, and election; position and participation of the laity in doctrinal disputes and clerical leadership in such controversies; Augsburg College and St. Olaf College; and the union movement that led to the 1917 merger. There are only two letters by Schmidt. Among the correspondents are M. O. Bøckman, C. L. Clausen (February 2, 1863), N. J. Ellestad, O. J. Hatlestad, P. P. Iverslie (December 27, 1883), Kristofer Janson (March 31, 1891), J. N. Kildahl, U. V. Koren, Laur. Larsen, A. Mikkelsen, Th. N. Mohn, B. J. Muus, J. A. Ottesen, H. A. Preus, P. A. Rasmussen, Halvard Roalquam, and H. A. Stub.
View the finding aid to the Friedrich A. Schmidt papers here. -
John A. Johnson Papers (P0691)
Biography/History:
John Anders Johnson was born in Telemark, Norway, on April 15, 1832. He was the oldest of five children who were born to Anders Johnson (1804-188) and Aaste Killing Koven (1808-1893). The family emigrated to the United States in 1844. By 1852, the family moved to Pleasant Springs, Wisconsin – near Koshkonong. Johnson first married Karen Thompson in 1856. Before she died, they had a daughter, Caroline. Both died in 1860. He remarried in 1861 to Kaia Nicoline Kildahl, and had six children together: Frederick, Ella, Ida, Carl, Hobert, and Maurice. Johnson’s brother was Ole Skipness Johnson, a Norwegian-American soldier who served in the Civil War (Scandinavian Regiment).He was founder and president of Fuller & Johnson Manufacturing Company, of Gisholt Machine Company, and of Hekla Fire Insurance Company. In 1896, he was elected president of the National Association of Implement and Vehicle Manufacturers. Johnson helped found Amerika, a Chicago newspaper, in 1873. He wrote frequently on political, economic, and social topics such as tariff-free silver, temperance, slavery, and education.
Johnson was a member of the Wisconsin legislature in 1857 and 1873-1874 and county clerk (1861-1869). His philanthropies included the University of Wisconsin, St. Olaf College, and the Gisholt Home for the Aged. NAHA published John A. Johnson, by Agnes M. Larson, in 1969.
Scope and Content:
View the items in John A. Johnson Papers (P0691)
Papers of a Norwegian-born industrialist, inventor, and philanthropist from Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. Materials include articles, clippings, contracts, correspondence, indentures, patents, pamphlets, receipts, records, reports, scrapbooks, and statements. Besides several pamphlets, publications include Det skandinaviske regiments historie (1869) and Fingerpeg for farmere og andre (1888).
Finding aid to the John A. Johnson papers available online here. -
Elise Wærenskjold Papers (P0683)
From the Knut Gjerset papers on women and Norwegian American Encyclopedia.
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Letters and other writings regarding Wilhelm and Elise Waerenskjold. A pastor's daughter, Elise lead a party emigrating to Texas between October 1846 and March 1847. The Waerenskjolds married in 1848, settling at Four Mile Prairie. Her letters and other writings serve as a primary source of information about the Norwegians who settled in Texas. -
Andrew Johnson (Aasen) Papers (P0194)
Mainly correspondence of a Norwegian-born farmer in Wiota, La Fayette County, Wisconsin. The letters, written by relatives and friends from California, Iowa, Nevada, Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, present a picture of the migration movement in its various aspects in both country and town. There are also letters by a student at Mount Horeb Academy (1895-1896).
View the items in Andrew Johnson (Aasen) Papers (P0194)
View the catalog record for the Andrew Johnson (Aasen) Papers. -
Christian Levorsen Hytta Papers (P0182)
Letter (April 18, 1863) from a Thunhovd, (Buskerud) Norway, resident to his "farbroder" Knudt Synstegaard, Orfordville, Wisconsin, concerning weather, health, farming, and an inquiry about the Civil War.
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Contents: "Missouri Flommen I 1881". Note: Hustvedt was born Liberty Prairie, Wis., attended Luther College and Concordia Seminary (1867-76). Served churches at Gayville, S.D. 1876-81; Northwood, Iowa 1881-83, and as school administrator, editor and treasurer of the Norwegian Synod, 1911-17.; "Missouri-flommen in 1881." "Delivered before the Symra Society." "Af vore indvandreres liv: Oplevelser og jagttageler i Syd Dakota i syttiaarene" in Decorah Posten, January 30- February 6,1923. "...gamle minder fra Koshkonong," April 4-25, 1924. "Den gamle pioner stue X" in Decorah Posten, April 16, 1926. -
Ludwig Horntvedt Papers (P0169)
Translated copy of letters received by a Kalispell, Montana, farmer from his parents (of Stokke, Vestfold) at his departure to America. For Horntvedt family history, see "Aette historie og familie register av slegterne Mokkenes, Horntvedt, Myrre og Gjein."
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Olaf Olsen Papers (P0573)
History/Biography:
Ole Olsen was born March 12, 1871 to Marie Gulbrandsdatter (1841-) and Edvart Olsen (1838-) in Oslo, Norway. He had five siblings: Josephine Bertha (1869-), Marie (1873-), Gulbrand (1875-), Helga (1877-), and Harald (1880-). Olaf and his sister, Bertha, arrived in Castle Garden, New York City, on May 26, 1890 before arriving at their final destination. They traveled through Pittsburg, Columbus, Little Rock, Texarkana, Austin, San Antonio, and Pena. Olaf married Emma Noble on June 14, 1905, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Together they had a daughter, Ena/Ina Frances Olsen, born in 1906.Olsen was a shop machinist in Laredo (Texas), Wilmington (Delaware), and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). He was also machinist on English ships and served in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Services during the Spanish-American War (1898). After 1900, he worked as an engineer with coastal trade steamship lines. He was also a member of the Socialist Party of America.
Scope and Content:
Correspondence, articles, reports, drawings, diaries, log-books, notebooks, clippings, and pamphlets of a Norwegian-born machinist and engineer. The correspondence deals with such topics as problems in engineering, sea disasters, strikes and labor problems, drought, farm crops, recreation, and religion.In a letter dated September 29, 1890, Olsen describes his journey from Oslo to Laredo, Texas, via ship and rail. Most of the letters by Olsen are to his wife. The articles include biographies of members of Olsen's family and also treat Yukon gold rush experiences. One diary concerns his immigration journey to America.
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American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation Records (NAHA 2020/014)
History/Biography:
The American Birkebeiner was started in 1973 by Tony Wise, a founding member of the Worldloppet federation of cross-country ski marathons. The race is held in February in Hayward, WI. Wise drew on his Norwegian heritage in starting a race named after a famous event in Norway. The American Birkebeiner, also called Birke, is named after Norwegian Birkebeinerrennet. This race commemorates an important historical event when in 1206 a group of Birkebeiner party soldiers, who fought for Sverre Sigurdsson and his descendants in the Norwegian civil war, smuggled the illegitimate son of Norway's King Håkon Sverresson from Lillehammer to safety in Trondheim.
Scope and Content:
The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation records include various photographs and 35mm slides, video records, board meeting minutes, Wordloppet records, clippings, and more. Financial statements are restricted. Please contact the archivist.