Biography/History: Nicolay A. Grevstad was a practicing attorney and editor of Dagbladet (Oslo) before emigrating in 1883. In America he was editor of Nordvesten (St. Paul); leading editorial writer for Minneapolis Daily Tribune; editor of Skandinaven (Chicago) (1892-1911); United States minister to Uruguay and Paraguay (1911-1915); publicity director of Minnesota Safety Commission; chief of the foreign language press publicity service for the Republican National Committee (1919-1925); agent of a Chicago bank syndicate for Uruguay; and editor of Skandinaven (1930-1940). Articles by Grevstad on courts of conciliation in Norway and in America appeared in the Atlantic Monthly (September, 1891 and November, 1893).
View the finding aid tothe Nicolay A. Grevstad papers here.
Eivind Klaveness was a Norwegian-born physician, writer and lecturer; he practiced in Brookings, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as well as in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. He held many offices: president of Vestfoldlag, of the Minnesota Leif Eriksen Monument Association, of the Scandinavian Republican State League of South Dakota, and was medical director of Sons of Norway and of the Surety Fund Life Company. He founded the Klaveness Corporation (investment bankers representing Klaveness Bank in Oslo); wrote two books, The Enchanted Islands (1939) and Norske læger i Amerika 1840-1942 (1943). He was a frequent radio and after dinner speaker; and was an equally frequent contributor of articles on medicine and politics to newspapers and journals. His correspondence with Richard Olsen Richards of the Richards Trust Company of Huron, South Dakota (3 volumes), reflects the story of that state's politics during the first three decades of the 20th century.
View the finding aid to the Eivind Klaveness papers here.
Helge Høverstad was born on March 15, 1870, in Vang, Valdres, Norway, to Torger Anderson Høverstad and Gjertrude Helgesdatter Leine. One of five children, he immigrated to North America in 1892, arriving in Quebec before settling in Holden, Goodhue County, Minnesota, where relatives already lived. He studied at Hamar Seminary in Norway and later at the United Church Seminary in Minneapolis (now Augsburg University) and Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary. Høverstad served Lutheran congregations in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa and also contributed to church work through the Foreign Missions board and writing for St. Petri tidende.
Carl Gustav Otto Hansen was born on March 16, 1871, in Trondheim, Norway, and emigrated to the United States with his mother and siblings in 1881, first settling in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and later Minneapolis. Largely self-educated, he briefly studied at Augsburg Seminary and worked in printing before beginning a long career in journalism. From 1897 to 1935 he wrote and edited for Minneapolis Daglig Tidende, later working for Skandinaven in Chicago and then serving as editor and educational director for the Sons of Norway magazine. Hansen was also an active musician and choir leader, a founder of several Norwegian-American organizations, and the author of My Minneapolis (1956). He married Amalie Marie Edsten, and they had four children.
Papers of "bygd" societies and their Common Council ("Bygdelagenes Fellesraad"), clippings, constitutions, correspondence, minutes and financial records, pamphlets, pictures, programs, and reports, dealing with conventions, officers, special projects, and the Norse-American Centennial of 1925. The bygdelag, organized around the turn of the century, are societies based on regional origins in Norway. They were active in the Eidsvoll Centennial in 1914 and the Norse-American Centennial in 1925. While activity dropped off after the beginning of World War II, a revival began in the 1980s as a result of renewal of ethnic interest, and with emphasis on family history. Odd S. Lovoll's "A Folk Epic; The Bygdelag in America" (NAHA, 1975), which includes a. bibliography of lag publications.
The finding aid to the Bygdelagenes papers can be found online here.
Papers of a Norwegian-born Lutheran clergyman who attended Albion Academy, Augustana College (Paxton, Illinois), and Augsburg Seminary (Marshall, Wisconsin) and who served pastorates in Kansas, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Nils E. Boe was the father of Lars W. Boe.
The finding aid to the Nils E. Boe papers can be found online here.
Correspondence of a Norwegian-born teacher and sheep rancher written mostly from Montana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, dealing with health, rural schools, politics, and economic conditions on farm and ranch. There are letters concerning St. Olaf College, Augsburg College, Concordia College, Augustana Academy, and Scandinavia Academy. Tollefson was a student at St. Olaf College (1890-1893). Includes letters from Sam Solberg, Edwin Solberg, Inga Halverson, Lottie Halverson, O. Sandness, L.H. Dalen, Henry Thorseson, John Edward Beum.
The catalog record for the Andrew Tollefson collection can be found online here.
Correspondence, legal papers, and biographical information of a Norwegian who immigrated in 1847 and came to Washington in 1850. Toftezen was probably the first Scandinavian in the Stanwood area. His mother, sister, and brother came later. A Toftezen memorial stone was erected in 1939. The bulk of the collection consists of letters written in Norway, Washington, and Door and Oconto counties, Wisconsin, by and to members of the Toftezon family, and deal with church, crops, health, and weather. A collection of clippings (1931-1939) tells of the Toftezen family and of the dedication of the monument. Includes photocopy of article by H.M. Tjernagel, "Toftezons, et kapitel af norsk-amerikansk historie" in "Symra," v. 10 (1914) pp. 240-250.
The catalog record tot he Zacharias M. Toftezen papers can be found online here.
Biography, clippings, correspondence, scrapbooks, and pictures dealing with the career of a Norwegian-born artist. Educated in Norway, Belgium, and Paris, Sønnichsen emigrated in 1904. His best known works are his picture panels in the New Brunswick (Canada) church windows, his portraits of Roald Amundsen and Ole Bull, the murals in Seattle's Norway House, and his Alaska landscapes. He is a brother of architect S. Engelhart Sønnichsen.
The catalog record to the Yngvar Sønnichsen papers can be found online here.
Letters by clergymen and laymen in Norway, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa to Wolden regarding private religious problems with an occasional reference to the relationships between the Augustana and Conference synods and their schools. Wolden, who immigrated in 1866, was an itinerant Norwegian schoolteacher. He was born in Sondre Fron, Gudbransdalen. Married to Bertha Bergum.
The catalog record to the Peter P. Wolden collection can be found online here.
August Reymert was born on October 4, 1851 in Vågå, Norway. He died on May 31, 1932 in Long Island, New York, United States. He was the son of Theodor DeNoon Reymert and Anne Malene Beer. August was a lawyer in New York City, and served as president of the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce in New York. August Reymert was the lawyer and legal representative of Ole Herman Krag and Erik Jørgensen who were the developers of the Krag-Jørgensen rifle. This rifle was the standard rifle of the American Army in 1892. Reymert was also a founder of the Scandinavian Seamen's Home in New York and of the Norwegian hospital in Brooklyn. He was named Knight, First Class, of the Order of St. Olav and was decorated with the Vasa Order.
James Denoon Reymert(1821-1889), an American newspaper editor, mine operator, lawyer and politician. He was a pioneer settler near Muskego, and was an editor of the first Norwegian-American newspaper, Nordlyset. James Reymert was August Reymert’s uncle.
The catalog record to the August Reymert papers can be found online here.
A letter written to his brother Elef in Chicago, describing his farm buildings and produce at Wautoma, Wisconsin, in 1853, and a birth certificate and baptism issued in Holt, Norway, 1852.
Articles, correspondence, clippings, and legal papers of a Norwegian-born physician of Los Angeles, dealing with cultural and medical subjects. Mohn was professor at California Eclectic Medical College, wrote "Før doktoren kommer" (ca. 1890); and was interested in socialized medicine. Correspondents include Ludvig Dahl, Elisabeth Koren, Christian Michelsen (Oslo), O. S. Sneve, Gabriel Tischendorf (Bergen), and Johs. B. Wist.
The catalog record for the Fredrik V. Mohn papers can be found online here.
