https://norwegianamericanhistory.org/digital-collections/files/original/48632253dc35447cfd309f74cdaf3a21.jpg e33ad77ede6be73ec55ff97c9a9c33f8 https://norwegianamericanhistory.org/digital-collections/files/original/9b7432a76156512681e1e7569106576f.jpg 8fa28a1e718b412251d39bba6695deea https://norwegianamericanhistory.org/digital-collections/files/original/72813232c62cc9dad6c6b4a82c9fb2ab.jpg ce9e93c4074a38af344143634caf07a4 https://norwegianamericanhistory.org/digital-collections/files/original/0a4357f11323356ef2f9d826b4db0abb.jpg 646234c9581c1297861d2fce8506bf62 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource O.E. Rølvaag Papers (P0584) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context P0584 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931 Description An account of the resource <div class="element-text"> Ole Edvart Rølvaag was born on April 22, 1876, in Dønna, Norway, and immigrated to the United States in 1896, working as a farmhand in South Dakota before earning a B.A. and M.A. from St. Olaf College, with studies at the University of Christiania in between. From 1906 to 1931, he taught Norwegian language and literature at St. Olaf and wrote novels, essays, and poems depicting the Norwegian-American immigrant experience, including the acclaimed Giants in the Earth (1927) and Peder Victorious (1929). He helped preserve Norwegian-American culture by co-founding the Society for Norwegian Language and Culture and the Norwegian-American Historical Association, and in 1926 he was knighted by King Haakon VII of Norway. <div class="flex flex-col text-sm pb-25"> <div class="text-base my-auto mx-auto pb-10 [--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-xs,calc(var(--spacing)*4))] @w-sm/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-sm,calc(var(--spacing)*6))] @w-lg/main:[--thread-content-margin:var(--thread-content-margin-lg,calc(var(--spacing)*16))] px-(--thread-content-margin)"> <div class="[--thread-content-max-width:40rem] @w-lg/main:[--thread-content-max-width:48rem] mx-auto max-w-(--thread-content-max-width) flex-1 group/turn-messages focus-visible:outline-hidden relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn"> <div class="z-0 flex min-h-[46px] justify-start"></div> <div class="mt-3 w-full empty:hidden"> <div class="text-center"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="pointer-events-none h-px w-px absolute bottom-0"></div> </div> The catalog record for the O.E. Rølvaag Papers can be found online <a href="https://norwegianamericanhistory.org/catalog/items/show/11038" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. Funding: Funding to digitize a portion of the O.E. Rølvaag papers provided to the Norwegian-American Historical Association through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, a component of the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment, ratified by Minnesota voters in 2008. Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context p0584_11731 p0584_11732 p0584_11733 p0584_11734 Is Part Of A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included. P0584 O.E. Rølvaag Papers (P0584: Jennie Berdahl Correspondence) O.E. Rølvaag Papers (P0584) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931 Description An account of the resource Translation: Dear wife! This time there will be a letter to you. It is beautiful here today, and it has been beautiful for a whole week now. We have just come back from a trip to Miami Beach. Left around half past 11, and now it is nearly 4 o’clock. Dorothy and the twins went in the water. I have not bought swimwear yet. I think I must do that. I estimate that there were at least 50,000 people there today. You never would have seen such a sight. People of all kinds, and some especially unfriendly. For a while they are in the water, and for a while they are in the hall. The bathing suits you see down here are indescribable- I mean the womens’. They wear beach pajamas over their swimwear. When they come down to the beach, they slip it off without embarrassment and either lie in the sand or go in the water. It is a sight! I cannot say I saw anything indecent. It was so very interesting. Young and old, children and adolescents, old dried-up women and bald old men. And everyone seems to be doing well in these surroundings. Finally I have gotten something definite out of these people about what I should pay them. And it is as I guessed- a hundred per month. That includes everything, including the washing. It is more than just reasonable, but not so little that I am ashamed, either. I help the father a good deal with his literary duties. But I am doing well. I am treated as if I were a part of the family. I have forgotten to say that I have sent home some jelly this here day, that you all should have gotten a long time ago. One of the first days I wanted to send some marmalade. You can let the neighbors taste it. I would appreciate it if you would put aside a glass for Mrs. Engstråm- I still remember the fish she made for me when I was sick. I have not mentioned next summer because I am not sure how it will be, and how the finances will be. I have still not gotten the January settlement from Harper’s about what I will get in May. I should have had the settlement by January. Neither have I heard anything more about the popular edition of Peder Victorious. Before I get the January settlement, I cannot say. I am not going to withdraw other money from Northfield National than income tax, and it won’t be more than a little over 30 dollars if Pye has not counted wrong this year as well. It is $32.53. I will pay it with a Northfield check. But then there is the translation. It should not be much more than 600, and then a few hundred for Evelyn. As soon as I hear from Harper’s both about Peder Victorious and get the six-month settlement, I will discuss these things with you. It should be possible for you to travel alone- I mean, that you can join either Flaten or Schmidt. That is more than reasonable, that I must sit in Northfield and translate this summer. If we are going to get something to live off of, I should see about getting a book out soon. Even though I cannot travel, you could very well go when you get to be with people you know. And I could very well get board at Mrs. Nordberg’s- don’t you think? That would be very handy. The question is the kids. Fritjof should soon decide whether he wants to be a scout leader, or whether he will try to work. I would prefer he be a scout leader, as that could lead to something. But then he must plan now already, and talk with those who have to do with those things. Tulla, I want her to get to do what she likes best. If she wants to be at home, she can do that, and if she wants to work with Christsen, she can do that. The latter is not so bad. I think it would be good if you talked to the children about the problem “for the summer”. In the next letter to Fritjof I will talk to him about it. If both you and I were to take a trip to Europe this summer, it would cost at least a couple thousand, and that and what I must use on translation, will maybe be more than we can manage. But we can manage one trip. It is maybe more sensible that I stay at home, do the work that I can, and then instead travel away for the winter again. Now I want you to discuss these things in a letter, and say just what you want and what you mean. One way or another we can very well agree. That I can get the Norwegian original finished for the book I am working on by the 1st of April, I am now quite sure about. But if the book will bring anything other than annoyance and worries, is bad to know. It is more than likely to be a dead flop. I simply have to get a good translation. Even so it may flop. It goes rather hard on both Protestant and Catholic. With these two mighty forces opposed to you, you have the current against you- decidedly. “But a fool must follow his natural bend.” I have never written books for money, and don’t intend to do it. Yes, yes, let me hear from you- unreserved and direct. As I said, I am doing well down here. In the grand scheme of things I can say that I have fewer pains than I had at home. I have had a couple of attacks, and just the one was bad. And I have not thus far had a sign of sickness. That is something to thank Our Lord for! We lived separated and isolated. I have a magnificent chance to work, but notice that the desire and fervor are gone. I get a little done each day, and something must become of it over time. Hold on tight now, and let me get a long, good answer to this letter! Your friend. Jennie Marie Berdahl was born on June 1, 1879 in Minnehaha County, South Dakota to Andrew James and Karen Oline (Otterness) Berdahl. Jennie was born in a sod hut before South Dakota received statehood. She attended Augustana Academy in Canton, S.D. and was a county school teacher. Jennie Berdahl married Ole Rølvaag in 1908 and lived in Northfield, MN. Together they had four children: Olaf Arnljot (1909-1915) Ella Valborg Tweet (1910-2003) Karl Fritjof (1913-1990) Paul Gunnar (1915-1920). Funding to digitize the O.E. Rølvaag Papers was provided to the Norwegian American Historical Association through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, a component of the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment, ratified by Minnesota voters in 2008. Ole Rølvaag's letter to Jennie Rølvaag. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1931 January 15 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource No Copyright - the United States http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Letters (correspondence) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Rølvaag, Jennie Marie Berdahl Title A name given to the resource Letter from Ole Rølvaag to Jennie Rølvaag, 1931 January 15 Bibliographic Citation A bibliographic reference for the resource. Recommended practice is to include sufficient bibliographic detail to identify the resource as unambiguously as possible. [Indicate the cited item here]. O.E. Rølvaag Papers. Norwegian American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota. Text