The Centennial Campaign for the NAHA Archives
In 2025, NAHA reaches its 100-year mark. With an eye to the future, the NAHA board has established an endowment fund for its archives. NAHA board members, present and past, along with our members and friends, are generously supporting to this initiative. We invite you to consider a gift, too!
Our Progress
A Vision for the Future
The leadership of NAHA has laid out an expansive vision for the archives as part of our strategic planning. We seek to raise $2 million in support of the archives.
This initiative includes five key elements:
Acquiring
Our collections are always growing. We are especially interested in materials that focus on under-represented themes and post-WWII activities. These include the records of organizations, programs, and businesses that exist today.
Preserving
Archival materials are often in need of stabilization, mending, and repair. Photographs and textiles may require special treatment by conservators.
Digitizing
Much of our collection was produced between 1830 and 1940 on wood-pulp paper with highly acidic inks. These documents are extremely vulnerable to deterioration. Twentieth-century audio and video recorded on now-outdated media need to be updated with 21st-century technology.
Improving Discoverability and Access
We continue to expand our content management system with updated cataloging and enhanced finding aids. This provides researchers with detailed information on the contents of each collection. Digitized items from a collection may also be made available online.
Caretaking
None of these needs can be adequately addressed without the work of a professional archivist. Our current resources only provide for a part-time position. We are seeking funding to support a permanent, full-time archivist, trained to undertake the full range of activities of our archival program.
Campaign Leadership
Chair
Dennis Gimmestad, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Honorary Chairs
Odd. S. Lovoll, Northfield, Minnesota
John R. and Birgitte Christianson, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cabinet Members
Ron Johnson, Madison, Wisconsin
Kim Kittilsby, Seattle, Washington
Kristen Walseth, Bloomington, Minnesota
NAHA Campaign Staff
Amy Boxrud, Executive Director
Karen Annexstad Humphrey, Advancement
Kristina Warner, Archivist
Jenny Wright, Member-Donor Coordinator
An Invitation
A century after its founding, NAHA continues to fulfill its mission to inspire connections to Norwegian-American experiences through discovery, scholarship, and stewardship. Your support enables greater preservation of the NAHA collections, while improving access to these materials for the association’s next century.
Join us in supporting the future of the NAHA archives.
For more information on our campaign or options for giving, email us or call 507-786-3221.