Spring Grove


Book Description

Spring Grove: Minnesota's First Norwegian Settlement is a tribute to the state's earliest Norwegian emigrants, and to generations of Norwegian Americans who have made this small farming community amongst deep valleys, fjord-like bluffs, and winding streams their true vesterheim. It is a tale told through striking historic photographs, many previously unreleased, and personal narratives, often humorous and always insightful. The area was first settled in the 1850s by pioneers like James Smith, who, inspired by the landscape, named the place Spring Grove. Smith was followed by the likes of "Big" Ole Gulbransgutton, who chased crooked land surveyors out of town with his bare fist; by the innovative Mons Fladager, whose business acumen earned him the title of "Father of Spring Grove"; and by the 20th-century cartoonist Peter J. Rosendahl, whose work gave a comical voice to the challenges of cultural assimilation. Spring Grove: Minnesota's First Norwegian Settlement also conveys the universality of the Norwegian immigrant experience, and anyone with Norwegian roots who desires to learn more about their ancestors will find it an enjoyable read.




History of the Norwegian Settlements


Book Description

History of the Norwegian Settlements provides an engaging and enthusiastic depiction of the struggles as well as the triumphs of pioneer life. The 63-chapter non-fiction book lets readers trace the trails of 3,800 indexed immigrants through Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas as they explore new frontiers and build new communities. Along the way lurk killer diseases, grasshopper plagues, prairie fires and loneliness.







The First Norwegian Settlements in America


Book Description

This book is based on The First Chapter of Norwegian Immigration, written by Rasmus Anderson in 1895. He was spellbound by tales his neighbors told about their pioneer life. He was the first professor of Scandinavian Studies anywhere in the United States. As old pioneers were dying off, he began a letter writing campaign to ask them to write down their memories. Anderson added excerpts of old interviews of pioneers from Billet-Magazin. This book, The First Norwegian Settlements in America is an abridged version of Anderson's book. The sequence has completely changed. Additional research has been added. Photos from the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library and public domain sources have added to more richly illustrate and add meaning to this work. If we want to understand our Norwegian-American roots, it is important to learn about our immigrant ancestors. Hopefully, this book will help broaden your understanding of your Nordic heritage.




Norway to America


Book Description




History of the Norwegian People in America


Book Description

Background history of Norway, immigration, organizations and people in Norweigna-America.




The Follinglo Dog Book


Book Description

Peder Gustav Tjernagel (1864-1932) recorded these stories in pencil on a school notepad in 1909. The manuscript was later edited by relatives who self-published the book as a family record. In his foreword to The Follinglo Dog Book, Wayne Franklin, professor of English at Northeastern University, places the book in its historical context and addresses our changing attitudes toward the humane treatment of house pets since the nineteenth century.




Across the Deep Blue Sea


Book Description

"Across the Deep Blue Sea investigates a chapter in Norwegian immigration history that has never been fully told before. Odd S. Lovoll relates how Quebec, Montreal, and other port cities in Canada became the gateway for Norwegian emigrants to North America, replacing New York as the main destination from 1850 until the late 1860s. During those years, 94 percent of Norwegian emigrants landed in Canada. After the introduction of free trade, Norwegian sailing ships engaged in the lucrative timber trade between Canada and the British Isles. Ships carried timber one way across the Atlantic and emigrants on the way west. For the vast majority landing in Canadian port cities, Canada became a corridor to their final destinations in the Upper Midwest, primarily Wisconsin and Minnesota. Lovoll explains the establishment and failure of Norwegian colonies in Quebec Province and pays due attention to the tragic fate of the Gaspe settlement. A personal story of the emigrant experience passed down as family lore is retold here, supported by extensive research. The journey south and settlement in the Upper Midwest completes a highly human narrative of the travails, endurance, failures, and successes of people who sought a better life in a new land. Odd S. Lovoll, professor emeritus of history at St. Olaf College and recipient of the Fritt Ords Honnør for his work on Norwegian immigration, is the author of numerous books, including Norwegians on the Prairie and Norwegian Newspapers in America"--




In Their Own Words


Book Description

For most Norwegians in the nineteenth century, America was a remote and exotic place until the first immigrants began to write home. Their letters were among the most valuable, accessible, and reliable sources of information about the new world and the journey to it. For many immigrants, writing letters home was their most cherished opportunity to communicate their thoughts and feelings in their native language. Through vivid translations of letters written to family and friends between 1870 and 1945, In Their Own Words traces the stories of nine Norwegian immigrants: farmer, fisherman, gold miner, politician, unmarried mother, housewife, businessman, railroad worker, contractor. Their common bond was the experience of immigration and acculturation, but their individual experiences were manifested in a wide variety of forms. Solveig Zempel has thoughtfully selected and translated letters rich in personal description and observation to present each writer’s subjective view of historical events. Often focusing on the minutiae of daily life and the feelings of the individual immigrant, the letters form a complex, intimate, and colorful mosaic of the immigrant world. Solveig Zempel is chair of the Norwegian Department at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.