Norwegian Americans (Norwegian: Norskamerikanere/Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans, according to the 2021 U.S. census;[a] most live in the Upper Midwest and on the West Coast of the United States.
Norsemen from Greenland and Iceland were the first Europeans to reach North America. Leif Erikson reached North America via Norse settlements in Greenland around the year 1000. Norse settlers from Greenland founded the settlement of L'Anse aux Meadows in Vinland, in what is now Newfoundland, Canada.[2] These settlers failed to establish a permanent settlement because of conflicts with indigenous people and within the Norse community.[citation needed]
The Netherlands, and especially the cities of Amsterdam and Hoorn, had strong commercial ties with the coastal lumber trade of Norway during the 17th century and many Norwegians immigrated to Amsterdam. Some of them settled in Dutch colonies, although never in large numbers.[b] There were also Norwegian settlers in Pennsylvania in the first half of the 18th century, upstate New York in the latter half of the same century, and in New England during both halves.[1]
During the colonial period, Norwegian immigrants often joined the Dutch seeking opportunities for trade and a new life in America. The Dutch often took Norwegians with them to the New World for their sailing expertise.[3] There was a Norwegian presence in New Amsterdam in the early part of the 17th century. Hans Hansen Bergen, a native of Bergen, Norway, was one of the earliest settlers of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, having immigrated in 1633. Another early Norwegian settler, Albert Andriessen Bradt, arrived in New Amsterdam in 1637.
Approximately 60 people had settled in the Manhattan area before the region was taken over by the British Empire in 1664. The total number of Norwegians that settled in New Netherland is not known. In the period that followed, many of the original Norwegian settlers in the area remained, including the family of Pieter Van Brugh, a colonial mayor of Albany, who was the grandson of early Norwegian immigrants.[4]
Many immigrants during the early 1800s sought religious freedom. From the mid-1800s however, the driving forces behind Norwegian immigration to the United States were agricultural disasters which led to poverty, from the European Potato Failure of the 1840s to the Famine of 1866–68. The agricultural revolution also put farmers out of work and pushed them to seek employment in a more industrialized America.[5]
The earliest immigrants from Norway to America emigrated mostly for religious motives, especially as members of the Religious Society of Friends or as Haugeans. To a great extent, this early emigration from Norway was born out of religious persecution, especially for Quakers and a local religious group, the Haugeans.[6]
Organized Norwegian immigration to North America began in 1825, when several dozen Norwegians left Stavanger bound for North America on the sloopRestauration (often called the "Norse Mayflower").[7] Under the leadership of Cleng Peerson, the Restauration left Stavanger in July 1825 and ferried six families on a 14-week journey.[8] The ship landed in New York City, where it was at first impounded for exceeding its passenger limit. After intervention from President John Quincy Adams, the passengers moved on to settle in Kendall, New York with the help of Andreas Stangeland, witnessing the opening of the Erie Canal en route. After making the journey to Kendall, Cleng Peerson became a traveling emissary for Norwegian immigrants and died in a Norwegian Settlement near Cranfills Gap, Texas in 1865.[9] The descendants of these immigrants are referred to as "Sloopers", in reference to the sloop ship that brought them from Norway.[8] Many of the 1825 immigrants moved on from the Kendall Settlement in the mid-1830s, settling in Illinois and Wisconsin.[9] These "Sloopers" gave impetus to the westward movement of Norwegians by founding a settlement in the Fox River area of Illinois. A small urban colony of Norwegians had its genesis in Chicago at about the same time.[citation needed]
While about 65 Norwegians emigrated via Sweden and elsewhere in the intervening years, no emigrant ships left Norway for the New World until the 1836 departures of the Den Norske Klippe and Norden. In 1837, a group of immigrants from Tinn emigrated via Gothenburg to the Fox River Settlement, near present-day Sheridan, Illinois. It was the writings of Ole Rynning, who traveled to the U.S. on the Ægir in 1837 that energized Norwegian immigration, however.[10][11]
Throughout much of the latter part of the 19th century and into the 20th century, a vast majority of Norwegian emigration to both the United States and Canada followed a route commonly shared by most Swedish, Danish and Finnish emigrants of the period, being via England by means of the monopoly established by the leading shipping lines of Great Britain, primarily the White Star Line and the Cunard Line, both of which operated chiefly out of Liverpool, England.[12][13] These lines negotiated with smaller 'feeder lines', primarily the Wilson Line, which was based out of the port city of Hull on England's east coast, to provide emigrants with passage from port cities such as Christiania (present-day Oslo), Bergen and Trondheim to England via Hull.[14] Steamship companies such as Cunard and White Star included fares for passage on these feeder ship in their overall ticket prices, along with railroad fares for passage between Hull and Liverpool and temporary accommodations in numerous hotels owned by the shipping lines in port cities such as Liverpool.[15]
Most Norwegian emigrants bound for the United States entered the country through New York City, with smaller numbers coming through other eastern ports such as Boston and Philadelphia. Other shipping lines such as the Canadian Pacific Line,[16] which operated chiefly out of Liverpool, and the Glasgow-based Anchor Line[17] operated routes to ports in eastern Canada, primarily Quebec City, Montreal and Halifax. Because Canadian-bound routes were slightly shorter, lines which disembarked at Canadian ports often provided quicker passages and cheaper fares. The Canadian route offered many advantages to the emigrant over traveling to the U.S. directly. "They moved on from Quebec both by rail and by steamer for another thousand or more miles (1,600 km) for a steerage fare of slightly less than $9.00."[citation needed] Steamers from Quebec, Canada brought them to Toronto, Canada then the immigrants often traveled by rail for 93 miles to Collingwood, Ontario, Canada on Lake Huron, from where steamers transported them across Lake Michigan to Chicago, Milwaukee and Green Bay. Not until the start of the 20th century did Norwegians accept Canada as a land of the second chance. This was also true of the many American-Norwegians who moved to Canada seeking homesteads and new economic opportunities. By 1921, one-third of all Norwegians in Canada had been born in the U.S.[citation needed]
Data from the U.S. Office of Immigration statistics showing trends in Norwegian immigration to the U.S. from 1870 to 2016
Between 1825 and 1925, more than 800,000 Norwegians immigrated to North America—about one-third of Norway's population with the majority immigrating to the U.S., and lesser numbers immigrating to the Dominion of Canada. With the exception of Ireland, no single country contributed a larger percentage of its population to the United States than Norway.[18] Data from the U.S. Office of Immigration statistics of the number of Norwegians obtaining lawful permanent resident status in the U.S. from 1870 to 2016 highlights two peaks in the migration flow, the first one in the 1880s, and the second one in the first decade of the 20th century. It also shows an abrupt decrease after 1929,[19] during the economic crisis of the 1930s.
A 1962 U.S. postage stamp commemorating the centennial of the Homestead Act was issued. The image on the stamp is based on Norwegian settlers in front of their sod house.
Beginning in 1836, Norwegian immigrants arrived in significant numbers annually. From the early "slooper" settlement in Illinois, Norwegian pioneers followed the general spread of population northwestward into Wisconsin. Wisconsin remained the center of Norwegian American activity up until the American Civil War, a war in which a number of Norwegian Americans fought for the Union, such as in the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment. In the 1850s Norwegian land seekers began moving into both Iowa and Minnesota, and serious migration to the Dakotas was underway by the 1870s.
Norwegian immigration through the years was predominantly motivated by economic concerns. Compounded by crop failures, Norwegian agricultural resources were unable to keep up with population growth, and the Homestead Act of 1862 promised fertile, flat land. As a result, settlement trended westward with each passing year. The majority of Norwegian agrarian settlements developed in the northern region of the so-called Homestead Act Triangle between the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. Early Norwegian settlements were in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Illinois, but moved westward into Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. Later waves of Norwegian immigration went to the Western states such as Montana, Washington, Oregon, and Utah through missionary efforts which gained Norwegian and Swedish converts to Mormonism. Additionally, craftsmen also immigrated to a larger, more diverse market. Until recently, there was a Norwegian area in Sunset Park, Brooklyn originally populated by Norwegian craftsmen.
The upper Midwest became home to most immigrants. In 1910 almost 80 percent of the one million or more Norwegian Americans lived in that part of the United States. In 1990, 51.7 percent of the Norwegian American population lived in the Midwest. At that time, Minnesota had the largest Norwegian American population and Minneapolis functioned as a hub for Norwegian American secular and religious activities.
In the Pacific Northwest, the Puget Sound region, and especially the city of Seattle, became another center of immigrant life. Enclaves of Norwegian immigrants emerged as well in greater Brooklyn, New York, in Alaska, and Texas. After Minnesota, Wisconsin had the most Norwegians in 1990, followed by California, Washington, and North Dakota.
In a letter from Chicago dated November 9, 1855, Elling Haaland from Stavanger, Norway, assured his relatives back home that "of all nations Norwegians are those who are most favored by Americans." Svein Nilsson, a Norwegian-American journalist recorded that "A newcomer from Norway who arrives here will be surprised indeed to find in the heart of the country, more than a thousand miles from his landing place, a town where language and way of life so unmistakably remind him of his native land."[20]
This sentiment was expressed frequently as the immigrants attempted to seek acceptance and negotiate entrance into the new society. In their segregated farming communities, Norwegians were spared direct prejudice and might indeed have been viewed as a welcome ingredient in a region's development. Still, a sense of inferiority was inherent in their position. The immigrants were occasionally referred to as "guests" in the United States and they were not immune to condescending and disparaging attitudes by old-stock Americans. Economic adaptation required a certain amount of interaction with a larger commercial environment, from working for an American farmer to doing business with the seed dealer, the banker, and the elevator operator. Products had to be grown and sold—all of which pulled Norwegian farmers into social contact with their American neighbors. In Pennsylvania a group of Norwegians flew a flag described as: "The Cross of Norway in the centre, surrounded by the Stars and Stripes of the United States."[21]
Norwegian-American debating societies provided opportunities for immigrants to discuss and debate issues of the day in an atmosphere conducive to learning while also developing skills useful in American life. Beginning in 1889, both the Wig Debate Society and Forward Debate Society, located in Minnesota, hosted weekly debates. Many topics were discussed including voting rights, women's rights, and racism. These societies helped to develop friendship and understanding.[22]
In places like Brooklyn, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Seattle, Norwegian-Americans interacted with the multi-cultural environment of the city while constructing a complex ethnic community that met the needs of its members. It might be said that a Scandinavian melting pot existed in the urban setting among Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes, evidenced in residential and occupational patterns, in political mobilization, and in public commemoration. Inter-marriage promoted inter-ethnic assimilation. There are no longer any Norwegian immigrant enclaves or neighborhoods in America's great cities. Beginning in the 1920s, Norwegian-Americans increasingly became suburban.[23]
Norwegian Americans cultivated bonds with Norway, sending gifts home often and offering aid during natural disasters and other hardships in Norway. Relief in the form of collected funds was forthcoming without delay. Only during conflicts within the Union between Sweden and Norway, however, did Norwegian Americans become involved directly in the political life of Norway. In the 1880s they formed societies to assist Norwegian liberals, collecting money to assist rifle clubs in Norway should the political conflict between liberals and conservatives call for arms. The ongoing tensions between Sweden and Norway and Norway's humiliating retreat in 1895 fueled nationalism and created anguish. Norwegian Americans raised money to strengthen Norway's military defenses. The unilateral declaration by Norway on June 7, 1905, to dissolve its union with Sweden yielded a new holiday of patriotic celebration.[citation needed]
In American popular culture, Norwegian Americans were the central characters in the popular CBS network television series, Mama (1949–1956). Set in San Francisco around 1900, the weekly program focused on working-class family life.[24] They also form the background to Garrison Keillor's "Lake Wobegon" series of novels as well as A Prairie Home Companion, a radio variety show that contains much humorous material from the "Norwegian American Midwest".[citation needed]
According to a 2018 paper, Norwegian immigrants who lived in large ethnic enclaves in the United States in the 1910 and 1920 "had lower occupational earnings, were more likely to be in farming occupations, and were less likely to be in white-collar occupations."[25]
Today, the traditions practiced by Norwegian Americans are distinct from those practiced in modern-day Norway. Norwegian Americans are primarily descendants of 19th or early 20th century working class and rural Norwegians, and the traditions which these immigrants brought with them represented a specific segment of the Norwegian population and cultural period. As these traditions continued to evolve in an American context, they are today divergent from that of modern-day Norway.[26]
There are a number of museums commemorating the Norwegian-American immigrant experience. Norskedalen is a natural and cultural heritage site near Coon Valley, Wisconsin, spread over 440 acres which exhibits the Norwegian immigrant experience of the late 1800s. Little Norway, Wisconsin is a living museum of a Norwegian village located in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. The National Nordic Museum in the Ballard, a district Seattle heavily settled by Scandinavian immigrants, serves as a community gathering place. The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to the experiences of a single immigrant population and has an extensive collection of Norwegian-American artifacts. Chapel in the Hills is an exact replica of the Borgund stave church in Norway, located in Rapid City, South Dakota. The church's site also maintains other period typical historical buildings.
Although today Norway is relatively secular,[27] Norwegian-Americans are among the most religious ethnic groups in the United States, with 90% acknowledging a religious affiliation in 1998.[26] Because membership to the State Church was mandatory until the 19th century in Norway, all ethnic Norwegians have traditionally been Lutheran.[citation needed] Today, many Norwegian Americans remain Lutheran, though significant numbers converted to other Christian denominations. Some Norwegians immigrated to the United States in hope of practicing other religions freely. A significant number of Norwegian immigrants and their descendants were Methodists concentrated especially in Chicago, with its own theological seminary, while others converted to become Baptists. There were also groups of Quakers, relating back to "the Sloopers," and Mormons who joined the trek to the "New Jerusalem" in Salt Lake City, Utah.[citation needed]
Most Norwegian immigrants to the United States, particularly in the migration wave between the 1860s and early 20th century, were members of the Church of Norway, an evangelical Lutheran church established by the Constitution of Norway. As they settled in their new homeland and forged their own communities, however, Norwegian-American Lutherans diverged from the state church in many ways, forming synods and conferences that ultimately contributed to the present Lutheran establishment in the United States.[28] The Norwegian Lutheran church was a focal point in rural settlements in the Upper Midwest. The congregation became an all-encompassing institution for its members, creating a tight social network that touched all aspects of immigrant life. The force of tradition in religious practice made the church a central institution in the urban environment as well. The severe reality of urban life increased the social role of the church. [citation needed]
The official State Church in Norway did not extend pastoral care to emigrants and provided no guidance in the formation of new congregations in the United States. The Church of Norway was seen as an integrated part of the Norwegian state administration with no particular responsibility for people outside of Norway, with the exception of sailors and those who remained citizens. As a consequence, no fewer than 14 Lutheran synods were founded by Norwegian immigrants between 1846 and 1900. In 1917 most of the factions reconciled doctrinal differences and organized the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America. It was one of the church bodies that in 1960 formed the American Lutheran Church, which in 1988 became a constituent part of the newly created Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.[29]
Use of the Norwegian language in the United States was at its peak between 1900 and World War I, then declined in the 1920s and 1930s. Over one million Americans spoke Norwegian as their primary language from 1900 to World War I, and more than 3,000 Lutheran churches in the Upper Midwest used Norwegian as their sole language. There were hundreds of Norwegian-language newspapers across the Upper Midwest.[citation needed]
The Northfield Independent was another notable newspaper. The editor was Andrew Rowberg, who collected massive numbers of Norwegian births and deaths in U.S. The file he created is now known as The Rowberg File Maintained at St. Olaf College, and is commonly used in family research across the U.S. and Norway.
Over 600,000 homes received at least one Norwegian newspaper in 1910.[citation needed]
However, use of the language declined in part due to the rise of nationalism among the American population during and after World War I. During this period, readership of Norwegian-language publications fell. Norwegian Lutheran churches began to hold their services in English, and the younger generation of Norwegian Americans were encouraged to speak English rather than Norwegian. When Norway itself was liberated from Nazi Germany in 1945, relatively few Norwegian Americans under the age of 40 still spoke Norwegian as their primary language (although many still understood the language). As such, they were not passing the language on to their children, the next generation of Norwegian Americans.[citation needed]
Some sources stated that today[when?] there are 81,000 Americans who speak Norwegian as their primary language. According to the U.S. Census however, only 55,475 Americans spoke Norwegian at home as of 2000, and the American Community Survey in 2005 showed that only 39,524 people use the language at home.[30] Still, most Norwegian Americans can speak a common Norwegian with easy words like hello, yes and no. Today, there are still 1,209 people who only understand Norwegian or who do not speak English well in the United States. In 2000 this figure was 215 for those under 17 years old, whereas it increased to 216 in 2005. For other age groups, the numbers went down. For those who are from 18 to 64 years old, went down from 915 in 2000 to 491 in 2005. For those who are older than 65 years it went drastically down from 890 to 502 in the same period.[30] The Norwegian language is likely to never die out in the U.S. because there is still immigration, of course on a much smaller scale, but they often emigrate to other areas, like Texas, where the number of Norwegian speakers increase.[citation needed]
Two Norwegian Lutheran churches in the United States continue to use Norwegian as a primary liturgical language, Mindekirken in Minneapolis and Minnekirken in Chicago. There are also several Norwegian Seaman's Churches in the U.S. that have services in Norwegian. They are located in Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, New Orleans, and New York.[citation needed]
Literary writing in Norwegian in North America includes the works of Ole Edvart Rølvaag, whose best-known work Giants in the Earth ("I de dage", literally In Those Days) was published in both English and Norwegian versions. Rølvaag was a professor from 1906 to 1931 at St. Olaf College, where he was also head of the Norwegian studies department beginning in 1916.[citation needed]
This patriotic fantasy in flag was given to the American friend, violinist and composer Ole Bull (1818–1880) as a gift from The New York Philharmonic Society. The flag of Norway has been the U.S. star banner that the union mark instead of the Norwegian-Swedish "Sildesalaten".
In journalism, Eric Sevareid, was a well-known a CBS reporter and commentator. In literature, Ole Edvart Rølvaag wrote about the immigrant experience, especially the Norwegian-American experience in The Dakotas. Rølvaag's home is a National Historic Landmark.Tomi Lahren, is a FOX Nation host and former host of her own The Blaze TV show as well as a FOX News commentator.
In labor unions, Andrew Furuseth was largely responsible for the passage of four reforms that changed the lives of American mariners. Two of them, the Maguire Act of 1895 and the White Act of 1898, ended corporal punishment and abolished imprisonment for deserting a vessel. The Seamen's Act of 1915 included all these and was his main project.
In humanitarian work, Greg Mortenson, born in Minnesota, whose ancestors came from Tromsø in 1876, has worked since 1993 to build over 150 schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He is the author of best-seller Three Cups of Tea, which has sold over 4 million copies in 49 countries, including Norway.
^Incidentally, the number of Americans of Norwegian descent living in the U.S. (4.5 million) was roughly equal to the population of Norway (4.6 million) in 2005. In April 2012 Norway's population surpassed 5 million (ssb.no), of which 1.1 million were either born outside Norway, or born in Norway with both or one parent born outside Norway.
^For further reading, see for example J.H. Innes, New Amsterdam and its people.
^Wick, Rosemary R. (1983). Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
^John R. Jenswold. "Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine," Minnesota History (Summer 1986) pp. 63–70.
^Lipsitz, George (November 1986). Archived(PDF) from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
^Eriksson, Katherine (2018). "Ethnic Enclaves and Immigrant Outcomes: Norwegian Immigrants during the Age of Mass Migration". NBER Working Paper No. 24763. doi:134408179.
^ abArchived from the original on October 25, 2022.
^ abthe original on August 9, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
^Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
^the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
^the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
^Ulvestad, Martin (2010). Norwegians in America, their History and Record: A Translated Version of the 1907 and 1913 Nordmændene i Amerika, deres Historie og Rekord. ISBN9780976054160.
^Archived from the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
^Archived(PDF) from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
^Archived(PDF) from the original on July 27, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
Blegen, Theodore C., ed. (1936). Norwegian Emigrant Songs and Ballads. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Evjen, John O. (1916). Scandinavian Immigrants in New York 1630–1674. Minneapolis: K. C. Holter Publishing Company.
Gulliksen, Øyvind T. "Letters to Immigrants in the Midwest from the Telemark Region of Norway ". Norwegian-American Studies. 32: p. 157.
Nilsson, Svein (1982). A chronicler of immigrant life: Svein Nilsson's articles in Billed-magazin, 1868-1870 (trans. and ed. C. A. Clausen). Norwegian-American Historical Association.
Øverland, Orm, ed. (2013). From America to Norway: Norwegian-American Immigrant Letters, 1838–1914, Volume One: 1838–1870. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Ræder, Ole Munch (1929). America in the Forties: The Letters of Ole Munch Ræder (ed. and trans. Gunnar J. Malmin). Norwegian-American Historical Association.
Bergland, Betty A., and Lori Ann Lahlum, eds. (2011). Norwegian American Women: Migration, Communities, and Identities. Minneapolis: Minnesota Historical Society Press; 2011. — scholarly essays on the experiences in rural and urban settings.
Bjork, Kenneth. (1958). West of the Great Divide: Norwegian Migration to the Pacific Coast, 1847–1893. Norwegian-American Historical Association.
Blegen, Theodore C. (1931–1940). Norwegian Migration to the United States. Norwegian-American Historical Association. 2 Vols.
Brøndal, Jørn (2004). Ethnic Leadership and Midwestern Politics: Scandinavian Americans and the Progressive Movement in Wisconsin, 1890–1914. University of Illinois Press.
Brøndal, Jørn (2014). "'The Fairest among the So-Called White Races': Portrayals of Scandinavian Americans in the Filiopietistic and Nativist Literature of the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries". Journal of American Ethnic History.33(3): 5–36. doi:10.5406/jamerethnhist.33.3.0005
Eriksson, Katherine (2019). "Ethnic enclaves and immigrant outcomes: Norwegian immigrants during the Age of Mass Migration." European Review of Economic History.doi:10.1093/ereh/hez013
Evjen, John O. (1972). Scandinavian Immigrants in New York 1630–1674. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company.
Flom, George T. (1909). A History of Norwegian Immigration to the United States: From the Earliest Beginning Down to the Year 1848. Iowa City: Private Printing.
Gjerde, Jon (1997). The Minds of the West: Ethnocultural Evolution in the Rural Middle West, 1830–1917. University of North Carolina Press.
Gjerde, Jon (1985). From Peasants to Farmers: The Migration from Balestrand, Norway, to the Upper Middle West. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gray, Hans-Petter (2020). "Good Americans 'born of a good people': Race, whiteness, and nationalism among Norwegian Americans in the Pacific Northwest". Nordic Whiteness and Migration to the USA. Routledge. pp. 98–116.
Joranger, Terje Mikael Hasle (2019). "The Creation of a Norwegian-American Identity in the USA." Journal of Migration History. 5(3): pp. 489–511.
Lovoll, Odd S. (2014). Riggs, Thomas (ed.). "Norwegian Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Vol 3 (3rd ed.) vol. 3. Gale. pp. 343–357.
Lovoll, Odd S. (2010). Norwegian Newspapers in America: Connecting Norway and the New Land . Minnesota Historical Society Press. — discusses more than 280 Norwegian-language papers, both short-lived and successful, founded after 1847.
Mathiesen, Henrik Olav (2014). "Belonging in the Midwest: Norwegian Americans and the Process of Attachment, ca. 1830–1860," American Nineteenth Century History. 15(2): pp. 119–46.
Nelson, E. Clifford, and Eugene L. Fevold (1960) The Lutheran Church among Norwegian Americans: A History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House. 2 Vols.
Olson, Gary D. (2011). "Norwegian Immigrants in Early Sioux Falls: A Demographic Profile". Norwegian-American Studies.36: pp 45–84.
Qualey, Carlton C. (1938). Norwegian Settlement in the United States. Norwegian-American Historical Association.
Rygg, Andreas Nilsen (1941). Norwegians in New York, 1825—1925. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Norwegian News Co.
Thaler, Peter (1998). Norwegian Minds--American Dreams: Ethnic Activism among Norwegian-American Intellectuals. Newark and London: University of Delaware Press.
Norwegian American Chamber of Commerce – promotes trade and goodwill and to foster business, financial and professional interest between Norway and the United States of America
Norwegian-American Foundation – Foundation sponsoring educational and cultural initiatives based on donor advised funds and contributions
Norwegian American Hall of Fame- Information on famous Americans, past and present, who are readily associated with their Norwegian ancestry
Norwegian-American Historical Association — private membership organization dedicated to locating, collecting preserving and interpreting the Norwegian-American experience
Norwegian American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library – Norwegian and Norwegian Americang Genealogy. Collection includes bygdebøker, family histories, Norwegian church records, Norwegian American Lutheran church records, cemetery transcripts, transcripts of ship passenger lists, obituaries and more.
newspapers · JSTOR (February 2023)
Washington
Oregon
Florida
Montana
