The Norse-American Centennial celebration was held at the

Minnesota State Fair The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Also known by its slogan, "The Great Minnesota Get-Together", it is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance and the second-largest state fa ...

on June 6–9, 1925.

Description

The event served to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the arrival during 1825 of the Norwegian immigrant ship '' Restauration''. The arrival of this ship is generally considered the first organized emigration of Norwegian-Americans to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Gisle C. J. Bothne, Department head and professor of Scandinavian languages and literature at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, was President of the Norse-American Centennial celebration. Johan Andreas Holvik, professor at Concordia College in

Moorhead, Minnesota Moorhead () is a city in and county seat of Clay County, Minnesota, United States, on the banks of the Red River of the North. Located in the Red River Valley, an extremely fertile and active agricultural region, Moorhead is also home to several ...

served as the Secretary of the national administration committee of the Norse-American Centennial.

Knut Gjerset Knut Gjerset (September 15, 1865 – October 29, 1936) was a Norwegian-American author, historian and college professor. Biography Knut Gjerset was born at Fræna in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. He was the son of Ole Sørensen Gjerset and Karen Marie ...

, professor at Luther College and curator of the

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa is the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, with over 33,000 artifacts, 12 historic buildings, and a library and archives. This treasure showcases one of the most extensive co ...

, served as Director of the Norse-American Centennial celebration. The committee of advisors included author O. E. Rolvaag . During his appearance at the Norse-American Centennial, President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

gave recognition to the contributions of Scandinavian-Americans and noted

Leif Erikson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental North ...

as the Discoverer of America. Music was provided by musical groups from a number of Norwegian Lutheran colleges including St. Olaf College, Luther College, Augustana College and

Augsburg Seminary Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the u ...

. A pageant at the celebration centered on the life of war hero Colonel

Hans Christian Heg Hans Christian Heg (December 21, 1829September 20, 1863) was a Norwegian American abolitionist, journalist, anti-slavery activist, politician and soldier, best known for leading the Scandinavian 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment on the Union sid ...

. Colonel Heg, a Norwegian immigrant, served as brigade commander 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The Norse-American Centennial Art exhibited works by a number of prominent Norwegian-American artist including Lars Jonson Haukaness, Karl Ouren,

Svend Rasmussen Svendsen Svend Rasmussen Svendsen (March 21, 1864 – September 6, 1945) was a Norwegian American impressionist artist. Svendsen is most known for his rural scenes, marine views, and snowy landscapes of Norway. Background Svend Rasmussen Svendsen wa ...

Paul Fjelde Paul Fjelde (August 12, 1892 – May 3, 1984) was a noted American sculptor and educator. Background Paul Fjelde was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the son of Jacob Fjelde, who was a well-known sculptor in Norway when he emigrated to ...

and Benjamin Blessum.

Mabel Johnson Leland Mabel Johnson Leland (September 7, 1871 – March 23, 1947) was an American lecturer on Scandinavian literature and translator from Norwegian to English. Her most notable work with the translation of Arne Garborg's ''The Lost Father'' from the Ne ...

served as State Chair of the Woman's Auxiliary.

Other commemorative activities

The

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

issued two

commemorative stamps A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

in conjunction with the Norse-American Centennial. The illustration on the two cent stamp was an artist's rendition of what the ship ''Restauration'' probably looked like based on a drawing of its sister ship. The design on the five cent stamp was from a photograph of the ''

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

'', a ship that sailed from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in time for the

Columbian Exposition of 1893 The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

. Norse-American Centennial medals were also authorized by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

. Four different octagonal-shaped medals were produced by the

U.S. Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; that ...

. Minnesota Congressman Ole J. Kvale, a member of the Congressional Coin, Weights, and Measures Committee, was instrumental in the production of the Norse-American medal series. Congress authorized the production of 40,000

silver medals A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

and 100

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

, all to be produced at the

Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national ...

. The celebration helped provide the impetus for a memorial church which resulted in the building of The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

better known as Mindekirken. This

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

Lutheran church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

was dedicated on May 4, 1930.

References

Other sources

* Norlie, Olaf M. ''Why We Celebrate'' (Minneapolis, MN. Norse-American Centennial. 1925) *Arneson, Oscar ''Norse-American Centennial 1825–1925'' (Minneapolis, MN. Norse-American Centennial. 1925)

External links

Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA) - Norse-American Centennial papersMinnesota Digital Library + NAHA - Norse-American Centennial Digital Collection1925 Norse-American Centennial medalOfficial Centennial Souvenir Program
{{Postage stamps of the United States 1925 in Minnesota Festivals in Minnesota Norwegian-American culture in Minnesota Postage stamps of the United States Minnesota State Fair June 1925 events United States historical anniversaries