Norwegian-American Immigration and Local History:
Handbooks, Guides, and Bibliography

Compiled by Lee V. Douglas, Reference Specialist
Research Guide No. 6

Introduction | Handbooks, Guides & Bibliographies | Histories, Memoirs & Biographies

1.	The Census records of Norway / the Genealogical Department of the
	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. -- Rev. -- Salt Lake
	City : The Department, 1976. -- 5 p. -- (Series D / the
	Genealogical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of
	Latter-Day Saints ; no. 12) 
							CS913.C46 1976 <LH&G>  

	Describes the value, availability, and peculiarities of
	Norwegian censuses from 1644 on.

2.	Haugen, Einar Ingvald, 1906-
	The Norwegians in America : a students' guide to localized
	history / [by] Einar Haugen. -- New York : Teachers College
	Press, 1967. -- vi, 40 p. : map.
							E184.S2 .H38

	This beginner's guide includes extensive bibliographic coverage
	of migration, daily life, churches, and cultural contributions.
	The bibliography on local history and settlements covers
	Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Texas, the Far
	West, Alaska, Hawaii, the settlement of Oleana, and contributions
	by Norwegian seamen and engineers.

3.	Hill, Dennis Auburn, 1945-
	Norwegian local history : a bibliography of material in the
	collections of the Memorial Library, University of
	Wisconsin-Madison / Dennis Auburn Hill. -- Jefferson, N.C. :
	McFarland, c1989. -- xiii, 125 p.
							Z2613.H54 1989 <LH&G>

	Includes bibliographical references and index.
	Lists more than 1300 citations for histories of urban and rural
	areas of Norway. The works referred to are "bygdebøker" (singular
	bygdebok) which chronicle the lives of the inhabitants of an
	area, often with vital statistics essential to the genealogical
	researcher. An equivalent for the United States would be a town
	or county history that included all records in the local churches
	and the county clerk's office--a rare kind of book for North
	America, but happily common in Norway. Arrangement is by place
	name with a personal name index.

4.	Nelson, Olof Nickolaus, editor.
	History of the Scandinavians and Successful Scandinavians in the 
	United States.  3d rev. ed.  Minneapolis, Minn.: O.N. Nelson & Co., 1900.  
	2 v. in 1: plates, ports.
							E184 .S18 N42

	Essays that tell the story of Scandinavian Americans from the earliest 
	Norse voyages to the date of publication, although only Norwegians, Danes, 
	and Swedes are included.  The social life, churches and synods, educational 
	institutions, and individual settlements are treated in considerable detail, with 
	many individuals' names mentioned.

	Churches are particularly well represented, and their histories discussed in detail.
	There is an index of biographies included in this book, an index of portrait 
	photographs, and a thirty-page annotated bibliography of Scandinavian historical 
	literature in America.  The latter includes biographies, county histories, histories 
	of educational and other institutions, tours of Scandinavian settlements in America, 
	ethnic newspapers, and collections of advertisements for Scandinavian-American 
	businesses.

5.	Nordics in America: The Future of Their Past.  Edited by Odd S. Lovoll.  
	Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian American Historical Association, 1993.  
	xii, 228 p.: ill.
							E184.S18 N58 1993

	Includes bibliographical references.
	Papers by seventeen specialists on the Scandinavian experience in America, 
	viewing past events as they have shaped the present and will influence the future.  
	They include history of Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, and Finns in North American 
	education and art, reviews of published history of these groups, preservation of 
	ethnic identity, literary representations, immigrant letters from America, letters 
	sent from Denmark to immigrants in America, and formal efforts to preserve 
	the American-Scandinavian heritage.  Each paper is followed by bibliographical notes.
	
6.	Norman, Hans and Harald Runblom.
	Transatlantic Connections: Nordic Migration to the New World After 1800.  
	Oslo: Norwegian University Press; Oxford: Distributed world-wide excluding 
	Scandinavia by Oxford University Press [1988?].  
	335 p.  [9] p. of plates (1 fold.): ill. (some colored).
							JV6704 .N67 1988

	Includes bibliographical references.
	An analysis of causes of migration within and from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, 
	Denmark, and Finland, including patters of movement and settlement in America.  
	These studies make clear the considerable differences in the migration movements 
	of the four Nordic nations, describing the phenomenon by country and by regions 
	within each country and describing the effects that settlement in new lands had 
	on each group.

	"America" as used in this work comprises Canada, the United States, and Latin 
	America, and includes both urban and rural settlement.  Aspects of immigrant life 
	studied are agriculture, commerce, religion, labor and trade unions, language 
	maintenance, and a unique chapter on immigrant authors and "literary careers on two 
	continents."

	End material includes an eight-page overview of research on emigration from 
	Nordic countries, statistics on Nordic-born immigrants to Canada, the United States, 
	and Australia by province and state, a list of administrative areas in the four 
	Nordic countries illustrated by a fold-out map, and an eighteen-page bibliography.

7.	Norwegian-American Historical Association.
	Guide to manuscripts collections of the Norwegian-American
	Historical Association / compiled and edited by Lloyd Hustvedt ;
	collection groups processed and catalogued by Beulah Folkedahl
	and Charlotte Jacobson. -- Northfield, Minn. : The Association,
	1979. -- 158 p.
							Z1361.N67 N67 1979 <LH&G>

	Brief descriptions of 948 collections owned by the Association
	and relevant to Norwegian migration and Norwegian-American
	settlement. The guide is arranged by name of author, e.g.
	"Wolden, P. P., Correspondence," or by name of place, with a
	supplementary index of special collections of pamphlets,
	photographs, and artifacts.

8.	Smith, Frank, 1917-
	Genealogical guidebook & atlas of Norway / Frank Smith, Finn
	A.Thomsen. -- Logan, Utah : Everton Publishers, 1979 printing. --
	1 atlas (v, 56 p.) : maps.
							G2065.S6 1979 <LH&G>

	Describes Norwegian church, probate, and census records as
	sources of genealogical information. Other information presented
	includes terms found in documents with their English equivalents,
	Gothic handwriting for reading older records, a perpetual
	calendar of feast days, and names of feast days with their
	English equivalents. Also listed are parishes in each county and
	the year in which the parish records began. Cross references of
	special places, chapelries, parishes, and clerical districts
	appear. Sectional maps of Norway are correlated to a twelve page
	index of place names, allowing quick location of any named place
	in the country.

9.	Thomsen, Finn A.
	Genealogical maps & guide to the Norwegian parish registers /
	compiled by Finn A. Thomsen. -- Bountiful, Utah : Thomsen's
	Genealogical Center, c1987. -- 64 p. : ill.
							CS913.T54 1987 <LH&G>

	A catalog of microfilmed parish registers available through the
	Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Entries include
	name of parish (sokn), name of clerical district (prestegjeld),
	name of county (fydke), years for which film is available, and
	alpha-numeric locators to find each place on the twenty-four
	pages of county maps.

10.	Wellauer, Maralyn A.
	Tracing your Norwegian roots / by Maralyn A. Wellauer. --
	Milwaukee : Wellauer, c1979. -- 70 p. : ill.
							CS49.W44 <LH&G>

	Includes bibliographies.
	This basic manual on using Norwegian records tells what records
	exist, what their Norwegian names are, where to find them, and
	what information they provide. It also lists helpful
	organizations in Norway and North America, regional archives,
	further guides to research, and advice on hiring someone to do
	research. Wellauer describes demographics and historical trends
	as they are relevant to genealogical research.