Seven Generations: A Century of Norwegian-American History

Abstract:A century ago, in the flapper era of the 1920s, the younger generation of Norwegian Americans was bilingual but preferred to speak English. Four gray-haired older immigrants from Norway had the vision to see that every generation understands its ethnic heritage in a new way. They founded two institutions, the Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA) and Vesterheim, to keep Norwegian-American heritage alive in English. In its first century, under five editors, NAHA published or distributed 124 books about Norwegians in America and did much more to keep Norwegian-American heritage vigorous and vital. In the seventh generation, some were even learning Norwegian and studying in Norway.