Norwegian-American Historical Association facts for kids
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| Abbreviation | NAHA |
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| Formation | October 6, 1925 |
| Founded at | Northfield, Minnesota |
| Type | Non-profit |
| Purpose | "To inspire connections to Norwegian-American experiences through discovery, scholarship, and stewardship" |
| Location |
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| Website | norwegianamericanhistory.org |
The Norwegian American Historical Association (NAHA) is a special group that helps people learn about the history of Norwegians who moved to America. It is a non-profit organization, which means it doesn't aim to make money. Instead, it works to find, collect, keep safe, and share stories and items from Norwegian-American life.
NAHA publishes books about history and keeps a large collection of old documents. These help us understand what life was like for immigrants from Norway when they came to the United States.
How It Started
The Norwegian American Historical Association held its very first meeting on October 6, 1925. This meeting took place in Northfield, Minnesota. A few months later, on February 4, 1926, the State of Minnesota officially recognized NAHA as a non-profit organization.
Since it began, NAHA has been located on the campus of St. Olaf College. Both NAHA and St. Olaf College are separate organizations.
The first group of leaders for NAHA included:
- D.G. Ristad, who was the president
- Laurence M. Larson, the vice-president
- O.E. Rølvaag, who was the secretary and also in charge of the archives
- O.M. Oleson, the treasurer
- Birger Osland, the assistant treasurer
- A.C. Floan
- Knut Gjerset
- Kristian Prestgard
- Theodore C. Blegen, who was the editor
The NAHA Archives
Ole E. Rolvaag was a famous author. He wrote a book called Giants in the Earth. He became the first secretary and archivist for NAHA. An archivist is someone who collects and organizes historical documents.
Rølvaag started collecting many important items for the archives. These items help tell the story of Norwegian-American life. They include old letters, papers, books, magazines, photographs, diaries, and newspapers.
