Abstract

Norwegians, who first arrived in territorial days, created lasting farming settlements, especially in the Red River Valley. Their Lutheran churches continue to dot the landscape. But their experience was also urban, as they entered the trades and industries of the Twin Cities. Today, Norwegian influence helps define Minnesota's unique social, political, and business environment.

Abstract The history of America, many historians argue, is the history of its small towns. Norwegian American scholar Odd S. Lovoll takes the premise one step further in Norwegians on the Prairie, tracing the development of three midwestern towns whose histories reveal a distinctively ethnic flavor. Benson, Madison, and Starbuck, all located on the western Minnesota prairie, were settled primarily by Norwegians and served as urban centers - railroad hubs, destinations for trade, gathering...

Abstract

The author shares the challenges and realities immigrants and refugees face while assimilating to the Upper Midwest.

Abstract

Based on ground-breaking research, this book describes the unique concerns of individual ethnic groups and delves into their personal Minnesota stories: farmers and factory workers, families and single people, idealists and pragmatists, people who were devout or irreligious -- those who cut ties with their homeland and formed part of Minnesota's ethnic saga.