Oles in the News: ‘Star Tribune’ features faculty expert on Norwegian immigration
In a Star Tribune story on the bicentennial of Norwegian immigration, St. Olaf College Visiting Assistant Professor of Norwegian Caitlin Sackrison provides historical context and interpretation of the Norwegian immigrant experience. She notes that during the 100-year celebration in 1925, “many celebrating the centennial were immigrants or first-generation Americans, since Norwegian immigration peaked in 1882.”
In her interview with columnist John Rash, Sackrison challenged the popular belief that Norwegian immigrants came to Minnesota because its landscape resembled Scandinavia. She explained, “land availability, not similarity, disproportionally drove immigration to Minnesota and the Dakotas.” While trades like farming and fishing were familiar to settlers, she adds that “the agricultural scale was just so different.”
She also comments on Giants in the Earth, the landmark novel by St. Olaf’s Ole Edvart Rølvaag, describing it as “a very different perspective on the rosier picture that some imagine of the immigrant experience.” Sackrison noted that the book’s depiction of hardship and endurance made it “incredibly impactful” both in Norway and the United States, and shaped how immigrant resilience was understood. Sackrison concludes that the way in which Norwegian American identity is viewed in the U.S. still leans on 19th-century imagery, instead of reflecting today’s realities.
Read more in the Star Tribune story.