In Their Own Words: Letters from Norwegian Immigrants

By Zempel

Book Overview

For most Norwegians in the nineteenth century, America was a remote and exotic place until the first immigrants began to write home. Their letters were among the most valuable, accessible, and reliable sources of information about the new world and the journey to it. For many immigrants, writing letters home was their most cherished opportunity to communicate their thoughts and feelings in their native language.

Through vivid translations of letters written to family and friends between 1870 and 1945, In Their Own Words traces the stories of nine Norwegian immigrants: farmer, fisherman, gold miner, politician, unmarried mother, housewife, businessman, railroad worker, contractor. Their common bond was the experience of immigration and acculturation, but their individual experiences were manifested in a wide variety of forms.

Solveig Zempel has thoughtfully selected and translated letters rich in personal description and observation to present each writer's subjective view of historical events. Often focusing on the minutiae of daily life and the feelings of the individual immigrant, the letters form a complex, intimate, and colorful mosaic of the immigrant world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816618593
• ISBN13: 9780816618590
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Tribute to the Norwegian Experience

Zempel's work in compiling and translating this book of letters is a tribute to the Norwegian immigrant experience. Through these letters one discovers the great hardship and great joy brought to these individuals who in many circumstances travelled great distances on their own. Thank you for bringing insight to my own families experience through the voices of those who had the courage to venture before.