Hello everyone, we live in the town of Kvinesdal in Norway and this is one of the most immigrant regions that has interacted with America the most in history. This museum in the city center caught our attention and we wanted to visit it because we were curious about what was inside. Since it was a 5-10 minute walk from the center, transportation was easy. When we came here before, there was no one inside and the door was locked, there is a contact number in front of the door and we called this number and said that we wanted to visit the museum. He made an appointment for us. Since it is not a place that many people visit, this is how the organization of visits is carried out by volunteers.
As you can see, it looks like this from the outside and is located on the main street of the town. When we arrived at our appointment time, there was no one inside again and after 2-3 minutes the person who made the appointment for us came and he was an aged man. He was also an English teacher at the school here. We didn't think that anyone would guide us inside the museum, this elderly person who welcomed us also volunteers as a guide for visitors who want to visit this place and he was a very nice person. He explained everything to us in a very nice and explanatory way, and as a couple who have visited many museums and historical places in general, the importance of this place was different for us thanks to this guide. Now I will tell you what is going on inside and I will try to pass on the information that our guide told us, I am sure you will be very interested.
The information in this museum is about the Norwegian immigration to America in the 1800s. In the early years, many people from Norway, especially from the Kvinesdal region where we live, the "Agder" region, migrated to America to earn money, and this museum tells us the history of this migration.
When we enter, we are first greeted with information about Cleng Peerson, the so-called father of Norwegian immigration. In 1824, Cleng Peerson first went alone to the United States of America and investigated the situation of immigrants there. Then in 1825, one year later, he organized a large immigration organization and became the first person to immigrate to America with more than 800,000 people. This migration was done on a sailboat as you can see in the photo and arrived in America after 3 months. During this time, the people on the sailboat were instructed to take the necessary amount of food and water with them, and this migration was successful; from Agder to New York.
Over time, migration to America evolved, and after the first migration, which took 3 months, there were now journeys by ship that were completed in 1-2 weeks.
When you go into the next room, you are completely immersed in those times. Here are the suitcases and chests where people put their lives together and set off into the unknown. There are also actual copies of ferry tickets and even menus given to all passengers.
This photo shows the steamship Stavangerfjor in Oslo. Many people have gathered to see off their husbands, wives, children, friends...
This is what the table of migrants in transit to the US looked like for 8-10 weeks.
I want to give this photo a special mention in our post. You can see the two crossed flags and you can easily guess which countries they belong to: USA and Norway. But if you look closely, you will find an unknown particle on the Norwegian flag. Indeed, this is how the Norwegian flag looked from 1844 to 1899. The reason for this was the Swedish-Norwegian Union. The Swedish-Norwegian union flag is shown in the upper left corner.
It was an incredible experience to hear such a great story from someone who was directly affected by it. Our guide told us everything in detail. He was one of those who migrated at that time. He was five years old when his father decided to emigrate.
Upon arrival in the USA, all new arrivals underwent a mandatory physical check-up. If a person showed signs of illness (for example, if the whites of the eyes were yellow, indicating hepatitis, cancer or cirrhosis of the liver), they were deported.
Norwegians have been skilled fishermen and sailors for their entire existence. In those days this was no exception. In the United States, Norwegians could find work in this line of work.
During the immigration of Norwegians to the United States, there was a Gold Rush. People were looking for gold to make a good life for themselves. There were some interesting rules. In those days land was not privatized and anyone who built a house and lived in it for 5 years had the right to own the land. These photos show the tools used for mining and building houses.
This house was given to the municipality of Kvinesdal in 1996 by Judith Ostebø. She was the daughter of a well-known merchant in Kvinesdal in the 1930s and 40s. Judith asked the local government to use the house as a museum dedicated to American immigration. The lower floor of the museum has been preserved as Judith used it before she passed away, and none of the objects have been touched.
All the furnishings and design of the house were American style
It used to be a photography studio, and our guide told us that he had his Greencard application photo taken in this studio years ago.
As I said, Kvinesdal in particular was one of the most important areas for immigration to America. So to commemorate this event there is a monument in the center of the city, like the one you see above. We used to see this monument all the time, but we didn't understand it until this time because we didn't know its story. Thanks to the information we learned after visiting the museum; the monuments and statues we see around us in the city center also made sense. I was excited to write this article so I couldn't wait another day. Tomorrow I will take photos of these monuments and add them to the comments.
Elisabeth Fedde was the first Norwegian pastor to be present during the immigration from Norway to America. Many of the people who came to New York were sick and poor, so there were big social problems. Before he went back to Norway, he was in charge of social work in Brooklyn, Chicago and other places to help people. As a result, a monument to Elisabeth Fedde was built in front of the church in Kvinesdal. We always saw this monument and as I said, tomorrow I will take a photo of this monument and add it to the comments.
Norwegians were having problems financially to use hospitals and a solidarity organization called Sons of Norway was established to solve these problems. This organization was funded by Norwegians and when someone needed medical treatment, it was paid from this fund. It's very impressive to achieve something like that in the 1800s.
All the clothes here are also related to American culture and are on display for visitors in this museum.
Our visit inside lasted 2.30 hours. There is so much information that I can't even mention here. Before visiting this museum, we never thought we would come across such a comprehensive place, but we were both very impressed. It was especially great that the guide accompanied us and explained every detail in a clear way. The visitors were signing their names, surnames and dates in a book, which I forgot to take a photo of. The visitor who came before us was 28 days ago, which surprised us to be honest. Frankly, we were saddened that a museum with such valuable information is visited from month to month. Since this is a very specific place, maybe even this post will come up for those who are interested when you Google it. So I would like to say this, you should definitely visit this place. The guide will take you back in time with fluent information. He is a very good person.
