Norwegian-American Lutheran Colleges

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum announces a new exhibition, Norwegian-American Lutheran Colleges, on view now until April 7, 2012 in the museum’s Main Building. Gallery talks and special events in connection with the exhibition will be announced throughout the year. Vesterheim is grateful to the many people whose generous donations made the exhibition Norwegian-American Lutheran Colleges possible.

The exhibition focuses on the founding of Norwegian-American Lutheran colleges and other institutions of higher education during the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century. It examines the conflict and controversies that resulted in the creation of several contemporary Norwegian-American Lutheran colleges, including Augustana College, Augsburg College, Bethany Lutheran College, Concordia College, Luther College, Pacific Lutheran University, and St. Olaf College.

“It was interesting for me to learn that many of the colleges were founded because of the conflicts and controversies that were going on in the Norwegian-American Lutheran churches as well as the larger American society,” said Jennifer Kovarik, Vesterheim Registrar and curator of the exhibition.

In honor of Luther College’s sesquicentennial, a section of the exhibition includes photographs and other memorabilia from Morris Hasvold, a 1924 graduate of Luther College. Visitors can also read many of the charmingly personal but timeless letters Morris wrote home from college to his mother in Flandreau, South Dakota. These materials have been specially loaned to the museum by Morris Hasvold’s son, Paul Hasvold, of Decorah.