The Gifts from Norway
Article from Vesterheim, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2012.
In 2012, Vesterheim joined museums in Norway to honor museum pioneer and visionary Anders Sandvig, who founded Maihaugen Museum in Lillehammer, Norway, and influenced numerous other museums, including Vesterheim.
In 1924, Sandvig proposed the idea of a gift to “show gratitude to the emigrated Norwegian men and women.” Vesterheim gratefully accept the gifts from Norway, called Amerikagaven, on behalf of the Norwegian-American people and would act as custodian of the objects in perpetuity.
Amerikagaven was intended to honor the century of Norwegian immigration in 1925, although the gift would not arrive in Iowa until 1927. Sandvig’s vision for a collection to help immigrants remember their homeland was vitally important and remains important for future generations learning about their heritage. “May these objects work so that the Norwegian-ness in you will not die too soon, and the connection with the homeland will because of this be tighter. Receive this gift as proof that we follow you all in our hearts, even though the big Atlantic Ocean parts us,” Anders Sandvig wrote.
Visitors, regardless of ancestry, can learn about emigration through the ordinary and extraordinary objects in Sandvig’s gift.
Read this article to learn more about Sandvig and the details of this gift to Norwegian Americans.
