Join Sons of Norway Norsota Lodge and former Vesterheim Trustee Dale Goodman! The meeting will be held in-person at Ascension Lutheran Church, 2210 Grand Avenue in Marion, Iowa.

Visitors wishing to attend should email lodge member Chris Elwell at cae1261@gmail.com to RSVP.

In the period beginning in 1825 and for about 100 years following, nearly 40% of the population of Norway – more than 800,000 Norwegians – immigrated to the United States. Most of those immigrants came for “economic opportunity,” but the first immigrants – known as the Sloopers of 1825 – came for religious freedom. The voyage was three years in the planning by an alliance of Quakers and Haugean Lutherans. Beginning on July 4, 1825, a 54-foot sloop named Restaurasjonen (The Restauration) took 52 passengers on a 98-day journey from Stavanger, Norway, to New York City. This presentation follows the story from its roots (in the Napoleonic Wars), through the voyage itself, the reception in New York City, and finally to the first Norwegian settlement in the United States in Kendall, New York.

Questions? Contact Kim Toussaint, Associate Director of Development, at ktoussaint@vesterheim.org or 563-382-9681.

Vesterheim staff members can give presentations to cultural, community, and church groups on a variety of topics. Find more information about presentation options and how to schedule one for your group here.