Chicago Genealogy: Norwegian-American Resources

Continuing my series of posts on Chicago genealogy research, here’s Chicago Genealogy – Norwegian-American Resources continues. For a list of other posts on Chicago genealogy resources, click here.

1. Internet Lists

• Norway Mailing List
  The venerable Rootsweb Norway mailing list, for questions and help on Norwegian culture, customs, records, and translations.
• Chicago Norwegians List
  A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in Norwegians who immigrated to Chicago or elsewhere in Illinois.
• Ancestors from Norway
  A RootsWeb site with many links and resources, especially helpful for beginners.

2. Books

• Bibliography of Norwegian-American titles with attached look-up request system.
• Guide to Bygdebok (Farm Books).
• Lovoll, Odd S., A Century of Urban Life: The Norwegians in Chicago Before 1930. [Northfield, Minn.]: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1988.
• Lagerquest, L. DeAne, In America the Men Milk the Cows: Factors Of Gender, Ethnicity, And Religion in the Americanization of Norwegian-American Women. Brooklyn: Carlson Pub., 1991.

3. Churches

Links to Lutheran Records Online

Check out my recent post on extensive Lutheran church resources available for Chicago.

• Chicago’s Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church
  Minnekirken, which means “Memorial Church” in Norwegian, is the last remaining church in Chicago conducting services in Norwegian. First built by Norwegian immigrants as Christ Church in 1912, the church took its present name in 1934.
  2614 N. Kedzie Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60647
  773/252-7335 (office)
  [email protected]

4. Illinois Newspaper Project

The Illinois Newspaper Project (INP) is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and administered by the Library of Congress as part of the U.S. Newspaper Program (USNP) and the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

Under the USNP, the INP team traveled throughout Illinois inventorying and cataloging collections held by libraries and repositories, private organizations, and individuals. A Web-based searchable database of all newspapers discovered and preserved through the project is available. All microfilm produced for INP is made available through interlibrary loan. Note: “u” in dates in citations means the span of publication date is unknown.

Search here by title or OCLC number for information on repository and holdings for the following titles:

5. Norwegian-Language Newspapers in Chicago

• Amerika OCLC no. 11091864 Years Published: 1872 – 1872

• Norden OCLC no. 10405257 Years Published: 1874 – 1897

• Skandinaven OCLC no. 09493902 Years Published: 1866 – 1941

6. Organizations

• DigitalArkviet – Most of the materials in the Digital Archives (DA) are based on original sources in the National and Regional State Archives of Norway. Some source material from local and regional governments as well as some from private and foreign archives, are also provided. The common factor with all this information in the DA is that, in most cases, it is based on original archival materials.The information is stored in two ways; as searchable databases, or on web pages with word for word transcriptions or digital images. By using the database selector both types of materials can be found.

•  DIS-Norway – Norway’s largest genealogical organization with 9,000 members

• Newberry Library
  –Norwegian Genealogy
  –Guide to Chicago Church and Synagogue Records

• The Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library  This organization dedicates itself to collecting, preserving, and researching Norwegian-American heritage and family history.“The Naeseth Library is open to all who are interested in learning more about their Norwegian-American roots. Our services are designed to make our Norwegian heritage accessible to everyone. We offer genealogical classes and tours, research and research assistance, translation, and provide you with other helpful links to grow your family tree. NAGC & NL projects examine primary and secondary sources relating to Norwegian immigration and Norwegian America and make these genealogical materials available to researchers through indexes, databases, and publications.”

• The Norwegian-American Historical Association

• NAHA Archives
  The goal of the NAHA archives is to collect, preserve, and make accessible materials produced by Norwegian Americans or related to their history. There are over 1700 collections and 200,000 biographical and obituary articles from newspapers and magazines, as well as numerous congregational and family histories. NAHA also holds emigration records from 1867 to about 1900 from four major Norwegian ports.
• NAHA Publications
  The goal of the publication program of the Norwegian-American Historical Association is to publish historical scholarship that invites a broad readership.
• NAHA Genealogy
  The Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library, 415 West Main Street, Madison, WI 53703, maintains a library and archives devoted to Norwegian American genealogical research.
• NAHA Membership

That’s it for Chicago Genealogy: Norwegian-American Resources. For a list of other posts on Chicago genealogy resources, click here.