Migration

Since 1952 The Norwegian Emigrant Museum has disseminated knowledge about the largest migration of people from Norway ever. Between 1825 and 1930, around 900,000 Norwegians left the country to find a new future in America or elsewhere.

These days, more people migrate to Norway than move out. Anno Glomdalsmuseet hosts exhibitions and events about immigration to Norway. Both museums also offer own school programs on these topics.

Both the Norwegian Emigrant Museum in Stange and the West Norwegian Emigration Center (Vestnorsk Utvandrersenter) on Radøy have open-air museums with buildings that were built by Norwegian immigrants in America, and which were later moved back to Norway.

Norwegian and international migration research has resulted in an abundance of books and articles on the subject.

The Norwegian National Library has its own Norwegian-American collection, and Ingrid Semmingsen's research library at the Anno Norwegian Emigrant Museum contains a lot of literature on the subject. In addition, this museum’s archives hold an extensive collection of American letters and over 10,000 photographs.

Digitalarkivet, the Norwegian digital archive, has made source material like emigrant protocols, emigrant lists, and passenger lists for ships digitally available. For free!