By Torbjørn Greipsland In 2011, the book “Norwegian Newspapers in America” was published; it was written by St. Olaf College Professor Emeritus Odd S. Lovoll. One year later the Scandinavian Academic Press issued the Norwegian…
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This new book, To the Ends of the Earth by Torbjørn Greipsland, shows clearly how seriously the missionaries took their service. They knew that it could cost them their own life and health, persecution, kidnapping…
Singer and composer Keith Haugen is possibly the most well-known Norwegian descendant in Hawaii. When he tells how he became Hawaiian, he begins with his military days when he was stationed in Hawaii. Later he…
Few have had such a wide variety of occupations in the course of their lives. Take innumerable hours in the air as a pilot, add several years as Peace Corps volunteer, with later service as…
She fell in love with beautiful Hawaii, became a champion windsurfer, and now works full time to help disadvantaged young people get a better start in life. This girl—full of energy and initiative—is Sonja Evensen….
“As a little child, I pretended to be a Viking.” Carl Evensen, who is today a professor at the University of Hawaii, recalls that his father was very proud of his Norwegian heritage and made…
Jack M. Johnson is the great-grandson of Nils Emil Aars. He has learned Norwegian so that he can read his great-grandfather’s diary. As we have seen in the excerpts from his diary, Nils Aars came…
One of the earliest Norwegian immigrants to settle in Hawaii was Herbrand Aasland (Harry Orsland in the USA) from Flesberg in Numedal. When the Aasland family emigrated from Norway, Mrs. Aasland brought with her a…
Valdemar Knudsen became a pioneer and chieftain on Kauai Valdemar Knudsen from Norway became one of Hawaii’s most prominent pioneers. He was involved in operating sugar plantations and ranching. In addition, he became an agent…
What conclusion can one draw from the situation of these Norwegian families? It is fairly safe to say that the climate was hot and humid, the work was strenuous, housing was below standard, medical care…
The 2002 Hawaiian Hula Dance Champion is of Norwegian descent. Her name is Malia Ann Kawailanamalia – with Petersen on the end. “My grandfather was Norwegian,” she answered when we asked her about her Petersen…
When Grip arrived in Hilo on the island of Hawaii, he met with Sheriff Severance who told him that 50 of the Norwegian workers from the Hitchcock Plantation were in prison because they had refused…
On December 8, 1941, Erling Ericksen should have left Hawaii on a trip to visit his parents who were living in Brooklyn, New York. But that trip was not to be. The Japanese attacked Pearl…
In the meantime, the Norwegians, who were quite prolific writers, were fighting the battle on several fronts. On May 11, 1882, the San Francisco Chronicle reprinted a letter that had originally appeared in Scandinaven of…
In October 1881, Norwegians made history in Hawaii even though it is not mentioned in all of the history books. It is not certain whether the Norwegians instigated the first strike ever in Hawaii, but…
After arriving in Hawaii, the Norwegian immigrants experienced their first negative reaction when they saw the lodgings that were provided for them. The houses and barracks were not up to their expectations. Part of the…
“Beef and milk production on Hawaii has several advantages over its counterpart on the mainland. We can keep our cattle out on pasture eating fresh forages year around.” These are the words of Erik Cleveland…
Captain Hendrik Christian L’Orange and his uncle Valdemar Knudsen had worked together to establish a sugar plantation in the Kekaha area of Kauai in 1877-78. In 1879 Christian purchased his own plantation on Maui. He…
Eleanor and Carl Davis have quite aptly stated in their publication “Norwegian Labor in Hawaii – The Norse Immigrants”, that the voyage on the bark Musca was a nightmare. Several sources confirm this, including an…
Oswald (Ossi) Bushnell, now deceased, was a well-known author and respected professor at the University of Hawaii. He wrote several books, among them a novel about the first meeting between Hawaiians and Captain Cook, and…
“My plan was for us to go to a Bible School close to home in Songdalen, Norway, because my wife had multiple sclerosis (MS). But we ended up in Hawaii—at that time a place we…
By her looks one cannot tell that Agnes had a Hawaiian mother. Her features look more Norwegian. The same goes for her 4 brothers and 3 sisters, except one brother who has his mother’s Polynesian…
Nils Emil Aars’ Diary: Violent Storm and Frustrating Calm, Death and Madness, and Finally – The Promised Land. Nils Emil Aars wrote a diary during his voyage on the Beta from Drammen to Hawaii. Aars…
“It was your father that persuaded my grandfather to emigrate from Norway to Hawaii. He came on the Beta,” I said one day to Hans Faye L’Orange. He leaned back in his office chair. I…
Johan A. Henrickson was the young millwright who was not good enough for his in-laws. But when he got to the sugar plantation in Hawaii, he was the only one who could repair the mill….