Fridtjof Nansen Papers

Contains a bound book of newspaper clippings about Fridtjof Nansen collected by Martin Ulvestad. While most of the articles are obituaries and various recollections of aspects of Fridtjof Nansen in light of his death, some are reprints of earlier articles detailing his explorations, the opinions of Nansen of such famous Norwegians contemporaries as Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and expedition companion Captain Sverdrup, and the causes Nansen championed. Most articles are written in Norwegian, and the rest, taken from the American and British press, are written in English; all are the original newspaper clippings pasted into a scrapbook format. These articles include obituaries from several national and international newspapers, reprinted articles from his 1922 Nobel Peace Prize recognition, interviews by people who knew Nansen, a 1926 article written by Nansen as well as a 1922 interview about starvation and poverty in post-revolution Russia and Eastern Europe and war-torn Greece, a telegram from King Haakon VII printed in a newspaper, other photographs and articles documenting his work as well as the establishment of his library after his death, poems by Nordahl Grieg and Hernia Janise, and photographs and pictures from his 17 May 1930 funeral.

Biographical Note

Fridtjof Nansen was born on the small estate of Store Frøen in Norway. At age 20 he went to Greenland to study the Arctic fauna. He returned in 1888 to lead an expedition across the unknown snowfields of interior Greenland on his ship the Fram (Forward) a word that came to be associated with him and his work. He and his partner voyaged 261 miles from the North Pole before their food supplies began to run out and they had to return. He was a noted scientist and wrote of his discoveries and adventures in several self-illustrated books. In 1920 he was commissioned by the League of Nations to direct the work of bringing war prisoners back home from Russia. Nansen succeeded in bringing 427,000 of them safely home. He later directed relief work in Russia, Greece, and Armenia. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 1922, and died unexpectedly at the age of 68 in 1930 on his veranda in Oslo.

Martin Ulvestad (1865 – 19 January 1942) was an American historian and author whose writings focused on Norwegian-American immigration. He was a pioneer in documenting the early history of early Norwegian settlers in America. Ole Johannes Martinus Ulvestad was born at Volda municipality in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. He immigrated to the United States in 1886. During his next three to four years he worked as a book printer and as a typesetter for various English, German, and Scandinavian language newspapers. Ulvestad published an English-Danish-Norwegian dictionary in 1895. He subsequently collected and published extensive information regarding Norwegian-American immigration and settlement in North America. His books provided biographical information, history of the settlements associated with Norwegian immigration and information regarding those who fought in the American Civil War. These books also contained articles about Norwegian music in America, listings of newspapers and magazines, and Norwegian-American educational institutions. Ulestad was presented with the Knight's Cross, First Class, of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, for his dedicated work in collecting and publishing these materials. Ulvestad was knighted by Haakon VII of Norway with the Order of St. Olav in 1923. He died in Seattle, Washington in 1942.