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The Scandinavian Immigrant Experience (SIE) Collection is a depository of historical materials relating to immigrants to the Pacific Northwest from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The collection includes records of Scandinavian cultural heritage organizations, family and personal papers, newspapers and publications, and the New Land, New Lives: Scandinavian Immigrants in the Pacific Northwest Oral History Collection. |
| For more information or to schedule a research appointment, contact archives@plu.edu. |
Cultural heritage organizations |
| Regional Scandinavian cultural heritage organizations whose records are held by PLU Archives & Special Collections can be viewed by clicking the links below. Some materials from various organizations have been digitized as seen in the "Digitized materials" column. To read documents available in this way, click on their preview image. |
| Name | Records | Digitized materials |
| Daughters & Sons of Norway Photographs | N/A | Photographs |
| Daughters of Norway Embla Lodge No. 2 | Description | Newsletter |
| Daughters of Norway Grand Lodge | Description | Historical information |
| Leif Erikson Foundation | Description | N/A |
| Nordlandslaget Nordlyset | Description | N/A |
| Norwegian American Anniversary Commission | Description | N/A |
| Sons of Norway District 2 | Description | 1982 Scrapbook |
| Sons of Norway Supreme Lodge | Description | 1919 Correspondence |
| Swedish Order of Valhalla Records | Description | N/A |
| Vasa Order of America Records | Description | N/A |
| Western Rosemalers Association | Description | Scrapbooks, Newsletters |
Scandinavian Music and Performance Groups |
| Regional Scandinavian music and performance groups whose records are held by PLU Archives & Special Collections can be viewed by clicking the links below. Some materials from various groups have been digitized as seen in the "Digitized materials" and "Photographs" columns. To read documents available in this way, click on their preview image. |
| Name | Records | Digitized materials | Photographs |
| Normanna Male Chorus Records | Description | Scrapbooks | Photographs |
| Pacific Coast Norwegian Singers Association of America | Description | Programs | Photographs |
| Pacific Coast/American Union of Swedish Singers | Description | N/A | N/A |
| Skagit Valley Mannskor Records | Description | N/A | N/A |
| Svea Male Chorus Programs | Description | N/A | N/A |
| United Swedish Singers of the Pacific Coast Records | Description | N/A | N/A |
| United Scandinavian Singers Records | Description | N/A | N/A |
Local Scandinavian Publications | |
| Publications can be read by clicking on the preview image. | |
| Puget Sound Posten | Tacoma Swedish language weekly newspaper. 206 issues available online from 1908-1932. |
| Tacoma Tidende | Tacoma Norwegian language newspaper. 522 issues available online from 1911-1924. |
| Tidende | Tacoma Norwegian language newspaper. 51 issues available online from 1897. |
| Vestkysten | Tacoma Norwegian language newspaper. 51 issues available online from 1928. |
| Washington Posten | Seattle weekly Norwegian language newspaper. 7 issues available online from 1943-1960. |
| Western Viking | Tacoma Norwegian language newspaper. 426 issues available online from 1929-1949. |
Oral Histories | ||||
| The New Land, New Lives Oral History Collection contains the recorded interviews of 282 men and women who emigrated from Scandinavia and settled in the Pacific Northwest. The project was directed by Dr. Janet E. Rasmussen and the collection was transferred to the Archives and Special Collections Department upon completion. | ||||
| Each link below leads to interview audio, partial transcripts, and photos from interviewees from that country. For a list of all interviewees with links to their materials, please visit the Guide to the New Land, New Lives Oral History Collection. | ||||
| Denmark | Finland | Iceland | Norway | Sweden |
Manuscript Collection |
| The SIE Manuscript Collection consists of materials relating to Scandinavian immigrants and their descendants including biographies, personal documents, scrapbooks, correspondence, publications, and photographs. The collection is divided into MSS Files for more extensive entries and Subject Files for shorter entries. Some materials have been digitized and can be viewed by clicking the preview image. |
| Browse all SIE holdings |
| Browse all SIE digital objects |
| Browse SIE materials in the PLU Library Catalog |