The last stop for Norwegian emigrants was a place similar to Norway

This year marks 200 years since the first emigrants sailed from Norway to the United States. 900,000 men, women, and children followed between 1825 and 1930.

Many settled in New York, while others headed to the Midwest to become farmers.

Eventually, the wave of Norwegian immigrants reached the Pacific Ocean in the west. The last large Norwegian community established themselves in Washington state.

Henry Jackson, one of the most powerful Norwegian-Americans in American history, lived there. He was the son of Norwegian immigrants from the Nordmøre region and Nordland county. Jackson served in Congress for the state of Washington for 43 years. Twice he attempted to become president of the United States.

“Dad taught me that Norwegians are hard working,” says his daughter Anna Marie Jackson Laurence. “And that they never complain. He told me that his mother's family rowed a great distance to church every Sunday. If they managed to do that, I couldn't complain.”

Anna Marie shows the many photos of her father that hang closely together in the elegant house in the city of Everett. There he stands with world leaders and every American president since World War II.

Jackson died in his office in Congress in 1983.

Tempted more people to come westward

“The Norwegian immigrant community in Seattle and Washington state is more recent than those in the Midwest and New York. Norwegian immigration to the west coast continued until World War II,” says historian Terje Mikael Hasle Joranger.

He is the director of research at the Norwegian Emigrant Museum in Hamar and a professor at the University of Inland Norway.

Norwegians in the Midwest moved westward when free land ran out around 1890. The railway had been expanded and made the journey easier.

200 years since the first emigrants left

In 2025 it will be 200 years since the first Norwegian emigrants travelled to the USA. Science Norway's reporting trip has been made possible through support from the Fritt Ord Foundation. Science Norway has full editorial freedom.

They wrote articles in the Norwegian-language newspapers in the United States, and they wrote letters home to Norway.

“This is how they influenced others to follow them over to the United States,” says Joranger.

Many emigrants came directly from Norway, especially from Western Norway and Nordland county.

According to the 1910 census, the state of Washington was home to one of the largest Norwegian settlements, in addition to Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and the state of New York.

Found employment doing work they knew well

In the Seattle area, the Norwegian immigrants found jobs they already knew how to do.

“Many worked in the fishing industry, on everything from fishing boats to the canning industry. Others worked in shipyards and built boats. Many found jobs at sawmills, in forestry, or in construction,” says Joranger.

Not all the Norwegians who came had planned to stay.

Of the 900,000 people who emigrated, a quarter returned home.

That was also the plan of Mari-Ann Kind Jackson from Kvæfjord municipality. She came to the US to study in 1959, a few years after the wave of Norwegian immigration to the west coast. Then she met an American boyfriend, married, and stayed.

Not interested in people's grandparents

It's been a long time since the 89-year-old lived in Norway, but the Nordland dialect is intact. Every word that comes out is correct Norwegian.

And she has become increasingly connected to the old country.

“When I first came over, I wasn't the least bit interested when people told me about their grandparents who came from Norway, Sweden, or Finland. I thought ‘I'm in America now, an American student, so I'm more American than Norwegian',” she says.

“My attitude has changed a lot. Now I'm in all the Nordic clubs and very involved in what's going on there,” she adds.

Nature like home

Norwegian immigrants on the west coast found the nature and climate similar to Norway, with hot summers and wet, cold winters.

For a few years, Mari-Ann Jackson and her husband lived in the state of Indiana. There, the nearest ocean view is many hundreds of kilometres away.

Jackson felt trapped. She told her husband she was going to die.

They moved back to the ocean, the forest, and the mountains in the west.

Left shame behind

Ed Petersen came to the USA in 1948. He was two years old when his parents brought him and his three brothers from Haugesund to the United States to stay. He now lives in Everett, an hour's drive from Seattle.

His father said little about why they emigrated, but he left behind letters and documents that provided answers.

“It wasn’t until I was 70 years old that I found out that my grandfather had sympathised with Quisling,” says Petersen.

His grandfather was convicted for his membership in the fascist Norwegian National Gathering Party and for economic and political treason.

Petersen believes his father's shame was so great that he chose to leave Norway.

A great-aunt who had emigrated to Washington state provided financial guarantees for the family. That's how they obtained residence permits and ended up in the city of Everett, where Ed still lives.

Were supposed to be Americans

Petersen’s father spoke English, but his mother did not.

“She was determined that we now were Americans. She learned English, but always spoke with a very distinct Norwegian accent,” Petersen says.

Petersen and his wife have many friends of Norwegian descent and have given their children Norwegian names.

Petersen has a special right because he was born on Norwegian soil. He has just regained his Norwegian citizenship. The reward was being able to vote in the 2025 parliamentary election.

He likes many aspects of Norwegian society.

“I admire the economic system in Norway. I wish the US leaned more toward social democracy,” he says.

Met relatives through Facebook

When Senator Henry Jackson travelled to Norway on a work trip, he brought along his daughter Anna Marie.

“He said I needed to know my roots and understand how the Norwegian society works,” she says.

She became curious about Norway.

For many Norwegian-Americans, contact with the old country was lost once the first generation of immigrants died.

Facebook and an increased interest in genealogy have repaired broken ties.

Danna Star Phillips is a relative of Anna Marie. The two first got to know each other a few years ago. Both were in contact with the same relative in Norway, and he told them about each other. Anna Marie's grandmother was the sister of Danna's great-great-grandmother. They are now good friends.

Danna has developed closer ties to her Norwegian heritage and has visited Norwegian family. She learned from her great-grandmother and grandparents.

“We ate a lot of brown cheese and cod cakes,” Danna says about her upbringing.

Doesn't understand Norwegian in the Norwegian district

Viggo Førde is the Norwegian consul for the states of Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho, appointed by the Norwegian government. As consul, he is responsible for promoting Norwegian interests and helping Norwegian citizens.

“The first people to come west were engaged in logging and fishing, but over time the employment diversity increased,” says Førde.

Seattle grew with the new industry and technology companies, such as Microsoft and Amazon. The aircraft manufacturer Boeing is one of the region’s major employers, also for Norwegian engineers.

Førde believes that young Norwegian descendants and new immigrants are less interested in the Norwegian community in Seattle.

“When I came to Seattle in the mid-1980s, I could go into half a dozen Norwegian shops and cafés in the Ballard district. A lot of people understood Norwegian. That's not the case anymore,” he says.

Førde believes this is due to the city's rapid growth.

The Norwegian district became a hip place, and then new people, bars, and restaurants moved in.

Now only one Norwegian immigrant shop still exists, along with a few bars with Viking names.

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Translated by Ingrid P. Nuse

Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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