My Heritage: Migration From Norway

To be honest, my Father’s side’s records are a bit hazy (my last name has no ethnic origin). My Mother’s side is a different situation.

My hometown was founded by Swedish immigrants in 1860. My family has lived here since the founding. Our house was built by my great-great grandfather Olaf Lindbloms. The Lindbloms established many institutions. The library was started by a great- aunt. The hospital was founded by Olaf’s son Eric. My generation is continuing the traditions. The annual Lindblom family reunion was started by my brothers and I.

Everyone has a history, a story that ends with the present day. It is these stories that give us insight into our own habits and traditions. Humans have a natural desire to know where we come from and are always looking for way to explain things. I have been told many different stories about my family's history. I have relatives from Norway, England, France, Italy and Germany. My family has always taught me the importance of knowing who came before me, and I have been taught many different things about what makes me the person I am today. My maternal grandfather's family was from Italy, my grandfather is a first generation American. His wife, my grandma’s family is from Norway, my great grandmother was born and given up for adoption in a small outside of Bergen, Norway. My grandfather on my dad’s side of the family was born in Pennsylvania. His family history goes back to the civil war where many relatives of mine served for the Confederacy, the Larimers were once Lorimers, Huguenots who fled French prosecution to England. The one side of the family I knew very little about was

William, known as Bill, was born on July 20, 1921 in Minneapolis, MN. He worked in the plaster/stucco business for over 25 years before working at Northwest Airlines. His wife’s maiden name was Lorraine Mulcahy. Lorraine was born on August 13, 1922 in St. Paul, MN. Lorraine went to college at the University of Minnesota where she got her Bachelor of Science degree and became a dental hygienist. My grandma “Lo” is the genealogy nut in our family. She has searched for birthdates, marriage licenses, and other documents of her grandparents. I called grandma Lo to get some information on my great-grandparents and family stories. I found out I was part Norwegian and I never even knew it! Grandma Lo’s parents were Edward Mulcahy and Olga Shermoen. Her father Ed was born on April 15, 1880 in Minneapolis, MN. Ed worked as a claim agent for the Great Northern Railroad in the twin cities. Olga was born on March 15, 1888 in Hawley, MN. She also worked for the Great Northern Railroad as a matron. Edward was 100% Irish while Olga was 100% Norwegian. This makes my grandma Lorraine 50% Irish & 50% Norwegian. My grandpa Bill was adopted in Minneapolis so his genealogy is unknown. He was told by his adopted parents that he was mostly Irish. If we pretended Bill was 100% Irish, this would make my mom 75% Irish and 25% Norwegian.

One ethnic group in which I and my family belong to is Norwegian. According to my father I am 50 percent Norwegian and this is very interesting to me. I did not even know this until I asked him about it so I could write this paper. I found a lot of interesting information about Norwegians and how they came to America.

My parents were born in Sicily; my great grandparents came to the United States in the early 1900’s. My grandmother was born in the United States 1904, although she was born in America her parents did not choose to remain in the United States. Longing for their home land my great grandparents moved the family back to Sicily when my grandmother was only several months old. In the early 1950’s my grandmother who was born in the United States left Sicily with her husband and three grown children.

Minnesota has a long history of welcoming immigrants. The motive why earlier European immigrants immigrated to Minnesota was primarily economic in nature. For example, “The opening of Minnesota to white settlement coincided with peak immigration years for Germans seeking farms and jobs in America.” Norwegians also came to Minnesota due to “wrenching economic changes.” Another motivation that Germans and Scandinavians forced to settle in Minnesota was the lure of free land. Unlike, those earlier immigrants, the Somalis are quite different. For example, the first wave of immigrants came here legally under the aegis of refugee resettlement of agencies. Somalis did not immigrate to Minnesota to seek free land, but they came to this

How did my family end up in the United States of America? Anthony Shomion, my great-great grandpa, emigrated from Syria. He came to the Americas in 1883. The other side of my family came from Germany. My grandma’s grandparents put their seventeen year old son on a cargo ship, so he wouldn’t have to go into the German Army.

Many of the books that discuss facets of Scandinavian-American migration and its history are compilations of essays by multiple authors in the field, many of those authors being serial contributors to the general discussion of Scandinavian-American migration history. Blanck, Anderson, and Lovoll are often featured, co-author, or edit the works of other writers in the field and are notable in their amount of participation.

On my father’s side of the family, we know my grandfather’s family history. My great-grandfather, Michael Carr, was from Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. In 1920, he decided to leave Ireland because of poverty and trying to live a better life. He left Ireland and on August 2nd, 1920, he arrived by means of a direct journey by boat. He entered the United States through Ellis Island and went to Park

Norwegian- 1825-1826- The Norwegians that came to America were mostly Lutherans and priests and Quakers to avoid religious persecution. Most of the religious groups immigrated to Western New York in America. At that time and all the time America was the Home of the Free. So it was easy for the immigrants to love it.

In the article Migration, Cultural bereavement, and cultural identity by Dinesh Bhugra and Matthew A Becker explains the long term effects that migration can cause on a person. As a person born into a family of immigrants I was not aware of the stress put onto a person, both my mother and father have told my siblings and I great stories on how they lived before we were even born. Although from their happy stories and joyful memories I did notice that they always had a sense of being trapped. They both tell me that while in Mexico they had all this free time and places to go regardless of having to work and take care of the family 24/7. In America it seems that if you do not have money there is nowhere that you can go and enjoy your day especially in the winter. Another thing that I have noticed about my parents is their frustration when they are not able to speak the language. Of the twenty-one years that they have lived here of course they have caught onto some english words, more so that my siblings and I have constantly been speaking English from the time that we were able to turn on the

M is a descendant of Swedish and Norwegian heritage. Her family does not practice any traditions from these descents, but she fits the stereotype physically with her natural blonde hair and blue eyes. Even though M does not practice traditions related to her heritage, she does have many traditions with her family to preserve a strong bond. The family has very close ties and M continues to keep close contact with her family in spite of the distance she has moved away. Her family has shared values with M and she believes in such things as working for what you want in life, to succeed in life you must have experience or education, and you get what you work for. Her family has also passed down her political beliefs of being a firm Republican.

For nearly half a century the field of Scandinavian-American migration studies has subscribed to a status quo set of beliefs that Scandinavian migrants in the United States formed and developed an independent identity from their Anglo-American and European counterparts. The roots of the argument of the unique Scandinavian-American ethnic identity and the impact of Scandinavians on the development of regional American cultures stems as far back as 1960s as scholars began to discuss Scandinavian migration within the context of Vecoli’s redirection of the field of migration studies. The investigation of the development in Scandinavian-Americanism took its first steps and began to gain traction through the work of Ingrid Semmingsen, a respected scholar of Norwegian

Throughout the nineteenth century deteriorating economic opportunities, food scarcity, and political instability, spurred the mass migration of millions of Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, and Finns to the United States. The promise of economic opportunity and the idealizations of the “American Dream” encouraged the exodus of Scandinavians from their homelands to seek new lives in the United States. Research and scholarly discussion exist that focus on the life and history of those Scandinavian migrants who arrived in the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however the field as a whole is atypical compared to other studies of migrant groups during the period. The work done by Scandinavian-Americanist scholars reflects the peculiar state of the field. Although the field has been propped up by several prolific writers and scholars, it fails to deliver the same impact as other historical studies of