New Norwegian Heritage Center tells immigrant story in Stoughton
In the century following 1825, more than 1 million Norwegians immigrated to the United States. Most of them settled in the Midwest, tens of thousands in Wisconsin. The majority were farmers looking to better their families’ lives.
Their story is being told in the sparkling new Livsreise (Life’s Journey) Norwegian Heritage Center in Stoughton in a structure that looks as if it could have been lifted straight off the wharf in Bergen on Norway’s west coast.
The 15,000-square-foot center, which opened May 16 — the day before Syttende Mai, which celebrates the signing of Norway’s Constitution — tells the Norwegian immigrant story to the Badger State. It’s fitting that the center is in Stoughton, which is heavily Norwegian and has long worn its Scandinavian lineage on its sleeve. The Sons of Norway lodge is, appropriately, next door on S. Page St.
A focal point of the center is a wall with 33 video screens that show Scandinavia and create an interactive mosaic. Visitors can make a variety of choices — including mode of transportation and occupation — to come up with immigrant profiles. Their stories and voyages from Norway to North America then come alive on the screen, complete with music and narration.
To date, several thousand people have visited the center, some from Norway.
The reddish, copper-colored building, designed by Kubala Washatko Architects of Cedarburg, has a high, vaulted ceiling and is filled with interactive exhibits created by the ZEBRADOG design studio in Madison. Push a button or touch something on a screen and various images and tales will appear.
Marg Listug, the center manager whose last name means “house on the leeward side of the hill” in Norwegian, gave me a tour of the building — which has lovely maple floors, a Douglas fir ceiling and wooden butternut display cases.
“What we have here is not a museum,” she said. “It is an educational facility, though we have some elements that are found in museums. Our goal is to tell the immigration story of Norwegians, who came to this on the Restauration sailing ship in 1825 up into the early part of the 20th century.”
She said by 1900, nearly 25% of Wisconsin’s residents were from Norway. Most of them settled in farming communities — Stoughton, Mount Horeb and DeForest, among others — along railroad lines that ran from Milwaukee to Minnesota and Iowa. As early as 1843, immigrants from Norway were farming on the Koshkonong Prairie not far from Stoughton, she noted.
In 1860, the Badger State had more Norwegian immigrants than any other state, including neighboring Minnesota. By 1890, the Gopher State had the lead.
The Livsreise (pronounced lifs-rye-sa) center has displays with rosemaling (decorative painting) examples by Per Lysne and Ethel Kvalheim, cooking utensils, religious artifacts, bridal crowns and the trunks they used to bring them to the U.S.
There are also musical instruments, including a fiddle with eight strings and the simple psalmodikon, which has a single string and could be bowed or plucked. Because most immigrants were poor, it served as a substitute for an organ in their churches.
Some of the more than 100 items purchased from Little Norway near Mount Horeb are on display at the center — a number of them once belonged to Stoughton residents. Little Norway closed two years ago for financial reasons after 75 years.
Others are on loan from Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum & Heritage Center in Decorah, Iowa, including a separate exhibit on sacred symbols. Many can be traced to Norse mythology and deal with fertility, protection, good luck and connection to the afterlife.
“These immigrants were superstitious,” Listug said. “Zigzags and X’s on clothing or belts could keep evil spirits from entering your body. They also believed that you were especially vulnerable when you were going to be married, so the more gold you wore in your wedding crown, the better off you’d be.”
Some exhibits also have a whimsical side, including one on the trolls that fill Nordic folklore. I first learned of those diminutive goblins when I spent the summer living with relatives outside Oslo, Norway, some 40 years ago. Trolls, I was told, live under bridges or the bottom of lakes and are responsible for all kinds of mischief. Worse — and I remember my mother’s cousin telling this to her four boys — these goblins (who predated the arrival of Christianity in Scandinavia) could sometimes punish youngsters when they (rarely) misbehaved.
The center also has a handicap-accessible auditorium that seats 68 and shows historical, cultural, musical, folk art, Norwegian humor and other videos. The auditorium is also used for lectures and presentations.
Listug said the center was funded by the Bryant Foundation, which was created in 1993 by Janet Bryant to honor her late husband, Ed. They weren’t of Norwegian descent, she said, but they were big supporters of Stoughton and loved its heritage. Ed Bryant co-founded Nelson Industries in Stoughton, which made commercial mufflers. When Janet died in 2010, she left the bulk of her estate to the foundation.
Listug said Jerry Gryttenholm and other members of the board decided to honor the Bryants and their generosity be creating the center. The effort began less than four years ago and was brought to fruition in a relatively short time. Listug declined to say how much money was spent on the center, but the results are clearly stunning.
“The Bryants always gave back to the community, and this is a continuation of that,” Listug said. “I can’t say what it cost, but the point was to do it right.”
More information: The center is at 277 Main St. and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call (608) 873-7567 or see livsreise.org.
For other things to see and do in Stoughton, see stoughtonwi.com.
Getting there: Stoughton is 80 miles west of Milwaukee via I-94, Highway N and Highway 51.