Anne Kari Salbu                          Rasmus Sunde, PhD.

1:00-2:00 PM                             3:30-4:30 PM

Livsreise is excited to offer a weekday event in the Livsreise auditorium on Tuesday, July 22.

Anne Kari Salbu, co-owner of the Sylvsmidja, established in Voss, Norway, in 1940 will be speaking from 1:00 to 2:00 PM.  Sylvsmidja is the largest jewelry brand in Norway.  It proudly makes traditional heritage silver jewelry for Norwegian national costumes by combining history and unmatched craftsmanship. In addition they offer silver made for every occasion. Anne Kari will recount the story of the company, going back to its beginnings during the occupation of Norway during WWII until the present day. In addition, she will share the stories of the hidden symbols in many brooches and pendants.  Join her colleague, Anders Fagerthun at the Nordic Nook gift shop 1.5 blocks to the east of Livsreise after the presentation, where he will be giving evaluations of any sølje you may own. Advance reservations are  required for this consultation and are being taken at the Nordic Nook. ph. 608-877-0848.

At 3:30 PM Livsreise welcomes back Ramus Sunde, Ph.D. He is an expert on Norwegian emigration and author of several books on the subject.  He has titled his presentation “The 200th Anniversary of Norwegian Immigration 2025. ”  The focus of his talk will be on what factors caused the group of fifty-two Quakers living on the west coast of Norway to leave for America aboard the sloop Restauration. It was a dramatic crossing in this small, one-masted sloop and filled with challenges all along the way. This included four years in their first settlement in Kendall, NY. This land had been purchased by the American Quakers, and they had chosen Cleng Peerson, a sort of explorer and pioneer for  the group, to find some available land for settlement. The plan was to have many cabins constructed and to be ready by the time the Norwegians arrived in October 1825. After four years of struggling to clear the land in this heavily forested area and little success with growing crops, they decided to move west to Illinois where Cleng had found land better suited for farming, and homesteading.  To this day Cleng Peerson is considered the “father” of Norwegian immigration and the settlement in Lasalle County, Illinois became, known as the “Fox River Settlement.” These first families became known simply  as the “Sloopers” because they crossed the ocean in a sloop.  Finally with the help of diagrams, Rasmus will show how and why emigration occurred in waves up until about 1930.

Sigmund Årseth rendering of the Restauration