ardanger fiddle, made in 1830s by Norwegian Hardanger fiddle maker Jon Helland, owned and played by Knute Severson of rural Ulen. (Photos/HCSCC.)

Miniature trunk/trinket box, made 1819, owned by Inger Peterson of Moorhead. (Photos/HCSCC.)

Copper pot, brought to America by Herman and Martha Ostrem 1878. (Photos/HCSCC.)

When the first Norwegians set out 200 years ago to build new lives in the New World, many brought little more than the clothes on their backs – and a precious few treasured possessions to remind them of home.
Some of those reminders of the families and homeland left behind will be featured at the Hjemkomst Center starting July 1. The Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County will be hosting its newest exhibit, “Treasures from Norway,” through June 22, 2026.
“The bicentennial of Norwegian immigration is being celebrated this year on Oct. 9,” HCSCC communications manager Levi Magnuson explains. “The date is based on the day that the first organized group – 53 Norwegian Quakers – landed in New York City aboard the sloop Restauration.”
The date coincides with the annual observance of Leif Erikson Day, commemorating the voyage of the Norse Viking explorer believed to have been the first European to visit North America. He is believed to have crossed the Atlantic 500 years before Christopher Columbus. The day has been federally recognized since 1935, though it is not an official federal holiday.
“The first Norwegian families arrived in Minnesota in the 1860s. They reached our area in the 1870s,” Magnuson says. “Minnesota was open to settlement at that time. They were drawn here by the availability of cheap land here on what was then the frontier.”
The HCSCC exhibit features personal possessions that crossed the sea on some of the hundreds of immigrant ships that brought families to America: Bunads and other clothing, furniture and a variety of household items.
Some have special significance to Clay Country residents. Among them is the Syverson family’s hardanger fiddle, created by the grandfather of Gunner Helland, the Fargo violin maker who passed his knowledge of fiddle making on to Bud Larsen. Larson, who now lives in Brainerd, is teaching students in the Fargo-Moorhead area the same traditional techniques he learned from Helland..
A small wooden rosemaled box, owned by Inger Peterson (nee Hansdatter), will also be on display. Born in Telemark, Norway, she moved to the United States after marrying Peter Peterson; they arrived at Moorhead together on May 28, 1880. Inger died at age 92 in April 1939.
Another artifact with an intriguing story, a large copper pot, was brought to Clay County in 1878. When the family’s ship caught fire in a coal explosion, the family who owned it placed their 2-year-old and 6-month-old children inside to keep them safe. “Later, they used the pot for making cheese,” Levi adds.
The year-long Treasures exhibit is one of a number of bicentennial events planned throughout the year. In September and October, archivist Petra Gunderson-Leith will offer a series of talks on Norwegian immigration at the Moorhead Public Library. A hardanger fiddle concert is planned at Concordia College Oct. 9.
The HCSCC museum at the Hjemkomst is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free on Tuesdays from 5 to 8 p.m.