AshehougAgency

Pictures of America 1860-1960

In the years between 1860 and 1960, 800.000 Norwegians emigrated to North America. A visual voyage of discovery through this period, Pictures of America is filled with photographs as well as postcards, notes, newspaper cuttings telling the story of the American immigrant experience. The unique visual material in this book shows the magnificent, but violent nature that met them, what kind of society they came to and helped develop, how they lived, dressed, survived, struggled and enjoyed themselves. The photos tell a universal tale of adventurousness, courage, hopes and dreams, but also of dangers, toil and hardship.

The photographs in the books are the emigrants’ own, assembled from private

collections well as official archives in the US.

Knut Djupedal (b. 1955) emigrated to America with his family in 1955. He is a historian and has been director of the Norwegian Emigrant Museum since 1991.

First published: 2008, Aschehoug Non-Fiction