Norwegian American Newspapers:

As new immigrants arrived in America they very often travelled to communities settled by people from their home communities. It became very important to the newcomers to keep their customs and traditions alive. One way for them to do that was to publish newspapers. The early newspapers did not only share news but also stories and poetry.

The first Norwegian-language newspaper, Nordlyset, was created in the small settlement of Muskego, Wisconsin 1847. Although the paper did not last very long, it started a phenomenon that was quite estounding. The pioneer editor Knud Langeland called America "the Land of Newspapers". At one point over 565 Norwegian American Nespapers and magazines were in circulation, and between 1880 and 1920 the largest Norwegian language newspaper came out of Chicago not Oslo.

These are some of the early Norwegian Newspapers:

Title of Newspaper                        City of Publication

Nordlyset                  1847-1850       Muskego, Wisconsin

Emigranten                1852-1868      Wisconsin

Skandinaven              1866-1940      Chicago, Illinois

Budstikken                1873-1894      Minneapolis, Minnesota

Decorah-Posten         1874-1972      Decorah, Iowa

Bikuben                     1876-1935     Salt Lake City, Utah

Minneapolis Tidene     1887-1935      Minneapolis, Minnesota

Washington Post        1889              Seattle, Washington

Nordisk Tidene            1891              Brooklyn, New York

Visergutten                 1893-1955      Story City, Iowa

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