"Dear Unforgettable Brother": The Stavig Letters, from America and Norway, 1887-1933

The target audiences for The Stavig Letters are Norwegian immigrants and their descendants, historians, viewers of the Stavig Letters live reader's theater performance and Public Broadcasting Corporation film, organizations for immigration/Norwegian immigration history.

Pursuing a brighter future in the United States of America, Lars Stavig leaves Norway and journeys to the open prairie. Though their paths never cross again, he and his brother continue to write, preserving their experiences across the sea. Over one-hundred and thirty years have passed since Lars Stavig first wrote home to Knut Stavig, and like the lives their authors lived, theletters they shared reflect the challenges faced by families in both Norway and America and give voice to those who pioneered. Gaining popularity through Readers Theater and an award-winning Public Broadcasting Corporation film, the Stavig letters span five decades giving readers personal insight into the lives of two brothers: one who emigrated and one who stayed.This is the first volume to offer the letters in a printed format, and it includes annotations that set the brothers' words in a greater context of immigration, settlement, and family.

The great grand-daughter of Lars Stavig, Jane Torness Rasmussen introduces readers to the Stavig's letters. Shegraduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and is active in local arts and humanities organizations.

John Rasmussengraduated from the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, South Dakota and is president of the Heritage Museums of Roberts County. His research providesfor the annotations of the letters presented in this volume.

Jane Torness Rasmussen and John Rasmussen work with the Stavig House Museum and are the parents of three adult children: Sarah, Paul, and Carl.

Through their essays, Edvard Hoem, a Norwegian novelist and poet, and Betty A. Bergland, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, examine immigration from Norway to the United States.