Historical images available for online viewing

By David Gonnerman '90
December 11, 2008

Toboggon1911
A 1911 image of St. Olaf students on a toboggan at the corner of St. Olaf Avenue and Lincoln Street.
St. Olaf Professor of History Gary De Krey, who serves as director of the St. Olaf College Shaw-Olson Center for College History and archivist for the Norwegian-American Historical Association, has announced that two sets of historical images are now available for online viewing.

The first set, from the St. Olaf College Archives, features more than 100 early images of St. Olaf and Northfield. Ole Felland (1853-1938), the college's first librarian, took many of these photographs. DeKrey and Associate Archivist Jeff Sauve selected images that portray early college buildings, people and events, and the town of Northfield.

"We are happy to make these images available for viewing as conversations continue about how the two college libraries and archives, the Northfield Public Library, the Northfield Historical Society, and the Rice County Historical Society can work together to make Northfield history more accessible," says DeKrey.

CannonRiver1888
High water on the Cannon River as it flows through Northfield, 1888 (looking northeast).
The second collection includes nearly 100 early images of Norwegian-Americans in Minnesota . These photographs, chosen to illustrate the culture of Norwegians in Minnesota in the first generations after settlement, come from the collections of NAHA, which is headquartered at St. Olaf.

The images may not be downloaded or copied, but reproductions may be ordered via e-mail for a fee (see the respective sites for details).

"Both collections were created using CONTENTdm digital collection management software. They were designed with standardized descriptive information that is fully searchable by Google and other web search engines," explains DeKrey. "And we hope to continue adding to these online collections."

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.