Vesterheim Plans for 2025
DRC Sponsor: Alan Lerstrom
Vesterheim President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chris Johnson will talk about the Vesterheim Museum's plans for the upcoming year, including commemoration of the 200th anniversary of organized Norwegian immigration to the United States.
In 2025, Norwegians and Norwegian Americans will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the voyage of the Sloopers. On July 4, 1825, 52 Norwegian's departed Stavanger, Norway on the sloop Restauration taking three months to sail to New York in what would become the first in successive waves of immigration from Norway to the North American continent. Between 1825 and 1925, roughly one-third of Norway's population left their home country to start new lives in North America. Chris will talk about Vesterheim's plans to commemorate this important event as well as share exciting opportunities that folks here in the Decorah area have to take classes in Vesterheim's nationally recognized folk-art school.
Chris Johnson is in his tenth year serving as President / CEO of Vesterheim, the National Norwegian American Museum & Folk Art School. His ancestors emigrated from farms near Norway's Sognefjord in the 1860s and settled in parts of Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota. Born and raised in New Hampton, Iowa, he remembers visiting Vesterheim as a child on school field trips. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from Luther College, and a master's degree in museum studies from the University of Nebraska. He has worked in the museum field for more than 35 years, holding positions at places such as Living History Farms, Arbor Lodge State Historic Site, and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Decorah Rotarians may also recognize Chris as the father of Hallie Johnson, the club's Rotary Global Scholar who is presently in Scotland for graduate studies at the University of Edinburgh.
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**Please complete your meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcment, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advace to all members by email.