Agnes Wergeland
Agnes Wergeland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 8, 1857 Oslo, Norway |
| Died | March 6, 1914 (aged 56) Laramie, Wyoming, United States |
| Resting place | Greenhill Cemetery, Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, US |
| Education | University of Zurich, Hartvig Nissen School, University of Oslo, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich |
| Partner | Grace Raymond Hebard[citation needed] |
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Agnes Mathilde Wergeland (May 8, 1857 – March 6, 1914) was a Norwegian-American historian, poet, and educator. Agnes Mathilde Wergeland was the first woman ever to earn a doctoral degree in Norway.[1][2]
Early life and education
[edit]She attended Nissen Girls School in Christiania in 1879, studied independently Norwegian history, Greek and Roman architecture and sculpture, and medieval history at the University Library of Christiania from 1879 until 1883.[3]
Career
[edit]
Agnes Mathilde Wergeland wrote several scholarly works, three of which were published after her death. She also wrote two volumes of poetry which were published by Symra in Norwegian: Amerika, og andre digte (1912) and Efterladte digte (1914).[4]
Wergeland lived with Grace Raymond Hebard, and Grace's sister, Alice, in the home she built with Hebard in Laramie, known to students and colleagues as "The Doctors Inn". Wergeland died in 1914. Grace's sister, Alice Marvin Hebard, died in 1928, and Hebard in 1938.[5]
Agnes Wergeland remained a University of Wyoming history professor until her death. Before she died at age 57, she testified her book collection to the library of the University of Wyoming. She is buried alongside Grace Raymond Hebard at Greenhill Cemetery, Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming.[6]
Legacy
[edit]In 1916, Maren Michelet wrote a biography Glimt fra Agnes Mathilde Wergelands liv. She also wrote an English language translation, Glimpses from Agnes Mathilde Wergeland's life. Both editions were published by Folkebladet Publishing Company which Sven Oftedal had organized in 1877 in order to promote Norwegian language publications in the United States.[7]
Agnes Mathilde Wergeland Lodge of the Daughters of Norway was organized in Junction City, OR on October 2, 2011.[8]
Agnes Wergeland is honored, together with Elise Wærenskjold, at the Western Norway Emigration Center at Radøy in Hordaland, Norway as one of two Norwegian-American women writers who helped bring the news of life in America to Norwegians.[9]
Selected works
[edit]- Modern Danish Literature and its Foremost Representative (1895)
- Ameriká og Andre Digte (1912) Norwegian
- Efterladte Digte (1914) Norwegian
- History of the Working Classes in France (1916)
- Leaders in Norway and Other Essays (1916)
- Slavery in Germanic Society During the Middle Ages (1916)[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Norwegian-Americans (Odd S. Lovoll. Multicultural America. 2006)
- ^ "Agnes Wergeland". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ The Scandinavian Immigrant Writer in America (Dorothy Burton Skardal, Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume 21: Page 14)
- ^ Larry Emil Scott The Poetry of Agnes Mathilde Wergeland Archived 2017-03-16 at the Wayback Machine (Norwegian-American Historical Association. Volume 30: Page 273)
- ^ Glimpses from Agnes Mathilde Wergeland's life.
- ^ The Promise of America (Nasjonalbiblioteket, avdeling Oslo)
- ^ Vidar L. Haanes. "Sven Oftedal - Teolog". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ "Agnes Mathilde Wergeland #52". Daughters of Norway. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ "The Western Norway Emigration Centre". Museumssenteret i Hordaland. Archived from the original on November 12, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Biographical and Professional Information (Wyoming Writers) Archived March 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Øyvind T. Gulliksen. "Agnes Wergeland". Norsk biografisk leksikon. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
- ^ Mathilde Wergeland Memorial History Prize Archived October 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (University of Wyoming)
- ^ Jon Gunnar Arntzen. "Wergeland". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
Primary Source
[edit]- Michelet, Maren (1916) Glimpses from Agnes Mathilde Wergeland's life (Kessinger Publishing Company. 2004. translation of Glimt fra Agnes Mathilde Wergelands liv)
- Løken, Lise B. (1995) Dr. Agnes Mathilde Wergeland : historian, poet, and American university professor (University of Oslo)
- Fekjær, Kari-Anne (2007) Three Norwegian immigrant women in their pioneer settlements in the early trans-Mississippi West (University of Oslo)
Related Reading
[edit]- Riley, Glenda (1989) The Female Frontier: A Comparative View of Women on the Prairie and the Plains (University Press of Kansas)
- Øverland, Orm (1996) The Western Home: A Literary History of Norwegian America (Norwegian-American Historical Association. Northfield, MN)
- Scanlon, Jennifer and Shaaron Cosner (1996) American Women Historians, 1700s-1990s: A Biographical Dictionary (Greenwood Press. Westport, Conn)
External links
[edit]- Først over målstreken. Agnes Wergeland var Norges første kvinne med doktorgrad. Hun ble en fagpioner både i Norge og USA
- Agnes Mathilde Wergeland Lodge #52 Junction City, Oregon. Daughters of Norway
- The family tree of Agnes Mathilde Wergeland on Geni.com
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1857 births
- 1914 deaths
- Writers from Oslo
- Norwegian expatriates in Germany
- Norwegian expatriates in Switzerland
- University of Zurich alumni
- Norwegian emigrants to the United States
- Writers from Laramie, Wyoming
- Bryn Mawr College faculty
- University of Illinois faculty
- University of Chicago faculty
- University of Wyoming faculty
- 19th-century American historians
- American Lutherans
- American women historians
- 20th-century American historians
- 20th-century American women writers
- 19th-century American women writers
- 19th-century Lutherans