Reading About Immigrants and Immigration - Presenter: Annette Atkins

So many books about immigration — Norwegian and otherwise! For Norwegian-Americans including Rolvaags’s Giants in the Earth is central. Why, I wonder, when even Rolvaag wrote others. Annette will talk about telling stories about our past — literary and otherwise. She also wonders if persons in the audience have stories to tell. 

Annette Atkins is the granddaughter of Agita Julianna Sivertson (named after the Queen, she liked to say). She is author of several books including “Creating Minnesota.” 

She is a historian who promotes the history of a region and its citizens by documenting, researching, interpreting, and speaking about the people, places, and events that have created the fabric of an area. Atkins’ advocacy for local history is unparalleled. Annette is a board of the Norwegian American Historical Association and a Professor Emeritus from St. Johns University.