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Lovoll's latest book looks at small-town Norwegian-Americans

By David Gonnerman '90
July 25, 2006

"There's a certain ethnocentricity that you don't find in the Swedes and Germans and others," says Odd Lovoll, professor emeritus of Scandinavian Studies at St. Olaf, about the Norwegian-Americans of Benson, Minn. -- one of the subjects of his latest book: Norwegians on the Prairie: Ethnicity and the Development of the Country Town (available in August from the Minnesota Historical Society Press). Star Tribune reporter Chuck Haga recently visited Benson and surrounding communities to see how Norwegian locals keep their heritage alive... sometimes to the annoyance of non-Norwegians.

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