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By Blair Swanson While compiling profiles for his Facebook page, “Geysir Cemetery,” Blair has gathered information about the women who served as midwives in the Geyser District of Manitoba. Their skill and compassion were vital in the early days of the region. All of the following information was taken from Faith and Fortitude: A History of the Geysir District 1880s–1980s. Midwives were common in every community. It was a necessity to have someone trained to deliver babies

By Brian Borgford The following is a series of excerpts from the memoir of Thorsteinn Borgford (I464972), written in 1947 when he was in his 70s. His grandson, Brian, transcribed his typewritten manuscript. Thorsteinn tried to present his story in the third person, but his writing occasionally shifted into the first person. In addition, spelling and other errors that did not impact the meaning of his story remain unchanged. Brian has selected excerpts relevant to our theme

By Jason Doctor Public Webinar on Friday, 27 March 2026 : INDIGENOUS AND ICELANDIC INTERACTIONS AT THE EDGE OF THE WILDERNESS Our Icelandic Roots Host, Jason Doctor, welcomes guest Hildur Sigurbergsdóttir, historian and Snorri West alum. We will be discussing the complex story of the encounters between the Icelandic settlers and the existing Indigenous populations as part of an extended celebration marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of New Iceland and Minneota.

By Gay Strandemo Settling in the Wisconsin area, our Scandinavian ancestors left their mark. A strong sense of literacy and the preservation of historical records has offered enhanced understanding of their cultures, traditions, languages and more curated by the Department of Scandinavian Studies, which has a history unto itself. Established in 1875, the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the oldest Scandinavian Studies department in

February's IR Book Club with Guest Karen Gummo: A Journey Through Icelandic Heritage Confessions of an Immigrant’s Daughter by Laura Goodman Salverson Born in Winnipeg on December 9, 1890, Icelandic Roots members can locate the author in the Icelandic Roots database as Lára Gudmundsson IR# I22876736. Her parents emigrated from Reykjavík in 1887. Laura won the prestigious Canadian Governor General’s literary award in 1939 for Confessions of an Immigrant's Daughter . This book

by Susan Bearnson Huff 15 February 2023 Spanish Fork, Utah is the oldest continuous Icelandic settlement in North America. The history...

By Sharon Laxdal Gardar is a small community in northeast North Dakota, with its original Icelandic settlers homesteading here in 1879....