The 1925 Norse-American Centennial: Embracing America, Performing Whiteness

Abstract

2025 represents the 200-year commemoration of the first major wave of Norwegian migration to the United States. In 1925, the Norse-American Centennial celebrated Norwegian migration to America, while simultaneously enabling members of the Norwegian American community to perform their identity as white Americans. By analyzing three essays from the Centennial’s “Why We Celebrate” essay contest and President Calvin Coolidge’s keynote speech, I highlight three themes that most perform this whiteness: 1) the Vikings, Leifr Eiríksson, and the discovery of America; 2) claims of Norwegian American ethnic superiority compared to other white ethnic groups; 3) and the prevalence and celebration of Americanness, or what it means to be an American, within the Norwegian American community.