Did you know the president of the United States issues a proclamation declaring October 9 as Leif Erikson Day each year, and has done so since Lyndon Johnson did in 1964?
A Proclamation on Leif Erikson Day, 2024
Some 50 years ago, numerous Scandinavian American organizations across the country participated in the successful campaign for national recognition of Leif Erikson Day by the Leif Erikson Association (of Los Angeles). More than 240 Scandinavian organizations around the United States and thousands of petition signatures were involved in this important achievement.
200 Year Anniversary of the First Organized Emigration from Norway to the United States
2025 is the 200-year anniversary of the arrival in New York City harbor on October 9, 1825 of the first organized emigration from Norway to the United States. A group of 52 left Stavanger, Norway on a small sloop, the Restauration. A reproduction of the Restauration left Stavanger July 4, 2025 to retrace the voyage and is scheduled to reach New York on October 9, 2025.
Please join us in Overton Hall on the Cal Lutheran campus in Thousand Oaks Saturday October 11, 2025 at 2 PM for a multi-part program including:
1. A short video of the 175th anniversary celebration at Ellis Island, including Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja, Ambassador Walter Mondale, Norwegian-American Academy Award winner Celeste Holm telling a touching story of how her parents met, music by Norwegian soprano Hanne Krogh, and more.
2. The video will be followed by a slide presentation by Dr. Ernst (Fred) Tonsing on a very special emigration/immigration exhibition assembled in Copenhagen, Denmark and featured for years at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle.
3. A musical performance by Dr. Torkil Hammer with his Swedish nyckelharpa.
A reception will follow.
Leif Erikson Day Celebration
October 11, 2025 at 2 PM
Overton Hall, Cal Lutheran Campus
Sponsored by the Scandinavian American Cultural & Historical Foundation (SACHF) and the California Lutheran University History Department.
Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation 