Gerhard Brandt Naeseth - Norwegian-American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library

Norwegian-American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library

Naeseth's genealogical work began in the mid-1950s at a family reunion in Minnesota, when he agreed to write up the history of the Naeseth-Fehn family. He self-published this work in 1956. Thirty years later he reworked and expanded it into two volumes and printed 150 copies. This work had gotten him interested in the 150 people who came to America on the same ship as his family. Eventually his project expanded to include the 18,000 Norwegian immigrants who came to America prior to the 1850 census. Naeseth completed the first of this five volume history of Norwegian immigrants to the United States in 1993. Subsequent volumes have been completed by Blaine Hedberg, Executive Director of the Norwegian-American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library.

Naeseth founded the Vesterheim Genealogical Center in 1974, working out of a temporary office at the University of Wisconsin library in Madison and slowly acquiring a vast collection of resources. By charging for genealogical research and selling annual memberships, Naeseth built the center into the hub of Norwegian genealogical research in America. By the early 1990s the center had its own building and a staff of professional researchers. Naeseth never accepted a salary while he built the center, living instead off his retirement income.