Restauration made it. On October 9, New York welcomed both the crew and the royal representatives, both sent from the city of Stavanger. Crossings 200 – the emigration jubilee 1825–2025 is a success.

Interest in Norwegian emigration history has unfolded with great breadth in activities, participants, and relevance. Through research, publications, and conference contributions, the story of emigration has been conveyed in a large and comprehensive scope. New themes, perspectives, and theories have emerged. The transatlantic aspect is embedded in the logo and name: Crossings 200, which also points to the cultural encounter between Indigenous peoples in the USA and emigrants from Norway – as immigrants, settlers, and colonists.

Finally, an emigration jubilee has seriously highlighted that North America was not an uninhabited land when emigration began. Also new is the inclusion of the emigrant group of Mormons in the commemoration. Thematically, the 200-year jubilee has further addressed the question of democracy in America – the year before the USA itself celebrates its own 250-year anniversary of “No kings” day, July 4, 1776.

Perspectives and theories on migration – emigration and immigration – have been challenged in seminars and conferences in both Norway and the USA through the commemoration and/or jubilee. International migration theorists believe it is worth viewing the 19th century as the era of the new mobility society, where people gained the ability, capacity, and freedom to choose where they wanted to live, including the opportunity to move away or emigrate.

Nils Olav Østrem is professor of history at the University of Stavanger.

The event is free and open to all interested.