Photographs from the project week
Students at Marnar Junior High worked on Amerikakofferten in week 47. They wrote about emigration and return migration from Øyslebø, Bjelland and Laudal, and about their relationship with America. They also photographed and documented how emigration has influenced Marnardal.

The project week culminated in a presentation on the last day. Several groups showed PowerPoint presentations, and various American bakery products were served – from popcorn cake to chocolate cake from Texas.


Students and teacher in front of a pc.


Emigration far back in time
Paul Sveinall, a local historian, told us that there must have been emigration from Marnardal long before the emigration from Norway officially began. As early as the 1720s seamen attached to the East Indian Company settled in the southern states of America. In 1825, two sisters from the area left on the Restaurationen from Stavanger bound for America. People also went to America in the twentieth century, particularly from Laudal and Bjelland, but emigration was not so common from Marnardal after the Second World War as it was mostly from districts farther west.

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