Agnes Wergeland

Agnes Mathilde Wergeland (May 8, 1857 – March 6, 1914) was a Norwegian-American historian, poet and educator. Agnes Mathilde Wergeland was the first woman ever to earn a doctoral degree in Norway.^[1][2]

Agnes Wergeland
Born	(1857-05-08)May 8, 1857 Oslo, Norway
Died	March 6, 1914(1914-03-06) (aged 56) Laramie, Wyoming, United States
Resting place	Greenhill Cemetery, Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, US
Education	University of Zurich, Hartvig Nissen School, University of Oslo, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Partner	Grace Raymond Hebard[citation needed]

Memorial recognizing Agnes Wergeland & Elise Wærenskjold at Western Norway Emigration Center at Radøy

Early life and education

She attended Nissen Girls School in Christiania in 1879, studied independently Norwegian history, Greek and Roman architecture and sculpture, and medieval history at the University Library of Christiania from 1879 until 1883.^[3]

Career

The Doctors' Inn in Laramie

Hebard and Wergeland plot in Greenhill Cemetery

Agnes Mathilde Wergeland wrote several scholarly works, three of which were published after her death. She also wrote two volumes of poetry which were published by Symra in Norwegian: Amerika, og andre digte (1912) and Efterladte digte ( 1914 ).^[4]

Wergeland lived with Grace Raymond Hebard, and Grace's sister, Alice, in the home she built with Hebard in Laramie, known to students and colleagues as "The Doctors Inn". Wergeland died in 1914. Grace's sister, Alice Marvin Hebard, died in 1928, and Hebard in 1938.^[5]

Agnes Wergeland remained a University of Wyoming history professor until her death. Before she died at age 57, she testified her book collection to the library of the University of Wyoming. She is buried alongside Grace Raymond Hebard at Greenhill Cemetery, Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming.^[6]

Legacy

In 1916, Maren Michelet wrote a biography Glimt fra Agnes Mathilde Wergelands liv. She also wrote an English language translation, Glimpses from Agnes Mathilde Wergeland's life. Both editions were published by Folkebladet Publishing Company which Sven Oftedal had organized in 1877 in order to promote Norwegian language publications in the United States.^[7]

Agnes Mathilde Wergeland Lodge of the Daughters of Norway was organized in Junction City, OR on October 2, 2011.^[8]

Agnes Wergeland is honored, together with Elise Wærenskjold, at the Western Norway Emigration Center at Radøy in Hordaland, Norway as one of two Norwegian-American women writers who helped bring the news of life in America to Norwegians.^[9]

Selected works

• Modern Danish Literature and its Foremost Representative (1895)
• Ameriká og Andre Digte (1912) Norwegian
• Efterladte Digte (1914) Norwegian
• History of the Working Classes in France (1916)
• Leaders in Norway and Other Essays (1916)
• Slavery in Germanic Society During the Middle Ages (1916)^[10]