History Alive Project

David and Ruth Amundson at the History Alive Project house at 218 N Main St, Westby, WI

This past April during our visit to Livsreise Renée and I had the pleasure of meeting David and Ruth Amundson of the History Alive Project. Through their project, David and Ruth work with both the local community and schools of Westby, WI to, “…create out of the box projects to discover and maintain the Westby area’s history for community members of all ages”. They even teach the students about the Sloopers, Cleng Peerson, and the importance of this first organized immigration to America. The Amundson’s project sounded fascinating and this couple’s passion for their project is truly captivating and so Renée and I put a visit to Westby on our to-do list for this summer.

Through the years David and Ruth have acquired many interesting artifacts and pictures in an attempt to demonstrate and preserve the fascinating history of Westby and it’s residents. Eventually this collection outgrew their home and so the Amundson’s purchased a beautiful and historic home located on 218 North Main Street in Westby in order to house their collection and serve as the headquarters for the History Alive Project.

Renée and I presented David and Ruth with a copy of, “The Uprooting” by Vigleik Rosseland. We thought The Uprooting story would match well with History Alive Project’s mission. If you have time, we would encourage you to visit the History Alive Project, beautiful Westby and the Amundsons.

For more information and to view some great examples of the pictures the Amundson’s have collected visit History Alive Project website and the History Alive Project Facebook page.