Explore Icelandic publishing history in new online exhibition

A new digital exhibition featuring the University of Manitoba’s Icelandic Special Collection makes it easy for anyone to access and explore the history of Icelandic-language publishing in Manitoba.

Preserving language as cultural inheritance

For early Icelandic immigrants, language was often described as their “most precious heirloom.” Through newspapers, poetry, religious texts, political debate, and educational materials, Icelandic settlers maintained cultural continuity as they adapted to life in Western Canada.

Preserving the Most Precious Heirloom – Icelandic Language Publishing in Manitoba traces this history through thematic chapters that explore immigration, community formation, education, religion, literature, and transatlantic connections. It also integrates archival documents with oral history recordings and video materials, creating an accessible digital resource for researchers, students, and the broader public.

Funded by Digital Museums Canada, the project was developed by Katrín Níelsdóttir of the Icelandic Collection at the University of Manitoba Libraries in collaboration with Dr. Christopher Crocker. The exhibition officially launched on November 16—Icelandic Language Day—during the 150th anniversary year of the New Iceland settlement in Manitoba. The exhibition is available in English, French and Icelandic, and is the first trilingual Digital Museums Canada project. 

Featuring the Icelandic Collection

The Icelandic Collection at UM Libraries plays a central role in the exhibition. The Icelandic Collection started with a large donation of books from Winnipeg’s Jón Bjarnason Academy, which closed its doors in 1940. The collection has grown through the donation of personal libraries and archives from members of the Icelandic community. 

Today, the University of Manitoba’s Icelandic Special Collection houses more than 35,000 items published in multiple languages from all over the world and its holdings include the most complete record of Manitoba’s Icelandic publishing industry. It is the largest collection of Icelandic materials in Canada and the second largest in North America. 

This collection serves as a primary research tool for the study of Icelandic language, literature, history and culture, while enabling the Icelandic community to preserve, reinforce and cultivate its cultural identity in the North American cultural mosaic.

Materials from the collection are featured in the digital exhibition, including early Icelandic-language newspapers printed in Winnipeg, handwritten letters and diaries, rare hymnbooks, and literary works by Icelandic-Canadian authors. 

Learn more about the Icelandic Collection