and now on american history tv, we want to introduce you to eric nelson. easy executive director and ceo of the national nordic museum. mr. nelson, why is there a national nordic museum in seattle and generally, what's the history of the nordic people in the us? so fascinating question. i often wonder myself sometimes about the location of the museum i certainly wondered when i first took the position 15 years ago, but there's a huge you start with the history of the nordic people, which is a little diverse, but for the most part due to a number of factors, push and pull, there was a major emigration from the nordic region, and particularly norway, sweden, denmark, also finland and iceland are included, but about 30% of the population left those countries. between 1865 and 1910. and again, a number of reasons were pulling them and pushing them. the homestead act was offering free, free land in the middle of the. so a lot of folks once they arrived in the east coast, moved their way to the midwest after it, generation or a half a generation. and in the midw