'Shuttle' author Marion Marzolf to speak at spring dinnerMarion Marzolf, author of Shuttle in Her Hand: A Swedish Immigrant Weaver in America, will be the speaker at the Society's spring meeting Saturday, April 16, at the Swedish American Museum, 5211 N. Clark St. in Chicago. The program, including Swedish music by flutist Jane Florine, accompanied by Janet Eckhardt, will follow a 6 p.m. wine and cheese reception and 6:30 dinner catered by Tre Kronor restaurant. Please register online. See details below. Marzolf, a retired University of Michigan professor of journalism and Scandinavian studies, will give a powerpoint presentation on the book, the Society's latest publication and its first novel. Sustaining members and above received copies as their 2011 dividend. The book is the story of Maja Lisa Lindholm and begins in Rättvik, Sweden, then follows her through various chapters in her life: 1930 Stockholm, Appalachia, Grand Rapids, Mich., World War II, the Art Institute of Chicago and finally a farm in Wisconsin. It is historically accurate and features many actual places. Marzolf says of the book, "The strong immigrant woman who successfully survives in a new life in America seems to be missing from our fiction. At least in the Scandinavian immigrant stories I read in college, the female characters were mostly dependent and longing for their homeland. Yet in the immigration history books we learned that a number of immigrant women came to America on their own—young, single, unmarried and unspoken for." When, following her retirement, she began studying the history of weaving in Michigan: "I learned that this was a field of endeavor that was largely neglected in historical texts. To my surprise, I found that quite a number of weavers in twentieth-century America were born and trained in Sweden. Other Americans traveled to Sweden to learn weaving." Marzolf's hobby led to publication of Fascination with Fiber; Michigan's Handweaving Heritage (2006), cowritten with Marie Gile. Her other books include Up from the Footnote: A History of Women Journalists (1977) and The Danish Language Press in America (1979). Registration Details:COST: $40 per person ( includes dinner and program) QUESTIONS: Email Karin Andersson, or call 773-244-5295 Swedish-American Historical Society
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