March 2006

A new research tool for tracing your Swedish roots

Swedish church records are the main sources of genealogical information about Swedish immigrants to America, and Genline is a major new research tool. Its Swedish church records archive consists of photographic quality images scanned from microfilm of the original records in 18 counties. These are direct copies of masters kept at the Swedish National Archives in Stockholm of birth, baptism, confirmation, marriage, death, burial, church ledger and household examination rolls from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Records of the remaining six counties are currently in production.

Genline is now available in the Paul and Bernice Brandel Library at North Park University, which also houses the Society's Swedish-American Archives of Greater Chicago and the archives of the Evangelical Covenant Church. On Saturday, April 29, the North Park Center for Scandinavian Studies will sponsor a Genline workshop at the library. After a 10 a.m. introduction, participants will be divided into three groups for rotating workshops. Cost of the workshop is $35 including lunch. To pre-register call Maiken Jakobsson, 773-244-5592.

Genline is also available at the Swedish American Museum in Chicago and the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center in Rock Island. Its web site for more information, genline.com, lists the parishes whose records are available.

Spring tour takes in Western Illinois historic sites

There's still time to sign up for the Society's coming Spring tour of Swedish-American historic sites in Western Illinois. It's the weekend of Friday, Mar. 31-Sunday, Apr. 2, and will feature two dinners as well as visits to the Jenny Lind Chapel in Andover; Bishop Hill; the Carl Sandburg home in Galesburg, and Knox College. Cost is $75 per person and a block of rooms has been reserved at the Moline Radisson Hotel. Full details and registration information were mailed to members several weeks ago; if you didn't receive it and are interested, call the office at 773-583-5722 or e-mail info@swedishamericanhist.org. The deadline for reservations is Mar. 24.

The opening dinner Friday night at the Radisson will include talks by John Deere archivist and historian Neil Dahlstrom and Lilly Setterdahl, author of Swedes in Moline, 1847-2002.

Saturday night will be a 75th anniversary banquet at Augustana College honoring the Augustana Historical Society and featuring Ann-

Charlotte Harvey performing "Swedish immigrant music, yesterday and today."

'Kaffe med dopp'

The Society's spring tour coincides with the opening of the new season at Bishop Hill. Shops and museums will be offering visitors coffee and cookies between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 1 and 2. The Society tour includes lunch Saturday at the village's well-known Red Oak Tea Room.

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People: Three contribute to unique Encyclopedia of Chicago

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Three Society members are among contributors to The Encyclopedia of Chicago, a project of the Chicago Historical Society, Newberry Library and Northwestern University.

The encyclopedia is available in a handsome book edition published by the University of Chicago Press and online.

The introduction to the electronic edition describes it is the "first version of a new kind of metropolitan history."

Anita Olson Gustafson is the author of the entry on "Swedes"; Odd S. Lovoll, of the entry on "Norwegians," and Melvin A. Holli, of the entry on "Mayors." Gustafson and Holli are both members of the Society board.

Swede heads CHS

Gary T. Johnson of Evanston, who is of Swedish and Norwegian ancestry, last fall became the eighth president of the Chicago Historical Society, which in February changed its name to the Chicago Historical Museum. Johnson, an attorney and civic leader, is the first non-academic to head the organization, which this year is observing its 150th anniversary. "This appointment is a dream for me because history has always been my first love," Johnson said. "History has driven my work in law and civil rights."

Kestin Lane retiring

Kerstin Lane on Nov. 6 announced her intention to retire next summer after 19 years as the Swedish-American Museum of Chicago's first and only executive director. The museum this year is marking its 30th anniversary. During Kerstin's tenure, it has grown from no budget and a staff of one—herself—to one of the city's most successful institutions with a wide range of programs and activities.

Retirements at North Park

Jill Wettersten, Society office manager in the 1970s while raising her family, is one of six North Park University faculty members who retired in 2005. She began teaching in 1980, received a Ph.D. and helped expand the education school to include a graduate program.

The retirees also included Joan Zetterlund, director of the nursing school and a long-time Society member, and Sonia Bodi, director of the university library, which includes the Society archives.

Festschrift honors Weborg

Society member John Weborg, retired professor of theology at North Park Theological Seminary, was honored on Feb. 1 at a dinner marking publication of a special issue of the Covenant Quarterly in his honor.

Edited by Philip J. Anderson and Michelle Clifton-Soderstrom, the issue consists of essays by colleagues and former students.

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Society web page improved

The Society's web page has been improved and made easier to navigate. See it at swedishamericanhist.org.

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'Swedes in Canada' project update: writing begins

You've been reading in this newsletter about the "Swedes in Canada" project. The latest project newsletter, #5, is now online, in English and in Swedish. You can find it at swedesincanada.ca/newletters. The news is that the gathering of family information has been completed, writing of the book began in September, and the first draft of an early chapter is finished.

Author Elinor Barr writes: "What a surprise to discover that Swedes began coming to what is now Canada before the American Revolution. The first Swedish immigrant, Paul Bryzelius, settled in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, as minister of St. John's Anglican Church in 1767. He had been ordained three times, first as a Lutheran, then a Moravian, and finally in London, England, as an Anglican."

One of many interesting items in the latest newsletter is "Evelyn Lindstrom's Pickled Herring Recipe." In 2004 and 2005, the project won the Genealogical Society of Sweden's Arvid Lundbäck Award. The Society congratulates Elinor Barr, one of our directors, on her project.

Five immigrants look back on their working days

Work is the focus of lead articles in the first two 2006 issues of the Swedish-American Historical Quarterly. In the January Quarterly—which you'll soon be receiving if you already haven't—is "What It Was Like: Reminiscenses of Four Working-Class Immigrants," by Anita G. Gorman. Following in the April issue will be "'I always been working hard': Peter Bergstrom, worker and entrepreneur in Moorhead, Minnesota, 1898-1940," by Joy K. Lintelman.

The January issue also includes a review by Philip Anderson of Pioneer Missionary Lars Peter Lundgren and his wife Alma: The True Life Story of a Pioneer Ministry in Minnesota's Last Frontier, North Dakota and Canada 1892-1923. The April issue will include an article on the Swedish pavilion at the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915, by James M. Kaplan.

New members

New members since the last issue of the newsletter, representing states from coast to coast, include:

Muriel Beroza, Redwood City, CA

Jerome and Lois Engseth, Elm Grove, WI

Landis K. Magnuson, Manchester, NH

Eric Olsen, San Francisco, CA

Dr. David Seaquist, Waltham, MA

Carolyn Wedin, Frederic, WI

Quarterlies wanted

The Society office is seeking old copies of the Quarterly. If you have issues of either the Swedish-American Historical Quarterly or the Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly you no longer need, please contact Society office manager Sonja Nelson by e-mail at info@swedishamericanhist.org or by phone at 773-583-5722.

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Meet our newest board member

Leslee Strom Schiller is a true product of Swedish America. Her grandparents were all from Sweden and one, Ben Nelson, was responsible for establishing the Swedish corps of the Salvation Army on the East Coast and in the Midwest in the 1890s. She was born and grew up in Chicago, at one time second only to Stockholm in number of Swedes. She is a member of the Covenant Church, a graduate of North Park Academy and North Park College, and lives in the North Park neighborhood, all founded by Swedish immigrants. Her husband, Walt, and two children also attended North Park.

A retired teacher (Northbrook and Evanston), her interest in Swedish-American history has grown in recent years, including membership in the Swedish-American Historical Society. In November, she became the newest member of the Society's board.

Also elected at the annual meeting were three others who have served on the board previously: Scott Erickson, Frances Johnson and Charles Peterson. Ronald J. Johnson was reelected board chair. Eloise Nelson was named vice chair; Scott Erickson, secretary, and Eric Lund, at large member of the executive committee. Don Olson and Philip Anderson were reappointed treasurer and president.

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Year-end appeal nets $5,810

The Society's 2005 year-end appeal raised $5,810 from 71 members. Four gave $250 or more. Thank you one and all!

Bruce Anderson, Harry H. Anderson, Lorene Anderson, Robert and Marjorie Anderson, Rolf Anderson, Stephen and Sally Anderson, Westin Anderson, Dorothy Baker, Judy Barnes, H. Arnold Barton , Don and Mary Lee Benson, Carl Bergman, Pehr Bolling, Bernice Brandel, Glen Brolander, Jon and Linda Brorson, E. Herbert and Joan Carlson, Ronald Carlson, Earl Check, David E. Cross , Ann D. Dewey, Dorothy Duffy , Jane Edgren, Scott Erickson, Eleanor Feldt, Inga A. Filippo, Paul Fredrickson, David R. Gustafson, Olof Hägerlund, Anne-Charlotte Harvey , Bernard Hedstrom, D.V. Hendrick, Randolph Hopper, Carl and Arlene Johnson, Clifford R. Johnson, Fran Johnson, Franklin and Lois Johnson, Rev. Glenn Johnson, Martha and Roy Johnson, Ronald Alfred Johnson , Ronald J. Johnson, Bruce Karstadt, Kerstin Lane, Lloyd Lofgren, Eric and Grace Lund, Jennifer Johnson Martinez, Selma McLaughlin, Sylvia Meagher, Marlene Messin , Vernice Monson, Arnold H. Nelson, Lucille Nelson, Paula M. Nelson, Rolland G. Nelson, Byron Nordstrom, Don Olson, Nils William Olsson, Aleda Pearce, Eugene and Barbara Pearson , Kevin Proescholdt, Karin C. Ryding, Isabelle Schmid, Earl Shostrom, Alan P. Strom, Doris Sutor, L.E. Swanson, George Tesch, Mariann Tiblin, Glen Wiberg , and Stephen A. Wilson.

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Newsletter

Editor, Eric Lund

Production, Sonja Nelson

Other Society Publications: The Society sponsors, publishes and sells books on the subject of the history and meaning of the Swedish participation in the American experience. Included are academic works, books of letters, and personal reminiscences. Members receive discounts on all book purchases. To review the title list, click here:

To read an article by H. Arnold Barton about the future of Swedish America,
click here: