It’s Time to Renew Your Membership!

This has been an incredible year of change for the Swedish-American Historical Society. With a fresh new look, interesting events featuring scholars Jennifer Attebery and Julia Bachrach, and the debut of our reimagined publications, Swedish-American Studies and Glimtar, your support helps us continue our mission to record and interpret the Swedish presence in America.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swedish–American Historical Society

Our Mission

The Swedish–American Historical Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1948, with the mission of recording and interpreting the Swedish presence in America. The society is devoted to the mission of studying the Swedish emigration, its history and culture of the Swedes in North America through research, publications, programs and archives.

In 1983, the Board of Directors approved a change in the organization's name to the Swedish–American Historical Society. By then it had moved well beyond a focus on just the "pioneer" period and serves to promote interest in the entire Swedish presence in America, from the first settlers on the Delaware in 1638 to the present day.

Our History

The Swedish–American Historical Society grew out of the national 1948 Swedish Pioneer Centennial celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Swedish immigrants in the Midwest. In Chicago, 18,000 people filled the stadium on June 4th to hear President Truman, Prince Bertil of Sweden, Carl Sandburg, and representatives from many Swedish–American organizations. Four months later, on October 15, 1948, the leaders of the centennial celebration met in Chicago and formed the Society, originally called the Swedish Pioneer Historical Society.

Learn more about us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating 75 Years

Our Fall 2023 meeting, which took place on October 20th and 21st, celebrated the Society's rich history since its founding in 1948. The theme of the 75th anniversary celebration was "honoring our past, sustaining our future." Society members and friends gathered Friday evening for a dinner and program at Old Orchard Country Club in Mt. Prospect for a program which included music, presentations, and a featured keynote speaker. Saturday afternoon saw an event at the Swedish-American Archives of Greater Chicago at Brandel Library in Chicago. This event featured an exhibition and program that highlighted the Society's work and recognized the longtime relationship with North Park University, the Society’s physical home since the mid-1950s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newsletter

Swedish–American Historical Society Books

Swedish Chicago The Shaping of an Immigrant Commuity
Swedish Chicago: The Shaping of an Immigrant Community, 1880-1920

By Anita Olson Gustafson. (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 2018). Paper, 212 pp. Between 1880 and 1920, emigration from Sweden to Chicago soared, and the city itself grew remarkably. During this time, the Swedish population in the city shifted from … Read More

$28.00 – $35.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Conrad Bergendoff’s Faith and Work – A Swedish-American Lutheran, 1895-1997
Conrad Bergendoff’s Faith and Work – A Swedish-American Lutheran, 1895-1997

By Thomas Tredway (Published by the Augustana Historical Society in partnership with the Swedish–American Historical Society, 2013) Cloth, 497 pp. Conrad Bergendoff, a historian, theologian, ecumenist, educator and pastor, served as President of Augustana College from 1935-1962. The author, Thomas … Read More

$20.00 – $25.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Letters from the Promised Land: Swedes in America, 1840-1914
Letters from the Promised Land: Swedes in America, 1840-1914

By H. Arnold Barton. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1975). Paper, 348 pp. This book contains an extensive collection of letters sent back to Sweden from Swedish immigrants in America during the time period of 1840-1914, telling their impressions of … Read More

$15.25 – $16.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Shuttle in Her Hand: A Swedish Immigrant Weaver in America
Shuttle in Her Hand: A Swedish Immigrant Weaver in America

By Marion Tuttle Marzolf. (Chicago: Swedish-American Historical Society, 2010). Paper, 253 pp. The Society’s first historical novel tells the story of Lisa Lindholm, a single Swedish woman who emigrated to America in 1931 and her roles in Swedish and Swedish–American … Read More

$14.50 – $15.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Zorn in America: A Swedish Impressionist of the Gilded Age
Zorn in America: A Swedish Impressionist of the Gilded Age

By William and Willow Hagans. (Chicago: Swedish–American Historical Society, 2009). Cloth, 390 pp. Anders Zorn (1860-1920), the famous Swedish artist, made seven trips to the USA. This book, complete with over 140 of his well-known paintings, etchings, and photographs, tells … Read More

$25.00 – $29.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
I Go to America: Swedish–American Women and the Life of Mina Anderson
I Go to America: Swedish–American Women and the Life of Mina Anderson

By Joy K. Lintelman. (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2009). Cloth, 294 pp. This book, winner of the prestigious Minnesota Book Award (non-fiction), uses the life of Mina Anderson to describe much about the lives of Swedish–American immigrant women … Read More

$25.00 – $29.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Sacred Migrations: Borderlands of Community & Faith, Essays in Honor of Philip J. Anderson
Sacred Migrations: Borderlands of Community & Faith, Essays in Honor of Philip J. Anderson

Edited by Hauna Ondrey and Mark Safstrom, this Festschrift is a tribute for Philip. J. Anderson, longtime professor of church history at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, and president of the Swedish-American Historical Society for the past thirty years. … Read More

$20.00 – $24.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Swedish Recipes Old and New
Swedish Recipes Old and New

By American Daughters of Sweden. (Chicago: American Daughters of Sweden, 1955; 21st Printing, 2008). Paper, 180 pp. A collection of classic recipes for Swedish and Swedish–American foods.

$15.75 – $21.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Scandinavians in the State House
Scandinavians in the State House: How Nordic Immigrants Shaped Minnesota Politics

Klas Bergman (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2017). Paper, 310 pp. Beginning in the 1850s, thousands of immigrants from Nordic countries settled in Minnesota and quickly established themselves in the political life of their new home. These Norwegians, Swedes, … Read More

$16.00 – $19.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Swedish-American Borderlands: New Histories of Transatlantic Relations
Swedish-American Borderlands: New Histories of Transatlantic Relations

Edited by Dag Blanck and Adam Hjorthén. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2021). Paper, 352 pp. Studies of Swedish American history and identity have largely been confined to separate disciplines, such as history, literature, or politics. Swedish–American Borderlands, edited by … Read More

$22.50 – $30.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Donation to The Philip J. Anderson Publications Endowment
Donation to The Philip J. Anderson Publications Endowment

The Swedish-American Historical Society seeks to raise at least $250,000 in additional funding to create the Philip J. Anderson Publications Endowment, building on the amount already pledged toward this goal. Income from the endowment will be used to supplement the … Read More

$10.00 – $1,000.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Clio’s Abode in Swedish America: Essays from the Journal of the Swedish-American Historical Society
Clio’s Abode in Swedish America: Essays from the Journal of the Swedish-American Historical Society

Clio’s Abode in Swedish America consists of twenty-five articles previously published in the Swedish-American Historical Quarterly or its predecessor, the Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly. Intended to help celebrate the Society’s 75th anniversary, as well as to commemorate the transition of … Read More

$24.00 – $29.95 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page