Swedish American
Encyclopedia
Swedish Americans are Americans
of Swedish
descent, especially the descendants of about 1.2 million immigrants from Sweden
during 1885-1915. Most were Lutherans who affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA); some were Methodists
. Historically the concentrated in the Midwest--roughly in the area west and northwest of Chicago.
. A colony established by Queen Christina of Sweden
in 1638, it centered around the Delaware Valley
including parts of the present-day states of Delaware
, New Jersey
, and Pennsylvania
. New Sweden
was incorporated into New Netherland
in 1655 and ceased to be an official territory of the Realm of Sweden
. However, many Swedish and Finnish colonists remained and were allowed some political and cultural autonomy.
Present day reminders of the history of New Sweden
are reflected in the presence of the American Swedish Historical Museum
in Philadelphia, Fort Christina State Park
in Wilmington, Delaware
, Governor Printz Park
and The Printzhof
in Essington, Pennsylvania.
had reached new heights in 1896, and it was in this year that the Vasa Order of America
, a Swedish American fraternal organization, was founded to help immigrants, who often lacked an adequate network of social services. Swedish Americans usually came through New York City
and subsequently settled in the upper Midwest. Most were Lutheran
and belonged to synods now associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
, including the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
. Theologically, they were pietistic; politically they often supported progressive causes
and prohibition
.
In the year 1900, Chicago
was the city with the second highest number of Swedes after Stockholm
, the capital of Sweden. By then, Swedes in Chicago had founded the Evangelical Covenant Church
and established such enduring institutions as Swedish Covenant Hospital
and North Park University
. Many others settled in Minnesota
in particular, followed by Wisconsin
; as well as New York
, Pennsylvania
, Michigan
, Iowa
, Nebraska
and Illinois
. Like their Norwegian American
and Danish American brethren, many Swedes sought out the agrarian lifestyle they had left behind in Sweden, as many immigrants settled on farms throughout the Midwest.
. A small Swedish settlement was also begun in New Sweden, Maine
.
The largest settlement in New England was Worcester, MA. Here, Swedes were drawn to the city's wire and abrasive industries. By the early 20th Century numerous churches, organizations, businesses, and benevolent associations had been organized. Among them, the Swedish Cemetery Corporation (1885), the Swedish Lutheran Old People's Home(1920), Fairlawn Hospital (1921), and the Scandinavian Athletic Club (1923). These institutions survive today, although some have mainstreamed their names. Numerous local lodges of national Swedish American organizations also flourished and a few remain solvent as of 2008. Within the city's largest historic "Swedish" neighborhood-Quinsigamond Village—street signs read like a map of Sweden: Stockholm Street, Halmstad Street, and Malmo Street among others. Worcester's Swedes were historically staunch Republicans and this political loyalty is behind why Worcester remained a Republican stronghold in an otherwise Democratic state well into the 1950s.
during the turn of the twentieth century, along with Norwegians. Notable influence can be felt in the neighborhood of Ballard
in Seattle, and by the Swedish Medical Center
, a major hospital also in Seattle. The Swedish immigrants that arrived in recent decades settled mostly in the suburbs of New York and Los Angeles.
An increasingly large Swedish American community fostered the growth of an institutional structure—a Swedish-language press, churches and colleges, and ethnic organizations—that placed a premium on sponsoring a sense of Swedishness in the United States. Blanck (2006) argues that after 1890 there emerged a self confident Americanized generation. At prestigious Augustana College
, for example, American-born students began to predominate after 1890. The students mostly had white-collar or professional backgrounds; few were the sons and daughters of farmers and laborers. These students developed an idealized view of Sweden, characterized by romanticism, patriotism, and idealism, just like their counterparts across the Atlantic. The new generation was especially proud of the Swedish contributions to American democracy and the creation of a republic that promised liberty and destroyed the menace of slavery. A key spokesman was Johan Alfred Enander, longtime editor of Hemlandet
(Swedish for "The Homeland"), the Swedish newspaper in Chicago. Enander argued that the Vikings were instrumental in enabling the "freedom" that spread not only throughout the British Isles, but America as well. Swedes, moreover, were among the first founders of America with their New Sweden colony in Delaware and they were more honest than the cynical and avaricious Dutch and English. Swedish America was present in Congress under the Articles of Confederation period, and its role was momentous in fighting the war against slavery. As a paragon of freedom and the struggle against unfreedom, and as an exemplar of the courage of the Vikings in contrast to the papist Columbus, Swedish America could use its myth to stress its position as loyal adherents to the larger Protestant American myth.
In 1896 the Vasa Order of America
, a Swedish-American fraternal organization, was founded to provide ethnic identity and social services such as health insurance and death subsidies, operates numerous social and recreational opportunities, and maintains contact with fellow lodges in Sweden. Johannes and Helga Hoving were its leaders, calling for the maintenance of the Swedish language and culture among Swedish Americans, especially the younger generation. However they returned to Sweden in 1934 and Vasa itself became Americanized.
As a highly literate population, their output of print media was even more remarkable, and cultural leadership was exerted by numerous magazine and newspaper editors more so than by churchmen. The Swedish American press was the second largest foreign-language press in the United States (after German language imprints) in 1910. By 1910 about 1200 Swedish periodicals had been started in several states. Valkyrian, a magazine based in New York City, helped fashion a distinct Swedish American culture between 1897 and 1909. The Valkyrian helped strengthen ethnicity by drawing on collective memory and religion, mythicizing of Swedish and Swedish American history, describing American history, politics, and current events in a matter-of-fact way, publishing Swedish American literature, and presenting articles on science, technology, and industry in the United States. The community produced numerous writers and journalists, of whom the most famous was poet-historian Carl Sandburg from Illinois. The harsh experiences of the frontier were subjects for novelists and story tellers, Of interest revealing the immigrant experience are the novels of Lillian Budd (1897–1989), especially April Snow (1951), Land of Strangers (1953), and April Harvest (1959). Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg, whose novel The Emigrants (1949) was made into a movie, wrote a series of four other books were translated in the 1950s and 1960s.
Baigent (2000) explores the dynamics of economic and cultural assimilation and the "American Dream
" in one small city. Most Swedes in McKeesport, Pennsylvania
, between 1880 and 1920 were permanent settlers rather than temporary migrants. Many ended up comfortably off and a few became prosperous. They judged their success against Swedes in Sweden, not McKeesporters of other nationalities. They had no illusions about American life but they chose to stay and confront difficult living and working conditions rather than move on or return to Sweden where good jobs were scarce and paid much less. Many of their children were upwardly socially mobile, and America offered girls in particular greater opportunities than Sweden did. The immigrants greatly valued the religious freedom that America offered, but their political freedoms were heavily circumscribed by McKeesport's "booze interest" and iron and steel bosses. Swedes dominated the prohibition movement in the town, but this did not open the door to a wider political stage. The dreams of many individual Swedes came true, but the dream of creating a permanent Swedish community in McKeesport was not realized, since individual Swedes moved on within the United States in pursuit of continued economic success. Swedish Americans formed their own social identity within the U.S. during the period through their memberships of social clubs and their deliberate membership or non-membership in different ethnically-based institutions.
The story of A. V. Swanson, who in 1911 left Bjuv at age 20 and settled in Ames, Iowa eight years later is a case study in farming and business success.
Swedish Americans opposed entry into World War I
, in which Sweden was neutral. Political pressures during the war encouraged a rapid switch from Swedish to English in church services—the older generation was bilingual by now and the youth could hardly understand the old language. Swedish language newspapers lost circulation. Most communities typically switched to English by 1920.
By the 1930s, assimilation into American life styles was almost complete, with few experiences of hostility or discrimination.
After 1940 Swedish was rarely taught in high schools or colleges, and Swedish language newspapers or magazines nearly all closed. A few small towns in the U.S. have retained a few visible Swedish characteristics. Lindsborg, Kansas is representative. It was founded by Lutheran pietists in 1869 on land purchased from the Kansas Pacific Railroad; the First Swedish Agricultural Company of Chicago spearheaded the colonization. Known today as Little Sweden, Lindsborg is the economic and spiritual center of the Smoky Valley. The rise of agribusiness, the decline of the family farm, the arrival of nearby discount stores, and the "economic bypass" of the new interstate system wrought economic havoc on this community. By the 1970s Lindsborg residents pulled together a unique combination of musical, artistic, intellectual, and ethnic strengths to reinvent their town. The Sandzén Gallery, Runbeck Mill, Swedish Pavilion, historical museum at Bethany College, and Messiah Festival were among the activities and attractions used to enhance the Swedish image. The Lindsborg plan is representative of growing national interest in ethnic heritage, historic preservation, and small-town nostalgia in the late 20th century.
The affiliated membership of a church is much larger than the formal membership.
A few small towns in the U.S. have retained a few visible Swedish characteristics. Some examples include Silverhill, Alabama
; Cambridge, Minnesota
; Lindstrom, Minnesota
; Karlstad, Minnesota
; Lindsborg, Kansas
; Gothenburg, Nebraska
; Oakland, Nebraska
; Andover, Illinois
; Kingsburg, California
; Bishop Hill, Illinois
; and Bemus Point, New York
.
Around 3.9% of the U.S. population is said to have Scandinavian ancestry (which also includes Norwegian American
s, Danish Americans, Finnish American
s, and Icelandic Americans). At present, according to the 2005 American Community Survey, only 56,324 Americans continue to speak the Swedish language
at home, which is down from 67,655 in 2000.http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&SRVY_YEAR=compare&geo=us&state_id=&county_id=&mode=geographic&zip=&place_id=&cty_id=®ion_id=&division_id=&a=&ea=&order=&ll=all&pc=1 Most of them being recent immigrants. Swedish American communities typically switched to English by 1920. Swedish is rarely taught in high schools or colleges, and Swedish language newspapers or magazines are rare.
The ten states with the most Swedish Americans in their populations (by percentage)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
descent, especially the descendants of about 1.2 million immigrants from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
during 1885-1915. Most were Lutherans who affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
(ELCA); some were Methodists
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
. Historically the concentrated in the Midwest--roughly in the area west and northwest of Chicago.
Colonial
The first Swedish Americans were the settlers of New SwedenNew Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
. A colony established by Queen Christina of Sweden
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
in 1638, it centered around the Delaware Valley
Delaware Valley
The Delaware Valley is a term used to refer to the valley where the Delaware River flows, along with the surrounding communities. This includes the metropolitan area centered on the city of Philadelphia. Such educational institutions as Delaware Valley Regional High School in Alexandria Township...
including parts of the present-day states of Delaware
History of Delaware
The history of Delaware is the story of a small American state, in the middle of the original colonies, and yet until recently often overlooked by outsiders...
, New Jersey
History of New Jersey
The history of New Jersey began at the end of the Younger Dryas climate, about 10 millennia ago. Native Americans moved into New Jersey soon after the reversal of the Younger Dryas, which had made the area uninhabitable and, during the preceding ice age, unreachable.European contact began with the...
, and Pennsylvania
History of Pennsylvania
The history of Pennsylvania is as varied as any in the American experience and reflects the salad bowl vision of the United States. Before Pennsylvania was settled by Europeans, the area was home to the Delaware , Susquehannock, Iroquois, Eries, Shawnee and other Native American tribes...
. New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
was incorporated into New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...
in 1655 and ceased to be an official territory of the Realm of Sweden
Realm of Sweden
The Realm of Sweden or Svenska väldet is a term that historically was used to comprise all the territories under the control of the Swedish monarchs.-Lands of Sweden:...
. However, many Swedish and Finnish colonists remained and were allowed some political and cultural autonomy.
Present day reminders of the history of New Sweden
New Sweden
New Sweden was a Swedish colony along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America from 1638 to 1655. Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement. New Sweden included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania....
are reflected in the presence of the American Swedish Historical Museum
American Swedish Historical Museum
The American Swedish Historical Museum is the oldest Swedish-American museum in the United States. It is located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the South Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on part of a historic 17th-century land grant originally provided by Queen...
in Philadelphia, Fort Christina State Park
Fort Christina
Fort Christina was the first Swedish settlement in North America and the principal settlement of the New Sweden colony...
in Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
, Governor Printz Park
Johan Björnsson Printz
Johan Björnsson Printz was governor from 1643 until 1653 of the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware River in North America.-Early Life in Sweden:...
and The Printzhof
The Printzhof
The Printzhof, located in Governor Printz Park in Essington, Pennsylvania, was the home of Johan Björnsson Printz, governor of New Sweden....
in Essington, Pennsylvania.
Midwest
Swedish emigration to the United StatesSwedish emigration to the United States
During the Swedish emigration to the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries, about 1.3 million Swedes left Sweden for the United States...
had reached new heights in 1896, and it was in this year that the Vasa Order of America
Vasa Order of America
Vasa Order of America is a Swedish-American fraternal, cultural and educational organization.-History:Vasa Order of America was founded in 1896 in New Haven, Connecticut at the height of Swedish immigration to the United States as a Swedish-American fraternal order. Vasa Order of America emerged...
, a Swedish American fraternal organization, was founded to help immigrants, who often lacked an adequate network of social services. Swedish Americans usually came through New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and subsequently settled in the upper Midwest. Most were Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
and belonged to synods now associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
, including the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church was a Lutheran church body in the United States that was one of the churches that merged into the Lutheran Church in America in 1962...
. Theologically, they were pietistic; politically they often supported progressive causes
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
and prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
.
In the year 1900, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
was the city with the second highest number of Swedes after Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, the capital of Sweden. By then, Swedes in Chicago had founded the Evangelical Covenant Church
Evangelical Covenant Church
The Evangelical Covenant Church is an evangelical Christian denomination of more than 800 congregations and an average worship attendance of 179,000 people in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents. Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the church is now one of the most...
and established such enduring institutions as Swedish Covenant Hospital
Swedish Covenant Hospital
Swedish Covenant Hospital is a comprehensive health care facility providing health and wellness services to the communities of Chicago’s North and Northwest sides. As an established academic and community hospital, Swedish Covenant Hospital offers a full range of medical programs, including cancer,...
and North Park University
North Park University
North Park University is a four-year university located at 3225 W. Foster Avenue on the north side of Chicago, Illinois in the North Park neighborhood. It was founded in 1891 by the Evangelical Covenant Church and shares its campus with the denomination's only seminary...
. Many others settled in Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
in particular, followed by Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
; as well as New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Like their Norwegian American
Norwegian American
Norwegian Americans are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and...
and Danish American brethren, many Swedes sought out the agrarian lifestyle they had left behind in Sweden, as many immigrants settled on farms throughout the Midwest.
New England
In the east, New England became a destination for many skilled industrial workers and Swedish centers developed in areas such as Jamestown, NY; Providence, RI, and BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. A small Swedish settlement was also begun in New Sweden, Maine
New Sweden, Maine
New Sweden is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 621 at the 2000 census.-History:Starting in 1870, a Swedish-immigrant colony was established by the State of Maine in Aroostook County. The State of Maine had appointed William W...
.
The largest settlement in New England was Worcester, MA. Here, Swedes were drawn to the city's wire and abrasive industries. By the early 20th Century numerous churches, organizations, businesses, and benevolent associations had been organized. Among them, the Swedish Cemetery Corporation (1885), the Swedish Lutheran Old People's Home(1920), Fairlawn Hospital (1921), and the Scandinavian Athletic Club (1923). These institutions survive today, although some have mainstreamed their names. Numerous local lodges of national Swedish American organizations also flourished and a few remain solvent as of 2008. Within the city's largest historic "Swedish" neighborhood-Quinsigamond Village—street signs read like a map of Sweden: Stockholm Street, Halmstad Street, and Malmo Street among others. Worcester's Swedes were historically staunch Republicans and this political loyalty is behind why Worcester remained a Republican stronghold in an otherwise Democratic state well into the 1950s.
West Coast
Many Swedes also came to the Pacific NorthwestPacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
during the turn of the twentieth century, along with Norwegians. Notable influence can be felt in the neighborhood of Ballard
Ballard, Seattle
Ballard is a neighborhood located in the northwestern part of Seattle, Washington. To the north it is bounded by Crown Hill, ; to the east by Greenwood, Phinney Ridge and Fremont ; to the south by the Lake Washington Ship Canal; and to the west by Puget Sound’s Shilshole Bay. The neighborhood’s...
in Seattle, and by the Swedish Medical Center
Swedish Medical Center
Swedish Medical Center is a large nonprofit health care provider located in Seattle, Washington. It has three main hospital locations in Seattle and is also affiliated with many other suburban hospitals and clinics. As of 2009 it has 7000 employees and 2,300 credentialed physicians.-History:Swedish...
, a major hospital also in Seattle. The Swedish immigrants that arrived in recent decades settled mostly in the suburbs of New York and Los Angeles.
Assimilation
In the 1860-1890 era. there was little assimilation into American society, and little outmarriage with other groups. The Swedish Americans attached relatively little significance to the American dimension of their ethnicity; instead they relied on an extant Swedish literature. There was a relatively weak Swedish American institutional structure before 1890, and Swedish Americans were somewhat insecure in their social-economic status in America.An increasingly large Swedish American community fostered the growth of an institutional structure—a Swedish-language press, churches and colleges, and ethnic organizations—that placed a premium on sponsoring a sense of Swedishness in the United States. Blanck (2006) argues that after 1890 there emerged a self confident Americanized generation. At prestigious Augustana College
Augustana College (Illinois)
Augustana College is a private liberal arts college located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The college enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Covering of hilly, wooded land, Augustana is adjacent to the Mississippi River...
, for example, American-born students began to predominate after 1890. The students mostly had white-collar or professional backgrounds; few were the sons and daughters of farmers and laborers. These students developed an idealized view of Sweden, characterized by romanticism, patriotism, and idealism, just like their counterparts across the Atlantic. The new generation was especially proud of the Swedish contributions to American democracy and the creation of a republic that promised liberty and destroyed the menace of slavery. A key spokesman was Johan Alfred Enander, longtime editor of Hemlandet
Hemlandet
Hemlandet was a Swedish-American newspaper, begun in 1855 in Galesburg, Illinois. It was the first Swedish-language newspaper in America.Founded by Tuve Hasselquist, the newspaper moved to Chicago in 1859 along with his Swedish Lutheran Publication Society. Its original content was primarily...
(Swedish for "The Homeland"), the Swedish newspaper in Chicago. Enander argued that the Vikings were instrumental in enabling the "freedom" that spread not only throughout the British Isles, but America as well. Swedes, moreover, were among the first founders of America with their New Sweden colony in Delaware and they were more honest than the cynical and avaricious Dutch and English. Swedish America was present in Congress under the Articles of Confederation period, and its role was momentous in fighting the war against slavery. As a paragon of freedom and the struggle against unfreedom, and as an exemplar of the courage of the Vikings in contrast to the papist Columbus, Swedish America could use its myth to stress its position as loyal adherents to the larger Protestant American myth.
In 1896 the Vasa Order of America
Vasa Order of America
Vasa Order of America is a Swedish-American fraternal, cultural and educational organization.-History:Vasa Order of America was founded in 1896 in New Haven, Connecticut at the height of Swedish immigration to the United States as a Swedish-American fraternal order. Vasa Order of America emerged...
, a Swedish-American fraternal organization, was founded to provide ethnic identity and social services such as health insurance and death subsidies, operates numerous social and recreational opportunities, and maintains contact with fellow lodges in Sweden. Johannes and Helga Hoving were its leaders, calling for the maintenance of the Swedish language and culture among Swedish Americans, especially the younger generation. However they returned to Sweden in 1934 and Vasa itself became Americanized.
As a highly literate population, their output of print media was even more remarkable, and cultural leadership was exerted by numerous magazine and newspaper editors more so than by churchmen. The Swedish American press was the second largest foreign-language press in the United States (after German language imprints) in 1910. By 1910 about 1200 Swedish periodicals had been started in several states. Valkyrian, a magazine based in New York City, helped fashion a distinct Swedish American culture between 1897 and 1909. The Valkyrian helped strengthen ethnicity by drawing on collective memory and religion, mythicizing of Swedish and Swedish American history, describing American history, politics, and current events in a matter-of-fact way, publishing Swedish American literature, and presenting articles on science, technology, and industry in the United States. The community produced numerous writers and journalists, of whom the most famous was poet-historian Carl Sandburg from Illinois. The harsh experiences of the frontier were subjects for novelists and story tellers, Of interest revealing the immigrant experience are the novels of Lillian Budd (1897–1989), especially April Snow (1951), Land of Strangers (1953), and April Harvest (1959). Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg, whose novel The Emigrants (1949) was made into a movie, wrote a series of four other books were translated in the 1950s and 1960s.
Baigent (2000) explores the dynamics of economic and cultural assimilation and the "American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
" in one small city. Most Swedes in McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport, Pennsylvania
McKeesport is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the United States; it is located at the confluence of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. The population was 19,731 at the 2010 census...
, between 1880 and 1920 were permanent settlers rather than temporary migrants. Many ended up comfortably off and a few became prosperous. They judged their success against Swedes in Sweden, not McKeesporters of other nationalities. They had no illusions about American life but they chose to stay and confront difficult living and working conditions rather than move on or return to Sweden where good jobs were scarce and paid much less. Many of their children were upwardly socially mobile, and America offered girls in particular greater opportunities than Sweden did. The immigrants greatly valued the religious freedom that America offered, but their political freedoms were heavily circumscribed by McKeesport's "booze interest" and iron and steel bosses. Swedes dominated the prohibition movement in the town, but this did not open the door to a wider political stage. The dreams of many individual Swedes came true, but the dream of creating a permanent Swedish community in McKeesport was not realized, since individual Swedes moved on within the United States in pursuit of continued economic success. Swedish Americans formed their own social identity within the U.S. during the period through their memberships of social clubs and their deliberate membership or non-membership in different ethnically-based institutions.
The story of A. V. Swanson, who in 1911 left Bjuv at age 20 and settled in Ames, Iowa eight years later is a case study in farming and business success.
Swedish Americans opposed entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, in which Sweden was neutral. Political pressures during the war encouraged a rapid switch from Swedish to English in church services—the older generation was bilingual by now and the youth could hardly understand the old language. Swedish language newspapers lost circulation. Most communities typically switched to English by 1920.
By the 1930s, assimilation into American life styles was almost complete, with few experiences of hostility or discrimination.
After 1940 Swedish was rarely taught in high schools or colleges, and Swedish language newspapers or magazines nearly all closed. A few small towns in the U.S. have retained a few visible Swedish characteristics. Lindsborg, Kansas is representative. It was founded by Lutheran pietists in 1869 on land purchased from the Kansas Pacific Railroad; the First Swedish Agricultural Company of Chicago spearheaded the colonization. Known today as Little Sweden, Lindsborg is the economic and spiritual center of the Smoky Valley. The rise of agribusiness, the decline of the family farm, the arrival of nearby discount stores, and the "economic bypass" of the new interstate system wrought economic havoc on this community. By the 1970s Lindsborg residents pulled together a unique combination of musical, artistic, intellectual, and ethnic strengths to reinvent their town. The Sandzén Gallery, Runbeck Mill, Swedish Pavilion, historical museum at Bethany College, and Messiah Festival were among the activities and attractions used to enhance the Swedish image. The Lindsborg plan is representative of growing national interest in ethnic heritage, historic preservation, and small-town nostalgia in the late 20th century.
Churches
Formal church membership in 1936 was reported as:- Augustana Synod (Lutheran) – 1,203 churches – 254,677 members
- BaptistBaptistBaptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
– 300 churches – 36,820 members - Swedish Evangelical FreeEvangelical Free Church of AmericaThe Evangelical Free Church of America is an evangelical Christian denomination. The EFCA was formed in 1950 from the merger of the Swedish Evangelical Free Church and the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association.-History:...
– 150 churches – 9,000 members - Swedish Methodist – 175 churches – 19,441 members
- Mission CovenantMission Covenant Church of SwedenThe Mission Covenant Church of Sweden , founded in 1878, is a Swedish Reformed free church. It is the second-largest Christian denomination in the country, after the national church, the Church of Sweden...
– 441 churches – 45,000 members
The affiliated membership of a church is much larger than the formal membership.
Demographics
Silverhill, Alabama
Silverhill is a town in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population was 616. It is part of the Daphne–Fairhope–Foley Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
; Cambridge, Minnesota
Cambridge, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,520 people, 2,237 households, and 1,353 families residing in the city. The population density was 894.1 people per square mile . There were 2,373 housing units at an average density of 384.4 per square mile...
; Lindstrom, Minnesota
Lindstrom, Minnesota
Lindström was settled predominantly by Swedish immigrants and their families. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,015 people, 1,225 households, and 855 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,332.1 people per square mile . There were 1,322 housing units at an average...
; Karlstad, Minnesota
Karlstad, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 794 people, 340 households, and 199 families residing in the city. The population density was 522.3 people per square mile . There were 394 housing units at an average density of 259.2 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 97.86% White, 0.63%...
; Lindsborg, Kansas
Lindsborg, Kansas
Lindsborg is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,458. It is known for its association with Swedish heritage and the biennial Svensk Hyllningsfest...
; Gothenburg, Nebraska
Gothenburg, Nebraska
Gothenburg is a city in Dawson County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Lexington, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,619 at the 2000 census.-History:...
; Oakland, Nebraska
Oakland, Nebraska
Oakland is a city in Burt County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,367 at the 2000 census. Oakland continues to build on its strong foundation with its bi-annual Swedish Festival and is known by its proclamation from the Swedish Consul-General and Nebraska Governor as the "Swedish...
; Andover, Illinois
Andover, Illinois
Andover is a village in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 578 at the 2010 census, down from 594 at the 2000 census. -Geography:Andover is located at ....
; Kingsburg, California
Kingsburg, California
Kingsburg is a city in Fresno County, California. Kingsburg is located southeast of Selma at an elevation of 302 feet , on the banks of the Kings River. The city is half an hour away from Fresno, and two hours away from the California Central Coast and Sierra Nevada Mountain Range...
; Bishop Hill, Illinois
Bishop Hill, Illinois
Bishop Hill is a village in Henry County, Illinois, along the South Edwards River. The population was 128 at the 2010 census, up from 125 at the 2000 census...
; and Bemus Point, New York
Bemus Point, New York
Bemus Point is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The village is within the Town of Ellery and located along the eastern shore of Chautauqua Lake. The population was 340 at the 2000 census...
.
Around 3.9% of the U.S. population is said to have Scandinavian ancestry (which also includes Norwegian American
Norwegian American
Norwegian Americans are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and...
s, Danish Americans, Finnish American
Finnish American
Finnish Americans are Americans of Finnish descent, who currently number about 700,000.-History:Some Finns, like the ancestors of John Morton, came to the Swedish colony of New Sweden, that existed in mid-17th century....
s, and Icelandic Americans). At present, according to the 2005 American Community Survey, only 56,324 Americans continue to speak the Swedish language
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
at home, which is down from 67,655 in 2000.http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&SRVY_YEAR=compare&geo=us&state_id=&county_id=&mode=geographic&zip=&place_id=&cty_id=®ion_id=&division_id=&a=&ea=&order=&ll=all&pc=1 Most of them being recent immigrants. Swedish American communities typically switched to English by 1920. Swedish is rarely taught in high schools or colleges, and Swedish language newspapers or magazines are rare.
Swedish Americans by State
The ten states with the most Swedish Americans| 1 | Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state... |
586,507 | 2 | California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... |
559,897 | 3 | Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,... |
303,044 | 4 | Washington | 213,134 | 5 | Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... |
161,301 | 6 | Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... |
155,010 | 7 | Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is... |
149,977 | 8 | New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
133,788 | 9 | Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... |
127,871 | 10 | Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... |
119,267 |
The ten states with the most Swedish Americans in their populations (by percentage)
| 1 | Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state... |
9.9% | 2 | North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S.... |
5.0% | 3 | Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River.... |
4.9% | 4 | Utah Utah Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the... |
4.3% | 5 | South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over... |
3.9% | 6 | Washington | 3.6% | 7 | Idaho Idaho Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state.... |
3.5% | 8 | Wyoming Wyoming Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High... |
3.5% | 9 | Montana Montana Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,... |
3.4% | 10 | Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New... |
3.3% |
See also
- American Swedish Historical MuseumAmerican Swedish Historical MuseumThe American Swedish Historical Museum is the oldest Swedish-American museum in the United States. It is located in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park in the South Philadelphia neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on part of a historic 17th-century land grant originally provided by Queen...
- American Swedish InstituteAmerican Swedish InstituteThe American Swedish Institute is a non-profit educational and research organization and museum in the Phillips West neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The organization is dedicated to the preservation and study of the historic role Sweden and Americans of Swedish heritage have...
- Languages of the United States#Swedish
- List of Swedish Americans
- SACC New YorkSACC New YorkThe Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation membership organization located in New York City. It was founded in 1906 and was the first Swedish-American Chamber of commerce in the United States...
- Sweden – United States relations
- Swedish Canadian
- Vasa Order of AmericaVasa Order of AmericaVasa Order of America is a Swedish-American fraternal, cultural and educational organization.-History:Vasa Order of America was founded in 1896 in New Haven, Connecticut at the height of Swedish immigration to the United States as a Swedish-American fraternal order. Vasa Order of America emerged...
Scholarly secondary sources
- Akenson, Donald Harman. Ireland, Sweden, and the Great European Migration, 1815-1914 by (McGill-Queen's University Press; 2011) 304 pages
- Anderson, Philip J. and Dag Blanck, eds. Swedish-American Life in Chicago: Cultural and Urban Aspects of an Immigrant People, 1850-1930 (1992)
- Baigent, Elizabeth. Swedish Immigrants in Mckeesport, Pennsylvania: Did the Great American Dream Come True? (Journal of Historical Geography 2000 26(2): 239-272. ISBN 0305-7488)
- Barton; H. Arnold, A Folk Divided: Homeland Swedes and Swedish-Americans, 1840-1940. (1994) online edition
- Barton, H. Arnold. Emigrants Versus Immigrants: Contrasting Views (Swedish-American Historical Quarterly 2001 52(1): 3-13)
- Barton, H. Arnold. The Old Country and the New: Essays on Swedes and America (2007) ISBN 978-0-8093-2714-0
- Beijbom, Ulf. The Historiography of Swedish America (Swedish-American Historical Quarterly 31 (1980): 257-85)
- Beijbom, Ulf, ed. Swedes in America: Intercultural and Interethnic Perspectives on Contemporary Research. Växjö, Sweden: Emigrant-Inst. Väers Förlag, 1993. 224 pp.
- Benson, Adolph B. and Naboth Hedin, eds. Swedes in America, 1638-1938 (The Swedish American Tercentenary Association. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1938) ISBN 978-0838303269
- Blanck, Dag. Becoming Swedish-American: The Construction of an Ethnic Identity in the Augustana Synod, 1860-1917. (Uppsala, 1997)
- Björk, Ulf Jonas The Swedish-American Press as an Immigrant Institution (Swedish-American Historical Quarterly 2000 51(4): 268-282)
- Blanck, Dag. The Creation of an Ethnic Identity: Being Swedish American in the Augustana Synod, 1860-1917, (2007) 256 pp ISBN 978-0-8093-2715-7)
- Hale, Frederick. Swedes in Wisconsin. Wisconsin State Historical Society (1983). 72 pp.
- Hasselmo, Nils. Perspectives on Swedish Immigration (1978).
- Johnson, AmandusAmandus JohnsonAmandus Johnson was an American historian, author and founding curator of the American Swedish Historical Museum...
. The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware, 1638-1664 (Two Volumes. International Printing Company, Philadelphia. 1911-1927) - Kastrup, Allan. The Swedish Heritage in America (1975)
- Kvisto, P., and D. Blanck, eds. 1990. American Immigrants and Their Generations: Studies and Commentaries on the Hansen Thesis after Fifty Years. (University of Illinois Press).
- Lovoll, Odd S.Odd S. Lovoll-Background:Odd Sverre Lovoll was born in Sande, in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. He immigrated to the United States in 1946 and is a naturalized United States citizen. Lovoll received his education both in Norway and in the United States, passing university exams at the University of Bergen in 1961 and...
ed., Nordics in America: The Future of Their Past (Northfield, Minn., Norwegian American Historic Association. 1993) - Ljungmark, Lars. Swedish Exodus. (1996).
- Ljungmark, Lars. For Sale: Minnesota. Organized Promotion of Scandinavian Immigration, 1866-1873 (1971).
- Magocsi, Paul Robert. Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples (1999), pp 1218–33
- Nelson, Helge. The Swedes and the Swedish Settlements in North America 2 vols. (Lund, 1943)
- Nelson, Robert J. If We Could Only Come to America . . . A Story of Swedish Immigrants in the Midwest. (Sunflower U. Press, 2004)
- Norman, Hans, and Harald Runblom. Transatlantic Connections: Nordic Migration to the New World After 1800 (1988).
- Ostergren, R. C. 1988. A Community Transplanted: The Trans-Atlantic Experience of a Swedish Immigrant Settlement in the Upper Middle West, 1835-1915. (University of Wisconsin Press).
- Pearson, D. M. 1977. The Americanization of Carl Aaron Swensson. (Rock Island, Ill.: Augustana Historical Society)
- Pihlblad, C. T. 1932. The Kansas Swedes (Southwestern Social Science Quarterly. 13: 34-47)
- Runblom, Harald and Hans Norman. From Sweden to America: A History of the Migration (Uppsala and Minneapolis, 1976)
- Schnell, Steven M. Creating Narratives of Place and Identity in "Little Sweden, U.S.A." (The Geographical Review, Vol. 93, 2003)
- Stephenson, George M. The Religious Aspects of Swedish Immigration (1932).
- Swanson, Alan. Literature and the Immigrant Community: The Case of Arthur Landfors (Southern Illinois University Press, 1990)
- Thernstrom, Stephan, ed. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (1980) http://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Encyclopedia-American-Ethnic-Groups/dp/0674375122
- Vecoli, Rudolph J. "'Over the Years I Have Encountered the Hazards and Rewards that Await the Historian of Immigration,' George M. Stephenson and the Swedish American Community," Swedish American Historical Quarterly 51 (April 2000): 130-49.
- Whyman, Henry C. The Hedstroms and the Bethel Ship Saga: Methodist Influence on Swedish Religious Life. (1992). 183 pp. online edition
- Wittke, Carl. We Who Built America: The Saga of the Immigrant (1939), 552pp good older history pp 260–77 online edition
Primary sources
- Barton, H. Arnold, ed. Letters from the Promised Land: Swedes in America, 1840-1914. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press for the Swedish Pioneer Historical Society, 1975.)
- Lintelman, Joy K. ed. I Go to America: Swedish American Women and the Life of Mina Anderson (2009)
External links
- Swedish American Museum Center in Chicago
- Swedish American Museum in Swedesburg, Iowa
- Swedish Historic Society of Rockford, Illinois
- Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center
- Swedish Colonial Society
- Multicultural America Swedish Americans
- Swedish American Historic Society
- Swedish Council of America
- Svensk Hyllningsfest in Lindsborg, Kansas
- Swedish American Heritage Society of West Michigan
- Swedish Expat organization in New York and Los Angeles