What has been done
Welcome to my second Newsletter, and many thanks tor joining me on this five-year journey to research and write a comprehensive history of Swedes in Canada!
What is a Swede, you ask? For the purposes of this project, a Swede is a person who came from Sweden or who is descended from at least one person who emigrated from Sweden.
What has been done so far?
A great deal of information has been gathered in the past two years, so much that it now measures 24 linear feet (7 meters), the length of a large room. This amount has grown since my recent research trip to Illinois, and will increase even more when I return from Sweden at the end of June. Then comes the huge task of organizing the material so that it is retrievable when I begin to write the history in 2005.
Clerical help is now essential in order that the project can continue on schedule. The target of $25,000 for the research phase has been met, and now a second appeal is being made to raise additional funding for the organizing phase, that is to pay the person hired to help me organize the research material.
I wish to thank the people who have sent information so far, and to give assurance that the project will accept further information for one more year, that is until the spring of 2005.
How can you help - Catch the vision!
Spread the word among family and friends.
- Send information about your family - family histories, letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper clippings, photographs, a printed family tree, genealogical information about an immigrant and hisJher parents and children. I am also interested in knowing whether your family has ties with the old country, and how you feel about your Swedish heritage.
- Send copies of printed information about the Swedes in your community, Swedes you have known, or articles about Swedes. I have no other way to find out about Swedes who have contributed significantly to Canada, for example, community leaders, federal and provincial politicians, inventors, authors, visual artists, musicians, actors, not to mention people involved in finance, communications, and business. I am also interested in hearing about those colourful individuals who left a mark in their own communities with their humour, music, storytelling, feats of strength, or other ways.
- Loan or donate books about Swedes, or Swedish organizations. Query first in case the book is already on my bookshelf.
- Volunteer to read newspapers on microfilm, in Swedish or English. Your library can bring these in on interlibrary loan, as long as you have access to a microfilm reader.
- Volunteer to translate correspondence and articles from Swedish to English.
- Fill out our questionnaire, if you came to Canada after 1945.
SWEDES IN CANADA PROJECT
to research and write a comprehensive history of Swedes in Canada
If you came to Canada after 1945, your help is vital!
Hardly any research material is available for Swedes who came to Canada after 1945, yet this group and their activities need to be included in the forthcoming history book. The following questions have been designed as a survey, not to profile individuals but to gather information about them as a group: why they came, what they did to earn a living, how they adapted, etc.
Click here to fill out the questionnaireJohn Edlund, inventor
The arresting photo to the right caught my eye at Glenbow archives in Calgary. I found it in the April 1,1993 issue of The Western Producer, with the heading "Why is this man wearing his suitcase? Hint: he's not making a fashion statement". The suit was actually a waterproof life-preserver for people crossing the Atlantic by ship, its invention inspired by the 1912 Titanic disaster. The suit folded into a suitcase, which passengers could rent and keep in their stateroom during the voyage. The inventor, John Edlund, had immigrated with his wife and children in 1904 to join his parents and other family members in Claresholm, Alberta. Among his other inventions was an adjustable fly screen, a portable lawn table, an improved water faucet, and anti-glare lenses for headlights.
John Elund, Inventor
Tribute to Bertil Nystrom
Bertil was a retired teacher who kindly offered to help improve my Swedish language skills by e-mail, from his home in Halmstad, Sweden. During the course of our correspondence he not only improved my Swedish a great deal, but also taught me more about Sweden than I have been able to learn from books. An active genealogist, he also helped with genealogical questions that cropped up from time to time. I am sad to say that Bertil passed away on January 20,2004. He was a good friend and I miss him. My deepest sympathy to his family.
Portrait of Bertil
Archives in Illinois
Augustana Lutheran church and the Vasa Order of America, with head offices in the United States, are two important organizations for Swedes in Canada. Fortunately the archives for both are in Illinois, about an hour's drive apart. Vasa Archives is located in Bishop Hill, a Swedish colony founded in 1847, which has been designated as a national historic site because of the wealth of original buildings still in existence. The architecture of the archives, established in 1974, was designed so that it would blend in with the existing buildings. The couple in charge, Lillemor and Richard Horngren, anticipated every need so that my stay was both pleasant and fruitful, even to the point of attending a regular Vasa meeting!
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, the largest Swedish research institution on the continent, is located on the campus of Augustana College, in Rock Island. Of special interest to me were the records of Canadian churches and newspapers on microfilm, as well as the very large library of books and periodicals in both Swedish and English. Christina Johansson, left, takes care of research requests, while Anne Jenner and Jill Seaholm, right, handle genealogical queries. All three treated me very well. In addition Christina arranged that a student from Sweden, Ida Hallin, should assist by reading missionary correspondence from the 1890s and picking out those letters that pertained to Canada.
Swenson Center
In Closing
Travel plans for spring 2004
In the next newsletter I will tell you about my research trip to Sweden.
Vasa Archives
You have been great!
Many thanks to all those who wrote to comment on the first newsletter, and to offer suggestions. Your feedback means a lot. For one thing, it tells me what you would like to hear about, so keep it coming!
Thought for April
Spring is just around the corner, and soon it will be time for Midsummer celebrations with all their joyful music and beautiful flowers and greenery. A truly lovely tradition for young and old alike.