Sponsored by the Lind Family and Created in Collaboration with the DePaul History 391 Class of Spring 2020

In The Lind Room on the Museum's second floor, the Andersonville Through the Ages exhibit showcases how Andersonville became and remained an area rich in Swedish heritage. It illustrates how Andersonville has evolved over the years to incorporate contemporary tastes and hold new community celebrations, all the while holding onto its Swedish character.     

An Ocean Apart: Swedish Immigrant Letters

By the Swedish American Museum

Sponsored by the Swedish Council of America

More than one million Swedes left their homeland between 1850 and 1930. Though they left their home country behind for opportunities abroad, many continued to keep close ties to their family and friends back in Sweden. Often these ties took the form of personal letters written to and from Sweden between parents, children, friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles all separated by an ocean, but still able to share their lives with one another. Few historical texts are as interesting and compelling as personal letters. They offer an insight into the lives of early 20th century Swedish immigrants and reveal how they shared many of the same kinds of hopes, interests and even humor that we have today. The letters also give us a look into the past from personal and individual points of view. 

These personal accounts detail the lives of those on both sides of immigration including those who left and those who remained in Sweden. Many of the letters in collection of the Swedish American Museum were written to the immigrants here in the U.S. from friends and family back in Sweden. The letters are a peek into the lives of their writers and receivers from how the crops were doing that year to news about marriages, births and—of course—who else was beginning to feel the pull of “America Fever.” This exhibition contains a selection of stories pulled from the hundreds of letters in the collection of the Swedish American Museum. Discover the world of Swedish immigrants to the United States Midwest, as told by those who lived it.

Exhibition Materials:
•    5 retractable banners 
•    34” (W) x 7’ (L)

If you are interested, please contact Sarah Hawkinson, Curator, at shawkinson@samac.org