Chicago Was The Second Largest Swedish City
HISTORY Swedish Americans Didn't Arrive To A Land Of Milk And Honey.
Eighty-one episodes have so far been broadcasted of All For Sweden (Allt för Sverige). In every season of the SVT series, ten Swedish-Americans get to know their country of heritage as well as their own family background.
The popularity of the series isn’t only about the audience’s love for the presenter Anders Lundin, who used to run the TV4 reality series Robinson and will now go back to his old job. The All For Sweden theme also connects to something deeply rooted the family history of many of its viewers.
During the half century between 1870 and 1920, more than a million Swedes emigrated to the Americas, almost all of them to the US. As with many migrations then and now, there were “push” and “pull” factors.
Late 19th century Sweden was one of Europe’s poorest countries. It was also deeply authoritarian, with state power concentrated to the royal family, nobility and some upcoming business owners. Civil liberties such as freedom of organisation or of worship were practically non-existent.
The poverty and backwardness of the Swedish society of the day, combined with the promise of land and liberty across the ocean, made tens of thousands spend their fortunes on a ticket to America every year.
Life over there wasn’t always a land of milk and honey, though. Approximately 20 percent of emigrants eventually moved back, despite the huge costs involved at that time.
For many Swedes today, the perspectives of the great emigration is deeply influenced by the author Vilhelm Moberg’s novels The Emigrants (Utvandrarna). The story centers around Karl Oskar and Kristina, who leave a Småland ridden by famine and religious intolerance and settle a new home in Minnesota.
When writing the books, Moberg was himself an emigrant, living in California. During his reasearch, he stayed in the Chisago Lakes area in Minnesota for half a year.
His stay has since in itself become a part of the area’s heritage. In Lindstrom, MN, the town square is dominated by a statue of the main characters of the books and the city holds a yearly celebration of Karl Oskar Day. In nearby Chisago City, there is a statue of the author on a bike.
Moberg’s story is well told, and keeps catching the imagination of new generations. Not least since the new film, focusing on Kristina’s story rather than Karl Oskar’s, was released in 2021.
But there are many more images of the great migration of Swedes to the US. In Swede Hollow Ola Larsmo tells the story of the Swedes living in a now deserted ravine in St Paul, MN, by the turn of the century.
The day laborers of the hollow, living in unsanitary shacks rife with disease, is another image of the Swedish migrant experience than Moberg’s self made man by the frontier. But it’s probably just as true a picture.
Most Swedes who came to America were city dwellers, arriving to and staying in cities. For a while, Chicago had the second-largest Swedish population of the world. Only Stockholm had more Swedish inhabitants than Chicago.
Today, other great migrations dominate the news. Since World War II, Sweden has transformed from being a country people move from to a country people move to.
Just like when the Swedes arrived in America, integration in a new country isn’t always that easy. And just like in American history, the people who already live in the place aren’t always that happy with their new neighbours.
But that’s another story.
What’s your story? Does migration play a role in your life, and the search of roots? You’re welcome to tell your story in the comments below!