Swedish Emigrant Institute facts for kids
The Swedish Emigrant Institute (in Swedish, Svenska Emigrantinstitutet) was a special place in Sweden. It was a research center and a museum. Its main goal was to keep important records and items about Swedes who moved to America. This helped people learn about the history of Swedish-American migration.
Contents
About the Institute
The Swedish Emigrant Institute started on September 11, 1965. You could find it in a building called the House of Emigrants (Utvandrarnas hus). This building is in a city called Växjö, which is in a part of Sweden called Småland.
The Institute's main job was to collect and keep track of all kinds of information about Swedish people moving away from Sweden. Inside, there was a Research Center, Archives, a Library, and Museums. All these parts focused on the time when many Swedes moved to North America. The Institute had a huge collection of history about emigration. This included old documents and books. It also helped people research their family history, supported studies, and held special events. They also created exhibits about people moving to and from Sweden.
A famous Swedish author named Vilhelm Moberg really supported the Institute. He gave them all the original notes and papers from his famous books, The Emigrant Series. These books tell the amazing story of Karl Oskar and Kristina. They were characters who moved from Småland to Chisago County, Minnesota. The Institute also has a special sculpture by Axel Olsson called The Emigrants. It shows the main characters from Moberg's novels.
What You Could See and Learn
The Institute had several interesting exhibits and areas to explore:
The Dream of America Exhibit
This part of the museum told the story of Swedes moving to America. It showed why so many people left Sweden between 1843 and 1930. It also explained what happened because of this big move.
The Moberg Room
This room was all about Vilhelm Moberg. It showed how he spent 12 years writing his famous emigrant novels. You could see Moberg's original handwritten stories, notes, photos, and other documents.
The Research Center and Archives
This area held many original documents. It also had microfilms, sound recordings, and photographs. There were thousands of documents here, including the special collection from Vilhelm Moberg.
The Library
The library at the Institute had the most complete collection of books in Sweden about emigration. It was a great place to learn more about the topic.
Important Collections
The Swedish Emigrant Institute had many important collections for people studying emigration. These included:
- Swedish church records from different towns.
- Lists of passengers who left Sweden on ships.
- Records from Swedish-American churches in America.
- Letters and diaries sent between America and Sweden.
- Passport records and census reports from different areas.
- Archives from Swedish organizations and clubs in America.
- Books, stories, and oral histories from Swedish communities in other countries.
