The Old Country and the New


Book Description

"In this collection are seventeen essays and seven editorials by Barton and published in leading journals between 1974 and 2005. The subjects include post-World War II Swedish immigration and remigration to Sweden. A full bibliography of Barton's publications on Swedish-American history and culture is included"--Provided by publisher




Immigrants in American History [4 volumes]


Book Description

This encyclopedia is a unique collection of entries covering the arrival, adaptation, and integration of immigrants into American culture from the 1500s to 2010. Few topics inspire such debate among American citizens as the issue of immigration in the United States. Yet, it is the steady influx of foreigners into America over 400 years that has shaped the social character of the United States, and has favorably positioned this country for globalization. Immigrants in American History: Arrival, Adaptation, and Integration is a chronological study of the migration of various ethnic groups to the United States from 1500 to the present day. This multivolume collection explores dozens of immigrant populations in America and delves into major topical issues affecting different groups across time periods. For example, the first author of the collection profiles African Americans as an example of the effects of involuntary migrations. A cross-disciplinary approach—derived from the contributions of leading scholars in the fields of history, sociology, cultural development, economics, political science, law, and cultural adaptation—introduces a comparative analysis of customs, beliefs, and character among groups, and provides insight into the impact of newcomers on American society and culture.




Your Swedish Roots


Book Description

Get a start on your Swedish family history with Your Swedish Roots, a step-by-step handbook to help guide you in researching your Swedish ancestors. First, learn general information about Sweden, Swedish naming practices, and the Swedish language. These basics will help you research names of ancestors and search through Swedish records with greater ease. Next, learn what Swedish records are available, where to find them, and how to use them. Swedish church records will be one of the most value to you, as they are very complete and well preserved. Finally, follow sample cases on particular Swedish families to learn helpful research steps for your own family history. As you learn about your Swedish ancestry, you will experience the rewarding feelings that come from seeking out and discovering your ancestors.




The Family Tree Scandinavian Genealogy Guide


Book Description

Trace your Swedish, Norwegian, or Danish ancestors! This convenient guide will help you discover your Northern European family history while optimizing your research time. Highlights include: • Strategies for identifying immigrant Scandinavian ancestors, plus how to trace them back to Europe from North America • Methods for locating Swedish genealogy records, Norwegian genealogy records, or Danish genealogy records within your family's town of origin • Detailed guides to finding and decoding common Scandinavian records, including: church records, civil registration records, census returns, property deeds, military records, and many more • Quick guides to Scandinavian history, geography, and language • Historical timelines, sample records, and resource lists that will bring your family history to life If your family tree includes Swedish roots, Danish roots, or Norwegian roots, The Family Tree Scandinavian Genealogy Guide is a must-have for your genealogy research.




Ireland, Sweden, and the Great European Migration, 1815-1914


Book Description

This book is the product of Donald Akenson's decades of research and writing on Irish social history and its relationship to the Irish diaspora - it is also the product of a lifetime of trying to figure out where Swedish-America actually came from, and why. These two matters, Akenson shows, are intimately related. Ireland and Sweden each provide a tight case study of a larger phenomenon, one that, for better or worse, shaped the modern world: the Great European Diaspora of the "true" nineteenth century. Akenson's book parts company with the great bulk of recent emigration research by employing sharp transnational comparisons and by situating the two case studies in the larger context of the Great European Migration and of what determines the physics of a diaspora: no small matter, as the concept of diaspora has become central to twenty-first-century transnational studies. He argues (against the increasing refusal of mainstream historians to use empirical databases) that the history community still has a lot to learn from economic historians; and, simultaneously, that (despite the self-confidence of their proponents) narrow, economically based explanations of the Great European Migration leave out many of the most important aspects of the whole complex transaction. Akenson believes that culture and economic matters both count, and that leaving either one on the margins of explanation yields no valid explanation at all.




The Family Tree Guidebook to Europe


Book Description

Your passport to European research! Chart your research course to find your European ancestors with the beginner-friendly, how-to instruction in this book. This one-of-a-kind collection provides invaluable information about more than 35 countries in a single source. Each of the 14 chapters is devoted to a specific country or region of Europe and includes all the essential records and resources for filling in your family tree. Inside you'll find: • Specific online and print resources including 700 websites. • Contact information for more than 100 archives and libraries. • Help finding relevant records. • Traditions and historical events that may affect your family's past. • Historical time lines and maps for each region and country. Tracing your European ancestors can be a challenging voyage. This book will start you on the right path to identifying your roots and following your ancestors' winding journey through history.







Swedish Exodus


Book Description

"America fever" gripped Sweden in the middle of the nineteenth century, seethed to a peak in 1910, when one-fifth of the world’s Swedes lived in America, cooled during World War I, and chilled to dead ash with the advent of the Great Depression in 1930. Swedish Exodus, the first English translation and revision of Lars Ljungmark’s Den Stora Utvandringen, recounts more than a century of Swedish emigration, concentrating on such questions as who came to America, how the character of the emigrants changed with each new wave of emigration, what these people did when they reached their adopted country, and how they gradually became Americanized. Ljungmark’s essential challenge was to capture in a factual account the broad sweep of emigration history. But often he narrows his focus to look closely at those who took part in this mass migration. Through historical records and personal letters, Ljungmark brings many of these people back to life. One young woman, for example, loved her parents, but loved America more: "I never expect to speak to you in this life. . . . Your loving daughter unto death." Like most immigrants, she never expected to return. Another immigrant wrote back seeking a wife: "I wonder how you have it and if you are living. . . . Are you married or unmarried? If you are unmarried, you can have a good home with me." Ljungmark also focuses closely on some of the leaders: Peter Cassel, a liberal temperance supporter and free-church leader whose community in America prospered; Hans Mattson, a colonel in the Civil War and founder of a colony in Minnesota; Erik Jansson, a book burner, self-proclaimed messiah, and founder of the Bishop Hill Colony; Gustaf Unonius, a student idealist and founder of a Wisconsin colony that faltered. The story of Swedish immigrants in the United States is the story in miniature of the greatest mass migration in human history, that of thirty-five million Europeans who left their homes to come to America. It is a human story of interest not only to Swedes but to everyone.




Letters from the Promised Land


Book Description

Swedish immigrants tell their own stories in this collection of letters, diaries, and memoirs--a perfect book for those interested in history, immigration, or just the daily lives of early Swedish-American settlers.