NEWSLETTER # 11     JUNE 2005

THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

 

It has been an exciting spring for SRIO. Our Secretary, Barry Peterson, has worked on improving the old, inadequate By-laws, and was able to present the Board of Directors with a new and comprehensive revision of the old text. These new By-laws eliminate any ambiguity regarding the responsibilities and procedures for the SRIO Board of Directors, and they provide clear rules for the operation of the organization. Tack så mycket, Barry!

This spring has also seen a flurry of activity in the new publications department. SRIO has recently published its seventh booklet, a diary kept by S.M. Hill on his emigration to America in 1868, and we are currently working on two more. The goal of SRIO, to publish a full-length book on the Swedish experience in the state of Oregon, has come several steps closer to realization!

SRIO is also planning an extensive addition to our website, which we think our visitors will find interesting and useful. Read more about it below!

Trevlig sommar!

 

WEBSITE

 SRIO webmaster Herje Wikegård has now caught up with the backlog of material for our website, and has started planning the new layout of the publications page. The first addition will be Britt-Mari Lord’s English translations of Ernst Skarstedt’s cameo biographies of prominent Swedes from his 1911 book Oregon och Dess Svenska befolkning. This will become a great resource, not only for genealogists in the United States and Sweden, but for anyone interested in reading fascinating immigrant stories from a hundred years ago. SRIO sees this as an inexpensive and creative solution to making this hard-to-find material available to the public.

We are, of course, delighted about these coming additions, and hope that you will visit us regularly at:

www.swedishrootsinoregon.org

  

PUBLICATIONS

 

Swedish Roots in Oregon has recently published a translation of the newly discovered diary kept by S.M. Hill on his family’s emigration in 1868. Even though it does not deal with life in Oregon, it is a remarkable document describing many of the tribulations that the early emigrants had to endure on their way to a new life in the United States.

Swedish scholar Victoria Owenius at Lewis & Clark College has just finished an excellent study of the Swedish language newspaper Oregon Posten, published in Portland between 1908 – 1936. This is the first in-depth study of Oregon Posten, and it explores several fascinating aspects of an ethnic newspaper: how it built a community among its readers, helped its readers to maintain their cultural identity and offered support when immigrants faced hardships in the USA. We are very exited that the story of Oregon Posten will be the next SRIO publication.

In addition, work is also underway to publish a substantial excerpt from the journal of Anton Swanson, Trapped in America. This journal describes the personal fate of a man who was “trapped” in Oregon by sickness, unable to return to Sweden. A very moving document that reveals how difficult an immigrant life could be when bad luck struck.

So far, SRIO has published 7 booklets on the Swedish experience in the state of Oregon, and they all belong on the “Required Reading List” of anyone interested in the Swedish history of the state. All are available from Swedish Roots at the nominal cost of $2 per copy. Please check our website for details.

 

ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

 

An important part of SRIO’s mission has been to build an oral history archive of Swedish immigrants to Oregon. We are aware of numerous interviews, but a lack of time and resources has forced us to focus on other projects. We were therefore delighted when Suzanne Nelson of Portland contacted us about an oral history project she had done of a relative, and offered to donate a copy to our archive. It is a very interesting story about a 1921 emigration from Värmland. Tack så mycket!

            If you have an oral history project to share with us, please get in touch.

 

OUTREACH

 Lars Nordström recently visited Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle to talk about the life and writings of Swedish Nobel Prize winning author Harry Martinson. As the readers of the SRIO publication series know, the author’s mother immigrated to Oregon in 1911, where she lived until her death in 1946. Lars also talked briefly about the work of SRIO, and hoped that a similar effort would one day get underway in our “sister state.”

The Nordic Heritage Museum contains many interesting exhibits, both of traditional Swedish occupations in the Pacific Northwest, such as logging and fishing, as well as of modern Scandinavian art. Please support them by visiting and becoming a member!

If you belong to a group or organization that would like to schedule a Swedish Roots in Oregon presentation, please contact Lars Nordström for further details. You can reach him either through the new SRIO website, or at the new mailing address below. SRIO offers these talks for free.

 INTERESTED IN JOINING SRIO? 

Are you interested in the Swedish history of the state of Oregon? Would you like to be part of a small, friendly and dedicated research group? Would you be able to attend meetings about once a month in the Portland metropolitan area?

If so, we would love to hear from you