NEWSLETTER # 10 DECEMBER 2004

THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Following a summer of re-organization and re-grouping, the new SRIO Board soon gained momentum with several new and exciting projects. Plans were made for the realization of our new website, members traveled to the annual Swedish Council of America meeting to represent SRIO and to gather all kinds of useful information, and an exciting manuscript discovery was made in Washington state.

I also want to express my congratulations to Laurel Peterson, who was elected to the vacant Vice President position at the SRIO August meeting.

As we approach the Christmas season, SRIO has made plans to attend the annual ScanFair Festival at Portland State University, and we hope that you will stop by our table and take a look at our publications.

SRIO WEBSITE

As all of you regular internet users know, Swedish Roots in Oregon had for years been provided a temporary space on former Board member Bertil Sundvall’s personal website. Following his resignation earlier this year, there was an impetus to take the leap SRIO had often discussed: the creation of its own website.

SRIO approached Swedish software development manager Herje Wikegård, who volunteered to design the new website. After a couple of preliminary meetings this summer, Herje registered our domain name, found a suitable web host, assembled the basic elements -- and in September SRIO “went live” on the internet. A very exciting moment for all of us!

The current SRIO website is far from complete. At this point one could say that the house has been built, but that many of the rooms still lack furniture. Over time, you will see many exciting additions, so make sure that you visit us regularly at:

www.swedishrootsinoregon.org

SWEDISH COUNCIL OF AMERICA

Barry and Laurel Peterson represented SRIO this August at the annual meeting of the Swedish Council of America, held in St. Paul, Minnesota. It provided an excellent opportunity to learn about Swedish heritage organization operations and issues in the USA. Sessions on outreach, organization, fundraising and programs were helpful, and much was gleaned from those discussions. We find that SRIO is rather unique as a Swedish organization, as it is oriented toward research and publishing activities. We do share some common goals, interests and issues with other groups represented.

EXCITING DISCOVERY

Two years ago, when Lars Nordström visited Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, to research the Samuel Magnus Hill archive, he discovered that several documents referred to by earlier scholars were missing, among them Hill’s unpublished memoir. This summer, after having corresponded with a number of Hill’s descendants, Elizabeth Askey, while visiting her sister in Aberdeen, WA, unearthed a box containing all the missing material, as well as many other previously unknown documents and photographs. This is a very important discovery and SRIO hopes that it will be able to make the publication of some of this material possible. The newly discovered material will be donated and added to the Hill archive at Augustana College.

PUBLICATIONS

Swedish Roots in Oregon has learned about a book published in Sweden a few years ago, entitled Från Halland till Amerika: livsöden under tre generationer [From the province of Halland to America: The life stories of three generations], written by Sven Petterson. One of these stories deals with a man from Halland who came to Oregon at the turn of the previous century, worked in the woods as a logger, but eventually returned to Sweden to buy himself a farm. This book demonstrates that not all emigrants stayed in America, and that some 15% actually migrated back to Sweden. We hope that this interesting story will one day lead to a new publication.

So far SRIO has published 6 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.

OUTREACH

In SRIO’s ongoing efforts to share the history of the Swedes of Oregon, Lars Nordström recently gave a talk to the congregation of the First Immanuel Lutheran Church in NW Portland. Lars talked about the history of the SRIO project and the plans for a book on the Swedish experience in the state of Oregon.

If you belong to a group or organization that would like to discuss the possibility of scheduling 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.

DONATIONS

We realize that, at this time of year, many people and organizations look at distributions and donations of funds to worthy organizations. SRIO is an IRS approved 501 corporation and is also incorporated in Oregon as a not-for-profit corporation, so gifts to SRIO are fully tax-deductible.

We need your support to carry out our work, and appreciate your consideration of gifts.

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? Would you like to know more?

If so, we would love to hear from you.

SWEDISH ROOTS IN OREGON

An Immigration Research Project

8740 SW Oleson Rd

Portland, OR 97223