Early History

Emigrantregistret/Kinship Center in Karlstad has been in operation over 40 years. It was founded in 1960 and as such was the first organisation of its kind in Sweden. Its founding was, however, preceded by a number of events. An interest in Swedish-America has always been apparent as a natural part of family bonds. On numerous occasions special jubilations were held to celebrate the connection between Sweden and America, known as the Sweden-America Days. In Värmland, there was an ambition to do something more. As a first step, a project called The Värmland Gift was started. This was, in essence, a collection of gifts from all municipalities in the county of Värmland to the Swedes in America. The gifts were of very varying nature, and each gift was something typical of the area from which it was donated. In itself, it becomes a historical reflection of Värmland's countryside life and its events. The gift was given to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis in June 1952, where it remains today, and was commemorated by a substantial cultural visit in 2002.

The next significant event in the contact between the two countries occurred a year later. The Värmland Gift triggered the idea of raising a memorial monument in Värmland as a reminder of the American emigration of over a hundred thousand Värmland inhabitants. This thought was expanded to include the kin who since long had come from Finland to settle in Sweden. The Landmark monument that was raised in Rottneros consisted of a gigantic map of Värmland, cut in stone. The map was crowned by an eagle. Its base plate has the following inscription:“A symbol of the bonds between Kinsmen in the West and in the East.”

The founding of Kinship Center

During the years 1957 and 1959, there was much discussion on how to strengthen the bonds between Sweden and descendants in America. In February of 1960, Kinship Center was founded after a conference in Karlstad, attended by representatives from all the primary municipalities in Värmland, as well as other interested parties. Kinship Center's original objective was to strengthen the connection between the Swedish communities in America in order establish means of contact between the and fourth generation descendants and Sweden. The main task at hand was to register the emigrants to America, and complete family investigations for them, so as to shed light on their situation in America. During the work with the aforementioned registrations and investigations another ambition was born. To connect the research with the Universities in Lund and Uppsala, to create something that would from the University's point of view be regarded as a reliable source for material. Over time, Kinship Center has become a bank used for emigrant research on all levels for researchers from both Scandinavia and America. Today, there is also a connection with the University in Karlstad.

Work assignments

The first work task that Kinship Center undertook was that of compiling a record of all the Swedes who had emigrated to America. In addition to an alphabetical register, chronological emigrant listings are made for each parish. Department- and household clerical records form the core of this work. The Royal Library's collection of Swedish-American papers has been browsed for information, and notes on emigration have been excerpted. In recent years Kinship Center has commenced and in part implemented a digitalisation of its current archive. The computerisation of the passenger listings of the Swedish emigration ports was released on a CD a few years ago, received a lot of attention from those involved, in both Sweden and America. The project itself is a co-operative effort Kinship Center, The Emigrant Institute in Växjö, and Göteborgsemigranten.

As a minor survey, Kinship Center co-operated with the department for American History at the historical institution in Uppsala to conduct and present Värmlandsundersökningen. The work consisted of gathering information from the resources that can give detailed accounts on the emigration using the spoken-word tradition as their resource. The institution has over time built up a very significant person-archive. Letters, photographs and agent material has been put in a reference register for easy accessibility. Names and items are registered here. In Kinship Center's time, numerous conferences concerning emigration and migration have been held. The work with professor Sten Carlsson and the Univesities in Lund and Oslo in this context has been most valuable. In America Kinship Center has an excellent relationship with Swedish-organisations throughout the entire continent. Kinship Center has from the very beginning emphasised the double purpose of its activity. Gathering of material concerning the emigration work migration constitutes one part. The other part is to strengthen bonds between relations on both sides of the Atlantic. This also ensures that the material in America about the emigration from Sweden, as well as the interest in Sweden, is well preserved.

The magazine

To help this interest further the Swedish American Center releases a quarterly magazine Sverige&Amerika and its English language equivalent Sweden&America. The magazine seeks to encourage emigration from both sides of the Atlantic. It also provides good insight into Swedish research advancements. You can also find information on events and activities of various Swedish-American organisations. The magazine is recommended to anyone with an interest in emigrant research.

Slideshow

As a means of spreading information and knowledge about Swedish American Center in an accessible manner, a slideshow aptly named “Sweden & America” has been created, showing Sweden's contacts with America through time. The slideshow has sparked a great interest in both Sweden and America. Many involved institutions have seen this show, as have many schools and study circles. Stimulated by the success with emigrant slideshow, Swedish American Center has created another one, portraying our perhaps best-known emigrant, John Ericsson, who emigrated in 1826. He may not be a typical emigrant, but just like the common emigrant he had to fight long and hard for success. He was often homesick; a feeling shared by most emigrants.

Sweden-America Days

Värmland celebrates the Sweden-America bonds annually, with festivities named after the inventor from Långbanshyttan, on the John Ericsson Day.

The Future

This brief presentation of our plans and activities is to show you that Swedish American Center is a very active institution with great plans for the future. One may believed that work is finished once work with our various records have been completed, and the modern technique has made it all the easier for to search relations on both sides of the Atlantic. This is oh so wrong! Now is when the real work starts, the work of uniting contacts between possibly the fourth and fifth generation of the emigrants. These assignments are truly active and alive.

Swedish American Center's committee, through

Erik Gustavson