Steve's+Local+History+Project

=Home > Local History Project > Steve Vaughan=

Learning Activity 8-B-1: Local History Project
Add your final project here.

Learning Activity 3-D-2: Local Documents, Data, and Cartoons
These are some really interesting resources. I found the maps to be very interesting. It is interesting to see how areas change over long periods of time. Railroads running where highways do now and so on. Your sources are well explained and fit well with the project you proposed to do. Well done. This is a really good start in building your primary sources list. Chris

[]: This site compiles Swedish population statistics for the 19th century, showing the number of people who emmigrated away from Sweden each year. It is a valuable source showing how Swedish immigration to Northern Illlinois in the mid to late 19th century was part of a larger trend.

http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/npu_sahq&CISOPTR=3666&CISOBOX=1&REC=17: This is a digital copy of a diary written by a Swedish immigrant, detailing his experiences aboard a ship from England to New York, and from their his journey to Chicago. It provides a unique and unfiltered firsthand account of the difficulties immigrants experienced, especially with regard to the dangerous and unsanitary conditions on the crowded ships the immigrants used.

http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/npu_sahq&CISOPTR=3696&CISOBOX=1&REC=5: This is a digital copy of two letters written by immigrants to Northern Illinois's Swedish religious community at Bishop Hill. One of the letters was written by one who stayed at the colony, the other who left it to remain in Chicago. Both letters reflect the reasons for leaving Sweden, and provide some progagandistic information to others who remained in Sweden but may be considering emigration.

http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/php/newlong3.php: This is a digital compilation of census bureau statistics showing the number of Swedish-born residents of each county in Illinois beginning 1890 (when data on Swedish immigrants was first collected). This site illustrates the draw of Winnebago County compared to the rest of Illinois for immigrants from Sweden.

http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1870a-11.pdf: This is census bureau statistics for each county of Illinois showing the country of origin of foreign born residents. It shows 1700 Swedish born residents out of a total of 6700 foreign born. The Swedish influx was really just beginning.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/gmd:@FILREQ%28@OR%28@field%28TITLE+@od1%28Map+of+all+the+railroads+in+the+United+States+in+operation+and+progress+%29%29+@field%28ALTTITLE+@od1%28Map+of+all+the+railroads+in+the+United+States+in+operation+and+progress+%29%29%29+@FIELD%28COLLID+rrmap%29%29 The first map shown on this site is a railroad map of the eastern United States from 1854. It shows the rail lines available to immigrants who wished to travel west by train. you can click on the map and zoom in to Northern Illinois to get a usable perspective. The map confirms statements found in secondary sources that the earliest Swedish immigrants to Rockford and Winnebago County settled in the area because this was the end of the rail line heading northwest out of Chicago

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G2000_C04001&-mt_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G2000_C04007&-mt_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G2000_C05006&-CONTEXT=dt&-tree_id=3308&-geo_id=05000US17201&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en. Just added this source on 7/07 showing ancestry of people in Winnebago County based on US Census Bureau.

Learning Activity 5-D-1: Local Audio and Music
I have not been able to find 5 sources, but I have these which may be of use:

[] This is sheet music for a song about a Swedish immigrant girl who falls in love with a more worldly American farmer. This probably is a recurring theme in Swedish-American folk music.

[] This is sheet music for a patriotic song that extols the virtues of the United States compared to the countries in the Old World. Not specific to the Swedish, or Scandinavian, immigrant experience, but enlightening for the draw America held for immigrants from many different lands.

[] Swedish song lyrics, some with English translations, including two that deal with immigrants: “Barndomshemmet” and “Amerikabrevit”. Both of these songs go back to the turn of the 19th/20th century, and deal with Swedes in America. The first is sung by an old-timer who is thinking of the home he left behind in Sweden, the second is a letter written by a Swedish emigrant in America back to his lost love in Sweden, trying to convince her to join him. It is an interesting look at the lifestyle of a barely literate, but hard-working immigrant.// This offers more than one option. CK .//

If I had more time I could likely interview members of local Swedish-American fraternal organizations, of which there are several in town, or members of a local men's singing club. However, those organizations are not active in the summer. I have therefore stuck with finding online material.// This is a great idea. If you could find the time, I would do this. CK .//

Learning Activity 6-D-1: Local Video and Maps
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/10/us/20090310-immigration-explorer.html?exampleSessionId=1236781830615&exampleUserLabel=nytimes This is a compilation gathered by the New York Times that shows the relative population of foreign born residents in each major municipality where they settled. It is interactive, allowing you to select any census year from 1880 to 2000. It is really a secondary source put together by the NYT using primary source data from the census bureau.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/S?ammem/gmd:@FILREQ%28@OR%28@field%28TITLE+@od1%28Map+of+all+the+railroads+in+the+United+States+in+operation+and+progress+%29%29+@field%28ALTTITLE+@od1%28Map+of+all+the+railroads+in+the+United+States+in+operation+and+progress+%29%29%29+@FIELD%28COLLID+rrmap%29%29 This map site was listed above in activity 3-D-2, but it is more appropriate here. I have also added two add'l resources that are appropriate for activity 3-D-2 to make up for using the map resource here, one from the census bureau showing foreign born residents in Winnebago county in 1870, and another showing ancestry of current residents of the county.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl?data=/home/www/data/gmd/gmd370/g3701/g3701e/ct000244.jp2&itemLink=D?gmd:182:./temp/~ammem_6jvF::&title=Auswanderer-karte+und+wegweiser+nach+Nordamerika.&style=setlmap&legend= This is a German map of the primary immigrant routes in America in 1853. It shows the route early Swedish (and other) immigrants would have taken to Northern Illinois.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=setlmap&action=browse&fileName=gmd370m/g3701m/g3701gm/gct00009/ct_browse.db&recNum=72&itemLink=r?ammem/gmd:@filreq%28@field%28NUMBER+@band%28g3701gm+gct00009%29%29+@field%28COLLID+setlmap%29%29&linkText=0&title2=Scribner%27s%20statistical%20atlas%20of%20the%20United%20States,%20showing%20by%20graphic%20methods%20their%20present%20condition%20and%20their%20political,%20social%20and%20industrial%20development%20by%20Fletcher%20W.%20Hewes%20and%20Henry%20Gannett...&displayType=3&maxCols=3 This is from an atlas of the United States published in 1883. The pages linked above show the percentage of foreign born residents by county. The map shows how the immigrant population in Northern Illinois is part of a larger trend of foreign immigration throughout the upper Midwest. There is also a graph showing that Sweden accounts for more foreign born residents in Chicago than any other European country other than Ireland, Germany, and England (and the number of Swedes is almost as large as the number of English).

http://mystateline.com/fulltext-news?nxd_id=158335 This is a recent video that played on a local television program. It covers the re-introduction of a traditional Swedish game at the Midsommer festival held each year in Rockford. This video shows how the descendants of the Swedish immigrants are working to remember and honor their Swedish heritage.

Additional Notes and Resources
This week, your sources capture the heart of the outcomes for your final project. Thanks for sharing these along with you explanation of each. CK. [] This gives info on John Erlander, as well as a photo. He is one of the earliest Swedish immigrants to Rockford.

http://www.illinoisancestors.org/swedes/rkfdswedebiopage.html This site provides biographical info on many of Rockford's earliest Swedish immigrants and their families.

http://www.lib.niu.edu/2002/ihy020224.html This site from Northern Illinois University provides a brief history of the earliest Swedish immigration to Rockford, as well as a few pictures from that era.

http://www.genealogi.se/roots/ This site provides a series of letters written by a Swedish immigrant who came to Illinois and Iowa with his large family. The family experienced many tragedies that illustrate how difficult the immigrant experience could be.

http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/3608.html This site has a chart showing mortality rates and causes in Chicago during the early years of the city, including the period of the first Swedish immigration to Rockford. It confirms written information from immigrants and local histories that there was a cholera epidemic in Chicago, providing impetus for immigrants to leave Chicago for points west.

http://thewest.harpweek.com/ click on Illustrations on the top menu, scroll down to "Farms in Illinois" This is an add for settlement of lands in Illinois along the Illinois Central RR, an example of enticements that Swedish immigrants would have seen when considering where to settle.

This is an anti-emigration poster published in Sweden in 1869 to discourage emigration to America. It contrasts the vision of Utopia on the left, with harsh and dangerous reality on the right.