In this book, contributions from twenty-four leading scholars in both the United States and Sweden investigate various facets of Swedish life and culture in the Twin Cities. For these immigrants, many of whom had been farmers in the old country, the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul were truly an urban frontier.
During the era of Swedish mass emigration to the United States--about 1.3 million Swedes arrived between 1850 and 1930--more members of this group made their homes in Minnesota than in any other state. By 1910 Swedes were the largest ethnic group in Minneapolis, claiming a quarter of the city's residents, and the second largest in St. Paul. As newcomers to this urban landscape, Swedish immigrants managed to leave their mark--in politics and in business, in religion and in art--even as they assimilated to the urban American culture in which they lived and worked.
The first-ever collection of essays on the subject, SWEDES IN THE TWIN CITIES enhances our understanding of the immigrant experience in Minneapolis and St. Paul while also making an important contribution to the broader history of Swedish immigration to the United States.
