Our newest publication is now available!
Migration, Modernity, and Meaning celebrates the work and legacy of longtime board member and Swedish scholar of North American stuides Dag Blanck. Assembled by editors on both sides of the Atlantic and including 46 articles by 49 contributors, this book is the culmination of a year of top-secret Society work and fundraising.
Swedish-American Historical Society
Our Mission
The Swedish–American Historical Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1948, with the mission of recording and interpreting the Swedish presence in America. The society is devoted to the mission of studying the Swedish emigration, its history and culture of the Swedes in North America through research, publications, programs and archives.
In 1983, the Board of Directors approved a change in the organization's name to the Swedish–American Historical Society. By then it had moved well beyond a focus on just the "pioneer" period and serves to promote interest in the entire Swedish presence in America, from the first settlers on the Delaware in 1638 to the present day.
Our History
The Swedish–American Historical Society grew out of the national 1948 Swedish Pioneer Centennial celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Swedish immigrants in the Midwest. In Chicago, 18,000 people filled the stadium on June 4th to hear President Truman, Prince Bertil of Sweden, Carl Sandburg, and representatives from many Swedish–American organizations. Four months later, on October 15, 1948, the leaders of the centennial celebration met in Chicago and formed the Society, originally called the Swedish Pioneer Historical Society.
Join the Swedish-American Historical Society!
2024 was incredible year of change for the Swedish-American Historical Society. With a fresh new look, interesting events featuring scholars Jennifer Attebery and Julia Bachrach, and the debut of our reimagined publications, Swedish-American Studies and Glimtar, your support helps us continue our mission to record and interpret the Swedish presence in America.
Join SAHS in 2025 to continue to experience these exciting changes!
Philip J. Anderson Endowment
Our Fall 2023 meeting, which took place on October 20th and 21st, celebrated the Society's rich history since its founding in 1948. At that time, the Society announced a bold new fundraising campaign to honor our past and sustain our future. The campaign, which seeks to fund a publications endowment in honor of longtime Society President and North Park University professor emeritus Philip J. Anderson, is now well under way. Consider a contribution to this historic endowment and preserve the future of Swedish American publications for both an academic and non-academic audience!
Recent Blog Posts
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Past Sandburg Medal Award Winners
October 29, 2025
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Membership Changes Are Here
October 17, 2025
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Longtime Society Board Member Receives Prestigious Award
July 30, 2025
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New Publications News At SAHS
September 12, 2024
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Fall Lecture October 5th with Julia Bachrach
July 10, 2024
Newsletter
Or, Contact Us at 773 583 5722
Swedish–American Historical Society Books

Clio’s Abode in Swedish America: Essays from the Journal of the Swedish-American Historical Society
Clio’s Abode in Swedish America consists of twenty-five articles previously published in the Swedish-American Historical Quarterly or its predecessor, the Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly. Intended to help celebrate the Society’s 75th anniversary, as well as to commemorate the transition of the Quarterly to an annual publication, the volume highlights some of the finest articles in the Quarterly’s history that also help illuminate the dynamic field of scholarship during that period. This volume was edited by Quarterly editor Mark Safstrom, former editors Byron Nordstrom and Kevin Proescholdt, and Philip Anderson, president and chair of the publications committee. Mark and the Society’s production editor, Sandy Nelson, designed and shepherded the book to publication.
With hundreds of articles over seventy-four years from which to choose, the task of selecting just twenty-five for the new book was daunting. The editors decided that an author could have only one article in the new book, even though, as in the case of former Quarterly editor H. Arnold Barton, some authors have written numerous articles through the years. The editors also selected ten topical areas into which the twenty-five articles fit: Society History, Immigration History and Trends, Culture, Language and Literature, Local and Regional History, Biography and Family History, Women, Religious History, Interethnic relations, and Identity. The volume concludes with a list of the books published or supported by the Society since 1950. This is the first anthology of Quarterly articles since 1979, when H. Arnold Barton edited the volume Clipper Ship and Covered Wagon: Essays from the Swedish Pioneer Historical Quarterly (Arno Press). None of the eighteen articles from Clipper Ship and Covered Wagon are included in the new volume, a further indication of the rich trove of excellent articles that have appeared in the Quarterly over the years.

Swedish-American Borderlands: New Histories of Transatlantic Relations
Studies of Swedish American history and identity have largely been confined to separate disciplines, such as history, literature, or politics. Swedish–American Borderlands, edited by Dag Blanck and Adam Hjorthén, explores an exciting new avenue in Swedish-American and migration history, namely “borderland studies,” which includes a pathbreaking cross-disciplinary examination of the countless aspects of historical and cultural relations between the two countries. The volume brings together scholars from a wide range of disciplines within the humanities and social sciences to investigate multiple transcultural exchanges between Sweden and the United States, featuring specific case studies of topics including jazz, architecture, design, and genealogy.

Donation to The Philip J. Anderson Publications Endowment
The Swedish-American Historical Society seeks to raise at least $250,000 in additional funding to create the Philip J. Anderson Publications Endowment, building on the amount already pledged toward this goal. Income from the endowment will be used to supplement the … Read More

Make a Donation
The Swedish–American Historical Society appreciates your generous donations. We now offer you the convenience of donating to the Society using our secure online service. Please consider making a donation today. In 2023, the Society launched a bold new fundraising campaign … Read More

Membership & Subscriptions
Membership Benefits A membership in the Swedish–American Historical Society means that you can learn about the immigration experience through the experiences of Swedish–Americans. When you become a member of the Society, you join the ranks of loyal and dedicated members … Read More

