The Emigrants

This is a short post about Swedish emigration and the Swedish Author, Vilhelm Moberg, who inspired the name of this blog.
In the fifties and early sixties he wrote four novels describing the lives and adventures of a Swedish family emigrating from Sweden to the US in the mid 19 th century.

The Emigrants (1951), ”Utvandrarna”
Unto a Good Land (1954), ”Invandrarna” (litt. The Immigrants)
The Settlers (1961), ”Nybyggarna”
The Last Letter Home (1961), ”Sista brevet till Sverige” (litt. The Last Letter To Sweden)

Those were harsh days in Sweden, then a poor country. Starvation, hopes for a better future and a sense of adventure drove the Swedes across the Atlantic.

Here is a map of the distribution of Swedish-Americans in the US.

I have distant relatives somewhere here in the US, and there are a number of fellow students, and alumni, from my university living in the area. And then there is of course the Young Scandinavians Club :) which has been serving me as an extended family lately.

I feel like I could settle pretty much anywhere though, as long as there is work and fun people.
The world is my friggin' Oyster!

Some notable Swedish-Americans (wikipedia): Greta Garbo, Uma Thurman, Buzz Aldrin, Harry Nyquist, John Ericsson, Charles Lindbergh

Robert