This essay is based on my recent visit to The Swedish American Museum located in the Andersonville community at 5211 S. Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois. In the 1850s the area was considered to be north of Foster and east of Clark was a large cherry orchard, and families had only begun to move into the fringes of what is now Andersonville. Swedish immigrants continued to arrive in Andersonville throughout the beginning of the 20th century. The Swedish American Museum was founded in 1976, by Kurt Mathiasson, as a grassroots effort to preserve and disseminate the history of the great contributions of early Swedish immigrants to Chicago.
First of all, I observed a rich cultural museum that has gained national acclaim as a model urban museum. It is filled with unique and valued artifacts, exhibits, and historic information that relates to the Swedish Immigration to Chicago. There was a replica of a Swedish log cabin exhibit from Valmasen, Harjedalen near the Norwegian border. There was a mannequin in the log cabin that represented Stina Olofsdotter, mother of Anders Larson and his family, who immigrated to America in 1868. This type of journey could take up to a couple of months depending on the conditions at sea. The log cabin also had cabinet that held many beautiful types of linen. I noticed the white candle wicked bedspread with crocheted edging on the sides. The cotton apron on the straight-back wooden chair has a crocheted trim. The wooden objects in the cabin include a candleholder, wood canister with a cover, and homemade wooden rake. The art of bending, coopering, and shaping wooden objects was highly developed in the 19th century Sweden, and formed the basis for a cottage industry. Across from the log cabin are the lar...
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...al singing. The Chicago Swedish male Chorus continues today and practices in here at Swedish American Museum.
Today, Andersonville is comprised almost entirely of unique, locally owned, independent businesses. By visiting the Swedish Museum my personal perception has been enhanced by learning Swedes culture, values, and beliefs. I am no longer ignorant to the facts about another culture that immigrated to Chicago. I plan on sharing this information with my friends and family in hopes of enriching them with the knowledge I’ve learned by writing this paper. I have no questions to ask. I have included a folder of pictures that I hope you will enjoy that showcase my trip to the Swedish American Museum. Andersonville remains one of the most concentrated areas of Swedish heritage in the United States, but its residents and businesses represent a wide array of cultures.
For the Kracha family, a slow rise to proud business ownership was ended by a series of events: (1) a summer of drunken abandon by Djuro; (2) his return to the steel mills (3) his daughter's (Mary) marriage to a fellow countryman also in the mills; and (4) his grandson's growing discontent with unfair labor practices and abuses. These events in the Kracha family's lives become intertwined with the story of America's own transformation between the 1880s and the 1940s. At the time that this family arrived in the United States, a new wave of Eastern European immigration - spurred by growing industrialization and the advances in technology leading to the establishment of steel mills and other manufacturing and raw material processing factories and plants - was reshaping the American labor force. Djuro's experiences, and those of his son-in-law, Mike Dobrejcak, reflect a certain level of hostility towards these Eastern and Central Europeans from "mainstream" Americans and earlier, more acculturated groups of immigrants including the Irish.... ... middle of paper ...
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-present. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. Print.
Many people think that Christopher Columbus was the first European to set foot in America, but this conventional belief is wrong; Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer set foot in Newfoundland almost 500 years before Columbus was even born. This paper will cover everything about Leif Erikson’s life including his grandfather’s banishment from Norway, and Leif’s father’s exile from Iceland. Leif Erikson’s early life, his family, and his visit to Norway to serve under the king. The first recorded European to see North America, Bjarni Herjólfsson, and Leif Erikson’s voyage to America. This paper is also going to talk about Leif Erikson’s brother, Thorvald Erikson’s voyage to Vinland because his tale is interesting. Near the end of this research paper, it will have a paragraph on Leif Erikson’s later life. Finally at the end of this paper it is going to talk about the unknown reason why no other Europeans sailed to Vinland, and Leif’s impact on modern day North America.
Harris, Leslie M. “In The Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863. New York: University of Chicago Press, 2003. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/317749.html
From the late 1800’s to the mid 1950’s, Ellis Island in New York Bay was the entrance to a new life for many immigrants. These people left their respective homelands for a variety of reasons: from famine and religious persecution, to war and rumors about cities of solid gold. But common to all was the drive to start over, the drive to be whoever they wanted to be in the “Golden Land.” Said an inspired immigrant of the words of Mother America:
Heritage is one of the most important factors that represents where a person came from. In “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, this short story represents not only the symbolism in heritage, but also separates the difference between what heritage really means and what it may be portrayed as. Dee is a well-educated African-American woman who is embarrassed by her mother and sister who are not as knowledgeable as her. On the other hand, Mama and Maggie understand their heritage and embrace it, while Dee believes her heritage is the African culture. In “Everyday Use,” there is symbolism in the quilts, the handicrafts, and the change in Dee’s name and new appearance.
The following four points are presented for consideration in the study of early 20th century immigration into the United States, they are not all inclusive. They do, however, present a snap shot explanation of what was going on and how it has influence the United States and the ever changing American culture.
Tucker, Barbara M. Samuel Slater and the Origins of the American Textile Industry: 1790-1860. Ithaca: N.Y., 1984. Print.
Steve Kafka, an American of Czech origin and a franchisor for Chicago Style Pizza, has decided to expand his business into the Czech Republic. He knows it is a risky decision; when he became a franchisor, he had to overcome a lot of difficulties. Steve anticipates he will face some of these difficulties again at the new location in Prague, Czech Republic. Although he was born in the United States, he has family and friends in the Czech Republic, speaks Czech fluently, and has visited the country of his origin several times. In other words, he knows the people and the culture. Or does he?
Museums collect and display various materials to show the way of life of particular communities. The Aboriginal housing possessions within virtual museums educate people about their culture, and explain how decolonization assimilated them into modern society. This forms the basis of Julia Emberley’s article entitled “(un)Housing Aboriginal Possessions in the Virtual Museum: Cultural Practices and Decolonization in civilization.ca and Reservation X.” Emberley examined an analysis of houses and housing practices based on two virtual museum displays related to Aboriginal culture. Emberley’s article sheds light on how museums use artifacts to depict different communities. In reality, museum
German-Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. 50 million people living in the US can trace their roots back to today’s German borders. German-Americans have flourished in the United States and have had a profound impact on American culture. This paper will serve to outline the history of German migration to the United States, the characteristics and assimilation of this ethnic group, and my personal ties to this group as a 5th generation German-American.
The finding of the Americans was a life changing discovery for the Europeans. Although it was a dream come true for many foreigners to become an American, they were completely unaware of the several obstacles that were needed to actually earn that title. The documentary The Long Long Journey shows the struggles of a polish family migrating to the US during early 18th century. This documentary shows not only the perspective of Europeans of new America, but as well as show how “Americans” treated the immigrants. This film begins off with hundreds of Europeans traveling by boat to NYC. During this time, many Slavs, Polishes, Russians and several other Europeans sought to flee their homes due to harsh conditions in their country. Janket faced numerous challenges to become a true American such as his lack of knowledge of US cultural norms, having to step up and fulfill his father's role and his inability to live out his version of american dream.
This weekend I visited the Chicago Art Institute, and more specifically went to the exhibit: Never a Lovely So Real: Photography and Film in Chicago 1950-1980. I took the train down early in the morning, and spent a while walking around the exhibit, and another hour or two exploring the museum. The title of the exhibition comes from a book on Chicago from 1951 in which Nelson Algren, the author, says, “Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real.” The photography collection took up most of the bottom floor, and focused on Chicago as a city of neighborhoods, divided and completely separated from each other. Although segregated for each other, the collection of neighborhoods demonstrates
Maintaining knowledge of heritage is intrinsic in every culture, regardless of lineage or familial ties. Acknowledging where one comes from remains an important part of the human experience. However, disregarding these aspects of heritage, or attempting to remove oneself from them can produce negative effects. In Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” the aspects of heritage and history propel the action, allowing the reader a lens with which to view the story. The conflict between the two sisters highlights the importance of staying connected to those in the past and valuing things based on their relevance to cultural and domestic ties, rather than mere aesthetics, reflecting Walker’s challenge to the black community to recognize and support their
To commemorate the 400th hundred-year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s landfall in the New World, the city of Chicago held a special social exhibition called the World’s Columbian Exposition. “The fair…symbolized the transformation of pre-modern, agricultural America into the last phase of its becoming modern, urban, industrial America” (The Black Presence at “White City”: African and African American Participation at the World’s Columbian Exposition). Giving Chicago a grand stage to show the rest of the world just how far the “windy city” had come both innovatively and culturally. The fair did wonders for the city in terms of recognition and portrayal of strength. Despite this great exhibition of the “windy city”, came the magnification