Scandinavian heritage lives on in Minneapolis museum

Scandinavians are a very important part of Minnesota and other northern states. This museum tells their story, very much like the story of other immigrant groups in this country. Especially about learning English and assimilating. Very interesting. DP

By Wayne Anderson

MINNEAPOLIS - Neither of my grandmothers ever became comfortable speaking English, so they continued to speak Swedish or Norwegian until they died. Like many people from Minnesota and the Dakotas, my mother had a noticeable Norwegian accent. The female sheriff’s accent in the movie "Fargo" is not far removed from the accent of some of my relatives.

The Swedes believed in the value of assimilation for their children and were not as motivated to maintain their language and culture in our area of North Dakota as the Germans were. The Germans continued to speak their language in their homes and expected the schools to teach their children English. My parents, on the other hand, didn’t speak Swedish to us but continued to use it as a secret language between each other.

If you are of Scandinavian descent, a visit to the American Swedish Institute, or ASI, in Minneapolis is one way to make quick contact with your heritage and also to get in touch with some aspects of the immigrant experience.

It is fitting that Minnesota is the most Scandinavian state and Minneapolis the most Scandinavian city in the United States. Both Carla and I are close enough to our past that when we visited Sweden several years ago we took time to visit with the sides of our families that didn’t immigrate to the United States in the late 1800s.

One of the captions on a display at the ASI points out that "The second generation could not sustain a Swedish speaking sub-culture and gradually rejected the ethnic past of its parents. However, some members of the third generation secure in their American identities returned to their roots with the revival of interest in Swedish culture." The institute’s offering of courses in the Swedish language, Scandinavian woodcarving, folk dancing and Swedish knyppling, or lace making, encourages that revival of interest.

The mansion or "castle" that houses the institute was a gift to Minneapolis from Swan Turnblad, a Swedish immigrant who published a local Swedish newspaper, The Svenska Amerikanska Posten, became rich and wanted to leave a legacy.
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