Ga till Amerika: The Swedish creation of an ethnic identity for Worcester, Massachusetts - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1884292003 ISBN 13: 9781884292002

Inhaltsangabe

Ga till Amerika was the sixth exhibition in Worcester Historical Museum's continuing series of exhibitions focusing on the ethnic communities of Worcester, Massachusetts. This book presents the story told in the exhibition and illustrates many of the objects that were exhibited. Its title expresses the links between Worcester and the city of Hoganas and the province of Varmland in Sweden. Ga till Amerika is the first telling of the stories of thousands of Swedish immigrants for whom, in the decades between the end of the Civil War and the start of World War I, Worcester was the Promised Land.

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One way to appreciate the story of Worcester's Swedes is through the lives of everyday Worcester citizens whose individual stories capture something of the richness of Swedish experience. So it is with Marie Rose. She is not one of the few who stand out in the larger story, but she stands for thousands who made successful lives for themselves and their families in the city. Marie's great-grandson, Alden Reed, loaned family photographs and artifacts to the exhibition and shared her story with the authors.

She was born Maria Lovisa Petersson, the fifth child of Pehr Vilhelm Petersson and Anna Sophia Andersdotter on April 12, 1872, in Orebro, a city on Lake Hjalmaren, 190 kilometers west of Stockholm. Her father was a florist and gardener by trade, particularly proud of his success with roses. In 1880, just after her eighth birthday, her parents left Orebro with Maria, her sisters Anna and Jenny, and her brother, Albin, to travel to America. On the journey, Vilhelm and Sophia selected the family name that they would use in the United States. Not surprisingly it was Rose, a name that reflected Pehr's trade and professional pride. With this decision, Maria carefully removed the old and entered her new name in her Bible. The newly christened Rose family settled in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, where another daughter, Maria's third sister, Ellen, was born in 1882. Maria, her sisters, and her brothers were the only Swedish children enrolled in grammar school, and they were often teased by their friends for their Swedish accents. To avoid further embarrassment, the children asked their parents not to speak Swedish when their classmate friends visited them at home. First and middle names were Anglicized under this influence, as well, and the Roses chose William, Sophie, and Marie Louise. After fourteen years in McKeesport, Marie left Pennsylvania to seek work in Worcester where she married and raised two daughters. In 1902 her youngest sister, Ellen, followed her to Worcester as did her parents in the next year and then her sister Jenny with her husband in 1912.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1884292003
• ISBN 13: 9781884292002
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar