Swedish Resources
by Claire Keenan Agthe
The greater Philadelphia area – an area along the Delaware River, in what is now Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland -- was first settled by the Swedes in 1638; later Swedish immigration to the US hit its peak between 1881 and 1890 (but ran from 1870-1910). Don't miss Dr. Peter Craig's presentation (Thursday at 2) on the Swedes on the Delaware at the FGS conference.
From surviving records to recent studies (many of them in Swedish), Swedish communities along the Delaware and elsewhere in the United States are well-represented in the holdings of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Search their OPAC catalog at http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=17. HSP is a short walk from the Convention Center at 1301 Locust Street (at 13th and Locust); their hours during the conference week are Tuesday 12:30 – 5:30, Wednesday 12:80 – 8:30, Thursday 12:30 – 5:30, and Friday 10:00 to 5:30. These are their normal hours, so anyone staying on after the conference to research should make note of them, as well.
Explore Swedish history, literature, and language, as well as proceedings of the Swedish Colonial Society, at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The main branch of the library, known as Central Library, is a moderate walk from the Convention Center, at 1901 Vine Street (at 19th and Vine); their normal hours, in force during the FGS Conference, are M-W 9-9, Th-Sa 9-5. For more about the Society, see http://www.colonialswedes.org/.
While you're in town, be sure to visit the American Swedish Historical Museum -- http://www.americanswedish.org/ -- at Broad and Pattison in South Philadelphia, near the sports complexes (you may want to take a cab to get here). In addition to its permanent installations and temporary exhibitions, the ASHM provides access to Genline.com -- http://www.genline.com/ -- which offers over 16 million digital images of the Swedish Church Records archives, to help further your research in the old country. Be sure to check out GenLine's booth in the Exhibit Hall during the conference to learn more about this wonderful resource.
Visitors might want to tour Gloria Dei (Old Swedes) Episcopal Church --- http://www.old-swedes.org/ -- and St. James Church of Kingsessing, Philadelphia -- http://www.stjameschurchofkingsessing.com/ -- two preeminent Swedish churches in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Resources
Free Library of Philadelphia, Genealogy Research Guides
http://search.library.phila.gov/results.cfm?q=genealogy
Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania
http://www.genpa.org/index.html
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
National Archives, Mid-Atlantic Branch
http://www.archives.gov/midatlantic/
Philadelphia City Archives, Genealogical Resources