The museum was however well worth the trip. There were three stories. The first floor was dedicated to Swedish glass work and art. The second floor had a lovely display detailing who the typical Swedish immigrant to Chicago was and the reasons why they left Sweden. The museum detailed their journey from their poor home farm across Sweden to Gothenburg where they boarded a ship to Hull, England. In Hull the immigrants took a long train journey to Liverpool where they boarded an even larger ship for the trip across the Atlantic. Landing in the United States at Boston, New York or one of the other harbors they still had a ways to go. They would still experience Ellis Island and additional journeys by train and horse cart depending on the year of immigration. Why they settled in Chicago and the life they lived here in Chicago is shown with lots of pictures and artifacts that give a person a real feel for the times and lives of those long ago immigrants who were our ancestors. On the third floor was an interactive museum for children.
Upon leaving we passed through the gift shop, full of T-shirts, Swedish flags, Swedish Cookbooks and all manner of souvenir doodads. I have plenty of that sort of thing but I was interested to hear they often sponsor guest speakers and have genealogy workshops on a monthly basis.
All in all a trip worth taking and with living in Chicagoland all my life I am almost embarassed to say I only now went. They opened in 1976 and are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year.
The SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM
5211 N. Clark Street
Chicago, Illinois 60640
check out their website for hours and events↓