American Swedish Institute

The podcast discusses the visit to the American Swedish Institute located in Minneapolis. The institute is attached to a mansion owned by the Turblad family, who were Swedish migrants. The mansion had a ballroom and many unused rooms, indicating their wealth. The podcast reflects on the different experiences of voluntary and involuntary migrants, using examples from the Finding Home Instagram project. It emphasizes the importance of cultural context and understanding the reasons behind migration. The podcast recommends visiting the American Swedish Institute, particularly during the holiday season. What you just heard was the grandfather clock that was located in the Turblad's mansion. Hello, welcome to my podcast. I am Helen North. In this podcast, I will be discussing my visit to the American Swedish Institute located in Minneapolis. I visited the American Swedish Institute on Sunday with my mom. The American Swedish Institute is attached to a mansion, which is their main exhibit of the Institute. However, many of the rooms in the mansion were under construction for the Christmas exhibits. A little bit more information about this mansion is that it was owned by a Swedish family in the 1900s. Their name was Turblad. It was Swan, Christina, and Lillian, their daughter. Both Swan and Christina grew up in Sweden and moved to Minnesota when they were kids. They met in Minneapolis and married and had Lillian in 1884. The family lived between their mansion and nearby apartment. When exploring the mansion, it is such a large size for such a small family, I often wondered how lonely they probably got in the mansion. But the father, Swan, worked for a Swedish newspaper that was popular in the US, which is probably why they lived in such a large mansion for a time where money was short. I could tell that the family was well off because they had a whole ballroom where they often hosted dances and big get-togethers, as well as many rooms in which they did not use. But how does this relate to class? What came to mind is the fact that the Turblads were migrants from Sweden. They moved from Sweden for unknown reasons, but many Swedish families were migrating during this time. On page 07, chapter 8, and in class, we learned about the different types of migrants, voluntary and involuntary, short-term and long-term. The Turblads are long-term voluntary migrants, but there are many families across the world where that is not the case for them. One example that comes to mind are the families from Finding Home, the Instagram created by Time magazine. These families were forced to leave due to corruption and wars in their native countries. Helen's family, the little girl that was born in the Finding Home Instagram, they were involuntarily forced to migrate to other countries not knowing if they're going to be safe or how long they would live there. But while families experienced migrating the Turblads and Helen's family, some families experienced more hardship than others. Helen's family experienced a lot of hardship when they were refugees in Greece and did not feel safe or welcome there, and when they moved to another country, they also didn't feel safe or like they fit in. When they finally migrated to Germany voluntarily, they were then forced to be refugees there as well, but they did feel a lot more hope once they moved to Germany because they saw more people like them. So, both of these families are migrants. The Turblads, I really felt safer moving to Minnesota because a lot of other Swedish families were moving there as well, and they came from a position of wealth, whereas Helen's family did not. Thinking about these two families, it taught me the importance of cultural context and being aware of what is going on in these countries of origin and how that can affect why they're migrating and the uncertainty that it can bring them. By visiting the American Swedish Institute, I was able to get a deeper understanding of one specific culture than I thought I was going to. I would recommend visiting the American Swedish Institute, especially around the wintertime when they are decorated for the holidays. I hope you enjoyed my podcast and have a great day.