At our quarterly virtual meeting, Bob Johnson will provide an introduction to the digitized historic map collections and property descriptions covering most farms and villages from the 1600s to the 1900s available at the Swedish National Archives (Riksarkivet) and the Swedish Land Registry (Lantmäteriet). We will look at the various types of maps available, how best to understand them, and then go over the process of locating maps within the collections.

Bob Johnson is a recovering attorney and professional genealogist. He holds a Certified Genealogist® credential and specializes in Swedish, Finnish, and Norwegian genealogical research. Bob has been doing Swedish research for over 40 years. He studied in Växjö, Sweden and is active in several genealogical societies. Bob has recently been involved with two publications, Genealogy At A Glance: Swedish Genealogy Research and Husförhörslängder, Swedish Household Examination Records: Framing the Solutions to Your Swedish Ancestry Puzzles.

This will be a virtual online meeting (times are CDT). You must register in advance by paying the fee below, or mailing the registration form along with your check. The cost is $5.00 per household and paid registrants will be able to access the recording for 3 months after the meeting. Live viewing is limited to the first 100 attendees, but the video will be available to all paid registrants.

If you prefer to mail your registration and check, print and fill out this Registration Form. Please mail no later than April 10 to allow for receiving an email with a link to the meeting.

There are five official minority languages in Sweden:  Yiddish, Roma, Sami, Finnish, and Meänkeli.  These languages have existed in Sweden for over 100 years.  These minority populations receive funding from the Swedish government to preserve their language and cultural traditions and to thrive in modern day Sweden.  Please join us to find out more about when these specific language populations made their way to Sweden, where they established themselves, how Sweden was influenced, and how the languages are faring today in modern day Sweden.

Ingela-Selda Eilert Haaland is a language teacher at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. She moved to Minnesota in 1994 to study at St. Olaf College in Northfield, and ended up marrying and staying in Minnesota.  She holds a B.A. in English Literature from St. Olaf College and an M.Ed. from the University of Minnesota.  Ingela teaches language and culture classes at the ASI for adults, as well as Swedish School for children.  Additionally, she is a member of the ASI Spelmanslag, a folk music group that performs traditional Swedish folk music.  In 2018 she started a youth folk music group at ASI.  In December 2019 she received an American Scandinavian Foundation grant that will allow her to travel to Sweden together with the youth musicians to explore folk music in Dalarna, Skåne, and Småland.

Ingela has always been fascinated by literary, historical and cultural topics.  She gives a number of lecture series at the ASI on folklore and superstition in Sweden, a topographical/cultural journey across Sweden, traditions through the year in Sweden and the roots of these traditions, and minority languages in Sweden.

This will be a virtual online meeting (times are CDT). You must register in advance once registration is enabled. The cost is $5.00 per household and paid registrants will be able to access the recording for 3 months after the meeting. Live viewing is limited to the first 100 attendees, but the video will be available to all paid registrants.