“TheĀ AmericanĀ Dream” by the Suntower Entertainment Group
During the 19thĀ and early 20thĀ centuries more than a million Swedes emigrated to the United States.Ā The main reason was the downsizing of farm labourers, often due to bad crops, better tools and the redistribution of land.Ā Another strong factor was religious intolerance from the authorities.Ā In this film we follow a Swedish family from āSmĆ„landā, leaving their loved ones behind to seek a better life on the other side of the vast Atlantic ocean.
Professor Ulf Zander from the Lund University in Sweden is our guide and takes us from the south of Sweden to Andersonville, Chicago and further into the American Midwest, tracing the footsteps of Swedish emigrants searching for new opportunities.
A documentary shot entirely on locations in Sweden and the U. S.
2 Shorts with Genealogy relevance:
- āRandolph, KSā by Karen Rademacher
- āOne Way to Measure Progress in Finding Your Ancestorsā by Neil Nystrom
Handouts availableĀ here.
