Do you have a travel bug but COVID is keeping you from the world? ASHM is exited to bring the world to you with our new Virtual Field Trip Friday program series! Each month we will partner with museums throughout the U.S. and Scandinavia to bring their exhibits and collections to you. The program is 45 minutes long over the lunch hour so you can take a break from your day, whether at home or work, to be immersed in a Scandinavian cultural experience. Programs are presented over the Zoom platform and are $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers, registration is required and space is limited.
Our first Virtual Field Trip Friday will be with the American Swedish Institute (ASI) in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 22nd from 12:15 – 1:00 pm. Museum Educator Lindsey Tscherne will take us on a tour of the iconic Turnblad Mansion which now houses many of ASI’s exhibitions. Coming from poor immigrant families themselves, Swan and Christina Turnblad appear to embody the classic rags-to-riches tale, gaining their wealth by owning the largest Swedish language newspaper in the country, the Svenska Amerikanska Posten. But the Turnblad life was not as glamorous as it appears; rather, it reveals the complexity of the American Dream, a careful balance of cultural identities, and the potential costs of great wealth and power. The Turnblads were embroiled in multiple lawsuits and struggled against negative perceptions of Swedish immigrants as they strove to be accepted into Minneapolis’ elite social class. The family only lived in the Mansion for a few years before donating it as a legacy of the early Swedish-American community. Come virtually visit the historic Turnblad Mansion to learn more about Minnesota’s immigrant history, the crafters who shaped this Mansion and the Turnblad family.