Exhibitions | American Swedish Historical Museum

From the age of the Vikings to the settlers of the New Sweden Colony (1638-1655), to contemporary issues in Scandinavian society, the American Swedish Historical Museum will take you back in time and across the sea to learn the stories of Swedes in America.

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CURRENT

And Let Victory Tell the Rest: 250 Years of Shipbuilding in Greater Philadelphia

As one of the nation’s premier shipbuilding and repair regions in the world, the Greater Philadelphia region has built many ships for the United States Navy. From the early days of the Continental Navy during the American Revolution to the nuclear-powered warships of the Cold War, these facilities were a critical component of the Navy’s operations in defending America and its allies abroad. This exhibit showcases some of these ships, the people that helped build them, and their role in defending America.

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And Let Victory Tell the Rest: 250 Years of Shipbuilding in Philadelphia

Collection Highlights

Pause

Iron, paint
Early to mid-17th century
Likely Denmark, Holland, or Sweden
Gift of Mrs. Norman Grey

Sinnickson Chest

Sinnick Broer, a Finn, brought this painted iron strongbox to the New Sweden colonies in 1656.

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Bronze
10th century
Likely Scandinavia or Ireland
Collection of the American Swedish Historical Museum

Cloak Pins

Archaeologists unearthed these cloak pins in Ireland, showing the extent to which the Vikings settled other lands.

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Brass, steel, wood
c. 1880
United States
Gift of the United Engineering Trustees Inc.

John Ericsson Solar Model

Gravitational energy, solar steam engines, and tidal power … sounds like science fiction, right? Think again! Swedish-American inventor, John Ericsson, was ahead of his time when he researched such theories in the mid to late 1800s. Ericsson invented this solar-powered steam engine, for example, to reduce the use of coal.

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Meerschaum, amber, and leather.
Mid-late nineteenth century.
Possibly made by Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach.
Gift to the Museum, 1947.

Skull Pipe

Made in Belgium in the mid-to-late nineteenth century, this magnificently carved meerschaum pipe features an elegantly carved amber stem, and a grotesque bowl wrought in the shape of a grinning skull. Though not of Swedish make, the pipe is said to have been owned by Oscar II (1829-1907), King of Sweden and Norway around the turn of the twentieth century. It was donated to the museum in 1947.

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American Swedish Historical Museum - Grover Cleveland

Anders Zorn, after a portrait by Zorn
Ink on paper
Sweden
1899
Gift in memory of Mr. Harry C.W.S. deBrun

Etching of Grover Cleveland

The American Swedish Historical Museum is only one of six museums in the United States with a collection of Anders Zorn’s work. Our collection includes his well-known etchings of American presidents Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Howard Taft, among a number of other figures.

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American Swedish Historical Museum Cane Axe

Wood, iron, mother of pearl
Late-17th/ early-18th century
Dalarna or Uppsala, Sweden
Gift of Ormond Rambo Jr. 1982.716

Cane Axe (Käppyxa)

After a decline in traditional usage, cane axes saw a renaissance by the late 1600s. Young noblemen at Uppsala University wielded these axes not in battle or mining but instead as fashionable accessories. This particular axe—with its ornate mother-of-pearl veneer and runic inscriptions—was likely part of this rebirth.

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Iron, wood
9th – 12th century
Sweden
Gift of Ivar Thord-Gray

Viking Sword

While we often consider the Vikings as raiders, they were also crafty merchants and brilliant navigators. Spears and shields were more common weapons for Vikings while only the wealthiest warriors carried swords.

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