Vikings in the Attic

Vikings in the Attic
Author: Eric Dregni
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2013-11-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1452931372

Growing up with Swedish and Norwegian grandparents with a dash of Danish thrown in for balance, Eric Dregni thought Scandinavians were perfectly normal. Who doesn’t enjoy a good, healthy salad (Jell-O packed with canned fruit, colored marshmallows, and pretzels) or perhaps some cod soaked in drain cleaner as the highlights of Christmas? Only later did it dawn on him that perhaps this was just a little strange, but by then it was far too late: he was hooked and a dyed-in-the-wool Scandinavian himself. But what does it actually mean to grow up Scandinavian-American or to live with these Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Danes, and Icelanders among us? In Vikings in the Attic, Dregni tracks down and explores the significant—and quite often bizarre—historic sites, tales, and traditions of Scandinavia’s peculiar colony in the Midwest. It’s a legacy of the unique—collecting silver spoons, a suspicion of flashy clothing, shots of turpentine for the common cold, and a deep love of rhubarb pie—but also one of poor immigrants living in sod houses while their children attend college, the birth of the co-op movement, the Farmer–Labor party, and government agents spying on Scandinavian meetings hoping to nab a socialist or antiwar activist. For all the tales his grandparents told him, Dregni quickly discovers there are quite a few they neglected to mention, such as Swedish egg coffee, which includes the eggshell, and Lutheran latte, which is Swedish coffee with ice cream. Vikings in the Attic goes beyond the lefse, lutefisk, and lusekofter (lice jacket) sweaters to reveal the little-known tales that lie beneath the surface of Nordic America. Ultimately, Dregni ends up proving by example why generations of Scandinavian-Americans have come to love and cherish these tales and traditions so dearly. Well, almost all of them.* * See lutefisk.

The Scandinavian American Family Album

The Scandinavian American Family Album
Author: Dorothy Hoobler
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1998-05
Genre: Scandinavian American families
ISBN: 9780195124248

The Scandinavian American Family Album documents the lives of generations of Scandinavian immigrants through their own diaries, letters, interviews, rare photographs, and songs.

The Monsters

The Monsters
Author: Dorothy Hoobler
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2009-05-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0316075728

The authors of the award-winning In Darkness, Death share the remarkable true story of Frankenstein's origins and the curse on its creators.

Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish Immigrants, 1820-1920

Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish Immigrants, 1820-1920
Author: Kay Melchisedech Olson
Publisher: Capstone
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2002
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780736807982

Discusses reasons Scandinavian people left their homeland to come to America, the experiences immigrants had in the new country, and the contributions this cultural group made to American society. Includes sidebars and activities.

Captain John Smith

Captain John Smith
Author: Thomas Hoobler
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2008-04-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0470314982

"America was the place Smith had dreamed of his whole life.There, his character, determination, and ambition had propelled him to the top of society. He spent the rest of his life trying to return. Though he failed, he pointed the way for others, who were drawn by the dream that opportunity was here for anyone who dared seize it . . . Smith founded more than a colony. He gave birth to the American dream." --from Captain John Smith Captain John Smith tells the real story behind the swashbuckling character who founded the Jamestown colony, wrote the first book in English in America, and cheated death many times by a mere hairbreadth. Based on rich primary sources, including Smith's own writings and newly discovered material, this enlightening book explores Smith's early days, his forceful leadership at Jamestown that was so critical to its survival, and his efforts upon his return to England to continue settlements in America. This unique volume also reveals the truth behind Smith's relationship with Pocahontas, a tale that history has greatly distorted. Bringing to life heroic deeds and dramatic escapes as well as moments of great suffering and hardship, Captain John Smith serves as a great testament to this important historical figure.

The Family Tree Guidebook to Europe

The Family Tree Guidebook to Europe
Author: Allison Dolan
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2013-10-09
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1440333475

Your passport to European research! Chart your research course to find your European ancestors with the beginner-friendly, how-to instruction in this book. This one-of-a-kind collection provides invaluable information about more than 35 countries in a single source. Each of the 14 chapters is devoted to a specific country or region of Europe and includes all the essential records and resources for filling in your family tree. Inside you'll find: • Specific online and print resources including 700 websites. • Contact information for more than 100 archives and libraries. • Help finding relevant records. • Traditions and historical events that may affect your family's past. • Historical time lines and maps for each region and country. Tracing your European ancestors can be a challenging voyage. This book will start you on the right path to identifying your roots and following your ancestors' winding journey through history.

Multicultural America

Multicultural America
Author: Carlos E. Cortés
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 2475
Release: 2013-08-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1452276269

This comprehensive title is among the first to extensively use newly released 2010 U.S. Census data to examine multiculturalism today and tomorrow in America. This distinction is important considering the following NPR report by Eyder Peralta: “Based on the first national numbers released by the Census Bureau, the AP reports that minorities account for 90 percent of the total U.S. growth since 2000, due to immigration and higher birth rates for Latinos.” According to John Logan, a Brown University sociologist who has analyzed most of the census figures, “The futures of most metropolitan areas in the country are contingent on how attractive they are to Hispanic and Asian populations.” Both non-Hispanic whites and blacks are getting older as a group. “These groups are tending to fade out,” he added. Another demographer, William H. Frey with the Brookings Institution, told The Washington Post that this has been a pivotal decade. “We’re pivoting from a white-black-dominated American population to one that is multiracial and multicultural.” Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia explores this pivotal moment and its ramifications with more than 900 signed entries not just providing a compilation of specific ethnic groups and their histories but also covering the full spectrum of issues flowing from the increasingly multicultural canvas that is America today. Pedagogical elements include an introduction, a thematic reader’s guide, a chronology of multicultural milestones, a glossary, a resource guide to key books, journals, and Internet sites, and an appendix of 2010 U.S. Census Data. Finally, the electronic version will be the only reference work on this topic to augment written entries with multimedia for today’s students, with 100 videos (with transcripts) from Getty Images and Video Vault, the Agence France Press, and Sky News, as reviewed by the media librarian of the Rutgers University Libraries, working in concert with the title’s editors.

The A to Z of Sweden

The A to Z of Sweden
Author: Irene Scobbie
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2010-05-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 146167218X

Once part of the Kalmar Union-along with Denmark and Norway-the Kingdom of Sweden broke free in order to govern itself in the early 1500s, and for more than a century afterwards it was a force to be reckoned with. At its peak, it was twice the size that it is today, but with the secession of Finland in 1809 and the rise of Russia, Sweden changed its path and instead turned toward neutrality and a peaceful existence. Today, Sweden boasts a healthy economy, and it is an important member of the European Union, as well a major contributor to international activities. The A to Z of Sweden relates the history of Sweden through a chronology, a list of acronyms and abbreviations, an introductory essay, a bibliography, appendixes, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, and institutions, this dictionary provides information ranging from politics to economics, from education to religion, and from music to literature.

Walls and Welcome Mats

Walls and Welcome Mats
Author: Lars Krogstad Ortiz
Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books TM
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2023-08-01
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN:

Audisee® eBooks with Audio combine professional narration and sentence highlighting for an engaging read aloud experience! Migration is a natural, human act—seeking food, shelter, and comfortable environments is essential for survival. With the existence of national borders, migration becomes immigration—an intensely political issue. Immigration and the history of America are inextricably linked. Author Lars Ortiz explores the history of immigration in the United States from before the country was born to government policies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act to the building of a wall along the US-Mexico border. He also examines the the backlash against immigration that so many immigrants have faced, and the optimism that leads people to seek a better future in a new land.

Books to Build On

Books to Build On
Author: E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
Publisher: Delta
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2009-10-14
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0307567214

The invaluable grade-by-grade guide (kindergarten—sixth) is designed to help parents and teachers select some of the best books for children. Books to Build On recommends: • for kindergartners, lively collections of poetry and stories, such as The Children’s Aesop, and imaginative alphabet books such as Bill Martin, Jr.’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Lucy Micklewait’s I Spy: An Alphabet in Art • for first graders, fine books on the fine arts, such as Ann Hayes’s Meet the Orchestra, the hands-on guide My First Music Book, and the thought-provoking Come Look with Me series of art books for children • for second graders, books that open doors to world cultures and history, such as Leonard Everett Fisher’s The Great Wall of China and Marcia Willaims’s humorous Greek Myths for Young Children • for third graders, books that bring to life the wonders of ancient Rome, such as Living in Ancient Rome, and fascinating books about astronomy, such as Seymour Simon’s Our Solar System • for fourth graders, engaging books on history, including Jean Fritz’s Shh! We're Writing the Constitution, and many books on Africa, including the stunningly illustrated story of Sundiata: Lion King of Mali • for fifth graders, a version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream that retains much of the original language but condenses the play for reading or performance by young students, and Michael McCurdy’s Escape from Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass • for sixth graders, an eloquent retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the well-written American history series, A History of US . . . and many, many more!