Swedes in Americawas produced by the U.S. Office

e [Music] this is the first time a motion picture has been used to answer mail since I've been here in the United States I have received many letters from my friends in Sweden asking one thing tell us about the swedes in America here's for instance one that says I know that America is a country of many nationalities but the 2 million swets there seem to get along especially well why is that what's there in the life of the country that so appeals to the Swedish character well frankly I could not answer that but my own curiosity was aroused and being a swede's fatal so before I knew it I was often a surge to find the answer which took me to many different places I started in Radio City New York I came here first because these great modern Towers stood as an international Gathering Place working together here were the representatives of many countries including those of [Music] Sweden I talked with the people in these shops with journalists and businessmen from Sweden I was given an assortment of answers down on the skating rink in the center of these soaring buildings I found a Swedish amican skate star her name was car Lynn she had one sort of answer the love of sports she said that's what makes the two countes so much alike of course that was true enough but it was also true that millions of people didn't feel at home in America just because they could skate and ski [Music] when I visited the Swedish Council General he spoke of the sympathy for the rights of others that both people [Music] have it was made very real to him by what he saw recently from his windows the Swedish American steamer grips Holm one of the few white ships left in the world today bringing those who had been imprisoned by War back to [Music] Freedom here among the skyscrapers I found only a fragment of my answer well I knew that the swedes had played an important part in the development of this country so from the modern world I went to The Other Extreme back into history to the American Swedish Museum of of Philadelphia in this Museum I found a 400y old record of one people's contribution to American life it started in 1638 when the Stout ship calar sailed out of gothamberg Harbor and some 6 months later touched the shores of the Delaware River those who came established a colony from the very names of their villages it was an echo of the land of their birth Fort Christina Fort new [Music] [Applause] [Music] gartenberg with them they brought their ways of living they brought the skills they had developed and their handicraft the Swedish influence spread until such men as John and John Hansen became founders of the new Republic signers of the Declaration that created the United States of America and it was another swed John Ericson who helped preserve these same United States as one country in the hall dedicated to him there are models of his many inventions the greatest of which he gave to America in a moment of crisis at the time of Lincoln Ericson brought to the union Fleet the revolving turret that became the historic chese box on the raft the Triumph of the little monitor helped turn the tide that ended the Civil War the principles of that weapon are still in use [Music] today but the room to which I was particularly drawn was the one devoted to Jenny Lind I know in a small way how warmer welcome the American people can extend to an artist Jenny Lyn's visit back in 1850 is still celebrated in books and on the screen I left that museum with a feeling of pride in the achievements of my countrymen but no nearer the answer I had to come back from the history of what people had done to find out what they were doing now to understand the swedes in America today one must know the country they live in and today it is a country at War [Music] my journey took me from Philadelphia into the middle west during that trip I found many people from all the countries in the world working as Americans toward one single end and among these were the [Music] sweet I brought my question to Minneapolis a center of Swedish culture at the capital I met swedes high in the government of the state they spoke of the opportunity that all men have here to win positions of trust and responsibility and with it the right if they choose to retain the customs and the language they had brought with [Music] them in the Great Schools of the section the study of Swedish is part of the course [Music] my problem was not one that could be completely solved in a classroom but here and everywhere I went I found Clues one significant clue was the very country of the Northwest through which I traveled a 100 years ago the great Swedish novelist frica Brer described its charm here she said with the swet find his clear romantic Lakes The Plains of scon and The Valleys of [Music] narland br's description proved of Prophecy the sweds came and made this country their [Music] [Applause] own the St story of the Pioneers who built the towns and who had now lived their lives through was told by those of the neighbors whom I found still enjoying the Comforts of their old [Music] age they too spoke of the freedom they enjoyed to preserve the traditional ways of their youth and this Freedom holds true not only for the swedes but for all the peoples from the many countries of the world who have made America their [Music] home to these freedoms there was a response a Devotion to [Music] Country I found an example of it at the Swenson farm that used to be worked by Charles Swenson and his five Sons now three of them are gone into the fighting forces of their country the old Forks were particularly proud proud of their son Raymond he recently won the order of the Purple Heart in the battle of the Coral Sea when I arrived I was greeted by one of the two sons who are carrying on the work of five he told me that the Swenson place was no exception in all the country around the women as well as the men were doing more than just one job and from what I found doing just one job was much more than [Music] enough but it all pointed to the fact that the Swenson Farm was not an isolated unit working by itself for itself alone the work here was carried on for the good of a community that stretched from coast to coast [Music] I began to feel that my answer was taking definite shape I was certain of it when I visited Lindstrom nearby though it doesn't look very different there's something special about Lindstrom 45 years ago the town's people decided to set aside one day a week to clean house every Thursday the town turns out all of them to broom and scrub the streets they want even the sidewalks to reflect the pride they have in their little town it was a Thursday in midwinter when I arrived and they were clearing away the remnants of the last snowfall a local custom to be sure but clearly it told the story of Community Action that in one way or another was part of everything I'd seen here was the larger answer into which all the other truths I discovered fitted like the pieces in a puzzle [Music] it set me to thinking of what I'd been told by a friend a great man and a wise one Carl Sandberg has been hailed by Americans as one of the most profound writers of their country his biography of Abram Lincoln stands as the truest picture yet given of that great American president sanberg is a sweet weed and an American who has looked deep in the hearts of both [Music] countries cooperation he said one found it everywhere along the shores of the very Lake on which he lived small groups of men came together to discuss their common problems and to work out ways of solving them for the common good these fishermen in their dories were not not isolated and alone they were working cooperatively the work of each fishing drying Nets packing and shipping was the work of [Music] all even though these men prided themselves on being strong individualists they work devotedly together for the community good as a Pioneer country America has always been a place where neighbor helps neighbor that feeling for Community is part of every Frontier Nation but it was the sweds who helped to organize that spirit in the modern industrial world of today [Music] The Cooperative idea has spread to every corner of the United States until the government itself has built such great projects as Boulder Dam and the TVA through them heat light power and water are brought to wider and wider communities under a Cooperative system I had been faced with a question what was the basis of the deep kinship between Sweden and America Sandberg put the answer into simple words it's the respect that both countries have for the right of the individual to be free from want there is more to all this than the material side there is a spiritual side and it reaches its highest expression at Christmas time [Music] [Applause] [Music] all [Music] [Applause] [Music] a man's concern with the wellbe being of his neighbor is but another way of saying Good Will on Earth these hymns Echo a common understanding that life can be good today and tomorrow still better [Music] and