Karl Oskar Days and Minnesota Day

This weekend In Växjö. saw the Karl-Oskar Days and the Yearly Minnesota Day.
The Karl-Oskar Days are named after one of the main characters in the author Wilhelm Mobergs Emigrant Novels.

Today it is a kind of city festival held around the second weekend of August every
year. Alot of acitivities are going on in the city with the shops moving out on Storgatan(Main street) as well as differend food sold outside. In the evening artists are performing in the city square.


The Swedish Emigrant Institute also took part and had a vendor both on Main Streat In the picture we see archivist Kristina Persson selling books and giving information. The Swedish Emigrant Institute is an archive and museum over the swedish Imigration to other parts of the world it has extensive collections of letters microfilms and interviews.
However its economy is in bad shape and its future is very uncertain since the politicans in Växjö wants to merge it with the county museum
Smålands museum but the Emigrant Institute is afraid of loosing its independence.


On Sunday the Minnesota Day took place. The Minnesota Day is a yearly celebration of the Swedish imigration to other parts of the world especially Minnesota it is usually held in the park outside the Swedish Emigrant Institute but this year it was rainy so we had to stay inside.

First we Were entertained by by two comedians performing songs once performed by
"Olle i Skratthult" a famous swedish-american comedian. his real name was Hjalmar Peterson 1886-1960.

Afterwards several speaches were made among others by the county governor and we were also entertained by the Växjö Male choir.





The Swedish -American of the Year this year was
Barbro Osher swedish consul general in San Francisco. The person chosen swedish-American of the Year is chosen by the Vasa Order of America.









Among the other speakers was Lars Hansson the present head of the Swedish Emigrant Institute
and H Arnold Barton
Arnold Barton is a swedish-american history professor of swedish-descent who has written
several books about swedish and scandinavian history. I managed to get a little interview
with him as well as with Ted Rosvall the chairman of the Swedish Federation of Genealogical societies I plan to use the interwievs
in a later episode of the Podcast.