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Swedish American Publishers and Publication

This guide is for anyone looking to conduct research on the history of Swedish American publication using Swenson Center resources.

Welcome!

This guide is for anyone looking to conduct research on the history of Swedish American publication using Swenson Center resources.

The Swenson Center is located at Augustana College and is a national and international research center for the study of Swedish-American history and relations. 

Of particular interest to the Augustana College community is the Augustana Book Concern, which was founded in 1889. The Augustana Book Concern was the official publishing house for the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and published an extensive catalog of liturgical and educational books, music for church worship, bibles, and Swedish-language history and fiction. Most of their work was in Swedish to serve the local Swedish American populations, but some is printed in English. The ABC remained in business until 1962, when the synod merged with the Lutheran Church of America. At this time, Augustana College purchased the building that was home to ABC, and since 1975, this building has been called Sorensen Hall.

Swedish American Publication and Publishing

Keywords / Search terms:

Here are some search terms to try in the library catalog or other search areas. Using the asterisk (*) is a wildcard option, that will return variations on a search term. For example, publi* will return results for publishing, publishers, publication, etc.

  • Publi*
  • Augustana Book Concern
  • Publishers and publishing
  • Publishers and publishing AND history
  • Imprints

(Note: A search for “Augustana Book Concern” will return results for both the materials about ABC as well as the materials that were published and printed by the ABC).

 

Possible research questions:

  • What types of Swedish-language materials were prioritized by Swedish American publishers and printers?
  • How did the Augustana Book Concern contribute to the local Swedish American community? What traditions did they help to maintain?
  • Who were some of the key figures in Swedish American publication? What details of their biographies are known, and how were they professionally related to each other?