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Reviewed by:
  • Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants by Elinor Barr
  • Lori Ann Lahlum
Elinor Barr, Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 2015)

Elinor Barr provides an encyclopedic overview of Swedish immigration to Canada in Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants. Barr, a researcher at the Lakeland Social History Institute at Lakehead University, is the foremost authority on Swedish immigrants in Canada today. This richly documented volume is the result of the Swedes in Canada Project. For the project, Barr travelled throughout Canada collecting materials on Swedish immigrants. The result is a large collection of materials (now at the University of Manitoba Archives), three databases (one for materials and two for immigrants), and Swedes in Canada. Central to the project, Barr seeks to make visible Canada’s Swedish immigrant heritage and “detail many aspects of the Swedish presence in Canada.” (266) To that end, the book is a veritable encyclopedia that covers people and topics, for example, immigration, settlement, religion, work, the Swedish Canadian press, literature, assimilation, and contributions to Canada. The extensive endnotes provide additional information on people and sources. Indeed, the notes are more than citations and often provide mini-biographies of people. Photographs, maps, appendices (Swedish Canadian place names, Swedish Canadian firsts, the Swedish American Vasa Orders in Canada, Swedish Ambassadors, Swedish Consuls General, Swedish Consuls, Swedish Vice-Consuls, and a list of pioneers), and an extensive bibliography (Swedish and English sources) enhance the volume. An original article by Charles Wilkins, “The Swedes in Canada’s National Game: They Changed the Face of Pro Hockey,” is also included in the book.

Barr argues that Swedes in Canada have a “low profile,” in part, because of their small numbers. (3) Some 100,000 Swedes (from Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Ukraine, and the United States) made Canada their home, which represents a very small segment of the Canadian population. The small population resulted in intermarriage and a population that did not necessarily live in Swedish communities. Swedish immigrants resided in rural and urban areas, although the only Canadian city that could boast a “Snoose Boulevard” (a street with a significant number of Swedish businesses and an area of Swedish residents) was Winnipeg (Logan Avenue). More distinctly Swedish Canadian communities could be found in rural areas, especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Barr also asserts that a compounding factor is “the lack of a comprehensive history” on this immigrant group. (3) Indeed, such volumes exist for Norwegians (slightly larger in number), Finns, and Icelanders, the latter two groups substantially smaller than Swedes.

Barr discusses the immigration processes in the 19th and 20th centuries, the shifting demographics and reasons for migration, the settlement process, the types of jobs Swedes held, religion, and Swedish contributions to Canada. The real strength of this volume is the biographical information on individual Swedes. For someone doing research on Swedes in Canada, this volume will be an important starting point for further study and analysis. Barr and the Swedes in Canada Project have provided a valuable service for scholars seeking to [End Page 273] understand better the Swedish Canadian experience. Scholars not working on immigration topics, however, will also find value in the work. Swedish immigrant men frequently found work on railroads, in logging, mining, fishing, construction, and in agriculture. Because of male employment patterns, Swedish immigrant men did become involved with union activities in Canada. Readers of Labour/Le Travail will be especially interested in the sections in which Barr discusses work and organizing labour. Information on Swedes and work (men and women) can be found in the chapter devoted to “Earning a Living,” but also interspersed throughout the book. Chapter 8 (“Depression, Strikes, and Unions”) considers Swedish immigrants and union activities. Barr notes that despite the number of Swedes working in industries that organized (and some Swedes immigrated to Canada because they had been punished for labour activities in Sweden), union leadership included few Swedes. Highlighted is Emil Berg of Edmonton. Barr contends that “Scandinavians played a large part in educating the loggers in the idea of union membership” and provides specific names. (143) Women like Hildur Grip supported unionization and strikes. One of the more interesting arguments is that for Swedes...

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