Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants by Elinor Barr (review)

Elinor Barr’s book is a long overdue study of the history of Swedish immigration to Canada. Barr sets out to challenge two general perceptions about the Swedish immigrant experience: first, Swedish immigrants have a “low ethnic consciousness,” which can explain why a comprehensive history has not been written until now; second, the experience of Swedish immigrants has been defined by a near effortless integration into Canadian mainstream society. These perceptions have caused the history of the Swedish immigrant experience to “disappear” into the Canadian mosaic. Rather than seeing it as a disinterest in their ethnic identity and shared history, Barr explains that the relative invisibility of Swedish immigrants can be explained by their outward shyness and humility – both holdovers from their Lutheran upbringing in the Old Country. These qualities have also cultivated a tendency within the Swedish community to steer attention away from their contributions to the Canadian cultural landscape. Readers will undoubtedly be interested to learn that Swedish immigrants are responsible for introducing cross-country skiing to Canada, while Skanska, a Swedish company, played a significant role in the building of Toronto’s cn tower.

Although celebrating the accomplishments of Swedish immigrants is a dominant theme throughout the book, Barr spends more time challenging the assumption that the first, second, and third waves of Swedish immigrants – who began arriving in the 1860s through to the 1920s – were seamlessly absorbed into the Canadian population. According to Barr, many Swedish immigrants dealt with discrimination, particularly during the First World War because of their alleged pro-German sympathies. Swedish newspapers also endured harassment from the chief press censor on suspicion of being sympathetic to the German war effort. After the war, Swedes were targeted, along with various other ethnic communities, for the lack of jobs for returning soldiers. In 1919, anti-immigration sentiment boiled over into a two-day riot on Logan Avenue in Winnipeg, Canada’s Swedish heart-land. Despite extensive damage to shops and automobiles, the police never intervened. Barr argues that the riot became a symbol of Swedish immigrants’ “time of affliction” during the war (114) and was the reason why many in the Swedish community harboured a lifelong distrust of officialdom. Barr also writes of the difficulties that women faced in adapting to life in Canada. The remoteness of the Canadian prairies, where many Swedes started their new life, made it difficult for women to seek out the camaraderie of fellow Swedes. Women were more likely to participate in ethnic-oriented activities and thus played a crucial role in the survival of Swedish traditions. However, the Depression and Second World War caused many Swedish immigrants to lose interest in maintaining ties with the Old Country. Of more importance was surviving the high unemployment and poverty of the Depression era. What is more, as many Swedish immigrants joined the war effort as active soldiers, their families developed a deeper connection to Canada. These years marked a distinct turning point in the Swedish immigrant story. According to Barr, they had “transformed from Swedes living in Canada to Canadians of Swedish descent” (123).

The rich portrait that Barr paints of the Swedish immigrant experience is rooted in an impressive primary source base, ranging from private papers to Swedish language newspapers and local histories. Researchers of Swedish immigration to Canada will know that source material has been notoriously difficult to track down, as there has never been a central archive. Now that Barr has donated the entire collection to the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections, future researchers will have a much easier time digging into the historical past of the Swedish immigrant community.

Despite being a rich depository of primary material, the book tends to overwhelm the reader with facts and details rather than analyzing the larger significance of the Swedish immigrant experience for the study of Canadian history. Similarly, there is little engagement with the existing historiography on European immigration to Canada. The...