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American Swedish Historical Museum
The charming American Swedish Historical Museum, modeled after a 17th-century Swedish manor, uses a timeline, tapestry and artifacts to tell the story of the New Sweden colonists who settled the Greater Philadelphia area in the mid-1600s even before William Penn arrived.
Three of the museum’s 12 galleries are devoted to the history of the New Sweden Colony, while the other nine galleries, decorated in various architectural styles ranging from Art Deco to Swedish farmhouse, showcase the museum’s vast collection of Swedish-related artifacts including furniture, silver and fabrics. The museum’s changing gallery exhibit has covered topics like Swedish textiles, Scandinavia’s indigenous people and the refugee crisis in Europe.
The Golden Map room, with its interactive guideposts, shows kids Sweden’s glorious colonial past as they are surrounded by a gold-leaf map diorama.
Serving as the nation’s oldest Swedish museum, the American Swedish Historical Museum was founded in 1926, the year that marked the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The land on which the museum stands, in South Philadelphia’s FDR Park, was given to colonist Sven Skute by Sweden’s Queen Christina in 1653.
The museum-wide Pippi Longstocking treasure hunt keeps kids entertained as adults explore the museum.
The building has architectural features found in Sweden’s Eriksbergs Slott mansion and George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Through education and traditional Swedish celebrations like the Midsummer Festival in June and the Lucia Festival in December, the museum continues to preserve Swedish-American culture.
A number of famous Swedes have their own exhibits.
Opera singer and celebrity Jenny Lind; novelist and human rights advocate Fredricka Bremer; designer Josef Frank; and inventor/seaman John Ericsson, who developed the USS Monitor, the first ironclad ship, are all represented. A gallery dedicated to Pippi Longstocking, the main character in the children’s book series by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, invites kids and adventure seekers into a hands-on exhibit that includes a gallery hunt and dress-up trunk.
The Visit Philly Overnight Package — booked more than 190,000 times since 2001 — comes with free hotel parking (worth up to $100 in Center City Philadelphia), overnight hotel accommodations and choose-your-own-adventure perks.
Oldest church in Pennsylvania is a link to early Swedish settlers...