FINDING AID
Oscar Rolander travel diary, 1911
COLLECTION SUMMARY
Collection Title:
Oscar Rolander travel diary
Collection Number:
SAC P:37
Dates:
1911
Size:
1 folder
Language:
English
Creator/Collector:
Rolander, Johann Oscar (Samuelson), 1847-1932
Subject Headings:
Diaries
Sweden--Description and travel
Travel writing
Repository:
Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
Abstract:
Johan Oscar (Samuelson) Rolander was born in Västra Ryd, Östergötland, Sweden in 1847 and immigrated to the United States in 1868. In 1911, he took his first and only trip back to Sweden and kept a diary. This collection consists of a typed English translation of that diary which describes the trip on train and boat, his encounters with friends and family, and the changes in Sweden since he left 43 years ago.
RIGHTS AND ACCESS
Conditions Governing Access:
Collection is open for research.
Reproduction and Use:
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the Swenson Center and the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation:
[item identification], in SAC P:37 Oscar Rolander travel diary, Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
ACQUISITION AND RELATED MATERIALS
Source of Acquisition:
Gift of Clarence F. Wittenstrom, Jr. of Elgin, Illinois in 1982. Clarence was the great-grandson of Oscar Rolander.
Appraisal, Destruction, and Scheduling Information:
Duplicate copy of the diary was discarded in 2018.
Location of Originals:
As of 1983, the original diary was in the possession of Ivone Carlson of Kingsbury, California.
Notes:
Collection number changed from MSS P:37 circa 2006. Name changed from “Johan Oscar Rolander papers” in 2018.
Processed By:
Received by Kermit Westerberg. Processed by Steven R. Farmer, 1983. Finding aid written by Christina Johansson, undated. Finding aid updated by Lisa Huntsha in 2018.
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE
Administrative/Biographical History:
Johan Oscar (Samuelson) Rolander was born in Västra Ryd, Östergötland, Sweden, on June 15, 1847. He emigrated from Sweden with his parents and arrived in the United States on June 1, 1868. He resided in Swedona, Illinois, and then in Ellis, Kansas, where he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. On February 9, 1872, acquired land in New Gottland, Kansas under the Homestead Act. He lived there until his retirement in 1910, when he moved to McPherson, Kansas. He married Mathilda Charlotta Peterson on April 18, 1874 in Salina, Kansas. In 1911, he took a trip back to Sweden. He died on August 27, 1932 in Kingsburg, California.
Scope and Content:
Collection includes a copy of a typed English translation of a diary kept by Oscar Rolander during a trip he made back to Sweden in 1911. It was his first and only trip back to Sweden after immigrating to the United States in 1868. The diary outlines the entire journey from May through October 1911. It discussed the trip from Chicago to New York by train, descriptions of New York City, the trip back and forth over the Atlantic Ocean by boat, accounts of visits with friends, descriptions of changes in Sweden since 1868.
Collection Inventory:
Typed translation of Oscar Rolander’s travel diary to Sweden, English, 1911