International Partnership Creates Greater Access to Swedish American Newspapers
1.3 million pages of historic newspapers now available online
For immediate release
Dated: August 19, 2026
Contacts:
Allison Ortiz, 651-259-3051, allison.ortiz@mnhs.org or Nick Jungheim, 651-259-3060, nick.jungheim@mnhs.org
International Partnership Creates Greater Access to Swedish American Newspapers
1.3 million pages of historic newspapers now available online
ST. PAUL, Minn (August 19, 2026) – In an ongoing effort to increase access to historic newspapers, one million pages of Swedish American newspapers digitized by the National Library of Sweden are now publicly available online. The newly digitized papers, from over 300 newspaper titles published across the United States and Canada between 1851 and 2007, join 300,000 pages digitized in an earlier phase of the project and are available online in the Swedish American Newspapers website hosted by the Minnesota Historical Society.
Swedish American Newspapers is a collaborative effort between the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS), the National Library of Sweden (Kungliga Biblioteket), and the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with support from the Swenson Swedish American Research Center at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. Funding for the latest project phase was generously provided by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.
“We are excited to launch this greatly expanded collection of Swedish American newspapers with the opportunity for deep research in Swedish American history,” said Shawn Rounds, MNHS Director of Digital Preservation and State Archives. “The Minnesota Historical Society values our role in this long partnership, both in contributing additional digitization of Minnesota’s Swedish American newspapers and by hosting the Swedish American Newspapers website alongside MNHS’s source of digitized Minnesota newspapers in the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub.”
“It is very satisfying that our entire collection of Swedish-American newspapers now has been digitized and made publicly available,” said Jonas Ahlberg, project representative at the National Library of Sweden since 2012. “A long journey has now come to an end, and it has truly been a privilege to work with such talented and dedicated colleagues in the US and Sweden.”
About the Minnesota Historical Society
The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849. MNHS collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs, and book publishing. Using the power of history to transform lives, MNHS preserves our past, shares our state’s stories, and connects people with history.
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