On June 7th at 7pm, musicians and actors Hans Wilhelm and Birgitta Löwgren will be performing in Bishop Hill at the Vasa National Archives located at 109 S. Bishop Hill Street. These Swedish performers use music to explore Swedish history from the 18th century to the 20th century, including their own compositions. They will be explaining the songs in English and performing songs in Swedish and English. The public is welcome to this free event. Hans has been engaged in traditional Swedish folk music, the music of Swedish court composer Carl Michael Bellman, and the more lyrical, balladic side of Swedish popular music of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. This music is more lyrical than American pop mus
On August 13 and 14, the Vasa National Archives will have Kubb games set-up in the side yard for visitors to play with. Staff and volunteers will be available to explain the rules and play with visitors. Visitors can play for free from 10 – 4 on Saturday and 11-3 on Sunday. Kubb has several different origin stories with the most popular stating that it originated in Sweden as a Viking game. Eric and Erin Anderson brought Kubb to the US in 2007 and now run the US National Kubb Championship. Official rules state the game is played on a 8 x 5 meter field with two teams having at least 3 players. The object is to knock over the opposing team’s wooden blocks, all field blocks and the king by tos
Dear Vasa Brothers and Sisters, Breaking News – The Archives has a new web site, vasaarchives.org. We have created this new site to give the archivist a convenient way to communicate with all of you. Please take time to access it and learn what is available to those who visit the Archives, Bishop Hill and Henry County. It gives you an electronic way to enjoy current events and displays should you be unable to physically visit. Our membership told us for many years that it wants virtual access to the Archives and this new web presence helps make that happen. If there is something you are interested in seeing on line via our new web presence please contact the archivist at her e-mail addr
Among the numerous books and reference materials held at the Vasa National Archives is a series of Galvaland magazine printed in Galva, IL by George Swank. Galva is a small town just 5 miles from Bishop Hill and established by Bishop Hill residents after the colony collapsed. Our collection of Galvaland papers span from 1958-1996, and is believed to be a complete run of this magazine. Unlike many small local newspapers, 4 women from Xi Kappa Gamma of Beta Sigma Phi undertook the daunting task of creating a 1,100 page index of the magazine. The index allows researchers to immediately go to information on events, fires, schools, people, paintings, transportation and even animals. The Vasa Na
Hello Vasa Members, Summer traffic has picked up here at the Vasa National Archives. Last year at this time we had a total of 103 visitors and this year we’ve had 238! It has been a very successful summer and we’re looking forward to continued success. On June 7, we had Hans and Birgitta from Sweden performing Swedish songs in the Archive’s basement. The basement had recently been decorated with various artworks and images from the collection. Special thanks to Judy Middleton for volunteering her time to help clean and hang the images. We had 30 people come to see the music. Some of the audience members traveled an hour for the performance. At Midsommar, Bishop Hill featured music in the Vil
April newsletter Hello Vasa Members, Spring has finally arrived in Bishop Hill. The shops, museums, and restaurants in town have opened for their summer hours and visitors arrive in increasing numbers. We celebrated Spring Jubilee on April 2 with an Opening Reception for the new exhibits. The exhibits received praise from all our visitors. Considering we held the reception later in the day and had 45-60 mph winds all day, we had a great turn-out. We posted pictures of the exhibit opening on Facebook at VASA Archives, Bishop Hill. We have eight more events planned this season and expect continued success this summer. With the office space and the main collection areas straightened, we turn o
Hello Vasa Members, I am adjusting well to Bishop Hill and getting to know the community. The locals keep telling me that this has been an unseasonable mild winter. Considering that Tennessee doesn’t get much snow or ice, I’m grateful to have a mild winter to learn about dealing with winter weather. The neighbors probably had a good laugh at me snow blowing when only an inch of snow was on the parking lot. So far, I have truly enjoyed the immersion into Swedish-American culture, even the lutfisk and pickled herring. Thank you all for making sure the residence was improved and ready for my arrival. This year the Vasa Archives opened the doors for Lucia Nights. We offered gingersnaps and coffe
