This 1943 black and white film “Swedes in America” was produced by the U.S. Office of War Information for educational use as part of its overseas information program. This is the first film in “The American Scene” series presented by United Films. The film opens with Ingrid Berman standing in a 1940s furnished living room talking about the success of Swedes in the U.S. (:58-1:50). She begins in Radio City, New York (1:51-2:25). Skaters practice at Rockefeller ice rink (2:26-3:05). The Diplomat Gripsholm Sverige was used as a repatriation ship during WWII (3:20-3:40). Ingrid visits the American Swedish Museum of Philadelphia, where the exhibits are shown for Fort Christina and Fort New Gothenborg, and two signers of the Declaration of Independence (4:00-5:12). John Ericsson designed the Civil War USS Monitor. Shown are that display (5:13-5:57), and one devoted to opera singer Jenny Lind (5:58-6:30). Ingrid boards a steam train. As it is war time, images show men and women workers, soldiers, and welders in a factory (6:32-7:43). The skyline of Minneapolis is shown, as is the Capitol. A politician examines a book with lawyer’s bookcases full of law books behind him (7:44-8:16). A teacher instructs a school classroom in Swedish (8:17-8:42). In the Northwest, a wood cabin sits by a lake (9:05). Tombstones in a church cemetery have Swedish names (9:08-9:33). Three elderly women in dresses with white lace collars crochet. Another sits at a spinning wheel (9:34-9:50). Candlelight dinner is served (9:57-10:14). An elderly farm couple with three sons in the war look through a photo album (10:20-10:40). An elderly woman wearing an apron pulls a bread pan from a 1930s oven and another weaves at a rug loom (10:45-11:01). A son and Ingrid use pitchforks to throw hay from atop a hay mound (11:02-11:10). A tree is chopped and two use alternating hits to split the log (11:11-11:23). A man leads a bull past the barn, using a pole through the nose bull ring (11:24-11:28). Fresh milk is poured into a bowl, milking cows fed, and the calves drink through a nipple attached to a metal bucket (11:29-11:52). Ingrid visits Lindstrom, where one day a week men, women, and children sweep and clean the sidewalks and streets in summer and winter (12:00-13:10). Carl Sandburg is shown typing in an office cluttered with stacks of paper and a shot of books he wrote (13:11-13:34). A small group of fishermen meet in a wood-paneled room to form a fishing coop (13:48-14:20). A North Shore Freight Lines delivery truck takes their packaged product (14:21). Shown are a man loading boxes marked co-op, the Duluth Co-Operative Society, peas canned with Co-Op labels, a co-op gasoline pump, and a large co-op ad (14:39-15:00). A hand pulls a lever and the water rushes through Boulder Dam. The inside mechanics of the dam are shown interspersed with flowing water (15:06-15:42). People attend church services at Christmas, shown seated in pews singing, and the organist plays (15:50-17:30).

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