Program:
“Swedes in Rockford”
Author Lilly Setterdahl
This presentation will focus on her book “Rockford Swedes: American Stories”, first written in 1993 and recently revised. There will be many photos of people and places in Rockford. She will likely also talk about the Swedish-American church records that she and her late husband, Lennart Setterdahl, microfilmed while travelling around the USA, or the many interviews with Swedish immigrants that Lennart taped during several decades.
Lilly Setterdahl was born in Frändefors, Dalsland, where she did her first writing. In 1959, she settled in Cleveland, Ohio, with her family. She has worked with Swedish-American Immigration research since the early 1960s, partly on her own and partly together with her husband, Lennart. She has translated much material to English and written 19 books, of which 16 are nonfiction about Swedes in America and their accomplishments. “Rockford Swedes: American Stories” came out as an e-book in 2016. Lilly also writes fiction. Her latest work, an immigration novel from the 20th century, will be published by Nordstjernan in the spring as her 20th book. Presently she is writing another book about the Titanic.