The Local Sweden • 3rd June 2019

How women's rights became human rights in Sweden

Sweden's rise to one of the most gender equal countries in the world did not occur because women won the "battle of the sexes", but rather because their access to equal rights benefited all of society.

The Local Sweden • 5th April 2019

Eight books that tell hidden stories from Sweden's history

From a Swedish codebreaker to a colony of conscientious objectors in Sweden, and quite a bit in between, these are not your average history books.

A Bit of History • 25th March 2019

The Mother of the Green Book Ignored by History

While the Green Book has become something of a buzzword lately thanks to Hollywood, the “mother” of the essential guide for African Americans navigating Jim Crow America has been overlooked and all but lost to history.

A Bit of History • 3rd February 2019

The New Tropes of Women’s History are as Damaging as the Old

When writers broadly categorize and “market” women in history using terms like rebels, bad-asses, shady ladies, rejected princesses, etc., they are – unconsciously or otherwise – perpetuating the tradition of distorting women and their role in history.

The Local Sweden • 27th January 2019

How Stockholm is restoring dignity to the neglected graves of 100 Holocaust victims

In Stockholm's Northern Cemetery (Norra begravningsplatsen) is the large and well-maintained tomb of Count Folke Bernadotte, a member of the Swedish royal family whose role in negotiating the release and transport of some 21,000 prisoners of Nazi concentration camps to Sweden is well-documented. In the Jewish area of the cemetery not far away, lie the derelict and all-but-forgotten graves of 100 victims of the Holocaust. These were mostly very young women, who died not long after arriving i

A Bit of History • 21st December 2018

Christmas, Written by Women

From a former slave to two Nobel laureates, a selection of women writers in modern history and their often-overlooked narratives of Christmas.

A Bit of History • 7th November 2018

Faces of Diversity in American First-Wave Feminism

Six little-known women from around the world – starting with a Russian-Jewish immigrant and ending with a French former chambermaid – who contributed to first-wave feminism in the United States.

The Local Sweden • 30th October 2018

The history of kafferep: the mother of all fika

Fika may be the most recognizable representation of Sweden's enduring love-affair with coffee and baked goods, but the lesser-known and much less-frequently practised tradition of kafferep, with origins going back to the 1700s, takes fika to a whole other level.

A Bit of History • 15th October 2018

When the Cult of Celebrity Devours Meaningful History

Katharine Houghton Hepburn helped American women secure the vote and reproductive freedom. Her daughter was a four-time Oscar winner. Chances are, you know about the actress, but not the activist.

A Bit of History • 27th September 2018

LaGuardia’s Sister, Eichmann’s Prisoner, Ravensbrück’s “Mother”

A major New York City airport is named in honor of her brother, but Gemma La Guardia Gluck’s story of surviving Ravensbrück concentration camp as the political prisoner of Adolf Eichmann unjustly exists in the shadows of history.

The Local Sweden • 5th September 2018

How Swedish women won the right to vote

Less than a century ago, in September 1921, Swedish women voted for the first time in a national election. Though they had waited two years since becoming fully enfranchised in 1919, the real struggle had been overcoming the voting regulations that Swedish political scientist Torbjörn Vallinder described as "among the most undemocratic in Europe".

VIVA • 24th August 2018

The 19th Century Swedish Novel Missing from the Feminist Literary Canon

What Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin did for the abolition movement in the United States, Fredrika Bremer’s 1856 novel Hertha did for the women’s movement in Sweden. Bremer’s boldly feminist novel graphically illustrated women’s oppression under Sweden’s antediluvian laws, and prompted a heated public debate that contributed to emerging social and legal changes for women. It also inspired an arm of the Swedish women's movement that continues to advocate for women today.

A Bit of History • 17th August 2018

H.G. Wells’ Feminism and the Women Who Deconstructed It

English author H.G. Wells envisioned a future of alien invasion and time travel. He dabbled in dystopian nightmares and conjured up mad scientists and invisible men. And, to the disgust of two of his feminist lovers, he imagined a utopia where “women are to be as free as men.”

The Local Sweden • 3rd August 2018

'The most drunken country in Europe': Read this and you might like Systembolaget a whole lot better

Sweden's tempestuous relationship with liquor goes back more than 500 years and can make the country’s state-run alcohol monopoly, Systembolaget, seem like a nirvana. In fact, it wasn't too long ago that anyone wanting to purchase strong alcohol, such as liquor/spirits, in Sweden would have had to deal not only with an alcohol monopoly, but also with strict rationing.

The Local Sweden • 5th July 2018

'Folkhemmet' – how a revolutionary political idea changed Sweden for good

The concept of the People's Home – which embodied a political approach that was midway between Capitalism and Communism – drove Swedish economic, social and political policies for much of the 20th century. It helped transform Sweden from a country with major class inequalities that was struggling to meet new industrial demands into a modern nation consistently ranked among the best in the world. And while it is no longer the mainstay of Swedish political thought and identity, it still carries enormous significance today.

The Local Sweden • 2nd July 2018

Why coffee was banned in Sweden five times

Congratulations! You've been selected to travel back in time. Unfortunately, you’re being transported to a time in Swedish history when coffee was illegal. But, hey, you can at least take comfort knowing that there will be plenty of people waiting to greet you holding a sign reading, "Welcome to Hell".

The Local Sweden • 26th June 2018

Why Swedish-American culture can help build bridges for new immigrants

Anyone who has lived for an extended period outside their native country probably knows how difficult integrating into another culture can be. In addition to barriers like language, which may hinder full understanding of other cultural norms and traditions, most people carry with them some sort of emotional and ideological commitment to their native culture that they can't or won't replace.

A Bit of History • 21st June 2018

Marauchie Van Orden: Soldier of the American Revolution

Women played significant and important roles in the American Revolution. Many broke traditional gender roles and suffered as much as the men they served beside. Marauchie Van Orden’s bravery at the Battles of Saratoga in 1777 earned her the rank of soldier and the respect of George Washington.

The Local Sweden • 18th June 2018

The immigrants you've probably never heard of who made Swedish history

You're on a quiz show and the host tells you that you'll win the jackpot if you can name a notable immigrant to Sweden in history and briefly describe his or her major contribution. You have 20 seconds to answer. No internet, no lifeline. Can you do it? Chances are, you can't.

The Local Sweden • 12th June 2018

Eight Unexpected Ways to Experience History in Sweden This Summer

For anyone willing to venture outside the usual destinations, Sweden offers some unexpected opportunities to discover history. From a shrine to a heavy metal music icon to the birthplace of a favorite Swedish candy to Native American culture, here are eight places off the beaten path in Sweden where you can experience history in ways that just might surprise you.

The Local Sweden • 30th May 2019

The ships that carried Swedish emigrants to North America

From the early years of the Swedish mass migration in the 1850s to the dawn of the 20th century, travel across the Atlantic changed dramatically.

The Local Sweden • 23rd May 2019

Secret romance! Fire inferno! The story of Stockholm's Gröna Lund

In the 1930s, a devastating fire and a secretly kindled romance threatened to permanently engulf Gröna Lund Tivoli in Stockholm.

The Local Sweden • 17th May 2019

The unusual way Sweden once solved its housing crisis and boosted living conditions

In the first half of the 20th century, Sweden implemented an unconventional campaign to transform it from a country with the lowest standards of housing in Europe to one of the highest in the world.

The Local Sweden • 9th May 2019

The woman who introduced undercover journalism to Sweden

In the early 1900s, a motorcycle-riding, tobacco-smoking young woman changed Swedish journalism and introduced a powerful new female role model to Swedish literature.

The Local Sweden • 2nd May 2019

The controversy that brought US-Swedish relations to the brink

In early 1968, Sweden brought tensions with the United States to a head when it doubled down on its anti-Vietnam stance by granting asylum to four American military deserters.

The Local Sweden • 25th April 2019

The year Sweden organized the Olympics and defied expectations

Stockholm Olympic Stadium defied those who said Sweden wasn't advanced enough to host the Olympic Games in 1912, and has survived to become the world's oldest Olympic stadium actively in use.

The Local Sweden • 18th April 2019

The Swedish expedition that rescued thousands from Nazi concentration camps

In spring 1945, as the Second World War was nearing its end, Sweden carried out the biggest humanitarian relief expedition ever to take place within Nazi Germany.

The Local Sweden • 11th April 2019

The day a naked Swedish footballer caused an unexpected scandal

In 1949, a Swedish football player made international headlines when he dared to bare in Brazil.

The Local Sweden • 4th April 2019

The day Sweden’s trolls and fairies wept

On November 20th, 1918, a tragic ferry accident claimed the life of a Swedish artist whose enchanting depictions of folk and fairy tale creatures still capture the imagination.

The Local Sweden • 28th March 2019

The Swedish farm girl who smashed records and gender barriers

In the mid-1940s, a Swedish "farm girl" became a running-phenomenon, breaking world records and shattering gender barriers.

The Local Sweden • 21st March 2019

The scandal that made Charles Lindbergh's grandfather flee Sweden

Charles Lindbergh's 1933 visit to Sweden helps tell the story of how his grandfather fled the country 74 years earlier.

The Local Sweden • 14th March 2019

The tree that was there when Sweden changed for good

The image of a tree in the middle of Drottningholmsvägen in 1916 tells of a world at war and a country on the verge of a major transformation.

The Local Sweden • 7th March 2019

The Swedish beach that was the Ibiza of the early 1900s

Dubbed the "Swedish Riviera", a beach in Skåne once attracted foreign royalty and tourists with the promise of abandoning conventional morality.

The Local Sweden • 28th February 2019

The celebrity wedding that rocked the world in 1960

The controversial 1960 marriage of a Swedish actress and an African-American celebrity still has much to reveal about racism and anti-Semitism in Swedish and world history.

The Local Sweden • 21st February 2019

The day Stockholm was bombed by the Soviet Union

Seventy-five years ago, Sweden's questionable wartime neutrality, a Russian spy, and three "missing" Soviet bombers led to devastation in Stockholm.