History Matters digs into the Delaware Historical Society’s archives each month to explore connections between key people, places, and events in history and present-day news.
"People, when they first come to America, whether as travelers or settlers, become aware of a new and agreeable feeling: that the whole country is their oyster." - Alistair Cooke
May’s History Matters focuses on landing of the Swedes, the first Europeans to set up a permanent colony in the Delaware Valley, and the Old Swedes Church, the only remaining structure built by the colonial Swedes.
This year marks the 375th anniversary of the founding of New Sweden in present day Wilmington. Celebrations included a visit from the King and Queen of Sweden earlier in the month, while more are planned for the rest of the year by New Sweden Alliance, an umbrella group of Swedish and Finnish cultural organizations.
The group's President Sheila Romine believes that New Sweden is the least known American colony.
?“We just haven’t told our story well," said Romine. "It’s important to tell that story because everyone wants to know our roots, we want to know our heritage and the significance of the names around us.”
Like most colonial nations, Sweden wanted to establish a colony in the new world for it's economic benefits. The initial colonial plans were delayed by the Thirty Years war, but were re-instituted by the newly formed New Sweden Company at the war's end. The New Sweden Company purchased the two boats, the Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel, from Holland and hired Peter Minuit to lead the exhibition. Minuit was already known for his travels to the new world as he had been the Colony Director of New Netherland and purchased the island of Manhattan from Native Americans in 1626. Although legend says Minuit purchased Manhattan with beads, the actual exchange included 60 Dutch Guilders worth of supplies, which is equivalent to about $1,000 in the present day.
Minuit's choice of the location along the Christina River was not a random selection. Although both the Dutch and the English had claimed present day Delaware as their own, Minuit knew that neither had settled in the location and would not be aware of the Swedes settling there for quite some time. Executive Director of the Old Swedes Foundation Rebecca Wilson said that Minuit also had other reasons for his choice.
"He felt the Native Americans were a little friendlier in this area than in other areas that were unsettled when he had met them during his explorations," said Wilson.
History Matters: The Swedes and Old Swedes Church
WDDE visits the Old Swedes Church to talk about the history of New Sweden with the Executive Director of the Old Swedes Foundation Rebecca Wilson. Producer/Videographer/Editor: Ben Szmidt
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This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.