Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center

United States Illinois  Rock Island County  Archives and Libraries  

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Contact Information
E-mail: [mailto:sag@augustana.edu sag@augustana.edu]

Address:


 * Denkman Memorial Library
 * Augustana College
 * 3520 7th Ave
 * Rock Island IL 61201-2296

Telephone: 309-794-7204 Fax: 309-794-7443

Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00am-12:00pm, 1:00pm-4:30pm

Map, directions, parking, and public transportation:


 * Map:  Google map: Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center


 * Directions:
 * from the north (Dubuque, IA):  Merge onto US-61 S toward Rock Island. In Davenport, turn right onto W 2nd St, 0.3 mi. Turn left onto US-67 S/Centennial Bridge. Continue to follow US-67 S (Crossing into Illinois), 1.0 mi. Stay straight to go onto 15th St, 0.2 mi. Turn left onto 7th Ave, 1.4 mi. 3520 7TH AVE is on the right.
 * from the northeast (Dixon, IL):  Merge onto I-88 W/Chicago-Kansas City Expressway W via the ramp on the left toward Rock Island (Portions toll). Stay straight to go onto IL-92 W/IL-5 W. Continue to follow IL-92 W, 11.7 mi. Stay straight to go onto 6th Ave, 0.1 mi. Turn left onto 38th St/IL-92, 0.09 mi. Take the 1st right onto 7th Ave, 0.2 mi. 3520 7TH AVE is on the left.
 * from the southeast (Peru, IL):  Merge onto I-80 W toward Moline-Rock Island. Stay straight to go onto I-280 W, 9.6 mi. Merge onto I-74 W/US-6 W via EXIT 5A toward Moline, 3.3 mi. Take the 7th Avenue exit, EXIT 2, 0.3 mi. Keep left at the fork in the ramp, 0.06 mi. Merge onto 7th Ave, 0.03 mi. Turn slight right onto 19th St, 0.04 mi. Turn right to stay on 19th St, 0.2 mi. Turn left onto 4th Ave/IL-92. Continue to follow IL-92, 1.8 mi. Stay straight to go onto 6th Ave, 0.1 mi. Turn left onto 38th St/IL-92, 0.09 mi. Take the 1st right onto 7th Ave, 0.2 mi. 3520 7TH AVE is on the left.
 * from the south (Galesburg, IL):  Merge onto I-74 W toward Moline. Merge onto I-74 W/US-6 W via EXIT 5A toward Moline, 3.3 mi. Take the 7th Avenue exit, EXIT 2, 0.3 mi. Keep left at the fork in the ramp, 0.06 mi. Merge onto 7th Ave, 0.03 mi. Turn slight right onto 19th St, 0.04 mi. Turn right to stay on 19th St, 0.2 mi. Turn left onto 4th Ave/IL-92. Continue to follow IL-92, 1.8 mi. Stay straight to go onto 6th Ave, 0.1 mi. Turn left onto 38th St/IL-92, 0.09 mi. Take the 1st right onto 7th Ave, 0.2 mi. 3520 7TH AVE is on the left.
 * from the west (Iowa City, Ia):  Merge onto I-80 E toward Davenport. Merge onto I-280 E via EXIT 290 toward US-61 S/Rock Island/Moline (Crossing into Illinois), 11.2 mi. Merge onto IL-92 E via EXIT 11B toward Rock Island, 5.1 mi. Stay straight to go onto 24th St, 0.2 mi. Take the 3rd left onto 7th Ave, 0.8 mi. 3520 7TH AVE is on the right.


 * Parking: Nearby street parking is available along 7th Avenue and 35th Street (see Google map, above). Some visitor parking spaces are available in Lot E.


 * Public transportation:  Rock Island County Metro bus red route 10 stops next to the Swenson Center.

Internet sites and databases:


 * Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center about us, search our collections, resources by subject, library, archives, academic, genealogy, support and membership, contact.
 * ALiCat online catalog searchable by keyword, author, title, or subject.
 * Library to search our collection, donations, book collections
 * Archives database, donations, duplication policies, publication from Swenson Center materials.
 * PastPerfect online digital database for archival collections and photos.
 * Genealogy research, church records, passenger indexes, newspapers, city directories, lodges, and Swedish censuses.

Collection Description
The Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana College is a national organization providing resources for studying Swedish immigration to North America. They also help research the immigrant communities, and the role the immigrants and their descendants have played in American life.

For genealogy research they have church records from denominations founded by Swedish immigrants in America, passenger indexes from American and Scandinavian ports, Swedish immigrant aid organizations, lodge records, Swedish-language newspapers, city directories, and censuses for communities with concentrations of Swedish-Americans.

Tips
Go to this page for genealogy research help appointments and what information to bring with you.

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a source at the , a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service &amp; pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources, prisons, and federal employees.
 * Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana, premier periodical collection, including Swedish-American genealogies, local histories, databases, military, censuses, directories, and passenger lists.
 * National Archives Great Lakes Region (Chicago) old federal court and agency records for Illinois and Midwest U.S. federal censuses 1790–1940; military service and pension indexes, passenger lists, naturalizations, Ancestry.com, HeritageQuest, Fold3.
 * Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois, a large repository with genealogies, local histories, censuses, military, land, indexes, vital records, court, and tax records mostly from the Mississippi Valley, eastern seaboard, Canada, and the British Isles.

Neighboring Collections


 * Illinois State Archives, Springfield, county/state records, pre-Chicago fire sources, indexed vital records, early land grants, military records, all fed/state censuses, surname card index.
 * Illinois State Library, Springfield, state/federal records, federal censuses to 1920, plat books, IL county histories, Sanborn fire insurance maps, Rev. War pensions and bounty land warrants.
 * Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield, county histories with index; best newspapers collection in IL, DAR and State Genealogical Society records, and manuscript family papers.
 * Illinois State Genealogical Society research guidance, teaching via webinars and the ISGS blog for free, death certificates 1916-1947 for a fee. No research requests.
 * Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD), Springfield, HQ of 7 regional archives of local Illinois county/town records: birth, marriage, death, land, tax, voting reg., probate, naturalization, civil criminal court, coroner, poorhouse, jail. For Clay County see IRAD-Eastern Illinois University.
 * Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Springfield, genealogy, plat maps, atlases, oral and county history, cemeteries, census, vital records, naturalizations in many counties.
 * Arlington Heights Memorial Library a huge collection, with printed genealogies, manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers, special aids, surname folders—a great overall genealogy collection.
 * Chicago History Museum 20 million manuscripts, letters, certificates, diaries, genealogy charts, log books, journals, memoirs, minutes, muster rolls, scrapbooks, sermons, speeches, and telegrams.
 * Chicago Title and Trust  for a fee they will search property records prior to the Chicago fire.
 * John A. Logan College Library, Carterville, this library is a focal point of Southern Illinois genealogy. Their collection is huge.
 * Lincoln Library, Springfield, indexed obituaries, city directories, the Sangamon Valley Collection  has photos, yearbooks, histories, and maps for studying Sangamon and surrounding counties.
 * Peoria Public Library enjoys a large genealogy and local history department, including many indexes, DAR files, and basic genealogy resources for the plains states.
 * Pritzker Military Museum and Library, Chicago, 45,000 military history books, unit histories, photos, uniforms, equipment, insignia, and ships of many world militaries. They help genealogists.
 * South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society, Hazel Crest, a very good collection with local histories, genealogies, naturalizations, Pullman Car Works personnel, obituaries, church histories.
 * Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Lovejoy Library best library in southern IL with a large genealogical collection of newspapers, biographies, county histories, family folders, and maps.
 * University of Chicago Library plentiful historical records, including Durrett Collection  of historical Kentucky and Ohio River Valley manuscripts of early people in the Ohio Valley.
 * University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Main Library one of the best book collections in America, including county histories, and farmers registers. Think of it as another archives for Illinois.
 * Urbana Free Library their strength is Champaign County history, but they have good basic genealogy for the entire United States including printed genealogies, manuscripts, family folders.


 * Rock Island County Clerk births since 1877, marriages since 1834, deaths since 1878.
 * Rock Island County Historical Society Research Library and Archives 12,000 books, newspapers since 1857, censuses, directories, maps, photos, family histories, yearbooks.
 * Rock Island County Circuit Court Clerk divorce, probate, court, and naturalizations.
 * Rock Island County Recorder land records.
 * Rock Island County Coroner suspicious or unusual deaths.
 * U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois recent civil and criminal cases.
 * Rock Island County Illinois Genealogical Society conferences, webinars, classes, cemetery records.
 * Rock Island Arsenal Historical Society to promote Arsenal Island history.
 * Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums, Rock Island, largest private manuscript collection.


 * Repositories in surrounding counties:  in Illinois: Henry, Mercer, Whiteside; in Iowa: Clinton, Louisa, Muscatine, and Scott


 * Illinois Dept. of Health Vital Records birth, marriage, death, adoption, and divorces.


 * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Archives parish records, priest biographies, sacramental, school, or orphanage records.
 * Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives, Elk Grove Village, IL, serves historians, congregations, synods, genealogists and others interested in Lutheran history.
 * Brethren Historical Library and Archives, Elgin, IL, cultural, socio-economic, theological, genealogical, and institutional history of the Brethren.


 * Repositories in other surrounding states (or provinces):  Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin


 * National Personnel Records Center (NPRC), St. Louis, MO, military and civil services personnel records. For servicemen and servicewomen discharged from 1912 to 1953.