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Svenska Folkets Tidning

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Color image of the August 30, 1905 issue of the Svenska Folkets Tidning, with an article detailing the history of the paper since 1881 on the front page.

The August 30, 1905 issue of the Svenska Folkets Tidning, with an article detailing the history of the paper since 1881 on the front page.

Svenska Folkets Tidning was a successful Minneapolis-based newspaper in publication from 1881 to 1927. It provided Swedish Americans with news from around the world but especially from Sweden, the greater United States, and Minnesota, all in the Swedish language.

Launched on October 5, 1881 by the Swedish American Publishing Company of Minneapolis, Svenska Folkets Tidning was quickly popular among the Swedish-American community in the Twin Cities. The officers of the publishing company at the time were president Victor Berggren, treasurer P. J. E. Clementson, and secretary Alfred Soderstrom. Magnus Lunnow was the first editor. Before he joined Svenska Folkets Tidning he had served as the editor of two other Swedish American newspapers: the Minnesota Stats Tidning and the Svenska tribunen.

The weekly newspaper attracted 3,000 subscribers during its first three months; by the second year of publication, its subscriptions had tripled. Important early contributors to the paper included notable Swedish American Minnesotans like Governor John Lind, Colonel Hans Mattson, and Albert Berg. Swan Turnblad of Svenska Amerikanska Posten worked as a typesetter in the early years of Svenska Folkets Tidning. The paper tended to be comparatively progressive and liberal, commenting on news and leading questions of the day with a moderate tone.

In 1883, the paper was sold by the Swedish American Publishing Company to the three principal workers: Soderstrom, Lunnow, and Olaf Hoglund. In 1889, the Tribune Building that housed the Svenska Folkets Tidning was destroyed in a fire. Since their insurance policy had expired, the disaster resulted in a total loss to the owners. The paper fell into the hands of the newly incorporated Swedish Printing Company of Minnesota, which ensured it had up-to-date printing equipment, an enlarged plant, and increased financial support. During this time, Svenska Folkets Tidning also merged with two other Swedish American newspapers: the Iowa Svithiod and the New York Bifrost.

In 1908, Svenska Folkets Tidning was purchased from shareholders by A. G. Johnson, who also served as an editor after he bought the paper. Both Johnson and the manager of the paper, Carl Ekman, contributed to its success during these years, which brought increased circulation and advertising sales.

Johnson died in 1924. In 1927, the paper was absorbed by the Svenska Amerikanska Posten; it published its last issue on August 25.

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© Minnesota Historical Society
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First published: November 30, 2016
Last modified: August 1, 2019

  • Bibliography
  • Related Resources

Bibliography

Backlund, J. Oscar. A Century of the Swedish American Press. Chicago: Swedish American Newspaper, 1952.

Hudson, Horace B. A Half Century of Minneapolis. Minneapolis: Hudson Publishing, 1908.

Minnesota Historical Society. Svenska Folkets Tidning.
http://www.mnhs.org/newspapers/swedishamerican/svenska-folkets-tidning

Nelson, Olaf Nickolaus. History of the Scandinavians and Successful Scandinavians in the United States. Minneapolis: O.N. Nelson & Company, 1904.

Strand, A. E. ed. And comp. A History of the Swedish-Americans of Minnesota. Chicago: Lewis Publishing, 1910.
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/4057976.html

Related Resources

Secondary

Anderson, Philip J., and Dag Blanck, eds. Swedes in the Twin Cities: Immigrant Life and Minnesota’s Urban Frontier. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2001.

Capps, Finis Herbert. From Isolationism to Involvement: The Swedish Immigrant Press in America, 1914–1945. Chicago: Swedish Pioneer Historical Society, 1966.

Lewis, Anne Gillespie. Swedes in Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2004.

Schersten, Albert Ferdinand. The Relation of the Swedish American Newspaper to the Assimilation of Swedish Immigrants. Rock Island, IL: Augustana Library Publications, 1935.

Related Images

Color image of the August 30, 1905 issue of the Svenska Folkets Tidning, with an article detailing the history of the paper since 1881 on the front page.
Color image of the August 30, 1905 issue of the Svenska Folkets Tidning, with an article detailing the history of the paper since 1881 on the front page.
Black and white photograph of the Tribune Building, Fourth Street and First Avenue South, Minneapolis, 1887.
Black and white photograph of the Tribune Building, Fourth Street and First Avenue South, Minneapolis, 1887.
John Lind
John Lind

Related Articles

Svenska Amerikanska Posten
Lind, John (1854–1930)
Mattson, Hans (1832–1893)
Turnblad, Swan (1860–1933)
Swedish Immigration to Minnesota

Turning Point

A. G. Johnson buys the Svenska Folkets Tidning in 1908, and the paper reaches its greatest success both in circulation and advertising sales.

Chronology

1881

The paper enters publication on October 5.

1883

The paper is sold to Alfred Soderstrom, Magnus Lunnow, and Olaf Hoglund.

1885

A Swedish newspaper out of New York called Bifrost merges with Svenska Folkets Tidning.

1891

Svenska Folkets Tidning provides financial sponsorship for the humorous newspaper Friskytten, which lasts two years as an independent publication.

1889

In November, the paper’s plant is lost in a fire—the first of four in the paper’s history.

1899

The Swedish Printing Company is incorporated, and the Svenska Folkets Tidning falls under its control.

1903

Longtime editor Magnus Lunnow dies. An Iowa newspaper, Svithiod, merges with Svenska Folkets Tidning.

1908

On August 1, the paper is purchased by A. G. Johnson. In the following years it reaches its height of circulation and advertising patronage.

1927

The paper is absorbed by Svenska amerikanska posten; the last issue is published on August 25.