Are you Swedish?

So is this finally time to touch upon the growing debate taking place in Sweden about the rights of Swedes, who's Swedish, and who should stay and who should go?  NO!  I am not going to go there other than to say as an American of Swedish descent I am disgusted by the Sweden Democrats who oppose integration of immigrants, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_Democrats.  Don't they realize that immigrants bring a host of skills and resources to the party?  Then again, living in America, I also know how hard it can be to live in a multicultural society and that it's important that all sides be heard.  I plan to get more knowledgeable about this important issue when I am in Skåne... in the meantime, passing on some old timey fun stuff on finding more out about your background.

If you are of Swedish descent and would like to research your background the Swedish Genealogy Guide has a lot of interesting information including this resource to help out with your research: http://swedishgenealogyguide.com/dictionaries/1788-swedish-english-dictionary. The blog especially has some fascinating information for you history buffs.  Did you know for example that vaccinations started against smallpox as early as 1756 in Sweden?  Beginning in 1816 all children had to be vaccinated against it, information which existed usually in the church records, or household papers. Also if your ancestor was a sailor as many of ours were this is a great place to start: blog

Sjömanshus (Sailor house) document from Swedish Genealogy Guide site