Collecting and preserving information and memorabilia around Swedish worldwide activities achievements and has been a project of the organization Sverigekontakt since its inception in 1908. When the grand Gothenburg exhibition opened in the summer 1923, a devoted section of most impressive magnitude had been created for these abroad endeavors.
The next task was to make parts of the exhibition permanent. Since none of the available museums were able to accommodate this need, the collections were temporarily shelved. In the autumn of 1926, Riksföreningen had received grants and a building in central Gothenborg could be purchased. Two years later, in 1928, Utlandssvenska Museet was formally inaugurated and an individuals’ archive was systematically built. Although the museum closed in 1942, the gathering of personal data continued into the mid-1950s.
Among the archives was an articles collection, where articles and information from Swedish, Finland-Swedish and Swedish-American newspapers and periodicals were carefully glued to pages and stored in folders. This documentation had begun in 1926 and would continue for some thirty years. Letters and small prints are also part of the material.
Utlandssvenska Museet also had a survey sheet sent out to especially interesting Swedes around the world. The form read as follows:

To Utlandssvenska Museet in Gothenburg.
By request I hereby submit the following autobiographical information:

Name:
Parents:
Born: (When and where?)
Biographical notes:

Completed work assignments:
Official distinctions:
Married to:
When?
Children (Born when and where?)
My current address:
People known to me I feel should be included in the museum’s personal history archives: Name, address, short account of why the suggested people should to be included.

Date
Signature

Oftentimes, a portrait photo accompanied the information. This survey was conducted during the late 1920s and a few years onwards.
These personal history archives would eventually amount to 119 A4-folders that were part of Riksföreningen’s archives, and transferred to the Gothenburg Regional archives. In 2010, the folder contents were scanned at The Swedish American Center and integrated into EmiWeb. In EmiWeb, the material is searchable on the information categories Name, Source, Country and Occupation.

The archive will be published in three sets, first out is folder 1-24 .

Lennart Limberg, Gothenburg in June of 2010.