Swan J. Turnblad (October 7, 1860 – May 17, 1933) was an American newspaper publisher. Turnblad was the manager of the '' Svenska Amerikanska Posten'', a

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the G ...

newspaper in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. Later in his life he donated property and money to help create the

American Swedish Institute The American Swedish Institute (ASI) is a museum and cultural center in the Phillips West, Minneapolis, Phillips West neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The organization is dedicated to the preservation and study of the histo ...

Early life

Turnblad was born Sven Johan Olofsson in Tubbemåla,

Vislanda Vislanda () is a locality situated in Alvesta Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway ...

, Kronoberg County, Småland, Sweden, in 1860. His family were farmers but, following a series of bad harvests, they decided to immigrate to the United States in 1868. The family settled in Vasa Township, Goodhue County, Minnesota, where there was already a sizable community of Swedish immigrants. He attended local schools and after graduating high school he worked as a teacher and helped with the family's farm for several years. In 1878 he moved to Minneapolis, where he worked as a

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...

at several Swedish-language newspapers. Soon after arriving in the city he met another Swedish immigrant, Christina Nilsson. The couple married in 1883 and the following year Christina gave birth to her only child, Lillian Zenobia Turnblad (1884-1943).

Svenska Amerikanska Posten

In 1887, Turnblad became the manager of the Swedish-language newspaper ''Svenska Amerikanska Posten''. His brother, Magnus Turnblad, joined him as the editor in 1890. Turnblad was very interested in new technology and was the first publisher of a Swedish language newspaper to use a

Linotype machine The Linotype machine ( ) is a "line casting" machine used in printing which is manufactured and sold by the former Mergenthaler Linotype Company and related It was a hot metal typesetting system that cast lines of metal type for one-time use. Li ...

. After acquiring a duplex rotary color

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

in 1903, Turnblad also included color illustrations. Under Turnblad's management circulation increased steadily, growing from just 1,400 in 1887 to 40,000 by 1900. In The success of ''Svenska Amerikanska Posten'' together with his other investments made Turnblad very wealthy.

American Swedish Institute

In 1903, Turnblad commissioned the building of a mansion on Park Avenue in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. Turnblad had the Minneapolis firm of Boehme and Cordella design a

Châteauesque Châteauesque (or Francis I style,Whiffen, Marcus, ''American Architecture Since 1780: A guide to the styles'', The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1969, p. 142. or in Canada, the Château Style) is a revivalist architectural style based on the ...

-style 33-room mansion for him, his wife, and their daughter. Built on a combination of six city lots, the home cost $1.5 million ($ million in ) and took four years to complete. The family moved into their new home in 1908. While it was their official residence, they spent most of their time living in an apartment across the street after 1915. After Turnblad's wife died in 1929, he and his daughter moved into the apartment full-time and turned their former home into a museum. Turnblad created the American Institute for Swedish Art, Literature and Science (later renamed to the American Swedish Institute), which was housed in his former residence, as a place to preserve Swedish customs and culture.

Death

Turnblad died in 1933.

References

External links