Historic Turnblad Mansion

(May 24, 2018) Minneapolis, Minnesota

A recent lecture and exhibit at Siouxland Libraries prompted an escape from the store for some pre-Memorial Day holiday R & R in the Twin Cities. The lecturer in early April at Siouxland was Curt Pederson, the principal curator of the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. Mr. Pederson delivered a very informative offering on Swedish culture and folk art. The lecture was accompanied by an engaging exhibit of Swedish woodcarvings.  His presentation was intriguing.

Afterwards Mr. Pederson was very patient in answering my questions about both Swedish culture and the artistry. Because of my interest, and one of his reasons for coming to Sioux Falls was to promote the Institute, Mr. Pederson extended an invitation to see the ASI sometime when I come to Minneapolis. 

I accepted his invitation

My experience was altogether different from what I expected. The American Swedish Institute is the engaging story of a man’s love and pride in his native country with a cultural twist.

Swan Johann Turnblad was born in Sweden in 1860 and immigrated to Goodhue County, Minnesota when he was eight years old. Growing up on a farm, Swan learned the values of hard work. After high school he became a teacher though he continued to help on the family farm. Swan was ambitious and a very private person.

In pursuit of a better life, Swan moved to Minneapolis in 1878 where he found work as a typesetter at a Swedish American newspaper. In Minneapolis Swan met Christina Nilsson, another Swede who moved to Minneapolis by way of Slayton, Minnesota. Swan and Christina were married in 1883 and had one child, Lillian.

Swan in 1887 became the manager and part owner of Svenska Amerikanska Posten. The newspaper was written entirely in Swedish. Swan was a good businessman. He possessed excellent marketing skills and vision, was technologically progressive, and was adept in the field of finance and investment. In today’s terminology he might have been considered a corporate raider, unusual for a modest Swede.

From 1865 until 1915, one and a quarter million Swedes moved to the upper Midwest region of the United States (Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas.) Swan Turnblad recognized this market and at its height, Svenska Amerikanska Posten (SAP), had nearly fifty thousand subscribers including some in Sweden. An outstanding publisher, he excelled in his selling advertising and adapting the latest innovations in printing (technology.)

Importantly Swan through financial and legal strategies consolidated his and Christina’s ownership of SAP. Swan Turnblad amassed a financial fortune as a result of the newspaper’s success and other investments.

In 1903 Swan began construction of a mansion for his family on the corner of Park Avenue and 26^th Street, south of downtown Minneapolis. Park Avenue was known as Minneapolis’ “Golden Mile”. The mansion was among several other mansions on the Golden Mile belonging to the wealthy and socially elite of Minneapolis, including several of the famous millers. Park Avenue was the first paved street in Minneapolis.

The Turnblad mansion was unique, constructed on a framework of steel. Sixteen carpenters three woodcarvers and untold number of masons built the home. Included were all the modern conveniences including electricity, gas heating, indoor plumbing, and telephone. Because of the steel super structure, the home is very open employing several pocket doors. The craftsmanship is spectacular and the décor ornate. The home was built on six lots with a cost over one million dollars. 

What makes Swan’s story fascinating is this thirty-three-room massive Chateau structure, was built for a family of just three very private people. They were known to have entertained there only once, a few years after they no longer permanently occupied the mansion. The Turnblad’s occupied the home for about five years.

Swan, Christina, and Lillian moved to an apartment built adjacent to his new offices and printing plant constructed downtown. In 1915 the Turnblad’s relocated again to a luxurious apartment house located directly across Park Avenue from their unoccupied but still maintained mansion. Swan would reside in the apartment the rest of his life.

In 1930 Swan established the American Institute of Swedish Arts, Literature, and Science. He gifted the Mansion to serve as its headquarters and made a large financial endowment to his Institute. Swan died in 1933 and daughter Lillian who never married moved to a small farm south of Minneapolis. Lillian left her estate to the Institute, later renamed American Swedish Institute.

The large and beautiful Turnblad mansion, the center for American Swedish culture is a paradox.

Swedes are a modest and humble people. The hallmark of the Swede is expressed by the Swedish word lagom – translated moderation. Why then did this practical businessman build a mansion he essentially did not desire? The anomaly was to not so subtlety tell his Norwegian and German neighbors there was a Swede in their elegant neighborhood!

ASI Today –

Today the ASI carries out Swan Turnblad’s vision of promoting his native pride, telling the story of the Swedish culture in America, and fostering Swedish and American relations.

The mansion serves primarily as a stand-alone attraction, though Swedish art and design are displayed within the home’s spacious rooms. The Institute’s other undertakings are located in the adjacent next-door Institute property, the Nelson Cultural Center.

Nelson Center was opened in 2012 and includes a Nordic themed café, FIKA (in Swedish meaning to have coffee and meatballs are always on the menu), an art gallery for exhibitions of Swedish art, an art studio for classes, storage archives for ASI’s collections, and an event space. The Nelson Center highlights Swedish design and I was impressed by the fact there are five classes each week for Swedish woodcarving. Gustavus Adolphus College located in St. Peter, Minnesota founded in 1862 by Swedish Lutherans rents office space in the Nelson Center.

Curt Pederson and the staff were welcoming hosts and it was two and a half hours well spent getting new insights to not just Swedish but Minnesota culture.