Swedish Migration, Naval Militarism, and Industrial Modernity

Abstract

Early transatlantic memorialization of John Ericsson portrayed the designer of the Civil War ironclad Monitor as a symbol of Swedish migration, naval preparedness, and industrial society. The campaign for a monument in Washington, DC, revealed divisions among Swedish Americans and tensions with the federal bureaucracy and Swedish monarchy amid the upheavals of World War I. After the failure of efforts to integrate the Ericsson Memorial with the nearby Lincoln Memorial, the monument dedicated in 1926 sought to unify the established themes and constituencies, but subsequent initiatives showed that Swedish Americans, other Americans, and Swedes now saw Ericsson differently.