The Migration House in Alfta provides insight into how Swedes emigrated to the USA. Another good website for the Migration House and tracking genealogy is found here.
The house itself is both a place to come and conduct genealogy on the Gävleborg residents (or you can have the workers there do the research for you) and to travel through time following Brita Olsdotter’s life.
The museum is small, taking about 30 minutes to go through, but it still leaves a nice impact. It mainly follows the life of Brita Olsdotter, who was born in 1827 in Älvkarhed.
The museum the leads us through her expedition as she, along with a few hundred other people, follows Erik Jansson’s religious cult to Bishop Hill, Illinois. Today there’s a Bishop Hill museum devoted to the American side of this Swedish emigration.
The museum in Alfta starts with why she wanted to leave Sweden–religious persecution. And then describes how she traveled to Gävle to secure a boat passage to the USA; the hurdles she and others hand to overcome along the voyage, with many people dying along the way. Only to land in the USA and then have to travel across several states to reach the religious sects new land in Illinois (again a perilous journey) in the mid-1800s.
Life wasn’t easy after reaching Bishop Hill though. The town needed to be constructed, and Erik Jansson had several strict rules that needed to be obeyed, including abstinence (even if married). This was eventually reversed after some teenagers protested.
The texts were all written in Swedish next to the artifacts, but there was a good English version available to read as you progressed along in the museum.
For those interested in the Swedish emigration movement, this is a must-see.
Swedish Traveling, Culture & More Adventures 