Skip to main content

John A. Nyden Family Collection

 Collection
Identifier: SAAGC/040

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of family and personal information of a number of Swedish and American families, as well as incoming and outgoing correspondence between the Nydens and the relatives they had identified. Most of the information included in the collection has been gathered from this correspondence with relatives rather than from searching original records. This has made the collection somewhat inaccurate, since much of the information appears to have come from the memories of the relatives in question. However, there are remarkably few discrepancies in the information in the collection, considering its size and method of collection.

Dates

  • 1850 - 1989

Creator

Language of Materials

Swedish and English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright that may be involved in the use of this collection.

Biographical / Historical

The Nyden Collection of correspondence and genealogical information was begun by John Augustus Nyden. The work of collecting this information was carried on for nearly 50 years by his daughter, Miss Valborg Nyden.

John Augustus Nyden was born in Nybygget, Moheda, Sweden on March 25th, 1878. He immigrated to the United States in 1897, arriving at the port of New York with only one dollar in his pocket. From that humble beginning, he put himself through school and became a prominent architect, including State Architect for the State of Illinois in 1926-1927. Mr. Nyden also was very active in church and community affairs, serving on the boards of directors of numerous businesses and organizations.

He died of a heart attack September 4th, 1932, and was survived by his wife and two daughters. One of those daughters, Valborg Nyden, took up his interest in family history and began corresponding with her known relatives. This work grew as she learned of additional relatives, and she dedicated the better part of almost 50 years of her life pursuing it.

Extent

9.5 Linear Feet (19 containers)

Arrangement

Arranged by person or topic.

Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Sponsor
Funding to migrate and update this finding aid was provided by the Swedish Council of America through the 2019 grant "Improving and Expanding Access to the Swedish–American Archives of Greater Chicago."

Repository Details

Part of the Swedish-American Archives of Greater Chicago Repository

Contact:
3225 W Foster Ave
Box 38
Chicago IL 60625 USA
773-583-5722