Carl Hjalmar Lundquist Papers

Carl Hjalmar Lundquist was a distinguished Swedish‑American newspaper man, author, machinist/engineer, and lawyer. For 35 years he served as assistant corporation counsel of the City of Chicago. He was a student social democrat who later became involved in Chicago Democratic Party politics. He also was involved in numerous Swedish‑American groups and became a sought‑after speaker at their activities. Beyond his ethnic interests, Lundquist was zealously committed to larger American public life.

Carl Hjalmar Lundquist was born at Bofors Mills, Karlskoga parish, Värmland, Sweden on October 11, 1883. His father was foreman of the cannon foundry; his mother was a public school teacher. They came to the United States in 1886. Lundquist attended public school in Chicago and returned to Sweden to attend secondary school at Arboga from 1897 to 1901. He then enrolled at Scholar Carolinas in Örebrö where he edited the college weekly and was active in temperence work.

That same year, C. Hjalmar Lundquist returned to Chicago to become city editor of Svenska Tribunen and Fosterlandet. He also joined the editorial staff of Svenska Tribunen‑‑Nyheter and worked until June 1906 when he got a similar job at Chicago‑Bladet. From 1907 to 1910 he worked in editorial capacities at Svenska Tribunen‑‑Nyheter, Hemlandet, and Soenskakuriren. Lundquist edited Svenska Posten of Rockford from 1910 to 1912. In 1912 and 1913 he worked on the editorial staff of the Rockford Morning Star before retiring from newspaper work.

During the years 1911‑1914, Lundquist had played an important role in the establishment of Swedish‑American Hospital in Rockford. In 1914, he began to handle foreign correspondence for Sulzberger and Sons Co., U.S. Yards, Chicago. He stayed until 1916. In 1907, Lundquist had worked in the drafting room of the National Coal Dump Car Company. In 1917, he enrolled at Chicago Law School and worked as a tool and die maker. Lundquist graduated in 1921 and was admitted to the bar in 1922. He was hired as assistant corporation counsel of the City of Chicago in 1923 and worked in that capacity until 1927. After a few years of private law practice he again became assistant corporation counsel in 1933 and retired from that job in 1964.

C. Hjalmar Lundquist was very active in Swedish‑American activities. He was a secretary of the Svithiod Singing Club, a chairman of Verdandi Lodge #3, and a chairman of Värmlands Nation. Lundquist helped organize the Chicago branch of the Swedish Cultural Society in 1923. He used his writing skills to document Swedish‑American history. In 1910 he published Lundquist's Guide to the Swedes of Chicago. Lundquist edited and wrote Runristningar, a history of the Viking Order, in 1915.

C. Hjalmar Lundquist also had an active political life. As a student in Sweden he became a social democrat. He was Secretary of the American Embargo Conference in 1916, and was defeated as an independent candidate for Congress in the 10th district the same year. Lundquist later became very involved in Chicago Democratic Party politics and became a leader in the 50th Democratic Party Ward Organization.

In January 1949, C. Hjalmar Lundquist was knighted by the King of Sweden.