House of Emigrants in Växjö Kristina från Duvemåla och en miljon andra utvandrare. Om verkligheten bakom Vilhelm Mobergs utvandrarepos (Kristina from Duvemåla and one million other emigrants - The real lives behind Vilhelm Moberg's emigrant epic") is the long title of a written work in Swedish which was published in conjunction with the first performance of Kristina from Duvemåla in 1995. It is written by Professor Ulf Beijbom, the director of the Swedish Emigrant Institute in Växjö and the author of over twenty books about the Swedish emigrant experience, one of which is called, Vilhelm Moberg och utvandrarbygden (Vilhelm Moberg and the emigrant countryside), and Mot löftets land. Den svenska utvandringen (Towards the land of promise - The Swedish emigration). The Swedish Emigrant Institute is a center for Swedish emigrant research, housed in The Emigrant House in Växjö. It was founded in 1965 with the enthusiastic support of Vilhelm Moberg. For a long time he had considered it shameful that Sweden had not cared enough about the documentation of the mass emigration at the turn of the century. At the same time as the Emigrant Institute was being formed an effort began to compile an inventory of historical documents from the emigration epoch. Materials included photographs, diaries, letters and more. The House of Emigrants today houses archives, libraries, and research rooms as well as permanent and temporary exhibits showcasing the emigration from Sweden to America and other countries. There, one will also find the wealth of background material Vilhelm Moberg used for his novels about Kristina and Karl Oskar and the others. Moberg donated the chest he used for preserving his papers to the Swedish Emigrant Institute in 1968 when he participated in the opening of The House of Emigrants. The chest stands today in The Moberg Room, outside the replica of the little red cottage on Väddö Island north of Stockholm where Vilhelm Moberg concluded his work on The Emigrants series in 1959. Summer 1998 The Musical | Background | Interactive guide | Merchandise | Downloadables | Swedish