Ernst Skarstedt


Ernst Teofil Skarstedt was a Swedish-American author, journalist and editor of Swedish language books and newspapers. He is most noted as the author of a three volume trilogy covering the Swedish immigrant experience in the Pacific Northwest.

Background

Ernst Teofil Skarstedt was born in Solberga parish, municipality of Kungälv, in Västra Götaland County, located in the traditional province of Bohuslän, Sweden. Skarstedt was born at the parsonage where his father served as Minister. His father, Carl Wilhelm Skarstedt, became a distinguished professor of theology at Lund University. His younger brother was Swedish journalist and politician, Carl Abraham Waldemar Skarstedt.

Career

He emigrated to the United States in 1878. Skarstedt became the co-editor of Svenska amerikanaren in 1880 and Svenska tribunen in 1884, both published in Chicago. From 1891 he edited Vestkusten, published in San Francisco. Ernst Skarstedt was later hired as the editor of Nordstjernan in New York City. Later having moved to Portland, Oregon, Skarstedt made an attempt to publish a local Swedish language newspaper, Demokraten a newspaper aimed at educating Swedes about local politics.
In 1890, Skarstedt published Oregon och Washington: Dessa staters historia, resurser och folkliv, a volume that combined history with a handbook for potential settlers. Washington och dess Svenska Befolkning was published in 1908. This provided a history of the area and descriptions of communities and industries. In 1911, he published the last volume in his trilogy about the Swedish immigrants Oregon och dess svenska befolkning. The book included biographies of prominent Swedish-Americans.

Selected works