Click here for a short video of the 2012 Colonists' Day celebration.
Coming events
"The Landing of the Swedes" by Stanley M. Arthurs
depicts the first contact in 1638 between the Swedish settlers and Native Americans.
The meeting took place along the Christina River in present-day Wilmington.
The image is made possible through the generosity of the Permanent Collection of the University of Delaware
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New
Sweden Centre
1124 East Seventh Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
TEL
302-429-0464
FAX 302-746-6755
Email:
info@colonialnewsweden.org
Mail-Business Address:
New Sweden Centre
PO Box 12001
Wilmington, DE 19850
Tours/visits by appointment:
Please call 302-429-0464
to schedule a visit
Welcome
The New Sweden Centre is an interpretive center for the colonial history of the Delaware Valley, featuring "Hands-On-History" displays of artifacts from the Prehistoric era to the American War for Independence, with a special focus on native Americans and the New Sweden Colony.
The Centre, headquartered in Wilmington, De., also offers educational outreach programs and historic reenactors. Browse the website and email us to learn more.
Royal visit
Royal visit highlight of 375th celebrations
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden visited Wilmington May 11 to mark the 375th anniversary of the arrival of the first settlers. The king and queen were joined by Finland's Speaker of the Parliament Eero Heinäluoma. Keep an eye on the calendar at right as we continue to clebrate this anniversary year.Click here for the Newsworks/WHYY report on this historic event.
Click on the logo for updates on anniversary plans by The New Sweden Alliance.
Colonists' Day 2012
Enjoy this five-minute video of the 2012 celebration and day's activities.
The hand of friendship extended at the ceremony celebrating the 374th Anniversary of the landing of the Swedes and Finns at "The Rocks" in Fort Christina Park at Colonists' Day, April 14th, 2012. Bill Hutchinison, left, in the persona of Peter Minuit, greets Dennis Cokerchief of the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware, Inc.
The story of New Sweden
This seven-minute video quickly tells the story of the founding of New Sweden. It is a condensed version of a 26-minute video that is available in our web store for anyone who would like to make it part of their education or interpretive program.
The story of Black Anthony
Click here to learn about Antoni Swart, the African who lived in New Sweden. This 10-page slide show is a synopsis by Abdullah Muhammad of his soon to be released book: Africans in New Sweden, The Untold Story. The book will be available from Delaware History Books.New brochure
We’re excited that we have a new brochure of New Sweden sites throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. There’s a map to show the locations and contact details for each location/organization are listed on the reverse side. Feel free to print off your own copy!Traveling exhibit
One of our recent ventures was to support the current traveling exhibit called “Colony to Community: The Story of New Sweden” This display, developed by the American Swedish Historical Museum, is now available for your conference or special event highlighting local history. Send us an an email for more information.