Svenska monitoren (Sioux City, Iowa) 1895-1939  Browse the title

Sioux City, Iowa, had many foreign language newspapers, mostly during the 1880s and 1890s, with some lasting into the early 1900s. Almost all of these were Swedish papers, including Barometern, Nya nordwestern, Nordwestern, Skandia, Svenska Amerikanska pressen, and Svenska-Amerikanska nyheter. The Norwegian Sioux City Tidende and the German Sioux City Volksfreund were also published in Sioux City during this time.

The longest-running Swedish language newspaper in Sioux City was Svenska monitoren (the Swedish Monitor). It was established in 1895 by Otto E. Jacobson. Jacobson was born in Sweden and worked as a florist before coming to the United States in 1887 at the age of 21. He first went to Omaha, Nebraska, to visit his brother, Carl A. Jacobson, intending to stay for six months before returning to Sweden. During his visit, Jacobson changed his mind and felt he had better business opportunities if he stayed in the US permanently. He joined his brother in business at Svenska posten, a Swedish newspaper in Omaha. After four years, in 1891, Jacobsen moved to Sioux City and established Svenska Amerikanska pressen with Charles Sandstrom and Jacob Vatters. Jacobsen left the paper after only six months, and another six months after his departure, the paper ceased publication. He then established a job printing office, before launching Svenska monitoren in 1895.

Svenska monitoren was Republican in politics and focused on local news, political discussion, and the interests of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was published weekly, and issues were eight pages long. The second page of each issue was entirely devoted to news from Sweden, with correspondence from many Swedish cities.

In 1939, Svenska Monitoren became an English-language newspaper, and the title was changed to the Lutheran Monitor. It continued for four more years before ceasing publication in July 1943.

Provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa