Welcome to The Hellstroms of Melrose Street c 1915, a brief history of Delores and Harlow Hellstrom, my Great-Aunt and Grandfather's young lives on Chicago's North Side. Their father, Victor Hellstrom, emigrated to the United States in the 1880s after earning an engineering degree from Uppsala Universitet. Arriving first in Boston, Victor came to Chicago to design decorative ironwork for the 1893 Columbia Exposition and later the Potter Palmer mansion. As any ambitious 19th-century architect would do, Victor remained in Chicago and founded his own engineering firm at 25 N Dearborn Street. His T-Square and an original illustration from his studio hang on the gallery's south wall. A man of means, Victor gave Delores a camera for her 15th birthday. The images you see in the gallery were seen through the eyes of a young woman, with the same passions and concerns as any other at any time, carried out nowadays in social media. With copious comments, likes and hashtags (note: LONG SKIRTS!) written by Delores herself in blue ink across their surfaces.
Objects. First and foremost the exhibition is about objects: how they acquire, retain, and subsequently carry meaning and value. But what kind of value? Monetary, emotional, cultural?
What constitutes pricelessness?
-A pair of Victorian side chairs-
-A 50-year-old piece of Wrigley's chewing gum-
-Swedish Crystal that turns out not to be Swedish-
-A souvenir t-shirt from the museum shoppe downstairs-
-A Charge Plate from Marshall Field's & Co.-
-An antique walking stick/weapon from Ireland-
-The charming obsolescence of Kodak Super 8 home movies-
For the Swedish American Museum I've drawn upon a 30-year career as a producer and custodian of art objects. In New York City and Chicago, I've managed collections of priceless antiquities and leading-edge contemporary works. Playfully tampering with museum display conventions, the exhibition organizes a constellation of coincidences among objects, photographs, objects within & created from them, anecdotes & fables passed on to me with the delightful wit of the people who fill these walls:
The Hellstroms of Melrose Street c. 1915.
Skal!
-Thomas Hellstrom, Spring 2026
Opening May 15, 2026 in the Wallenberg Gallery the Swedish American Museum, Chicago presents "The Hellstrom's of Melrose Street c. 1915," an immersive installation by fourth-generation Swedish-American artist Thomas Hellstrom that brings his family’s Swedish-American story on Chicago’s North Side to life.
Drawing from his Grand Aunt Delores Olsen’s meticulously annotated photo albums, the exhibition features candid, often humorous photographs—including early “selfies”—of Delores, her brother Harlow Hellstrom, and their father Victor, who emigrated from Stockholm in the 1880s.
Delores's handwritten, annotated photographs are the installation's starting point, which pairs a video presentation—an homage to the early movie-houses in Andersonville that Delores and Harlow frequented—with original Victorian furnishings and family heirlooms depicted in the photographs.
The installation invites visitors into the everyday world of a young Swedish American family in the early 20th century, enriching the Museum’s mission by connecting historic Swedish experiences with the neighborhood as it exists today.
Grandma & Grandpa Nelson had this 3-story red brick & stone “FLAT BLDG” built around 1896. Our father Victor Hellstrom was architect. Harlow was born in this bldg 6-15-98 in this bedroom XX. Others were born in the 1st & 2nd floor. At one time, Uncle Will & Aunt Nettie lived on the second floor, our family of 4 lived on the 1st floor & Uncle Art and Aunt Em lived on 3rd floor. March 1909 —
“REINFORCED CONCRETE AND BRICK VENEERED” promotional illustration, gouache and pencil on board c. 1915, signed: R. Tronnes
DRAFTING INSTRUMENT : T-SQUARE wood, origin and date unkown, property of Victor A. Hellstrom
with Delores' notes in blue ink:
At Norwood Street in North Edgewater, Harlow Dec, 1917, in Prince Albert Suit (Dad’s) in our Dad’s formal suit with tails.
HOW SWEDE IT IS IN ANDERSONVILLE souvenir t-shirt purchased by Thomas Hellstrom in the Swedish American Museum shoppe c. 2020
EQUISITE HAND-CUT LEAD CRYSTAL SERVING BOWL
American Brilliant period, 1880-1910, unspecified maker with pineapple & hobstar motifs, sawtooth edge
HEIRLOOM
1991, Fingerprint on paper in found antique cameo, from the BFA Thesis: The Last Exhibtion of Thomas Justin Hellstrom
Katherine Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
DELORES’ CHIROGRAPHY: DAD 1913
2026, 3D print created from Delores Hellstrom‘s handwritten photo captions
In collaboration with Liam Kristensen, 3D Design & Printing Consultant, New York City
DAZZLING ONE HANDLED HAND-CUT LEAD CRYSTAL BERRY BOWL
American Brilliant period, 1890, unspecified maker with Persian & Russian decorative motifs
LAMBY
Nelson McCoy Pottery No. F51 Lamb planter, ceramic, 1950s, containing an original stick of
WRIGLEY’S SPEARMINT GUM placed by Harlow Hellstrom. Sr. for his grandchildren, c. 1975
CUSTOMER’S SHOPPING PLATE
Marshall Field & Company, Chicago, with address embossed verso: 1612 Juneway Terrace, Chicago
signed Delores Hellstrom, date unknown
Framed photo of Melrose Street Dining Room with the American Brilliant Crystal Serving Bowl on the dinner table, that’s also displayed in the adjacent case. 2026, Archival inkjet print in IKEA FISKBO frame 12x16"
DELORES’ CHIROGRAPHY: CHECKMARK
2026, 3D print of Delores’ handwritten marking system placed to identify the bowl in the photograph, 7×7”
In collaboration with Heather Kristensen, Artist, and Liam Kristensen, 3D Design & Printing Consultant, New York City
Chirography is a formal or fancy term for handwriting, penmanship, or the study of writing by hand. Derived from the Greek roots kheir (meaning "hand") and graphein (meaning "to write"), it is often used when discussing the aesthetic, historical, or stylistic qualities of a written script
PATSY O'HEARN
Shillelagh (Irish cane), 19th century, wood, Ireland,
balanced upon two scrapbooks Harlow lovingly maintained documenting his wife, Patricia O'Hearn's
successful acting career in NYC, resting upon a large pillow
2026, Dimensions vary
MAY 15TH
Colored pencil on archival inkjet print, customized IKEA frame with gold seal, 12×16”. Final page of The Hellstrom Chronicle manuscript, signed and dated, Harlow J. Hellstrom Sr. May 15th 1974.
Opening reception THE HELLSTROMS OF MELROSE STREET C 1915 Swedish American Museum, Chicago, May 15th 2026.
THE HELLSTROM CHRONICLE
Harlow Hellstrom, Author, 1974, Bound manuscript narrating the Hellstrom family genealogy to the Thirty Years War, 17th century Final page singed and dated: Harlow J. Hellstrom, Sr. May 15th, 1974
DELORES’ CHIROGRAPHY: VALENTINE (HANK 1917)
2026, 3D print created from Delores Hellstrom‘s handwritten photo captions. In collaboration with Liam Kristensen, 3D Design & Printing Consultant, New York City
LM:+43-87 July 23rd, 2013 5:54pm An ongoing study of Lake Michigan observed from Milwaukee’s GPS coordinates. Diptych, Archival inkjet prints, 12 x16" each
Delores Hellstrom’s photo album growing up on Chicago’s North Side circa 1915
SUPER-8 1977
2026. Mid-century side table, original Hellstrom Family Kodak Home-Movie kit with projector and screen, WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOEPDIA YEAR BOOKS 1971-1977 (when Harlow and Hank left the planet within one month of each other) mid-century punch glasses with light green IKEA cocktail napkins color matched to Harlow Hellstrom’s candy cigars, Key Magazine, 1973, Hellstrom Family Super8 film reels, ONOAYO digital projector
Key Magainze, Juy 28 - August 3rd, 1973
HALLOWEEN 1973 Super8 home movie
SIDE CHAIR
Eastlake & Edwardian style, late 19th century chair set
SIDE CHAIR
Eastlake & Edwardian style, late 19th century chair set
CHICAGO FEDERALS pin back, 1914, Baseball Federal League Booster, 7/8" Diameter