Opening May 15, 2026 in the Wallenberg Gallery the Swedish American Museum 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 Great 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 1890s.
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.