My family’s migration story isn’t very unique or special. From what I know, my mother’s side of the family came from Sweden. They moved to Andersonville in Chicago, the Swedish area. My father’s side came from Ireland. I’m not exactly sure the reason for moving to America, but it very well could have been due to the potato famine as I believe they immigrated in the 19th century. For both sides of the family, I don’t know the exact reason for immigrating, besides the overarching idea of looking for new opportunities. Both sides immigrated in the 19th century though. I do know more about my mother’s side when they first lived in America.
That side of the family moved to Andersonville in Chicago. Andersonville is the Swedish area of Chicago, so they lived around other Swedes who had moved to Chicago. My family opened a hardware store called Lind Hardware (Lind is my mother’s maiden name). It was called a hardware store, it was more of a general store, people could buy groceries and toys there too. Eventually, that store was closed and became the home to the Swedish American Museum. The building is still the Swedish American Museum today, after 40 years.
I don’t know much of the difficulties my family faced when immigrating from Ireland or Sweden, but I’d imagine that both sides had to deal with the cultural differences of America.