WORLD SHIP SOCIETY

Swedes have been sailing to America since 1638, bringing their language, cultural traditions, and handicrafts. By the 1920s, the new frontier of Art Deco set new trends for consumer markets, and American audiences began developing a taste for Swedish design. A major factor in this trend was the Swedish ocean liner KUNGSHOLM, one of the first ships to use the Art Deco style in her passenger quarters. Not only did her interiors prove wildly popular, but they also influenced the development of land-based buildings, particularly the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia. At our May 2024 membership meeting the PONY Branch welcomed maritime historian Christian Roden for an enlightening program about the forgotten connections between the KUNGSHOLM and the development of Swedish-American museums in the United States during the roaring twenties.

Christian Roden currently works for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation and has a wide range of professional experience in the museum, cultural heritage, and higher education sectors. He has designed and curated museum exhibits, and contributed to and appeared on the History Channel’s Secrets of the Lost Liners. He also publishes and lectures widely. Alongside scholars and experts from across Europe and North America, he participates in the Ocean Modern Advanced Research Group. He holds an MA in material culture studies from the University of Delaware, and a BA in English, art history, and studio art from Washington & Lee University, with additional studies at St. Anne’s College, Oxford and École France Langue. After earning his BA, he was selected Fulbright Research Fellow to France based at Association French Lines in Le Havre, where he immersed himself in everything related to the S.S. ÎLE-DE-FRANCE. Christian and his partner, Norman, live in Philadelphia, and spend much of their spare time sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.

(Images: www.wikipedia.org)