ANDERSONVILLE — For James Morgan, the second time was definitely the charm.
Last year, Morgan was one of 20 finalists vying for a spot on the Swedish reality show "Allt för Sverige," or "Anything for Sweden" in English. After missing the cut for the show, which takes Americans with Swedish roots back to the country to reconnect with their family history and lineage, he was told to reapply, but he was skeptical.
"I never thought they would pick me. When they rejected me the first time I felt OK. I was impressed that I made it to the top 40. When I applied, my application was number 10,421," Morgan said.
The show cast 10 people from all over the world for a "cultural competition" where people win challenges to get information about their genealogy. The grand prize is a family reunion in Sweden with your long-lost relatives, he said.
To apply, Morgan had to film a two-minute video depicting why he was the ideal candidate for the show. Naturally, he took a tour of the neighborhood he's lived in since he was 18 and that his family has called home since 1927. The story of his family history in Andersonville, their disconnect from Sweden and his reasoning to restore that connection helped him win a spot on the show this season, he said.
Growing up, Morgan didn't have much interest in his Swedish roots, despite his grandmother constantly pushing to connect him with the culture. She would often take the family to Swedish pancake breakfasts and was constantly volunteering at the Swedish American Museum, at 5211 N. Clark St. While she spoke fondly of the culture, she rarely spoke of the country, Morgan said.
“My grandmother never talked about Sweden. She talked about the United States and the Swedish part, but nothing about back across the ocean, so we didn’t know too much about it. My mom said that her grandparents never talked about it," he said.
“I didn’t appreciate it when I was a kid, but then when I had kids of my own something clicked and I was like, 'Oh my god, I need to preserve this,'" said Morgan, who has two sons, Jonah, 10, and Lukas, 8.
Not only did he want to restore the connection for his children, but his family also had unfinished business — fulfilling his great grandfather's dying wish to have his remains taken back to Sweden, a wish that was left unfulfilled for decades, he said.
"He had a hard time in the United States. His wife died in 1912 and he was left raising five kids on his own. The neighbors called the city on him because [the kids] were running recklessly in the alley, eating food out of the dumpsters," he said.
His wife died of tuberculosis, which she contracted from bringing food to his brother, who lived in a tent in the yard after contracting tuberculosis in World War I. After the kids were taken away, they were sent to a military school, where they stayed until they were 18, he said.
Once they were grown, they never restored a solid relationship. In 1943, his great grandfather fell off a scaffolding and died, Morgan said.
"No one in our family ever went back to Sweden," explaining that when he packed his bags for the show this summer he included a Ziploc bag with some of his great grandfather's remains "since it's illegal to spread ashes" in Sweden.
Morgan was tight-lipped on whether he managed to leave some of his great-grandfather in his homeland, or if he won the grand prize, for that matter. But he did invite anyone intrigued to watch the show with the cast at 1 p.m. Sunday at Simon's Tavern, 5210 N. Clark St.
For more background on Morgan click here.
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