Gustav Stromberg Papers, 1913-1962

Gustav Benjamin Stromberg was born December 16, 1882 in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was educated in Gothenburg, and later at the University of Stockholm and Kiel University in Germany. He received his PhD in the field of astronomy from the University of Lund, Sweden in 1916. He worked for a period of time with the Swedish Meteorological Commission where he studied the harmonic analysis of air temperature in Stockholm, 1894‑1911, based on sun and moon phases. As a result of this work he published Stromberg's Kalendar, a long‑range weather forecast almanac.

Stromberg emigrated to the United States in 1916 and the following year was employed at the Mount Wilson Observatory near Pasadena, California, where he later became a prominent astronomer. At the New York World's Fair in 1939‑40 his name was listed on the 'Wall of Fame' as one of the Americans of foreign birth who had made outstanding contributions to American civilization. Stromberg published a book, The Soul of the Universe, in 1938 and 1940, in which he expressed his philosophical views of the universe. The book brought him a measure of notoriety, as did his 1959 work, The Searchers (Nya Vidder).

After a term of research with the U. S. Navy and Air Corps during the Second World War, Stromberg retired from Mount Wilson in 1946. For the remainder of his life, he was very interested in developing a mechanism using solar power, particularly in the distillation of salt water. He filed a patent on February 24, 1955 for a "new type of heat engine", however his design was not accepted by the scientific community as a whole, so it never saw fruition.

Gustav Stromberg married Helga Henning before immigrating to America. Helga was well known in the west coast Swedish community and some literary circles for her poetry written under the nom de plume of Syster Benediction.

Gustav lived with his wife Helga in Pasadena, California until his death on January 30, 1962.

The Gustav Stromberg Papers were donated to the Swedish American Archives of Greater Chicago in 1976 by Frances Paelian, 2304 Paloma St., Pasadena, California, 91104. Relevant material may also be found among the papers of his wife Helga Stromberg (a.k.a. Syster Benediction) in these same archives.

Eric Lundberg, May 1985.

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright that may be involved in the use of this collection.

Item-specific information, Manuscript Series #22 Gustav Stromberg Papers, Box #, Folder #, Swedish-American Archives of Greater Chicago, North Park University.

Arranged by topic and then chronologically.

The papers of Gustav Stromberg span the years 1913‑1962 and include materials in four broad categories: personal history, correspondence, writings, and clippings.