Scope and Content Note
The papers of Olof Eriksson Lind (1889-1971) span the years 1713-1996, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920 to 1955. The papers are in English, Swedish, and Arabic, and are arranged alphabetically by type of material or topic. A majority of the material relates to Lind’s life and work in Palestine while a member of the American Colony in Jerusalem, after leaving the colony in 1923, and his claims against the Israeli government.
The memoirs, where Lind refers to himself as Loe, recount life in the American Colony in Jerusalem and in Palestine. He provides a view of the colony from the perspective of one of its Swedish members offering many personal experiences. The memoirs are actually several documents consisting of two larger essays giving a comprehensive history of the colony from its inception in 1881 and three smaller essays depicting individual chapters from Lind’s life. Supplementing the memoirs are his speeches, photographs, biographical material, and newspaper clippings.
The general correspondence provides further insight into his life through letters written to and from Lind’s family, friends, associates, and American Colony members. Family members include his brothers, Erik E., Lars E., and Nils E. Lind, and his wife, Astrid V. Lind. A block of correspondence written in the mid to late 1930s concerns the relationship between Lind and his wife and their eventual divorce sometime around 1939. Letters signed “mor” or “mors” are from Astrid’s mother. His letters, written in later years to family members, also give accounts of life in the colony.
The legal files chronicle Lind’s separate struggles to win compensation from Fr. Vester & Co. and the Israeli government. The Vester & Co.-American Colony store was managed on behalf of the colony by Frederick Vester and John D. Whiting. It functioned as the primary commercial outlet for the colony's photography and tourism businesses, which helped to support the colony as a whole, and in which Lind had worked and also helped to support through his related wage-earning. After leaving the colony, Lind sought financial compensation for labor and earnings he had contributed while a member. In Lind v. Israel, he sought compensation for the real estate and personal property he left behind when fleeing the violence in Palestine in 1948. The financial records supplement the case and contain accounts relating to his orchard.
Rounding out the collection is a scrapbook kept by Lind chronicling the tour he lead through Europe and Palestine in 1954, documents and travel information probably related to his work for the American Express Company, and material related to his archaeological work for the Oriental Institute of Chicago, Illinois. Of interest are documents relating to land in Sweden owned by Lind’s ancestors.