Vasa Order of America is a Swedish-American fraternal, cultural and educational organization.
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Vasa Order of America was founded in 1896 in New Haven, Connecticut at the height of Swedish immigration to the United States as a Swedish-American fraternal order[1]. Vasa Order of America emerged out of the many Swedish societies that existed as a safety net for early immigrants. Named for the House of Vasa, the historic Royal House of Sweden, it has been noted as one of the largest Swedish-American ethnic or cultural organizations[2]
The Vasa Order comprises the Grand Lodge, 19 District Lodges, and nearly 300 local lodges. Local lodges in the United States, Canada, and Sweden offer cultural, language, and scholarship programs. The organization owns numerous lodge buildings and several parks, operates the Vasa National Archives at Bishop Hill, Illinois, and administers an Old Age and Sick Benefit Fund for members. Grand Conventions are held every four years.
The organization is led by a Grand Master, Vice Grand Master, Grand Secretary, Grand Treasurer, and other board members and officers. The official publication of the Vasa Order of America is the Vasa Star (Swedish: Vasastjärnan).
Since 1960, The Vasa Order of America has selected a prominent American citizen of Swedish birth or descent to become Swedish-American of the Year. Every year the two Swedish District Lodges of the Vasa Order of America select an American of Swedish descent to be The Swedish-American of the Year. The Swedish-American of the Year is honored during Sweden-America Days in various places in Sweden. A tablet containing the names of all award recipients is kept in the Swedish Emigrant Institute (Swedish: Svenska Emigrantinstitutet) in Växjö, Småland, Sweden.[3]