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Biographical Note
The daughter of Norwegian and Norwegian-American parents, Selma Inez
Erickson was born in 1903 in Turtle Lake, North Dakota. Selma was the third
child out of eleven. Her father was born in Bergen, Norway and immigrated to
Rock Dell Township in Minnesota when he was two. Her mother, also of Norwegian
descent, was born in Rock Dell Township. While in North Dakota, Selma's father
farmed on a homestead, but after ten years with only one good crop, the family
moved to Osakis, MN, where Mr. Erickson worked as a carpenter.
When Selma was seventeen, she took her fourth year of high school as
teachers' training and began teaching at Osakis High School. She worked in the
Osakis area for three years and then went on to teach for two years in
Rochester and one in a Cherokee Indian School in Oklahoma. Encouraged to become
a nurse, Selma began training at Deaconess Hospital in Minneapolis, MN when she
was twenty-five. Nurses were in demand at this time, and she worked as a
private nurse in Osakis, Alexandria, and other places in Minnesota. Following
this, Selma studied at the Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis and decided
to become a mission nurse. She was stationed in South Africa at a
dispensary-store for seven years, where she lived with special patients and
some younger native girls. The special patients Selma cared for were a set of
triplets born prematurely to a local Christian family. Selma considers the time
she spent in South Africa as the highlight of her life. She finished her
mission work in 1945 and then returned to Portland, OR, where her parents lived
and continued nursing in Oregon, Washington, and California.
After returning to Rock Dell to visit her grandfather, Selma became
interested in genealogy. When she moved to Seattle in 1957, she joined the
Genealogical Society at the Seattle Public Library and in 1966, became the
chairman of the Scandinavian interest group. Selma celebrates her own
Scandinavian heritage by continuing to cook special dishes and speaking and
writing Norwegian.
Lineage
Full Name: Selma Inez Erickson. Maiden Name: Selma Inez Erickson.
Father: Ingvald Emil Erickson.. Mother: Helen Larson Alseth. Paternal
Grandfather: Ingebrigt Erickson. Tvedt Paternal Grandmother: Synneva Rasmusen
Fjaeren. Maternal Grandfather: Gjermund Larson Alseth. Maternal Grandmother:
Guri Nopson Mehus. Brothers and Sisters: Hjalmar Ludvig Erickson, Mabel
Gertrude Erickson, Lilah Grace Erickson, Luella Mae Erickson,, Ruth Viola
Erickson, Clifford Ernest Erickson, Cordelia Emily Erickson, Theodore Olaf
Erickson, Donald Lloyd Erickson, Dale Floyd Erickson.
Content Description
INSERT SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTEThis interview was conducted with Selma
Erickson on July 2, 1979 in Seattle, WA. It provides information on Selma's
family background, her experiences as a teacher and a nurse, her return trip to
Norway, and her interest in genealogy. The interview also contains five papers
by Selma ("Scandinavian Contributions to the American Revolution and the
Declaration of Independence," "My Family Record, with Emphasis on the
Halling-side," "The Ingvald E. Erickson Family," "Selma Erickson Writes of
Christmas in Zululand," and "My Childhood on the Farm in North Dakota"), a poem
by Selma entitled "A Visit to My Birthplace," Selma's family tree, and two
letters from Selma to the interviewer, Janet Rasmussen.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
The oral history collection is open to all users.
Restrictions on Use :
There are no restrictions on use.
Administrative Information
Custodial History :
The Oral History collection project was started during an experimental
course on Scandinavian Women in the Pacific Northwest. Students in the course
were encouraged to interview women and learn about their experiences as
immigrants to the United States. The project was continued and expanded with
support from the president's office and by grants from the L.J. Skaggs and Mary
C. Skaggs Foundation, from the Joel E. Ferris Foundation and the Norwegian
Emigration Fund of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project
was directed by Dr. Janet E. Rasmussen. The collection was transferred to the
Archives and Special Collections Department.
Acquisition Information :
Processing Note :
The interview was conducted by Janet Rasmussen using a cassette
recorder. A research copy was also prepared from the original. To further
preserve the content of the interview, it is now being transferred to compact
disc. We deliberately did not transcribe the entire interview because we want
the researchers to listen to the interviewee's own voice. The transcription
index highlights important aspects of the interview and the tape counter
numbers noted on the Partial Interview Transcription are meant as approximate
finding guides and refer to the location of a subject on the cassette/CD. The
recording quality is good
The collection was transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and
Becky Husby.
Bibliography :
Rasmussen, Janet Elaine. New Land New Lives: Scandinavian Immigrants to
the Pacific NorthwestTacoma, WashingtonUniversity of Washington Press1993
Additional Reference Guides :
Detailed Description of the Collection
The partial interview transcription highlights important aspects of
the interview. Numbers may be used as guides to important subjects. Two numbers
separated by a slash indicate that the first number is for cassette and the
second for CD.
Cassette
36, side 1
025/10: FAMILY BACKGROUND
Selma Inez (Inas on birth certificate) was born on a farm near
Turtle Lake, ND in 1903.
36, side 1
071: PARENTS
Her father was Ingvald Emil, and mother was Helen Larson Alseth,
originally Helene Gjermundsdatter. Dad was born in Bergen, Norway on June 25,
1874. When he was two, he emigrated with his family which included mother, dad,
and two older siblings. Dad's mother was born in Sogndal, Sogn and moved to
Bergen. His father
36, side 1
/11:
was a farmer and worked with the fishing industry. The
grandfather's oldest brother, Jakob, got the farm. So, grandfather and the
other siblings had to do other things, and he and two siblings immigrated to
Rock Dell Township near Rochester, MN in about 1876.
36, side 1
177:
Selma's mother was born in Rock Dell Township. Her mother was also
born in America, probably around the Rock Dell area, although her parents
emigrated from the Hallingdal area.
36, side 1
219/12:
Selma's parents were married on December 24, 1898 in the East St.
Olaf Lutheran Church at Rock Dell where mother was baptized; it was a Norwegian
Synod congregation. Her parents had eleven children in all. The two oldest
children were born in Rock Dell Hjalmar Ludvig (6-3-1899) and Mabel Gertrude
(1901). Then Selma Inez was born on 8-23-1903; Lilah Grace two years later,
Luella Mae, Ruth Viola, Clifford Ernest, Cordelia Emily, Theodore Olaf and the
twins Donald Lloyd and Dale Floyd.
36, side 1
297:
Dale was about eight years old when he died of a brain cancer at
St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester.
36, side 1
313:
Ruth (Mrs. Edward Hayes) lives in Ballard, and Selma lives with
Cordelia Emily.
36, side 1
324:
Father was a farmer, but like many Scandinavians, he was also a
carpenter. He took up a homestead at Turtle Lake, ND but had only one good crop
in ten years from 1903-1913. During part of those years, he supported the
family as a machinist. They moved to town and he began construction work.
36, side 1
354:
Selma was born right after the move to the homestead. Later on, at
the age of nine, she lived with an aunt for a year in Aneta, ND. The aunt had
four boys and wanted to have a girl in the family.
36, side 1
378: CHILDHOOD
Selma had a happy childhood. She had cousins that lived across
the field and that were playmates with the Erickson kids. The children were
brought to church weekly.
36, side 1
399/13: CHURCH
A group of young people had moved from Rock Dell Township to
Turtle Lake, so the new ND congregation was Norwegian Lutheran also. Services
were in Norwegian. Before school, Selma knew only Norwegian as that's what her
parents spoke at home. When she went to school, she had to learn English as the
school in ND used only English. Just the oldest children learned Norwegian;
Hjalmar and Mabel went to a Norwegian primary school in MN. Lilah and Luella
knew some Norwegian, but the younger ones didn't learn any. Selma tries to keep
up with her Norwegian by studying and writing.
36, side 1
456:
Discussion about a picture taken before Hjalmar enlisted in the
Marines prior to WWI. Aunt Agnes helped get the family ready for this picture;
she was an opera singer from Oslo.
36, side 1
478/14:
Father was almost 81 when he died; mother reached the age of 96.
After quitting the homestead, they moved to Osakis, MN, when she was 10. Selma
took her teacher's training at normal school there.
36, side 1
509/01: LIFE FOR MOTHER
She was a hard worker who knit and crocheted in her spare time.
They lived on five acres on the outskirts of town, and everyone learned to
work. Mother raised and sold fryers, eggs, and vegetables. Later on, she got a
loom, and wove and sold rugs. After moving to Seattle, she continued to make
and sell crocheted goods. Discussion about a newspaper clipping from the
Seattle Times, Sunday January 9, 1972, which is an interview with her mother
about her handwork.
36, side 1
509/02: WORK
Selma taught three years in the Osakis area, two in Rochester and
one in a Cherokee Indian School in Oklahoma. The superintendent at the school
was the pastor who confirmed Selma. The original teacher was not able to come,
so Selma took over the primary grades. After that, she stayed and helped one
year at the Indian Mission. People encouraged her to be a nurse, and after
prayerful consideration, she applied to nursing school. She had planned to
attend Dana College, but she used her savings to pay for her nurses training at
Deaconess Hospital in Minneapolis, MN. She was only 25 when she entered in 1928
and finished in 1931.
36, side 1
669/03:
Selma started teaching at the age of 17; the kids were almost her
age. There was a shortage of teachers, and she, like many girls, took her
fourth year of high school as teachers training at Osakis High School in the
normal department.
36, side 1
668: DEACONESS HOSPITAL
The training was bedside nursing making beds, cleaning linens,
etc., and studying. There were about 20-25 girls in one class; Deaconess (a
Norwegian Hospital) was in demand as a training hospital.
36, side 1
707:
Here she had a chance to use her Norwegian. She took care of
elderly Norwegian deaconess' twice and had the chance to speak, sing Norwegian
songs and read the Norwegian Bible to them.
36, side 1
731:
After graduation, she was a private nurse in Osakis, Alexandria,
and other places in MN. There were few nurses around, so she was in demand.
Later she studied at the Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis before going
to Africa in 1938.
35, side 2
012/04:
More discussion about work.
35, side 2
043: DECISION TO BECOME A MISSION NURSE
After Bible study in 1933-34, she went to Harvey, ND to work as a
nurse. She had a great interest in being a mission nurse because of church
influence, family attitude, training, etc. During the Depression, she applied
to be a nurse in India, but that didn't materialize.
35, side 2
116:
Then, she went to the Mission Secretary (under the Norwegian
Lutheran Church) in Minneapolis, and asked where an opening was available.
Missions were sponsored in China, Africa, and Madagascar, but the only
available opening was in South Africa. She applied, and in preparation, she
attended a missionary conference and read up on tropical diseases.
35, side 2
185/05:
Her initial contract was for seven years. She traveled on a
German-African boat via Hamburg, Germany and South Hampton, England and then
along the western coast of Africa. Her destination was a Zulu mission in Natal
in the southeastern part of South Africa. The country, prior to WWII, was a
British colony and was called the Union of South Africa.
35, side 2
245:
She was stationed at a dispensary-store; the nearest doctor was
12-14 miles away at Esohwe. He made regular stops at the store, and emergency
cases were taken to him. She lived in a house with some special patients and
some younger native girls who helped keep house. Most patients spoke Zulu, so
Selma had a tutor who helped her with the language. During WWII there were
blackouts. The South Africans fought in North Africa, and had a training camp
outside of Esohwe. She had a visit from a Jewish doctor who observed that she
had a wider selection of medicine in her dispensary than he did. Selma ordered
her supplies from an English pharmaceutical.
35, side 2
340/06:
Selma was to have been relieved in order to take a course in
midwifery, but her replacement died while returning from a furlough. Selma was
able to go later when a Zulu nurse took over the dispensary. She attended a
six-month midwifery course offered at Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital in
Johannesburg. In the US, there was only one place to receive this training, and
Selma had not been able to take it. She had delivered two babies before taking
the course, but did not encourage the practice.
35, side 2
383:
Her special patients were a set of triplets born prematurely in a
government hospital in Durban. At six months of age, the mother brought one
girl to Selma for medicine. Six months later, she met up with the family when
another triplet was very ill. Selma walked two miles to reach the home, and
found the babies were badly undernourished. The parents were Christian and
loved the children. So the mother gave Selma permission to keep the sick child
and even carried it to Selma's house. The little girl, at one year, was only
seven pounds. Selma didn't contact a doctor, just fed her small amounts often.
Gradually the girl improved. The non-Christian natives believed that twins and
triplets were very bad luck, and often killed one or all. These parents, being
Christian, kept all three, but were shunned or scorned by older people.
35, side 2
428/07:
Selma cared for these triplets during her time there, and still
receives letters from them. She finished her mission work in 1945. She
re-applied for more mission work, but wasn't accepted. She returned to
Portland, OR, where her folks had moved to be by their youngest son, Ted. Selma
continued nursing in OR, CA, and WA Her mother was one of the first residents
of the Elsie Foss Sunset Home in Seattle.
35, side 2
525: TRIP TO NORWAY IN 1970
Some of the people she worked with in South Africa were
Norwegians as the mission was Norwegian-American; it was named the Hans Skruder
(?) Mission. She was interested in visiting Norway to contact both relatives
and friends from South Africa. She traveled with a tour group from Tacoma led
by Pastor Thompson from Trinity Lutheran, and was accompanied by a good friend
of Norwegian descent. The home place was still in the family; her sister had
located its owner through the Oslo archives.
35, side 2
618: GENEALOGY
Her interest in genealogy began when she was in the Rock Dell
area and visited her grandfather, Ingebrigt Erickson Tvedt. There were a number
of relatives around, so she learned quite a lot of family history. After she
moved to Seattle in 1957, she joined the Genealogical Society at the Seattle
Public Library, and became the chairman of the Scandinavian interest group in
1966. The Seattle Times interviewed several people and ran an article on
genealogy; from that came a great response, and membership in the interest
group grew to 35.
35, side 2
746:
For the Scan Presence Conference, the Scandinavian interest group
contributed genealogical materials. The group has also prepared research
information packets for Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic and Danish
people. She works as a volunteer for Seattle Genealogical Society from 10-1 on
Saturdays.
35, side 1
004/09: CHURCH WORK
Returning from Africa, Selma visited a prayer group and was
impressed with the power of prayer. She has belonged to many prayer groups
through the years. Her sister, Cordelia, and she have been advocates for
mission work and for a mission prayer group. One of her church's pastors,
Pastor Rude (sp?), was interested and supportive in starting a mission society.
35, side 1
164/01: NORWEGIAN HERITAGE
They still have lutefisk and julekake at Christmas dinner. Her
mother's favorite song was "Vi er saa glad..." which they sang every Christmas.
35, side 1
187: SPEAKING NORWEGIAN
Selma has a mixed accent Sogn, Telemark, Bergen and Hallingdal.
She speaks and reads Norwegian, but does not write it.
35, side 1
219:
The highlight of her life was the time spent in Africa.
Subjects
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
