Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant
awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Biographical Note
Aletta Andersen was born in Nordfjord, Norway in 1901. Her father was Kristian Josefson, and she had four
sisters and four brothers. Her youngest brother died soon after birth. Aletta attended school in the winter and helped
on family farms during the remainder of the year. She later married Anders Andersen, a printer, and their first child,
Garman, was born on September 3, 1921 in Bergen, Norway. Influenced by his uncle en route to America, Anders decided to
immigrate in December 1924. Aletta and Garman followed in February 1925. Ander's first jobs in America were for the
railroad and a sawmill, but he later worked for a Tacoma bookstore, a company that printed labels on matchboxes, a
telephone book printing company in San Francisco, and The Oakland Tribune. From The Oakland Tribune, he was transferred
to the Tacoma News Tribune, where the family then remained. By this time, the Andersens also had a daughter. In
America, Aletta became active in the Lutheran church, took part in community activities, and participated in
Scandinavian organizations. She returned to Norway, where her family still remained, four times after coming to
America.
Lineage
Full Name: Aletta U. Andersen. Maiden Name: Josefson. Father: Kristian Josefson. Brothers and Sisters: There
were four sisters and three brothers; one boy, the ninth child, died soon after birth. Spouse: Anders (Andrew M.)
Andersen. Children: Garman Andersen Daughter (?)
Content Description
This interview was conducted with Aletta Andersen on April 20, 1978 in Tacoma, Washington. It includes
information on Aletta's family and married background, emigration, Norwegian heritage, community activities, and
cultural differences. The interview was conducted in English.
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 :
Related Materials :
To search and view Pacific Lutheran University's digitized images, visit our
Digital Assets Website
Processing Note :
The interview was conducted by Inger Nygaard Carr 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
4, side 1
003:
Unclear.
4, side 1
002/13: FAMILY BACKGROUND
Her husband was Anders Andersen, and they have two children. Her daughter lives in Portland, OR, and has
three daughters. Aletta has traveled to Norway four times. On the first trip in 1949 she and her 18 year old daughter
took the boat; on the remaining trips they flew.
4, side 1
062:
Her son lives in Seattle and works for the telephone company. He has four children. The oldest daughter
is married. The next child - the older boy - teaches at Rogers High School in Puyallup. The third child lives in
Vancouver, WA, and the fourth is 18 and at home.
4, side 1
082:
Aletta has seven grandchildren. One of her granddaughters has been in Norway twice. Aletta's last two
trips were in 1971 and 1977 when she was accompanied by family.
4, side 1
099: BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Aletta has four sisters and two brothers back in Nordfjord, Norway where she was born; the oldest brother
has died. She worked in Bergen, and she and her husband lived in Bergen after marriage.
4, side 1
107: EMIGRATION
Her husband emigrated in December 1924 and she followed in February 1925. Anders was a "machine master"
printing books and magazines. In America his card was not accepted, so he worked at Bachman's (?) sawmill in Tacoma
with his uncle with whom he emigrated. His uncle, also from Nordfjord, stopped and visited them on a Wednesday in
Bergen in route to America. By Saturday, her husband was so excited that he decided to emigrate. It wasn't until in the
middle of the (Atlantic) Ocean he began thinking about work in America.
4, side 1
148/14:
How did Aletta feel about his leaving? "You have to expect it. It was pretty hard." Her husband expected
to return to Norway after visiting America. That's why Aletta and their two year old son remained in Bergen. Aletta
worked two hours over lunch time at her sister's grocery store relieving the hired girl.
4, side 1
164:
Her husband was on strike back in Norway and wanted to work for a newspaper in America. After his card
was not acceptable, he worked for the railroad and a sawmill before getting a job in a Tacoma bookstore. The owner of
the store recommended him for a job at Pacific Nash (?), a company which printed labels on matchboxes. He worked these
two jobs simultaneously until he went to San Francisco and got a job printing telephone books. The family joined him
there six months later.
4, side 1
233:
He later worked for the Oakland Tribune, had his card again, and transferred to the Tacoma News Tribune
in 1950. They have lived here since then.
4, side 1
248:
Talks about the family moving to and from CA and WA. Their first trip to Norway took place in 1949 while
still living in CA. Back in Tacoma, Aletta helped care for her first grandchild.
4, side 1
292/15:
Husband died in 1970 at age of 70 years old. Aletta makes the observation that "I always came after
him..." to America and then San Francisco. "Where he found his living, that's where I belonged." Before he died he had
two strokes and couldn't keep up the yardwork, fruit trees, etc. He didn't like the looks of things going down. He died
in August, and Aletta sold the house and moved into an apartment.
4, side 1
340: COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND SCANDINAVIAN ORGANIZATIONS
Aletta was active in church. Her husband was approached by the Sons of Norway. But he was put off because
the men had forgotten Norwegian and spoke poor English.
4, side 1
366/16: NORWEGIAN HERITAGzE
She cooks Norwegian food for family events: roemmegroet, meatballs, lutefisk, juleribber, and
bloetkake.
4, side 1
417:
In Norway they celebrated Christmas for many days beginning with lille julaften, then julaften, juledag,
annen juledag, etc. In America she follows this country's traditions but bakes fattigmann, hortetakk, and all those
things.
4, side 1
431/01:
Used to celebrate the 17th of May and mid-summerfest. Would go with a church group and have a
smoergaasbord.
4, side 1
447:
They read Norwegian newspapers when they first came. But after being away from Norway so long, they
discontinued it.
4, side 1
451:
Aletta's hobby is to have visitors. Tells a story about a recent lady visitor who happened to be the
first person in the house the day her husband died.
4, side 1
490:
Tells about her husband's death.
4, side 1
525:
Tells about selling her house.
4, side 1
555/02:
Tells about her children and grandchildren and their education. Her son attended PLU one semester, then
was in the military and started work after marriage. The grandson who teaches at Rogers graduated from PLU.
4, side 1
600:
Talks about church. They had a cousin who lived in Tacoma who was Pentecostal, but they weren't raised
like that. When they rented a house on I St., they met a pastor in the neighborhood. They joined his church, the
Lutheran Free Church. The second pastor there was Anke Berg, a woman who had been a teacher at LBI. Aletta tells a
story about this woman's daughter and a health affliction.
4, side 1
653/03:
Aletta's parents and grandparents. Aletta only remembers seeing one grandmother who was small and about
90 years old at the time. Her parents were alive in 1949; both died about 1968.
4, side 1
672:
Her father emigrated to Iowa as a single man. He returned to Norway, married, and farmed - even milked
the cows. They lived in Kvagen (?), Nordfjord. There were nine children, but one boy died shortly after birth. The farm
is still in the family, owned by one of her older brothers (now 85) who lives there with his daughter. His son was very
ambitious; had built a new house and barn on the farm. He also worked spraying pesticides for the local farmers. Didn't
wear a mask, got sick and died at age 30. The daughter was engaged to be married, but her fiance‚ died in a plane
crash. She never married; looks after her father and takes care of the farm.
4, side 1
714/04:
She works like a man with all the machinery, etc. Women used to do all the farm chores; now men do that.
"Now they (the woman) are getting kind of...spoiled, I guess." Some have jobs. In her day "we didn't think of it. A
woman should be home with her family. That was most important in those days." Like in America, women don't make things
- they buy them. "Of course that was kind of ......(crazy?) back in the old days when you knit your own stockings and
made clothes for your menfolks." The men farmed and fished in the winter besides making and mending nets. In winter the
girls knitted and spun, but in summer they worked outside taking the cows to and from distant fields morning and
evening - not seters in that part of the country; that was further inland in the fjords.
4, side 1
755: WORK
When Aletta was 12, she helped an older sister with her seven children on their farm. At 16, a cousin's
wife died, and Aletta worked for this family with five children. Besides looking after the children, she cooked,
washed, and did the barn chores.
4, side 1
772/05:
772/05 SCHOOL. Attended school in the winter.
4, side 2
043/06:
Remembers being carried up to the road when she was six or seven. Then she and her sister joined other
children and walked a half hour to reach the school.
4, side 2
066: FAMILY LIFE
She had a secure homelife which was wonderful. Her dad, Kristian Josefson, made shoes for them and was a
very handy man. In winter her mother hired a lady to help make flatbroed on a big griddle over an open fire; the
flatbroed was stored in barrels for summer use.
4, side 2
097/07: EMIGRATION
When she left, her father "couldn't say a word - he cried". Both she and her son were checked by a doctor
before they left. The water was rough, the fog horn blew, and there was ice scraping on the ship. She came second
class, and basically spent the nine days in bed because of seasickness. She couldn't eat and was so sick and weak, she
had trouble feeding her son. She wanted to bathe before leaving the boat in NY and needed to be supported by the nurse.
Her son felt fine; was running around.
4, side 2
156:
Had no trouble with customs.
4, side 2
193/08: TRAIN TRIP
She sat at the station with her boy and a few suitcases. Was helped by a Norwegian man from the same boat
- he thought she'd miss her train. Earlier she'd been approached by another fellow who suggested that she didn't have
to leave that night but could come stay overnight at his home and take the morning train. She replied, "No, I sent a
telegram (to her husband) that I'm supposed to come with this train". And she adds that's how one could get into
trouble. She had seen the Norwegian fellow on the boat and trusted him. After that, the conductors helped her change
trains. She ate on the train.
4, side 2
268/09:
The hardest thing in America was the language. Tells a story about shopping and mispronouncing words. Her
son would speak English to other children but Norwegian to her.
4, side 2
296: CITIZENSHIP
She took citizenship classes at Lincoln High School and regrets she didn't take English at the same
time.
4, side 2
319:
Most exciting times in Norway were the picnics. She didn't have much time off and really enjoyed them.
She and her husband like to travel in America.
4, side 2
357/10: CHURCH ACTIVITIES
Used to be in sewing circle which was more social then; now it's all business. They'd sew, eat together,
and have Bible study. Talks about her church relations and activities now; belongs to Gloria Dei.
4, side 2
412/11:
Commentary on current social values. Allowance or support for unmarried people and their children;
insecure for the children not to have two parents. (434 - 474: interview and voices become blurred because of
background noise; more talk about values.)
4, side 2
474:
Speaking Norwegian. Aletta says a prayer in Norwegian - "Fader vår....."
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.
