Funding for encoding this finding aid was
provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Anna Larson Åberg was born in the cold area
of Aspberg, Norrbotten, Sweden on September 12, 1894. Anna was among twelve
children born to her parents, but only seven or eight survived. Her father
farmed for a living and raised the family on his own when Anna's mother died.
One of Anna's friends encouraged her to move to America when she was 18 years
old; Anna took her advice and traveled to the United States in 1912 with
several other people, one of whom later became her husband. At first Anna
settled in Seattle and worked as a housekeeper while attending night school to
learn English. After marrying, Anna and her husband moved to Alaska where he
could mine. When a couple of years had passed, they moved to California and
then back to Washington, building a house in Tacoma. They had three
children--Arthur, Lawrence, and Elroy-whom Anna tried to teach Swedish, but
they didn't retain it after starting school. Anna especially loves the Swedish
traditions surrounding Christmas, but she has had a hard time preserving all of
the customs in the United States. Still, she and her husband were once members
of Valhalla, and they returned to Sweden twice to visit relatives.
Lineage
Maiden Name: Anna Åberg Father: Björn Åberg
Mother: Landfors Brothers and Sisters: There were twelve children in the family
but only seven or eight survived Spouse: ?) Larson Children: Arthur Larson
Lawrence Larson Elroy Larson
Content Description
The interview was conducted with Anna Larson on April 19, 1979 in Tacoma,
Washington. This interview contains information on personal background,
emigration, and married life. 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
Anna Larson 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
26, side 1
005/06: FAMILY
BACKGROUND
Anna Larson was born way up
north in Norrbotten province, Sweden, "nice there but cold." Aspberg was a
little community nearby. Father's name was Björn Åberg, mother's last name was
Landfors (?). She died when Anna was small. Father was a farmer and grew things
like potatoes, corn and wheat.
26, side 1
054:
There were twelve children born but only seven or eight
lived. Three sisters besides Anna came to America, one in Port Angeles and two
in Tacoma. She knew her paternal grandparents real well; grandfather was so
good to her that she idolized him. His name was Aaberg also. The family name
was not from the farm.
26, side 1
086/07: EMIGRATION
"I was 18 years old when I came and I was homesick. I
used to cry at night so my pillow was all wet in the morning. I wanted to go
home." She came with a few other people including the man who would later
become her husband. They were married later and lived in Alaska for two years
while her husband worked in a mine. But there was a strike and then they moved
down to Seattle.
26, side 1
103:
Anna had a friend who bugged her about coming to America.
Anna finally gave in and decided to come, but her friend changed her mind at
the last minute and didn't emigrate. Anna stuck to her decision.
26, side 1
113: TRIP
Anna traveled by boat to Norway, England, and then Boston.
From Boston they took the train to Seattle.SETTLING IN: Anna knew no
one in Seattle but she was lucky. The lady for whom she worked was so good to
her: "my own mother couldn't have been better. She took me wherever they went;
she took me down to night school; she was a doll."
26, side 1
133:
Anna did housework as she couldn't do anything else. She had
attended cooking school before leaving Sweden and was good at that. She didn't
know English when she left. Went to night school to learn English and then
practiced it at night.
26, side 1
154:
The boat trip was rough, big waves, and took about a week.
"We used to dance on the boat and we had a heck of a good time." The language
was the worst problem but she learned it little by little. Being homesick was
also a problem. When Christmas came she thought she couldn't make it because
they had such a good time in Sweden at Christmas time.
26, side 1
193/08: HUSBAND AND FAMILY
LIFE
She knew her husband from Sweden.
He'd been in America and they came with him because he could speak English. She
had "nothing to do with him for a long time." She was happy to move back to the
Tacoma and Seattle area from Alaska; she liked this region. The first baby was
born in Alaska, and the next two boys were born down here. Arthur, Lawrence,
and Elroy (?), all live quite close to here and all three are married. There
are many grandchildren. The youngest boy had five children, two girls and three
boys. She still has the house and property which they built. They lived in
California a few years before settling down in Tacoma.
26, side 1
270/09: TRADITIONS
In Sweden they always went to church by sled the first
thing on Christmas morning. Christmas baking started two weeks before hand. In
Tacoma, they belonged to a Lutheran church where the children were confirmed.
They belonged to Valhalla for awhile, but only used it for social purposes,
dances and dinners on Saturday nights.
26, side 1
319: RETURN TRIP TO
SWEDEN
She has been back to the home place
twice. Her sister was 90 (?) and wanted Anna to come celebrate her birthday.
But "I hate to go home because I hate to say good-bye to her." She has the one
sister left in Sweden and three in America. Anna felt right at home when she
returned to Sweden; just didn't like crossing the ocean. "The great big waves,
up and down, up and down. I get a stomachache when I think about it." Her
husband was seasick from the day of departure from Sweden until arrival in
America; she didn't see him at all. The food was good and so were the dances.
Both return trips were by boat.
26, side 1
358/10:
Anna still speaks Swedish. People in Valhalla spoke both
English and Swedish. Her sons didn't retain much Swedish after they began
school. Anna tried to retain much Swedish after they began school. Anna tried
to teach the oldest one later on, but wasn't too successful. Her own Swedish is
not good anymore; she recites "Fader vår…"
26, side 1
408:
She doesn't remember about medical care in America in the
early days because she was never sick. Has a poster of Sweden on the wall which
reminds her of her Swedish home, lots of snow and little red bricks. She has
given or thrown away most of her Swedish things.
26, side 1
442:
End of tape.
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.
