Funding for encoding this finding aid was
provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Johanne Knudsen was born on August 28, 1900
in Tvis, Jutland, Denmark to Ole Jensen and Ane Katherine Nielsen. Her father
drove a team of horses and hauled things for people, and her mother was a
seamstress. Johanne had eight siblings and was the next to youngest in the
family. Johanne was confirmed when she was fourteen and then got a job as a
house assistant. She gave up this job when she married Jorgen Knudsen on May
21, 1925. In an effort to find work, Jorgen went to New Brunswick, Canada on
March 21, 1927, and Johanne joined him the following November. They lived in
Grand Falls, New Brunswick for six months and then bought a farm beyond a
Danish settlement known as New Denmark. They remained at this farm for ten
years and had two children, Else and Bob. The family left New Brunswick in
order to help Johanne's sister Anna in Saxon, WA. Anna and her husband were
getting too old to run their own farm and thought Johanne and Jorgen could help
them out. Johanne and Jorgen rented the farm and went through some very tough
years, clearing the land and making the farm productive again. Eventually,
Jorgen wanted to learn another trade and began attending Western Washington
State College in Bellingham. He became a first class welder and got a job in at
the Everett shipyards. While Jorgen worked in Everett, Johanne and the children
decided to remain at the farm. Johanne loved living on the farm and stayed
there for twenty-six years. Johanne has made several trips back to Denmark and
continues to keep in touch with her friends there. She never had time to join
any Scandinavian organizations, but is a member of Faith Lutheran Church and
the grange in Saxon.
Lineage
Full Name: Johanne
Knudsen. Maiden Name: Johanne Jensen. Father: Ole Jensen. Mother: Ane Kathrine
Nielsen. Paternal Grandfather: Jens Olsen. Paternal Grandmother: Kristine
Maternal. Grandmother: Anna (?). Brothers and Sisters: Anna Lintz, Jens Jensen,
Oline Kathrine Rasmussen, Mathilde Bodil Clausen, Niels Peter Jensen, Wilhelm
Jensen, Marie Kristine Jensen. Spouse: Jorgen Knudsen. Children: Else Knudsen,
Bob Knudsen.
Content Description
This interview was conducted with Johanne
Knudsen on October 26, 1982 in Bellingham, Washington. It provides information
on family background, emigration, marriage and family, farming, and Danish
heritage. The interview also includes a photograph of Johanne in 1958 and two
of her in 1982, wearing the same traditional outfit as in the1958 photograph.
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
Cindy Klein 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
201, side 1
016:
Johanne Knudsen. Born in Tvis, Denmark on August 28,
1900.
201, side 1
030: PARENTS
Ole Jensen and Ane Kathrine. Father left every morning
with a team of horses and hauled things for people. He sold things as well.
Didn't usually make over night trips. Mother was a seamstress as well as a
homemaker.
201, side 1
077: BROTHERS AND
SISTERS
Nine children in the family.
Johanne is next to the youngest. Anna, Jens, Oline, Mathilde, Niels, Wilhelm,
Johanne, and Marie.
201, side 1
102: GRANDPARENTS
Maternal, remembers grandmother. Johanne remembers
playing with her dolls at her grandmother's home, while her grandmother weaved.
Paternal - grandfather was a salesman. He always bought things for the
children. Wilhelm and Johanne loved to walk to their grandparent's house, which
was 10 kilometers from their home.
201, side 1
147: BROTHERS AND
SISTERS
(See also I-077) Ann emigrated to
the US in 1911. Lived in Saxon, Washington. Passed away in 1982. Johanne came
to her place when she came to the US. Johanne and Marie are the only ones in
their family still living.
201, side 1
166: CHILDHOOD HOME
A little village. The school was close by. The
teachers had a hard time keeping Johanne home when she was still too young to
go to school. They finally told her mother that she might as well start school.
Four teachers. The village was very nice. There was a railway station too.
Johanne's parents were poor. They had lost everything by buying their farm.
Johanne was born at this farm in Tvis. Her sisters and brothers were all born
in Hjerm. Her father left the farm after five years and got his job in Hjerm
back. Johanne grew up in a nice home in Hjerm.
201, side 1
266: CELEBRATIONS
Remembers her sisters' weddings. Celebrated for a
couple of days. Johanne, who got married after WWI (1925), didn't get that kind
of wedding. Their honeymoon was spent working in a turnip field. Planned on
being a housewife. They both had to work.
201, side 1
337: MARRIAGE
Married in Hjerm on May 21, 1925. Johanne had given up
her job as a house assistant. She had started this type of work at age 14. Her
husband was out looking for work.
201, side 1
367: CONFIRMATION
Common for children to be out on their own after they
were confirmed at 14 years of age. Johanne had a job where she could still live
at her parent's home for the first year and a half after she was confirmed.
Boys would sometimes be on their own when 9 years old.
201, side 1
387: MARRIAGE
(See also I-337) Johanne got work washing and
cleaning. Her husband looked everywhere for work. Decided to sell fish. Rode
around the county on his bicycle selling fish. Would could home with the fish
he hadn't sold and the whole neighborhood would eat fish. Didn't do this work
for very long. Her husband went to Canada on March 21,1927, looking for work.
Johanne worked all summer and her husband helped to pay for her ticket. He was
quite enthused about life in Canada.
201, side 1
462: TRIP TO
AMERICA
Left on a boat from Copenhagen on
November 2, 1927. Sailed to England. Took one of Cunard Line's ships to
America. Johanne was with two other girls. Took the boat from Southampton,
England. One lady was in bed for the entire journey. Not Johanne and her
friends. They met four Swedes. Had a lot of fun. Sailed to France. Picked up
more passengers and then sailed to Quebec, Canada.
201, side 1
504: ARRIVAL
After they got off the boat and entered the halls, they were
instructed to put down their suitcase. They noticed that the girl who had been
sick was missing. All passengers had been given ribbons of various colors. Each
color meant something. The missing girl's ribbon meant she should be taken to
the hospital at once. Johanne had a hard time finding her suitcase after she
said good-bye to her friends. Because of this she missed her train to New
Brunswick. She stayed at a YWCA in Quebec, and a lady there took her to the
train station the next day.
201, side 1
566: TRAIN RIDE
Couldn't speak much English. Was put on the wrong
train. Ended up in New Castle, New Brunswick. Went back to Moncton, New
Brunswick. A Danish lady at the YWCA got her on the right train to Grand Falls,
New Brunswick.
201, side 1
639: REUNION
She'd sent her husband telegrams from every place she'd
stopped. They hadn't seen each other since March. She gave him a big hug and
kiss.
201, side 1
652: SETTLING
They stayed in Grand Falls for half a year. Bought a
farm way out in the sticks, beyond a Danish settlement. Stayed there for 10
years, clearing land. Children grew up there. Bob was 4 when they left and Else
was 7. Her husband had worked in a power plant and on farms before Johanne came
over. Thought he would make a lot of money growing potatoes on their farm. The
problem was that they had to clear the land first. New Denmark, New Brunswick
was on old settlement. They were new immigrants. Many Danish immigrants in the
area. They had one neighbor nearby. Cold winters with lots of snow. Men worked
on the roads in the winter. Tried to raise their own food, make their own
furniture, etc.
201, side 1
713:
REASONS FOR LEAVING NEW BRUNSWICK: Johanne's sister and
brother-in-law in Saxon, WA, were getting too old to run their farm. Anna
thought maybe they could help each other. Johanne would have rather gone back
to Denmark. Her husband thought it would be best to go to the West Coast.
201, side 1
731: TRAIN RIDE
Johanne, her husband, and two children traveled by
train to Mission City, British Columbia. They spent the night in Edmonton,
Alberta went through Calgary, Alberta, and rode in the caboose from Mission
City to Sumas, Washington. Her sister met them there and then took them to her
farm in Saxon, Washington.
201, side 1
749: SAXON,
WASHINGTON
The farm in Saxon was almost
lost. Johanne's husband was a very good farmer. Johanne drove a tractor on this
farm. In Canada, she had always driven a team of horses.
201, side 1
761: TRAVEL ON NEW
BRUNSWICK
Drove a team of horses
everywhere. Took the kids into the settlement for vacation Bible school one
time with the neighbor another Danish lady. Bob was too young for Bible school
so Johanne fixed a place in the wagon for him to sleep. He didn't want to
sleep, he wanted to drive. Tells about driving with horse and sled in the snow
to the settlement's general store. Worried about bobcats when she went by
herself.
201, side 1
820: LIFE IN NEW
BRUNSWICK
They tired to make the most of
their own things. Bought flour, beans, and meat. One year they had only $12 in
cash. She used it to buy underwear. People helped those having a hard time. The
Frenchmen would bring them buckwheat. Anybody could make it if they had
buckwheat and buttermilk. (See also I-652)
201, side 1
850: SAXON,
WASHINGTON
(See also I-749) Rented her
sister's farm. Wanted most of all to get their citizenship papers. Were just
about ready to this in Canada when her sister wrote, asking them to come to the
US. There were only two openings left for Danes to come into the US. They
barely got into the US. Came to Saxon and "started working like troopers." Had
to clear a lot of land. Tough years. Her husband wanted to learn to do
something else. The government was sending teachers to the colleges to learn
welding and such. He went to school at Western Washington State College in
Bellingham everyday. Came home every night. Became a first class welder. They
had a lot of cows, a bull, and four horses to take care of as well. He got a
job as a welder in a shipyard in Everett, Washington.
201, side 1
911: CITIZENSHIP
(See also I-850) January 1943 got their citizenship
papers. They had gone to a school in order to become a citizen. There were many
people without citizenship papers. This was a problem when the war started up,
so many school sprang up.
201, side 1
935:
Husband went to work in Everett, Washington. Johanne and the
kids decided to stay in the farm. They liked Mt. Baker. They helped their
mother on the farm. They stayed on this farm for 26 years.
201, side 1
973:
Bought another farm, which was a block away from the old
one. There weren't many Danes in the area. Many Norwegians.
201, side 1
922: LEARNING
ENGLISH
Began studying English at home,
but didn't know enough to get along. Learned to understand quite a lot. Learned
a lot of English from a 3 year old girl she babysat in Grand Falls, New
Brunswick. Johanne's husband had to learn because of his work. After they moved
to New Denmark, they spoke a lot more Danish. Wasn't good for their
English.
201, side 1
1030: CHILDREN
Else was born in 1930 and Bob was born in 1933.
Neither speaks Danish now. Else and Johanne were in Denmark in 1971. Johanne
thought that Else would pick up Danish again but she didn't.
201, side 1
1040: TRIPS BACK TO
DENMARK
Johanne and her husband went back
in 1958. Stayed six weeks. Her husband died in 1969. Else said to Johanne that
she and Bob didn't know their family in Denmark. Else wanted to make a trip to
Denmark. Bob is the only one who hasn't been to Denmark.
201, side 2
141: CHANGES IN
DENMARK
Enjoyed seeing friends and
relatives. Planned on renting a place to stay, but they had a lot of family who
would not allow them to do anything for themselves. Rented a car. The trips
were very interesting. Met someone from Minnesota. Husband started speaking to
a Danish bus driver in English. Johanne told him to speak Danish but the bus
driver said he wanted to learn English.
201, side 2
226: DANES VISITING THE
U.S.
One of Johanne's girlfriend has
visited her twice. Came alone once and with her husband once. They had a son
who got married in California. He lives in Germany now.
201, side 2
252: CHILDREN
(See also I-1030) Else has been the secretary for the
Garden Street Methodist Church in Bellingham for 17 years. Bob is
superintendent of the identification bureau at the police station in
Bellingham.
201, side 2
273:
Johanne has six grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
Talks about them. Phyllis went to Denmark while in the Air Force. She was
stationed in Turkey at the time.
201, side 2
334: SCANDINAVIAN
ORGANIZATIONS
Has never had time to join.
Her husband was sick for a long time. Does know some Danish people in town. It
was the Danish bakers that got Johanne and Else in on the trip to Denmark in
1972. They saved a lot of money on that trip. Belongs to Faith Lutheran Church.
Has been more active than she is now.
201, side 2
359:
Loved living on the farm. Her husband worked on the farm
when he came home at night, but during the day it was hers. Her kids were
always helpful. She was active in the church in Saxon. Her husband belonged to
the grange there. She still does, but she's not an active member.
201, side 2
402: CANADA
(See also I-652, I-820) Poor times when they were in New
Brunswick. They had school in their area but couldn't afford to pay the teacher
much. They offered room and board to the teacher. One girl who taught there
comes to visit Johanne almost every year. There was a table prayer they always
said while she lived with them before 1937. The last time she visited Johanne
she asked if Johanne could say it. Johanne was surprised that she still
remembered it. Johanne says some prayers in Danish. Her grandchildren always
like to hear the table prayer: I Jesus navn til bords vi gaar.
201, side 2
475:
Learned to quilt in America. Learned to knit mittens in
Canada. Learned to knit stockings in Denmark. Had to learn to sew. The pastor
at the Danish settlement helped them get a cow and a horse.
201, side 2
535:
Had a one room school at the Danish settlement in Canada.
They had the teacher stay with them quite often because they had an extra room.
The only thing she didn't like out there was the bedbugs. Tells how they would
get rid of them.
201, side 2
576:
Danish tradition to have a raising party when building. They
built a barn. Tradition to put a wreath and flag on top and have a big
party.
201, side 2
609: CONTACT WITH FRIENDS IN
CANADA
Gets a letter from one friend once
every years. She has moved into the city now. She has a daughter the same age
as Else. Edith Kveld (?), the school teacher came to visit in the summer of
1982. (See also II-402) She remarked how much she admired Mrs. Knudsen for
always managing something on the table. They had cows, pigs, and chickens. The
chickens were friendly. There were a lot of French-Canadians in the area. They
got along fine with each other.
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.
Personal Names :
Jensen, Ole
Knudsen, Bob
Knudsen, Else
Knudsen,
Johanne--Interviews
(
creator)
Knudsen, Jorgen
Lintz, Anna (sister)
Nielsen, Ane Katherine
Family Names :
Jensen
family
Knudsen family
Nielsen family
Olsen
family
Corporate Names :
Faith Lutheran Church (Bellingham, Wash.)
Geographical Names :
New Denmark
(N.B.)
Tvis
(Denmark)
Subject Terms :
Confirmation
Danish-Americans--Interviews
Danish-Americans--Northwest, Pacific--Social life and
customs
