Funding for encoding this finding aid was
provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Frank Buorklund was born Thor Franke
Björklund on January 25, 1904 in Tosene, Sweden. Frank was among nine children
living in the small fishing town where his father, Frans Björklund, was a
fisherman and stonecutter. Frank attended school for four years and spent one
year studying for his confirmation. At the age of 12 Frank had to commit
himself to working; he worked as a fisherman, a housekeeper, and a stonecutter.
Tired of the high taxes and wanting a better life, Frank traveled to the United
States aboard the "Stockholm" in 1929. He got a job with his brother Pete in
construction, but his lack of English skills hindered his work. For a short
time he and his brother tried mining for gold in Idaho. In 1931, Frank married
Elsa Eklund, whom he met in Sweden before they both emigrated. They bought a
house in Spokane, Washington in 1934 and had two children, Stanley and Sonja.
Elsa and Frank have visited Sweden regularly and can still read, write, and
speak the language.
Lineage
Father: Frans
Hermansson Björklund. Mother: Maria Amundsen Brothers and Sisters: Astrid
Björklund Per (Pete) Björklund Marta Björklund Disa Björklund Vale Björklund
Ragnhild Björklund Sune Björklund Lila Björklund Spouse: Elsa Eklund Children:
Stanley Björklund Sonja Björklund
Content Description
The interview was conducted with Frank Buorklund on August 23, 1984 in
Spokane, Washington. This interview contains information on personal history,
school, Swedish heritage, emigration, settling in, occupations, language, and
return trips to Sweden. The interview was conducted in English and some Swedish
towards the end of the interview.
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
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
279, side 1
008 : FAMILY
BACKGROUND
Frank Buorklund was born Thor
Franke Björklund in Bovallstrand on January 25, 1904. This small port town is
on the west coast of Sweden in the district of Göteborgs och Bohus län. His
mother was Maria Amundsen and his father, Frans Björklund; both came from this
same district. Frans was a fisherman and a stonecutter. He and 11 other men had
shares in a boat and fished for herring and anchovies from July 1 till
Christmas inside the fjords around Oslo. Fishing was very good from 1919 to
1928.
279, side 1
081:
Frank worked at a big quarry near his home and as a fisherman
also, having his own net.
279, side 1
103: BROTHERS AND
SISTERS
There were nine children in all.
They lived in a small house in a small fishing town. Two sisters and an older
brother emigrated before Frank.
279, side 1
117: CHILDHOOD
Mother was a housewife except during WWI when she
worked on a farm. The older children including Frank went fishing in the
morning until 9-10 o'clock. Then it was Frank's job to sell the fish, 20 to a
"tjog" (score, unit of measure). He biked into the country to trade them for
something to eat. It was also his job to care for the younger children at this
time.
279, side 1
149: SCHOOL AND
CONFIRMATION
Frank attended for four
years from age 7 - 11 plus one year of confirmation. During the war, the army
took over the schoolhouses, so there was no school. Beginning at the age of 12,
he spent the war years fishing, while his father and brother worked in
Norway.
279, side
1
179:
Memories of those years are of "all hard work"
(fishing for two weeks at a time) and a mother (always kind and working).
279, side 1
204: CONFIRMATION
His class contained older kids, up to 21. In Sweden,
one had to pass in order to be married, so some moved from place to place until
they passed. Frank attended confirmation one year earlier than usual because he
came from a poor family. He also worked one month for the minister cutting
wood, carrying water, and scrubbing the kitchen floor. This confirmation year
also substituted for his last year in regular school. He attended every day
from 8 to 4, walking one-half Swedish mile, summer and winter. Passed with no
problem.
279, side 1
247: WORK
After the job at the minister's, Frank worked on a farm from
3 -4 am to dark. There was no rest, so after one month he went back home. Then
he began work at the stone quarry, drilling holes in stone using a hammer and a
drill (a steel object which was hammered into the stone to make a space for the
stonecutter's wedge). He was paid 3 cents a small hole and 5 cents a large
hole. Did that until he was old enough to cut stones. Stonecutters were well
paid (by the piece), and could earn 32 crowns a day. At this point he lived at
home - fishing from July to Christmas and working in the stone quarry the
remainder of the year from 1919 - 1928, except for a short time when he worked
for the government as a stonecutter, remodeling an old fort in the town of
Varberg.
279, side 1
311: CHRISTMAS
Was a nice time. Mother made headcheese and lutefisk.
279, side 1
320: FAMILY NAME
Bjorklund is a taken name. His father was a
Hermansson, but in the early 1900's he paid five crowns to change from -son
style of name to a less common name. Bjorklund was Americanized to Buorklund by
his older brother, Pete.
279, side 1
349: PETE
Pete (Per) emigrated in 1919 at 22 years of age, first to
Canada and then to Spokane. Both he and Frank emigrated to escape the high tax
(52% on each crown). Pete married Anne Madsen in Spokane and was a contractor.
279, side 1
378: SISTERS
Astrid and Marta immigrated to Chicago where they had friends
in 1922 and 1927 respectively. Marta ran a delicatessen, which sold
Scandinavian food - Man's (?) Delicatessen (Nils Man (?) was her husband).
Astrid worked for a clothing manufacturer, then for Mr. Dryden (a well known
man and big game hunter during the 1920's and 30's) as a chambermaid. There
were nine Swedish chambermaids in this home.
279, side 1
419: EMIGRATION
Frank emigrated in the fall of 1929. Besides the high
tax, Frank wanted a better life. He'd heard about America through Pete's
letters, visiting Swedish Americans, and newspaper headlines. The visitors
"always had gold teeth and a silver dollar dingling in their pocket". The
newspapers encouraged emigration to America not Canada because of job
opportunities. Parents wanted Frank to stay and help support the family. But
when his brother sent him a ticket, Frank did what he wanted and emigrated on
the "Stockholm" on September 29, 1929 from the port of Göteborg. (After this
trip, the "Stockholm" was bought by Norway and used in whale fishing.)
279, side 1
478:
His parents weren't happy, but Frank returned quite a few
times to visit in Sweden. He didn't know how things would turn out in America,
but there was no future in stonecutting.
279, side 1
504: WORK
Pete was the rigging foreman working on the construction of
the Paulson building, so Frank got a job as a laborer. He was laid off after
two weeks because he couldn't speak English; there was some concern for his
safety not being able to understand English. Later, he got the job back,
earning 65 cents an hour. He also worked a second job cleaning Pullman
(railroad) cars, earning 42 cents an hour. He deposited his savings in the
American Bank and lost it during the Depression. Arriving in 1929 during poor
economic conditions caused him problems, but as a young person, he hadn't
thought about it beforehand.
279, side 1
537: BOAT TRIP OVER
Had to have $20 and a friend to stay with. Sailed
directly to New York in 12 days. About 900 young people came over at one time,
and met new friends on the boat at dances every evening.
279, side 1
561: NEW YORK
Had to wear a nametag with Chicago on it and was
helped by Swedish speaking people to catch his train, which stopped at Niagara
Falls on the way to Chicago. He bought food on the train by pointing out his
selection. As for tips, he always held out his hand, and they took what they
wanted; his $20 was gone before he reached Spokane.
279, side 1
590: CHICAGO
Frank spent two weeks in Chicago with his sister Marta. The
deli was on 3364 North Clark St. and most everything was Swedish: the food, the
language, and the neighborhood. He got along fine, but didn't like Chicago as
it was too big and there were too many gangsters and raids. There was a
bootlegger in the store's neighborhood. One evening the police raided and shot
two of the bootleggers who fell into his sister's garbage cans. Hard to walk
around Chicago after dark.
279, side 1
634:
The Swedish paper printed in Chicago was the
Svenska-Amerikanaren. He met some of the people who worked at the paper.
279, side 1
645: SWEDISH FOODS IN
AMERICA
Easy for the store to procure
Swedish foods from a Swedish salesman: anchovies, salted herring, delicacies,
and a Swedish sausage "Göteborgskorv". The deli advertised on the radio and was
well patronized by the Swedish community.
279, side 1
670: SETTLING IN DURING THE
DEPRESSION
Frank traveled on the Northern
Pacific; the country looked pretty good, but lonely. Spokane looked like a
clean, nice sized city. He was satisfied with an inland city, as he gave up
fishing due to sea sickness. When he began fishing, there was no problem, but
the condition worsened. This had happened to his father also. Spokane's climate
was nice and sunny, but its Scandinavian community didn't compare to Chicago.
Frank went to dances in Forest Hall in Spokane sponsored by Scandinavian
lodges. It cost 50 cents every Saturday night and was a main way to meet other
Scandinavians. There was also a Scandinavian rooming house called Chicago Hotel
and Johnson's Fish Market on Sprague Avenue, which sold salted herring,
lutefisk, and anchovies. Frank did not join any lodge, but attended Our Saviour
Church, which originally was Norwegian. The Svenska-Amerikanaren was available
at a local cigar store on Washington and Main - also, Swedish Christmas
cards.
279, side 2
053: SETTLING IN
Frank first resided at Mrs. Wall's boarding house at
220 S. Cedar paying $35 a month for room and board. Most of the eight boarders
were Scandinavian. Mrs. Wall was Irish and her husband Welsh.
279, side 2
090: PROBLEMS WITH
LANGUAGE
Tells a story about repeating his
first American phrases (swearing learned at work) to Mrs. Wall. When he found
out what he said, he didn't speak English for a month. Was also released from
the Paulson job due to his lack of English. Didn't work all winter, but got the
two jobs in spring, at Paulson's and with the Pullman cars.
279, side 2
141: SCHOOL
Went to night school and citizenship school. The night school
was held three evenings a week at Lewis and Clark High School. The class went
from fall to spring and contained mostly Scandinavians and Germans.
279, side 2
171: CITIZENSHIP
Was asked four questions and that was enough. He
received citizenship and also Americanized his name to Frank T. Buorkland.
279, side 2
208: BANKING
He patronized the American Bank ran by a Swede named Johnson.
Had saved $1400 to buy a house. He was purchasing a new suit at "Upstairs" when
the bank closed. Eventually, he got 50 cents back on the dollar. Besides losing
his savings, he lost the Pullman job on March 15, and Elsa went back to work
and paid his room and board for the summer.
279, side 2
266: GOLD MINING IN
IDAHO
Frank, Pete, and a German fellow
scraped enough money together to try gold mining close to Elk City, Idaho, for
three months in 1930. Finding only a little gold, Frank then wrote to his
sister in Chicago and moved there in the fall of 1930. Elsa remained in Spokane
working as a live in maid for Mrs. Burns on 1500 Cedar. (She joined Frank in
Chicago in late 1930.)
279, side 2
285: MARRIAGE AND
FAMILY
Frank met Elsa Eklund in 1927 at a
dance in Ulebergshamn, Sweden (near Bovallstrand), where she was born. She was
16 at the time and the only daughter; her father had immigrated to New York and
worked as a carpenter. When she emigrated from Sweden in the spring of 1930,
she stopped in New York to visit her dad but he couldn't get off work. She
continued to Chicago visiting Frank's sister for a month. As a lone, female
traveler, she had no problems; learned English quickly and began work for Mrs.
Burns immediately upon arrival in Spokane. After Elsa and Frank returned from
Chicago in May 1932, she became a cook for rich people on the south side of
Spokane. She had liked the job at Mrs. Burn's house for which she received
room, board, and $35 a month, but cooking paid better. She worked with and
learned cooking from Mrs. Johnson (Swedish).
279, side 2
392: MARRIAGE
They were married November 29, 1931 in Spokane. Rented
a place on the north side from Alice Bjork (maiden name), a friend originally
from a town on the west coast of Sweden.
279, side 2
418: CHICAGO
1931 - 1932. Frank worked at the deli earning $5 a week and
roomed in back of the store. Elsa joined him in late 1931 and began work as a
maid in the spring of 1932. They saved enough money to return to Spokane (Notes
from back of family background sheet: Confusion about dates here. They were
actually married in 1931; he went to Chicago, and she came later.
279, side 2
454:
Pete lived on his savings in a Spokane boarding house during
the Depression.
279, side 2
473: WEDDING
Small - attended by Pete and a good friend, Edith Bjork at
Salem (Swedish) Lutheran Church parsonage on the north side. November 29, 1931
was a very cold Sunday. Alice gave them a reception with coffee and cake.
279, side 2
498: HOUSING
During the Depression, they had an apartment at Alice's and
then bought an older home on 11th and Perry, which they remodeled and moved
into in 1934.
279, side 2
511: WORK IN THE
1930s
Elsa and Mrs. Johnson worked
steadily for four years as caterers, making 75 cents an hour. Frank's job with
the Pullman cars paid 42 cents an hour. He worked there 40 years being promoted
to assistant foreman. Benefits from this job included free railroad travel and
an expense account on out of town jobs: Chicago, St. Paul, and San Francisco.
During the war when the railroad was taken over by the government, he traveled
quite a bit.
279, side 2
563: CHILDREN
He has two, Stanley and Sonja. Frank thought the
children were awfully nice, but were cared for by his wife exclusively. Swedish
was not spoken in the home or taught to the kids. Stanley lives in Spokane and
is a teacher, having earned bachelor and master degrees from the University of
Washington and a doctorate from WSU. Sonja was born November 7, 1944, and lives
in Spokane with Frank. She attended business school and worked for Aetna
Insurance. The children were encouraged to do what they liked.
279, side 2
634: RETURN TRIPS TO
SWEDEN
The first of many was for six
months in 1937. They stayed at Elsa's home, visiting and fishing for mackerel
just for fun. After the war in 1948, Elsa and the children lived in Sweden for
one year; Elsa was an only child and she wanted to see her parents. Elsa and
Frank visited in 1953 and every five years thereafter. The last trip was in
1977; Sweden always seemed peaceful and nice - no locked doors.
279, side 2
684: SWEDISH
HERITAGE
Frank can still write, read, and
speak Swedish. He knows how to make headcheese, lutfisk, Swedish ham, and
pickled herring.
279, side 2
701: SPEAKING
SWEDISH
Subjects
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