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Biographical Note
Bertha Davidson was born on January 7, 1892 in Østby, Norway. She was the youngest of four girls and one boy
and immigrated to America with a neighbor when she was sixteen. Bertha moved "just for fun" and did not plan on staying
for more than a year but ended up staying for five. The neighbor was attending Concordia College in Moorhead,
Minnesota, and Bertha stayed there as well to learn English. When she first returned to Norway, she felt she had
changed and nothing was there for her anymore. She returned to Concordia College where she knew Dr. Aasgaard,
Concordia's president from 1911-1925. Dr. Aasgaard introduced Bertha to Ole K. Davidson (OK) who was studying at the
seminary. When he finished his studies there, the two were married and moved to Glendive, Montana, where they stayed
for seven years. Bertha had many responsibilities as a pastor's wife, including entertaining, hostessing, housing other
pastors, and heading various church organizations. She also taught Sunday school and sang in the choir, which left her
little free time. In Glendive, their son Paul was born. Following Glendive, the family moved to California for five
years, where they had several churches in North Sacramento. They later moved to Portland, Oregon and finally to Tacoma,
Washington, where they settled for good
Lineage
Full Name: Bertha Davidson. Maiden Name: Bertha Østby. Father: Asmund Østby. Brothers and Sisters: Rachel,
plus two other sisters and one brother Spouse: Ole K. (O.K.) Davidson. Children: Paul Davidson.
Content Description
This interview was conducted with Bertha Davidson on April 25, 1978 in Tacoma, Washington. The interview
contains information on Bertha's family background, emigration, return trips to Norway, life as a pastor's wife, and
Norwegian heritage. Also see Ole Davidson, T204 & 205.
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
6, side 1
005: FAMILY BACKGROUND
Full name is Bertha Davidson; Østby is her maiden name. She was 84 years old at the time of the
interview, having been born on January 7, 1892, in Østby Norway, a large community.
6, side 1
042:
Husband is O.K. [Ole] Davidson. They have one son, Paul, who is married and lives in Tacoma. He works for
a large plant and has no children.
6, side 1
064: EMIGRATION
Bertha emigrated in 1912 when she was 16. She came "just for fun. I wasn't going to stay". A neighbor
lady who attended Concordia College [Academy] visited at home in Norway and asked Bertha if she'd like to travel to
America. Bertha came and though "I said I wouldn't stay more than a year, I stayed five years before I came back".
Bertha was at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota studying mostly the English language because it was necessary
being a newcomer.
6, side 1
105:
Neighbor lady was an Østby also. Maybe four or five different families were Østby 's in this area.
Bertha's father, Asmund, was a builder-farmer. She had one brother and three sisters; Bertha was the youngest.
6, side 1
140:
140 Mother didn't like her to go, but Father did because he felt there was nothing special in Norway for
Bertha to do. Bertha went back to visit after five years, but things and people had changed: "You don't feel the same
when you've been away".
6, side 1
168:
She knew Aasgaard [Johan Arnd], Concordia's president [from 1911-1925]. She stayed in America at Concordia
because she felt she had more opportunity there. One sister, Rachel, emigrated and married an American. But they
returned to Norway. He was a Norwegian who had lived here six, seven years. He bought the home place, but sister never
liked living on the farm. The oldest sister married, but died when she was young. Other sister married and lived in Hardanger,
Norway, and had one son. Husband had a small piece of land but worked as a builder. Her brother was also a carpenter
and built homes. He married and had four children.
6, side 1
240:
Her first visit to Norway lasted one month, but she couldn't find anything to do that she wanted. Dr.
Aasgaard said he'd help her find something around Moorhead. He also helped her learn the language while she worked.
6, side 1
261: MARRIAGE
Bertha met O.K. (Ole) at the seminary. She was working for Dr. Aasgaard and attending Concordia Academy,
and he introduced her to "this nice fellow". When OK finished seminary work, they were married. His parents came from
Norway to Minnesota. They had nine children, four born in Norway including OK who was the oldest.
6, side 1
293:
Bertha traveled by boat when she emigrated and when she first visited home. She returned to Norway three
more times. The boat trip was very good; she had a first class ticket. Third class people were "scrap"; brought own
food and were from other countries. She traveled with the neighbor lady and her brother who had arranged and paid for
the trip. Bertha worked to pay them back.There was nothing in Norway for her. "It was too hard to get places...in Norway. You really have to have
something back of you, come from a good family and all those things, in those days".
6, side 1
346:
She attended primary school in Norway. In America, it was possible for anybody to attend school, but they
had to work themselves through. Her brother took over the home place, and the rest of the family couldn't all remain
there, so that's when Bertha emigrated.
6, side 1
388:
No trouble at Ellis Island because neighbors took care of that. They took the train from Ellis Island to
Moorhead.
6, side 1
406: RETURN TRIPS TO NORWAY
Bertha returned to Norway twice before marriage and twice after with O. K.. Parents were alive the first
times. She has kept touch with her relatives except the younger generation. The oldest sister died when young. The next
was married and her husband died; she was living there when Bertha left for America. All are dead now, and Bertha knows
only one nephew from Norway who has visited her. He has a good teaching position in Oslo.
6, side 1
462: EXPERIENCES AS A PASTOR'S WIFE
It helped her to attend Concordia and work for the Aasgaards. After they were married, the first call was
to Glendive, Montana. They were there for seven years, a three-point parish with two churches in town and one in the
country. He gave up the country church because it was too difficult to serve in the winter.Bertha had to take part in most church events, so she didn't have much time to herself. More was required
of a pastor's wife then, than now: more entertaining, hostessing, and putting up other pastors. Pastors weren't paid
much then. She also taught Sunday School and sang in the choir.
6, side 1
540:
Pastor had a study in the home to meet with anybody who needed him. The last year they were in Montana,
the congregation fixed a study in the church. Their son, Paul, was born in Montana.
6, side 1
553: NORWEGIAN TRADITIONS
Cooking was mostly American because she hadn't done much Norwegian cooking. At home she helped with the
goats and four cows, although she never liked the barn or the work. Since she was the youngest, she got away with less
work and responsibility. She did take the cows to the "seter" [mountain dairy], and had just returned from there when
the neighbor lady arrived. Bertha was never one to be afraid of adventure, and that's why she readily decided to
emigrate.
6, side 1
588:
She did some carding and spinning at home, but mother did most of that work. Bertha stayed with an uncle
in a different town when she was about 14-16. Sister was two years older and had worked in Bergen for awhile.
6, side 1
608:
After Montana, they went to California for five years where they had two or three churches in North
Sacramento. [O.K. was in the First World War. Bertha was at Concordia at this time and didn't know him.] Then he joined
the C.C.C. [Civilian Conservation Corp] and was up in the Sierras for two and a half years. Bertha stayed in Sacramento
except for a short time when she and Paul lived in a mountain cabin. Paul was pre-school age at the time.
6, side 1
659:
After California, they went to Bethlehem Church in Portland, Oregon, which was close to Laurelhurst
Park.
6, side 1
675:
In 1922 (?), they came to Washington where O.K. had a church in North Tacoma. Pastor's wives in the
beginning had to do more. She didn't always like the hostessing, but that's the way it was. She always had to have
things prepared, and pastors didn't make much money with which to entertain.
6, side 1
708:
Bertha was not active in PTA. She liked being at home because she could do as she pleased: fix up the
place and take care of everything. She never was sorry she was a pastor's wife. She didn't work outside the home
because of all her other responsibilities with the church. She simply didn't have much time free. Oftentimes, the
parishioners called on her to head the women's organizations. There were usually two women's groups in church, one for
the younger women and one for the older. She was involved with both. She felt she shouldn't--it wasn't her
responsibility--but would get them started and then have other women take over.
6, side 2
023:
At Concordia she stayed at the Aasgaard home. Mrs. Aasgaard was very nice, but firm. Bertha learned a lot
and was very appreciative of the Aasgaard's. 067
6, side 2
067 :
They lived through the Depression in Montana. A pastor earned about 100 dollars a month which had to pay
for everything. During WWII, they lived in Portland. She's lived a long time, and wouldn't want to live it over again.
You learned as you lived. It's different now with more schooling available to everybody. For instance, her nephew from
Norway finished the four year program and is teaching in Oslo now.
6, side 2
155:
O.K. always had to help the people; she helped him and furnished him with what he needed. In the women's
groups, they had Bible study. Many people didn't have Bibles and didn't know the Commandments. Bertha had learned them
at a very young age at home and in the Norwegian church. Her mother was interested in having the children study their
lessons. She was more the disciplinarian than her father. They had the Catechism, etc., and recited them by heart.
There were 64 in her confirmation class, a big congregation, and the Pastor didn't let anybody slip by either. They
attended confirmation in the summer and school in the winter.
6, side 2
260:
It was very different in Bible studies here; so were the teachers. She thinks children should have to
memorize the catechism so it stays with them. She had her son learn like that.
6, side 2
303:
She can still read and write Norwegian. Her son was never interested in the language. She and OK never
spoke Norwegian at home. He came from northern Norway and had a slightly different dialect. She used nynorsk in school.
He continued to use his Norwegian, but mainly for Christmas services. But his Norwegian goes slower now, because he
thinks in English to speak in bokmål.
6, side 2
341:
O.K. attends the Brotherhood here, but he has been too busy with church to belong to organizations. He had
never belonged to the Sons of Norway. They just got away from those, and he worked so hard in the church. He is now
retired, but still works--teaches Bible classes and preaches occasionally.
6, side 2
385 :
Christmas baking is not too Norwegian; son doesn't like it. She never cooked much Norwegian food anyway.
Paul does some of the cooking in his family; wife has worked part-time in past years.
6, side 2
412 :
Speaking 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.
