Funding for encoding this finding aid was
provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Ralph Strom was born Carl Rudolph Wickström
on March 19, 1896 in a farming village called Alvik near Luleå, Sweden. Ralph's
father, Carl Nyström, moved to America when Ralph was born and never returned.
Ralph's mother, Emma Wikström, remarried and had six more children. When
Ralph's stepfather won a lottery, the family bought a new home in a neighboring
village. Ralph and his family were poor, but even in difficult times they were
happy and had festive holiday celebrations. Ralph's community was quite
religious, so a lot of the activities centered on the church.
Ralph
went to school for four years and then spent most of his time working. He
started working in a sawmill when he was ten years old, having convinced his
employers that he was twelve. As the family grew, Ralph's mother encouraged him
to move to America, even though he was only sixteen years old. A local woman
leant Ralph the money for the trip, and he departed in June of 1912. On his
trip out West, Ralph met three film stars-Dustin Farnum, William Farnum, and
Catheryn Williams-on their way to Montana to shoot a movie. Ralph traveled with
a neighbor from Sweden named William Simon who helped him a great deal during
the move. Ralph also had help available from his mother's cousin, John
Nordstrom. Mr. Nordstrom had made quite a bit of money during the gold rush in
Alaska and had started a shoe store, which is now the successful Nordstrom
department store. Since Ralph was familiar with logging, he moved to Arlington,
Washington and found a job in a camp called Carbon Hill. The conditions were
bad, and Ralph's situation got even worse when a depression in Seattle made
work scarce, leaving Ralph with little food and money. Fortunately, Ralph
became acquainted with a German boilermaker who gave him an apprenticeship. He
learned the trade while working other odd jobs to make more money.
Due
to his valuable boilermaker skills, Ralph was in high demand at the shipyards
during World War I. He worked in the shipyards until 1920. In 1922, Ralph
married Edith Holmquist in Everett, Washington. Edith had an unfortunate
accident before they met in which she broke two of her vertebrae; she could not
work full days because of the pain. Ralph moved to Alaska where he worked as a
boilermaker for the railroad, and Edith joined him shortly thereafter. Ralph
quit the railroad when he got gold fever, finally settling in a job working for
US Smelting, Mining & Refining Company until 1959. In 1939, while he worked
for the mining company, Ralph assisted author Kathryn Winslow as she researched
for her book called The Big Pan-Out. After living in Alaska, Ralph and Edith
returned to Seattle. Ralph is the oldest member of the Boilermakers Union, and
he also participates in the Swedish Club. He has taken two trips back to Sweden
and still speaks the language. Ralph is proud of his heritage, but he maintains
that Swedes and Americans are equal.
Lineage
Full Name: Ralph (Carl Rudolph) Wickström Strom. Father: Carl Nyström.
Step-father: Oscar Lundkvist. Mother: Emma Wickström. Maternal Grandfather:
Agust Wickström. Maternal Grandmother: Anna Lena Wickström. Brothers and
Sisters: Torsten Lundkvist, Allan Lundkvist, Astrid Larson, Märta Lundgren.
Spouse: Edith Maria Holmquist.
Content Description
The interview was conducted with Ralph Strom on April 23, 1982 in Seattle,
Washington. This interview contains information on personal background,
emigration, employment, family, church and community life, a connection with
author Kathryn Winslow, and Swedish heritage. It also provides photographs of
Ralph Strom's home in Sweden, Ralph as a young man (Christmas 1912), Ralph with
the Lake McMurray logging crew (1913), Ralph and his wife Edith (1922), and
Ralph at the time of the interview. 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
167, side 1
020: PERSONAL
BACKGROUND
His name is now Ralph Strom.
Before he became a citizen his name was Carl Rudolph Wickström. He changed his
name because there were so many Wickströms, but then there got to be more
Stroms than Wickströms. Was born March 19, 1896 in a farming village outside of
the city of Luleå. The village was called Alvik. This is in the northern part
of Sweden in the provinces, which is called Norrbotten. Later they moved.
167, side 1
075: PARENTS
Raised by his mother. Ralph's father went to America about
the time that he was born and never returned. His name was Carl Nyström. He
went to Colorado. Mother Emma Wickström was a good caterer. Mother got married
when he was 11 years old. He got four half-sisters and two half-brothers. She
married Oscar Lundkvist. He was a laborer at different places, steel mill.
167, side 1
140: NEW FAMILY
HOME
Step-father won a lottery and it was
enough to buy a house. So they bought another house and moved to the
neighboring village.
167, side 1
160: CHILDHOOD
Raised in farming country, but they didn't have a
farm. Started working in the sawmill when he was 10 years old.
167, side 1
178: GRANDPARENTS
Paternal grandfather was the governor of the province
for a number of years. His name was possibly Carl Nyström. He lived to be 105
years old. Maternal grandfather, Agust Wickström had about six brothers
and sisters so Ralph had lots of aunts and uncles. Agust worked in the woods
all his life. He was somewhat of a carpenter too. Maternal grandmother died
when his mother was 9 or 10. Her name was Anna Lena Wickström.
167, side 1
263: BROTHERS AND
SISTERS
Torsten was a carpenter in Luleå.
He was also a very good long distance skier. Allan came to the U.S. to visit
Ralph and stayed for about three months. Three weeks after his return to Sweden
he died of a heart attack. He worked in the steel mill.
167, side 1
300: SISTERS
All of his sisters who are alive have been to the U.S. to
visit him. Oldest sister visited him last summer for about four months
(Astrid). His other two sisters have been to visit too, Märta Lundgren and Ebba
Thyr. They are all married and live in Sweden.
167, side 1
340: SCHOOL IN
SWEDEN
Had about five years of grade
school. He went to work when he was ten years old. He was large for his age so
he passed for 12, which was how old he was supposed to be to work at the
sawmill.
167, side 1
355: WORK AT AGE 10
Worked in the sawmill. There were men who cut boards
by hand. They didn't have dry kilns so they had large stacks of lumber to air
dry. There were men who would cut off the ends of the boards with hand saws
then the kids would come and pick up these pieces. He made 75 Swedish cents a
day. He gave his mother the money.
167, side 1
405: CHILDHOOD
Had a nice childhood. His mother was nice. The people
were poor. He remembers the general strike they had in Sweden in 1909.
167, side 1
420: WHY SWEDEN WAS
POOR
When Bernadotte became King of Sweden
he signed over a 99 year lease that England would get the steel industry and
Germany the lumber industry. The Swedish people were more like serfs to these
countries. All the profits left Sweden. In 1936 the lease ended. The working
people lost the strike.
167, side 1
455: MIGRATION TO
BRAZIL
Many workers in the iron mines in
northern Sweden went to Brazil to settle down. The climate didn't agree with
them and they died. This was more evident of the labor unrest in Sweden during
this time period.
167, side 1
485: CHRISTMAS
No matter how poor they were they had fun at Christmas
time. They had Christmas trees and there were lots of festivals.
167, side 1
493: CHURCH LIFE IN
SWEDEN
The people were very religious. He
went to church as a child. People had cottages built around the church and
would go and stay for about a week at Christmas, Easter and New Years. This was
at the same church he was confirmed in. He believes that this church was built
by Catholics. The name of it was Gamla Stadens Kyrka (the old town church).
167, side 1
649: CHRISTMAS
FOODS
Lutfisk, frukt soppa, various
cookies and sometimes an apple. The food was cooked and then taken to the
village where they had their celebration in Missionshuset (the Mission house).
The preacher would come to this place and give sermons.
167, side 1
688: COTTAGES AROUND THE
CHURCH
(See counter I-493) The was about
twelve miles from where he lived. Each farmer had his own cottage. Ralph's
mother didn't have one. The only time Ralph was in these cottages was for
confirmation. It took two weeks to be confirmed. He was 14 when he was
confirmed.
167, side 1
717: SCHOOL
He hadn't quit school but had gotten ahead one year. He
learned fast. Kindergarten was supposed to be for two years, but he only went
for one. Then he went three years to the regular school. He had four years of
school when he should have had five.
167, side 1
747: FOLK STORIES
There were quite a few stories, but he never paid too
much attention.
167, side 1
766:
Worked in the sawmill every summer until he was 16 and left
for America. The last two years at the sawmill he got a raise in pay to 1 Krone
and 25 Swedish cents. He was stacking lumber for ten hours a day.
167, side 1
787: REASONS FOR
EMIGRATION
He was always figuring on
leaving to better his conditions. There was a lot of talk about emigration then
and so many had left.
167, side 1
797: EMIGRATION
MONEY
Mother had worked at a wholesale
grocery business and she borrowed the money (600 kroner) from the lady
there.
167, side 1
820: MOTHER'S FEELINGS ON HIS
EMIGRATION
The family was growing and the
house was small. He would have had to leave soon anyway. She didn't want him to
leave so early, but she thought it was the best because he was so set on it.
167, side 1
824: EMIGRATION
Left in June of 1912. The lady from the wholesale
grocery business gave him the money and he promised to pay it back.
167, side 1
835: WORK IN THE
U.S.
He knew how to handle an ax because
his grandfather had taught him. He came to Seattle, Washington and got a job in
Arlington, Washington in a logging camp called Carbon Hill (?).
167, side 1
840: SHIP TRAVEL
Came on the Lusitania in about six days. He went from
home to Gothenburg (Goetoborg), Sweden to Hull, England, and then across
England by train to Southampton, England where they boarded the Lusitania. They
stopped one day in Queenstown, Ireland to take on immigrants there. The North
Sea was rough and Ralph got sick.
167, side 1
873: ENGLAND
Stayed in the immigrants hotels. He was surprised how
differently people lived in England than in Sweden. He remembers kids' shining
shoes on the street.
167, side 1
894: TRIP OVER THE
OCEAN
It was beautiful. The Lusitania was
a big ship. The ship was segregated by ethnic background, Poles, Scandinavians,
and Greeks. They had a mess house were you got your meals. The food was
alright, but it was different than he was used to.
167, side 1
910: FOOD IN SWEDEN
Lived on milk a lot. Didn't have soup with spices in
it. They had meat about once a month. The food was spicy on the boat.
167, side 1
940: TRAIN TRAVEL
Went from New York central to Minneapolis. When they
got to Minneapolis, they took the Chicago - Milwaukee and went through the
Dakotas to Montana and then into Seattle, Washington. When they got to the
Dakotas a moving picture outfit got on the train. Dustin Farnum, William Farnum
and Catheryn Williams were going to go to Montana to make a film. There was a
drunk on the train. Some of the girls started making fun of his Swedish style
clothes, but Catheryn Williams befriended him. She sat by him, they couldn't
speak to each other, but his travel companion could.
167, side 1
975: TRAVEL
COMPANION
Came with William Simon, a
neighbor from Sweden who had been here before. He had been on a visit back to
Sweden and was now returning to Seattle, Washington. This man had tried real
hard to get on the Titanic. This was the same year that it sunk. This man was a
big help.
167, side 1
1004:
He remembers how the actress complemented him on his good
complexion. He attributed it to the Swedish climate. She was a help to him also
on the trip.
167, side 1
1017: IMPRESSIONS OF
USA
Everything seemed big.
167, side 1
1021: TRAIN RIDE
Tiresome and hot. This was in July. It was smoky
because there were forest fires in the Cascade mountains.
167, side 1
1032: NORDSTROMS
Should have gone to work at Nordstrom's Shoe Store.
His mother and Mr. John Nordstrom, who started Nordstrom's stores, were
cousins. They were born in the same village in Sweden. Mr. Nordstrom made his
money up in Alaska during the Gold Rush. He made enough money to start a shoe
store at the public market with his partner, Whalen (?) who made shoes. This
was in 1905. His mother asked Mr. Nordstrom if he wouldn't kind of look after
Ralph until he found something to do. He didn't go to the Nordstrom's except to
say "Hello" and that he was going to work in a logging camp.
167, side 1
1060: LOGGING CAMP
WORK
Got the job through his traveling
companion. He did pretty well and paid back the lady he had borrowed his
traveling money from after the first four months.
167, side 1
1070: SEATTLE
Went to a hotel. The lady at the hotel told Ralph's
companion that he should not let Ralph run around in the clothes he had. Ralph
didn't have any money so she took him down to Lipman's and bought him a suit.
He used to visit her. Her name was Kitty Martin. From her he got a good
impression. She paid $16 for the suit and that was a lot. Stayed in Seattle for
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and on Monday he went to the logging camp and went
right to work. During his days in Seattle he visited people that he knew from
the "old country."
167, side 1
1128: LOGGING CAMP
Called Carbon Hill. It was seven miles from
Arlington, Washington. Stayed there until Christmas. They had to supply their
own blankets. The bunks were three stories high. They had straw for mattresses.
There were lots of bedbugs. He learned to count to 21 the first night he was
there because the man below him lay in bed with a hammer killing bedbugs and
counting them. There were 24 men in each bunkhouse. The conditions and the food
were poor. He got paid $2.50 per day which was bad and paid $5.50 a week for
board and room. The fallers got $3.50-$4.00 a day and the buckers for $3.00 a
day. Ralph was a swamper and had to cut down the trees to make room to bring in
the chokers and haul the trees out.
167, side 1
1170: DEPRESSION IN SEATTLE
1914
He had no money. They stayed in an
old abandoned warehouse they call the Hotel DeGink (?). The loggers had their
own bedding so they would go to this warehouse to sleep. In the daytime they
would leave their blankets with the saloonkeepers so they wouldn't be stolen.
Ralph did this for about two months. He had a little money for food. They would
get a meal once and awhile from the Salvation Army.
167, side 1
1195: FEELINGS ON AMERICA
NOW
Still wasn't ready to go back to
Sweden. He knew he wouldn't live that way forever.
167, side 1
1200: BOILERMAKER
WORK
Got acquainted with a German
boilermaker. (In the meantime he had worked in the woods off and on.) This
boilermaker got him into the Commercial Boiler Works as an apprentice
boilermaker. Had a room at the Union Hotel, which he paid $6 a month for. It
was small room with a washstand and a bed. This was cheap rent. Ralph was
making only 16 cents an hour 10 hours a day. This was fine until his clothes
started wearing out.
167, side 1
1225: SECOND JOB
Told the man in the boiler shop that he wanted a month
off to go and visit his mother. He hadn't seen her in over a year. But he
didn't go home, he had a job lined up with the City of Seattle to help log off
the watershed at Cedar River. So he got in a month's work there.
167, side 2
018: SECOND JOB
He got this second job in order to make enough money
to buy some clothes. He earned $65 as a bucker. Then he returned to learn how
to become a boilermaker. He wanted to learn this trade.
167, side 2
045: RAN OUT OF CLOTHES
AGAIN
This time the Lord came with a
snowstorm and Ralph and friends got jobs shoveling snow from roofs. There was 6
feet of snow. Ralph got $60 from one building and made about $200 in all by
shoveling snow in 1916.
167, side 2
063: WAR
During WWI Ralph worked in the shipyards.
167, side 2
068:
Bought clothes with the money he made shoveling snow. Then he
went back to work for the boilermaker and served out his three years of
apprenticeship. He didn't quite make the three years because the war started he
had to go work in the shipyards.
167, side 2
083: SHIPYARD
Worked during WWI at Skinner and Eddy shipyard and
J.F. Duthie shipyard both of Seattle, Washington. Didn't have to go into the
service because he was working in the shipyard. Was made a riveter foreman at
the Duthie shipyard at the age of 21. This was 1918. They had to register for
the draft in 1917. He had so much experience from boiler making that he was
needed at the shipyard.
167, side 2
140: CO-WORKERS
Many people of different ethnic backgrounds. Didn't
work with Swedes all the time. The people who immigrated at that time were all
good people. Ralph had a lot of Greek friends. There were Czechoslovakians,
Russians, and people from all over the world. There weren't many blacks in
Seattle at that time.
167, side 2
176: FIRST BLACK
PERSON
Saw him in Gothenburg (Göteborg),
Sweden.
167, side 2
195: LANGUAGE
Started to pick it up right away. Read the papers and
learned from other people. Didn't go to school. Wasn't able to lose his Swedish
accent.
167, side 2
213:
Felt at home right away in the U.S. He was young and people
were good to him. He worked hard and lived right and no one abused him in any
way.
167, side 2
233: SHIPYARDS
Stayed there until they were closed down in 1920 or
1919.
167, side 2
245: RIVETING
Was a riveter on the telephone building and a medical
building.
167, side 2
250: ALASKA
Was hired out as a boilermaker for the Alaska railroad. Went
up there in 1921 and stayed there until 1959. Was in Fairbanks, Alaska. Was in
Anchorage, Alaska first and was then transferred to Nenana, Alaska. When the
bridge was built across the Yukon River the house they were living in was moved
up to Fairbanks and they were all laid off.
167, side 2
277: GOLD FEVER
Started working for the miners up there. Then Ralph
got the gold fever and didn't go back to the railroad. He started prospecting.
He and some other fellows got together and took a large lease on some mining
property. They didn't make any money but they got lots of experience.
167, side 2
291: U.S. SMELTING, MINING, AND
REFINING CO.
They came into Fairbanks and
the manager, Norman C. Stines (?) offered him a job because he heard what a
hard worker Ralph was and all the experience and skills he had. Ralph went to
work for him from 1924 to 1959. He got vacations in the wintertime to come out
here. The wages were pretty good. He never lost a day of work during the
Depression.
167, side 2
328: SPOUSE
Married in 1922 in Everett, Washington. His wife lived up in
Alaska with him. He met her in Seattle, Washington. Her name was Edith
Holmquist. She was born in Sweden and raised in Norway and came to Seattle when
she was about 8 years with her mother. Her father was an alcoholic and her
parents were divorced. That was something that you didn't do in Sweden in those
days. Her father stayed in Sweden. Her mother came from the middle part of
Sweden, Västmanland. His wife's grandmother came from the town of Arboga,
Sweden, which is one of the oldest cities in Sweden. Edith's father came from
the province of Hälsingland, Sweden. When they lived n Norway they were in
Hammerfest, which is the northern most city in the world.
167, side 2
387: REASONS FOR EMIGRATION
(WIFE'S FAMILY)
Her mother thought they
would have a better chance here. Edith's mother was an expert cook.
167, side 2
399: MEETING
SPOUSE
they met in Seattle at her mother's
home. Her mother kept boarders in a pretty good-sized boardinghouse. Ralph
never stayed there but he would go there and have a good home cooked meal once
and awhile.
167, side 2
414: WIFE'S WORK
She was very unfortunate. She worked sorting laundry
in the Washington Laundry on Lake Union. While she was working she slipped on
the cement steps, fell, broke two vertebra below her shoulder blades. There
wasn't much knowledge in treating this at that time so they just bundled her
up. After that she could never work a full eight hours under any circumstances
because her back bothered her so bad. This happened before they met.
167, side 2
445: WEDDING
Beautiful marriage, but no children. He felt lucky enough
that he had steady work. She could only work in short intervals. Ralph went to
Fairbanks, Alaska in 1921 and when he returned in 1922 they got married. They
were married in Everett, Washington. Ralph returned to Alaska and then she came
later. They lived out on the Creek Station (?).
167, side 2
495: MEDICAL CARE
Wasn't easy to come by in Alaska.
167, side 2
504: HOME
Built a 12 by 14 foot log cabin.
167, side 2
512: WEDDING
(See also II-365) They were married at some friends' home
near Arlington, Washington
167, side 2
519: CHURCH LIFE IN
ALASKA
There was no chance. He was living
out on the Creeks (?).
167, side 2
526: WORK IN ALASKA
After awhile he moved into a company house after they
were married and he became a winch man on the dredger. Later he became a dredge
master. He did that for 18 years. He lived in the company house were they got
free housing, lights, fuel, and a pick-up. This was a nice place to live. He
now gets a pension from them. He worked there from 1924 to 1959 except for five
years during the war when they couldn't get enough steel to run the dredges.
167, side 2
574: ASSOCIATED SHIPYARD,
SEATTLE
Worked here when the Alaska job
closed down. Was riveting foreman for five years here during the Second World
War.
167, side 2
584: SWEDISH
TRADITIONS
Wife did Swedish cooking. She
made lutefisk.
167, side 2
593: LOG CABIN IN
ALASKA
His friends told him that when his
wife saw that log cabin she would go straight back to Seattle, Washington.
There wasn't even a bedroom. When she came she said that she had always wanted
to have a dollhouse and now she could live in one.
167, side 2
613: TRANSPORTATION IN
ALASKA
Ralph got her a dog and a sled so
she could go wherever she wanted to . She was used to the cold weather after
being raised in Norway.
167, side 2
627: KATHRYN
WINSLOW
She was a writer from Chicago who
had had a relative in the Klondike and was very interested in the old Klondike.
She came to Fairbanks, Alaska and was referred to Ralph since he knew some of
the old timers. In about 1936 she wrote the book, "The Big Pan-Out." Ralph
introduced her to several people to get information for the book. Talks about
Charlie Andersen and the stories that had been told about him losing his money.
The book was a hit. He got a first edition copy from her, but he lost the trunk
with his books in it.
167, side 2
700: BOOK
COLLECTIONS
Ralph's wife collected first
editions. She had some by Jack London, Rex Beach, Mark Twain and others. They
did a lot of reading. They lost them all in the trunk on the Alaska Steamship.
167, side 2
723: CO-WORKERS IN
ALASKA
He had Eskimos working for him. He
says Eskimos are the finest people in the world because they are honest,
reliable, and good workers. They have good characters. He had some that would
come to work every year and leave to hunt seal in the fall. They are good to
their children and their children are well behaved.
167, side 2
750: WORKING
CONDITIONS
Can't compare the conditions
between here and Sweden because he worked so little there.
167, side 2
770: CONDITIONS FOR HIM IN
AMERICA
"Can't say nothing but the best."
He talks about how people say that you go bad as a result of a bad environment,
but he doesn't feel anyone could have had a worse environment than he had. When
he lived at the Union Hotel, there were gambling houses on Washington Street.
He used to go in and "rubber neck." He had no money to play himself. He even
got shot in the leg in one place when it was held up. He spent four days in the
Seattle General Hospital. It was up to the man himself how his conditions turn
out. He was among the worst gamblers and prostitutes and had no home life.
167, side 2
800: RELIGIOUS
BACKGROUND
He was raised a good Christian.
His mother was very religious and he remembers what she had told him. He had no
use for crooked stuff.
167, side 2
810: CHURCH LIFE
Doesn't go to church. There wasn't a church in Alaska
within thirty miles and he was working so much.
167, side 2
828: ORGANIZATIONS
Belonged to the Masonic group in Alaska. Belongs to
the Swedish Club now. (Remembers now that it was the Waldorf Hotel that he
stayed in in Seattle during the war. He belongs to the Boilermakers
Union and is the oldest member in Seattle. He joined in 1916. He belongs to the
Retired Boilermakers Club too.
167, side 2
870: VISITS TO
SWEDEN
Has been back two times. Four
years ago he went and stayed five months. The first time was in 1948 when his
mother was sick. He got a letter from his brother telling him of her illness so
he left Alaska and stayed in Sweden for twenty days. His mother didn't believe
he was coming. They met on the road, but didn't now each other. Another man on
the road had to tell him that he had passed her.
167, side 2
936: CHANGES IN
SWEDEN
They are living good now. The
people who didn't have anything when he was a kid are living good now. He
believes people are more religious in Sweden than here.
167, side 2
958: EFFECTS OF THE WAR ON
SWEDEN
Maybe financially they felt the
effects of the war.
167, side 2
962: SWEDEN'S RAW
MATERIALS
They are short of oil and
coal.
167, side 2
971: SECOND TRIP TO
SWEDEN
That was when he really got to see
the country. He stayed for five months. Had a friend that had come to the U.S.
and then returned to Sweden that showed him around. This man worked for Volvo
in Sweden, for Boeing in the U.S. and then returned to Volvo in Sweden. He
drove Ralph all around Sweden. He took him to Maelaren, which is where Swedish
civilization first started, Gripsholms Castle, and many of the old places that
he had read about when he was in school. Maelaren lake goes from Gothenburg
(Goeteborg) to Stockholm.
167, side 2
1014: HERITAGE
Never thought too much about it. We are all somewhat
proud of our heritage. There are good and bad Swedes. Swedes are not better
than Americans. They are equal.
167, side 2
1035: SWEDISH
LANGUAGE
Still speaks the language.
167, side 2
1037: SPOKEN
SWEDISH
Tells about how he can still speak
the language.
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 :
Holmquist, Edith Maria
Lundkvist, Oscar
Nordstrom, John
Nyström Carl
Strom, Ralph
Thyr, Ebba
Wickström, Agust
Wickström, Anna Lena
Wickström, Carl Rudolph --Interviews
(
creator)
Wickström, Emma
Winslow, Kathryn
Family Names :
Lundvist family
Nyström family
Strom
family
Wickström family
Corporate Names :
Carbon Hill Logging Camp (Arlington, Wash.)
International
Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and
Helpers
