    
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Administrative
Information
Scope and Content Note
Biographical Information
Lineage
Selected Search Terms
Partial Interview Transcript
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Information
Resources
Robert A. L. Mortvedt Library
Pacific
Lutheran University
Tacoma, WASHINGTON 98447
Phone: (253) 535-7586 E-mail: archives@plu.edu
New Land
New Lives Oral History Collection
Sigrid Josephine Kasen
A Guide to Her Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Kasen, Sigrid Josephine
Collection Nr: t224
File Content:
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3 file folders
2 photographs
1 sound cassette
0 compact discs
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Processing Information:
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The
interview was conducted 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.
Interviewed
by Inger Nygaard Carr
Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky
Husby
Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler
Recording Quality: Good
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Restrictions:
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The
collection is available for research.
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Preferred Citation:
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[Collection
Number, Collection Title]
New Land New Lives Oral History Collection
Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection
Robert A.L. Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447
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This
interview was conducted with Sigrid Kasen on January 18, 1983
at Foss Home in Seattle, Washington. It provides information
on family background, emigration, employment, marriage and family,
and heritage. Also available are two photographs of Sigrid at
the time of the interview. The interview was conducted in English.
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Sigrid
Kasen was born on November 15, 1884 in Sideby, Finland, which
is a Swedish community on the West Coast of Finland. Her parents
were Matt Lammenpaa and Sophie Rönnkvist, and Sigrid had three
younger siblings: Hilma, Hilding, and John. Sigrid's mother
passed away when Sigrid was twelve, and she helped her father
raise the other children. In Sideby, Sigrid attended a Swedish
school and church, and her family spoke Swedish in their home.
Sigrid understands Finnish but cannot converse in it. In 1909,
Sigrid immigrated to the United States due to curiosity and
lack of work for young girls in Finland. She knew someone in
Fitchburg, Massachusetts and went there first. After one winter
in Massachusetts, she moved to San Francisco, California and
did housework. While living there, she met her husband, Alfred
Kasen. Alfred was also from Finland and did carpentry work.
After they were married, Sigrid and Alfred moved to Seattle,
Washington, and they had five children: Anna, Astrid, Edith,
Ruth, and Melvin. Sigrid has returned to Finland once and her
heritage is very important to her. Nevertheless, she is very
glad she came to America.
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Full Name: |
Sigrid Josephine Mattson Kasen
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Maiden Name: |
Sigrid Josephine Mattson
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Father: |
Matt Lammenpaa
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Mother: |
Sophie Rönnkvist
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Brothers and Sisters: |
Hilma Lammenpaa
Hilding Lammenpaa
John Lammenpaa
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Spouse: |
Alfred Kasen
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Children: |
Anna Kasen
Astrid Kasen
Edith Kasen
Ruth Kasen
Melvin Kasen
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Kasen, Sigrid
Lammenpaa, Matt
Ronkvist, Sophie
Lammenpaa, Hilma
Lammenpaa, Hilding
Lammenpaa, John
Kasen, Alfred
Kasen, Anna
Kasen, Astrid
Kasen, Edith
Kasen, Ruth
Kasen, Melvin
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Family Names |
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Kasen family
Lammenpaa family
Rönnkvist family
Mattson family
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Geographical Names |
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Sideby (Finland)
Fitchburg (Mass.)
San Francisco (Calif.)
Seattle (Wash.)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Finland
Finland -- Emigration and Immigration
School attendance -- Finland
Christmas -- Finland
Finland -- Social conditions -- 1945-
Finnish heritage
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Occupations |
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Domestics
Carpenters
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Genre/Form |
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Oral history
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Institution |
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Pacific Lutheran University. Scandinavian Immigrant Experience
Collection
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The
partial interview transcription highlights important aspects
of the interview. Numbers on the left 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.
046 Sigrid Josephine Mattson Kasen. Born November 15, 1884 in
Sideby, Finland. Sideby is a Swedish community on the west coast
of Finland between Kristinestad and Bjoerneborg (Pori) in the
province of Vasa Lan.
116 PARENTS: Matt Lammenpaa and Sophie Ronkvist. She tells why
her father had a Finnish name. Hard times in Finland during
the late 19th century. Many Finnish speaking people came down
from the north looking for food and work in the Swedish speaking
villages along the coast. He married and settled in the town
where his wife was from. He fished in the summer. Did whatever
he could in the winter.
203 BROTHERS & SISTERS: Mother died when Sigrid was 12 years
old. She, her father, and her grandmother raised her 3 younger
brothers and sisters. Hilma was 8, Hilding was 5, and John was
almost 2 when their mother died.
246 GRANDPARENTS: Remembers maternal grandmother, but doesn't
remember her name. Paternal grandmother lived to be quite old,
but she lived in Finnish speaking Finland.
272 CHILDHOOD: Grew up in a Swedish village. Went to a Swedish
school and Swedish Church. Sigrid understands Finnish and can
say a few words, but she can't converse in Finnish. They spoke
Swedish in her home. Her father spoke Swedish quite well. Nobody
could tell he was Finnish.
314 SCHOOL AND CHURCH: Didn't have to go far to go to school
or church. Both were in the same village. She would often go
to church with her brothers and sisters. She was confirmed at
the church in Sideby.
333 CHRISTMAS: Had a decorated Christmas tree. Had lutfisk,
rice pudding, potatoes on Christmas Eve. Farmers would butcher
animals and have meat too. People in the villages had to buy
meat and it was expensive. Didn't get many presents. Went to
church on Christmas Day.
CONTACT WITH BROTHERS & SISTERS: Visited both brothers in
Finland while they were still living. Sister got married and
lived near Lake Stevens, Washington. Sigrid is the only one
in her family still living. Sigrid is a tough Finn.
432 REASONS FOR EMIGRATING: No work for girls in Finland. Did
housework in the US. Married a man from Finland after coming
to the US. Knew somebody in Fitchburg, Mass. Went to America
with a woman who had been home for a visit. Sigrid had heard
about America from many people. Those who had settle on America's
east coast would sometimes go home to visit.
493 TRIP TO AMERICA: Nice trip. Didn't get sick. Came to Boston,
Massachusetts. Didn't take long on the train to get to Fitchburg.
549 MOVING TO THE WEST COAST: The winter in Massachusetts was
as cold as in Finland. Sigrid knew some people in San Francisco,
California. Traveled by train 5 nights and 4 days. Sat the whole
way. Bought only one meal.
585 WORK IN FITCHBURG: Did housework. Many girls looking for
work there so wages were low. Better wages and better climate
on the West Coast.
604 LEARNING ENGLISH: Never went to school to learn it. This
was after she had gotten married. Husband wasn't sure if he
wanted to take out citizen papers. Might want to go back to
Finland. His father had a big farm in Purmo, which is north
of Vasa and near Jakobstad. He waited so long to get his citizenship
papers that she had to take out her own papers.
641 MEETING SPOUSE: Met husband, Alfred Kasen, in San Francisco,
CA. Had worked in logging camps. Then decided to become a carpenter.
She met him at the church in San Francisco. He saw her and told
his brother, "that's the girl I'm going to marry." Married for
60 years. Didn't have a wedding. Just went to a minister. Had
to have a witness. Had a dinner that night with husband's brother
and sister-in-law.
685 Got a house and lived in San Francisco for a while. Husband
did carpenter work.
692 CHILDREN: Five children. Oldest - Anna. Went to only 2 years
of high school. Got a touch of tuberculosis. Had to go to a
sanatorium for a while. Astrid - became a nurse. Edith - went
to high school and college. Got married. Ruth - went to college
and got married. Lives near Chicago. Edith - lives in California.
Melvin - lives in Portland. Works for Centennial Flowering Company.
He is a salesman.
763 MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST: Sigrid is a little confused as
to when she lived where. They lived in Portland, Oregon for
a time. Her husband came to Seattle from Finland. Worked in
logging camps in Washington. Went to San Francisco to do carpenter
work. Some of Sigrid's children were born in Seattle.
805 TRIPS BACK TO FINLAND: Went by herself. Her husband had
nobody to visit there. His younger sister and brother lived
around Chicago. His parents passed away. His older sister and
her husband bought the farm from their grandpa.
904 CHURCH: Has been active in a church in Seattle.
917 FINNISH ORGANIZATIONS: Has never belonged.
920 WORK: Started working again after children were grown up.
Worked 2 days a week. A lot of work in the home to feed 7 people.
Had to start working after husband fell and broke a leg. He
couldn't work for a year. He worked for the government so he
got some money from them. They got $1000. Made a down payment
on a house.
955 Sigrid is glad she came to America. Would have had to work
for farmers in Finland. She had heard so much about America.
She wanted to see what was going on here.
968 GIVES AN EXAMPLE OF THE FINNISH LANGUAGE. Kuinka se te vol?
(How do you feel?) Hyvaa Paivaa. (Good day) Finnish is more
difficult to learn to speak than to understand.
985 GIVES AN EXAMPLE OF THE SWEDISH LANGUAGE. Hur maar du? (How
are you?) God dag. (Good day) Vad goer du idag? (What are you
doing today?)
991 TRADITIONS: Her children understand Swedish. She would talk
to them in Swedish and they would answer in English. She doesn't
know if the children cook Swedish food.
1012 TELLS ABOUT THE FOSS HOME IN SEATTLE. "It's a home without
a home." She likes it. They keep it clean. The food is good
enough for her. Some don't like it.
1054 IMPORTANCE OF FINNISH HERITAGE: She's just as good as anyone
else. "Finland - the land of a thousand lakes." A beautiful
country in the summer. Sun never sets before 11:00 pm in the
summer. Sun never sets in Lapland during the summer.
1078 LAPLANDERS: Doesn't know where they came from. Maybe Asia.
They aren't Swedish or Finnish. Honest people.
1086 FINNISH PEOPLE: Honest. Borrowed money from the US twice.
They paid back every cent. Other countries that have borrowed
from the US have not paid back their loans. Finnish people work
hard. Didn't want to have anything to do with the Russians.
SIDE II
009 The end of the interview is confusing and difficult to understand.
She tells about the son of a preacher who killed a man and came
to Canada. He had friends there. He's in the United States now.
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