    
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
Signe Ohberg Carlson
A Guide to Her Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Carlson, Signe Ohberg
Collection Nr: t009-024
File Content:
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2 file folders
0 photographs
2 sound cassettes
3 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 Steve Melton, Helen Tengesdal and Lise Yohe
Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky
Husby
Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler
Recording Quality: Excellent
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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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These
interviews were conducted with Signe Carlson on March 27, 1978
and April 17, 1979 in Tacoma, Washington. It contains information
on personal background, emigration, settling in, marriage, Swedish
customs, and the Swedish language. The interview was conducted
in English.
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Signe
Amalija (Ohberg) Carlson, the youngest of nine children, was
born on August 20, 1887 in Sundsvall, Sweden. Signe came to
America with her father, a granite quarry owner, around 1903.
They lived on a small farm in Bemidji, Minnesota, where Signe
learned English and worked as a babysitter and a hairdresser.
Signe moved to Minneapolis and attained her citizenship before
moving to the Tacoma area to be near her sisters. Signe worked
at Thorson's util she married Anton Carlson. Anton, who worked
in the lumber business, owned 20 acres on McNeil Island, so
Signe moved there where they had two children. Since both Signe
and her husband were quite young when they emigrated from Sweden,
they did not retain many Swedish customs. However, Signe can
still speak Swedish and has attended some Valhalla celebrations.
She and Anton returned to Sweden twice to visit family members.
Signe has been a member of First Lutheran Church for many years.
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Full Name: |
Signe Amalija Carlson
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Maiden Name: |
Signe Amalija Ohberg
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Father: |
Malcolm Ohberg
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Brothers and Sisters: |
Her father was married twice. There was a total of nine
children in the family, four children by the first marriage
and five children by the second.
Tilla (?)
Gurde (?)
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Spouse: |
Anton Carlson
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Children: |
Orville (?)
Robert
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Carlson, Signe Amalija Ohberg
Ohberg, Malcolm
Carlson, Anton
Carlson, Orville
Carlson, Robert
Ohberg, Tilla
Ohberg, Gurde
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Family Names |
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Carlson family
Ohberg family
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Geographical Names |
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Sundsvall (Sweden)
Bemidji (Minn.)
Minneapolis (Minn.)
McNeil Island (Wash.)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Sweden
School attendance -- Sweden
Sweden -- Emigration and immigration
Sundsvall (Sweden) -- Emigration and immigration
Irvania (Steamship)
Naturalization
First Lutheran Church (Tacoma, Wash.)
Valhalla Lodge (Tacoma, Wash.)
McNeil Island (Tacoma, Wash.)
Swedish Language
Sweden -- Social conditions -- 1945-
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Occupations |
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Domestics
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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.
006 FAMILY BACKGROUND: [The first portion of this interview
was not recorded due to equipment difficulties.] Signe was talking
about her first days in America compared with Sweden. They had
a prize cow in Sweden. It was just her father, sister and Signe
at home then.
030 EMIGRATION: She came with father and older sister. Mother
had died when Signe was two years old. Pappa was past 60, and
he was scared they wouldn't let him land in America because
of his age. He paid one son's fare from Minnesota to Boston
so he would meet and help them. But, they were late in arriving;
had to wait two extra weeks for papers. So the son returned
to Minnesota.
072 Father didn't work here; just joined family. Signe helped
around at brothers' homes, caring for children for which she
received her room and board. Her father bought a little farm
which the boys farmed because he couldn't. She felt they had
no business sending for him because he was well off in Sweden.
But she was too young to say anything then.
120 Came from Sundsvall in Sweden. She's returned home twice.
It is in the north central part of Sweden which is beautiful
country. The Swedish women are great cooks. Even everyday food
like potatoes and cabbage were cooked and seasoned properly.
They had the best black bread! "You don't have to take any milk
of magnesia when you eat that!"
172 Father owned a granite quarry in Sweden which is still there.
The foundation of Sundsvall's church is built of that granite.
Father's half-sister was their housekeeper-cook after Mother
died. She was a professional cook. Father's people were probably
farmers.
198 Signe and her husband returned to Sweden twice. She had
cousins back in Sweden who were in the brick making business.
There was real good clay in the area, and Father had one of
those businesses also. One Auntie had kept on with that and
done very well after her husband died.
237 Father emigrated to see his children in Minnesota. They
lived by Bemidji on small farms and worked in the woods. Signe
was about 14, 16 when they emigrated. Pa bought first class
tickets on a German boat, "Irvania"(?); the rooms were reserved
and the food was good. They went over a rough North Sea from
Goeteborg to Hull, England, and then by train to Liverpool.
Took boat to Boston because it wasn't as busy as New York harbor;
then took train to Minnesota. The entire trip took over two
weeks, eight days on the Atlantic and three days on the North
Sea. The latter was so rough; her sister was very sick on the
boat, which was characterized by bunks and lots of sick people.
But, no real problems on trip, just small inconveniences like
waiting.
359 Went from Boston to Minneapolis-St. Paul where she had sisters
living, and from there to Duluth and then Bemidji. The sons
picked them up. She had never seen bananas before.
On the boat, she chummed around with a girl who was joining
her father in Minneapolis.
412 SETTLING IN: In Bemidji, she learned to speak English by
going to school. She remembers wearing a satin blue velvet dress
to school, reading a book which made no sense, and having the
teacher point to the word blue and then to her dress. But Signe
had no idea if she was referring to blue, satin, or velvet.
Signe was good in Swedish school, so she learned readily in
America also.
She took care of children in Midwest. Out West, she took up
hair work at Thorson's. She wanted to learn something besides
childcare. She worked at Thorson's until she married.
463 There was no Swedish church in Bemidji, only Norwegian,
which they attended occasionally. She worked awhile in Bemidji
for a doctor's wife who was in real estate business. Signe would
go along and help her fix up houses, hang wallpaper, etc. Signe
learned to speak English quite well as companion-employee to
this lady. When her father died, Signe moved to Minneapolis.
486 Citizenship was attained before marriage. She wanted to
be an American citizen but was very scared before the judge.
Her English was pretty good; he was nice and asked only a couple
of questions; and she got her papers.
511 MARRIAGE: She and her husband worked together on a small
farm on McNeil Island. He had worked in the woods for Milwaukee
Railroad. Then he attended Lincoln High School to learn algebra,
etc., in order to do inspection work in the lumber business.
He did very well at his job.
For entertainment, they went to shows if they could afford it.
Gave older boy music lessons because he was talented. Dancing
was popular in Sweden as was reading.
564 SWEDISH CUSTOMS: They attended some Valhalla celebrations,
but they both were pretty young when they emigrated, so didn't
keep up with the Swedish traditions except at Christmas time.
They never subscribed to any Swedish newspapers, but read American
papers. Besides Valhalla, there were few Swedish connections.
Their close friends were from her husband's business connection.
At Christmas she would cook lutefisk. Her daughter-in-law, Dorothy,
is Scotch and ate lutefisk when first engaged to Robert. After
marriage, when she was family, she decided not to be polite
and eat it. But Robert likes lutefisk.
647 Signe has belonged to First Lutheran Church for many years.
664 Medical care was good when her children were born. Had a
doctor, although she had to come early from McNeil Island and
stay in Tacoma. Husband had ten acres of land there purchased
before they were married. They built a house and lived there.
695 Signe still knits and crochets, skills she learned as a
child when they had to knit their own stockings.
718 Speaking Swedish. She still speaks Swedish. Recites "Fader
vaar....".
735 End of tape.
TAPE 024
005 FAMILY BACKGROUND: Full name is Signe Amalia [Emilie ?]
Ohberg Carlson (Mrs. Anton Carlson). Born in Sundsvall, Sweden
in 1887. She was 91 years old at the time of the interview.
Doesn't remember mother's name; she died when Signe was two
years old. Her father, Malcolm Ohberg, kept up the farm. He
was really a businessman but had a farm too. After her mother
died, his oldest sister came to the farm and raised the children.
There were four girls and one boy. Father had been married before.
He had two girls and two boys by the first marriage who were
grown up and gone. The boys had gone to America but the girls
married and stayed in Sweden. Signe was the youngest of all
nine children.
059 Doesn't remember grandparents.
078 The family name was a regular name. Father came from southern
part, but northern part was booming so he came to start a business.
He made bricks for houses; uncle was in that business also.
Good clay in that country. The big Lutheran Church in Sundsvall
is made of father 's and uncle's bricks. Father bought a farm
with granite rocks which were hewed, smoothed and sold for house
and church foundations. Also, the biggest building in town has
his bricks and granite in its structure.
The home farm was a beautiful place within the city limit. Sold
this place. The law in Sweden, if mother or father died, the
children at the age of 17 or 18 could demand the dead parent's
inheritance. Brothers wanted to emigrate to America, so the
farm was sold to pay them.
201 SCHOOL: Signe attended school and was confirmed in Sweden.
212 EMIGRATION: Signe was about 14-15 when she came to America
with her father and sister. The others [two half-brothers and
at least three sisters] were already here. Dad wanted to retire.
The boys wrote and told how wonderful it was in America. "Well,
it wasn't. Not at that time." Boys took up homesteads around
Bemidji, Minnesota and worked as loggers.
237 TRIP: They left from Göteborg and went over the North Sea
to Hull, England, then across the Atlantic on a big German boat,
"Irvania" (?). She and her father weren't seasick, but sister
was.
Landed in Boston. No trouble. The boys had arranged everything
and Pappa had money. Came in the fall and the ocean was rather
rough. She met another girl on boat and they had a fun time
investigating the boat.
Had brought some clothing, but left a lot of clothes and remainder
of goods in Sweden. They were allowed five trunks for the three
people. So they brought two, three feather beds, clothes and
"fjell" (? a sheepskin cover). The brother's wives took the
beds and fjell plus some homemade ...........(?). Dad didn't
really make a new home in Minnesota because he had two sons
and one daughter married and with homes around Bemidji. Signe
stayed with one of the brothers and helped with a new baby.
Next spring, she moved to Minneapolis to one of her sister's.
She got a house job caring for children.
391 Then she came out West to Tacoma; she had two married sisters
living here. She surprised them. One sister lived in the Midland
area on a 10-20 acre farm. They wrote continually and asked
her to come. So she finally wrote back "If you want to find
out some more about my father, I'll tell you more when I come
out to see you". They didn't realize Signe was serious. She
saved enough money [$75-80] to buy a train ticket. She arrived
in Tacoma on a Saturday night in the springtime with only the
Midland address on Golden Given Road. There was bus service
to that area, but it was a long walk to the house from the bus
stop, and the road was barely fit for lumber wagons. The train
people called the post office to locate the address. And she
hired a horse and buggy taxi to take her to Parkland; there
they pinpointed the approximate location of the house. She and
the taxi driver walked the final leg of the road. She rapped
on the door, brother-in-law answered. Her sister, with her back
to the door, was sitting with one child on her lap and the other
on a potty.
519 Signe paid the taxi driver $10. Sister Tilla was so astonished
at her arrival. Other sister, Gurde ?, lived across the road,
so they went to visit right away, and she was surprised, too.
540 Signe stayed with her sisters and got a job at Thorson's.
Took the bus in the summer and worked for Thorson's until she
got married. Had moved to an apartment in Tacoma by that time.
552 Her husband, Anton Carlson, owned 20 acres on McNeil Island.
He was Swedish, born about 80 miles from Sundsvall. They just
clicked together. He had two uncles and aunts on Mcneil Island
with chicken farms; sold eggs and chickens. Also had a garden,
cow and horses. Boats ran from Steilacoom or Tacoma to McNeil,
stopping also at Old Town and downtown.
587 After marriage, they built a house and lived on McNeil.
Husband was a good-looking man, strong and very nice. They had
similar personalities and background, and they "just clicked
together".
604 Signe learned English by attending school in Bemidji and
by just trying. "But I didn't like school in America. Usch.
No. And I'll tell you why". She had a good education in Swedish
and was a bright student. But she began American school with
very young children and felt it was so degrading. She learned
fast because she had to make her own way; father didn't have
much money left.
639 She had two boys. One [Orville] died of a heart attack one
year before her husband died. Robert is the second son.
650 End of tape.
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