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022/01 The Daughters of Norway lodges in the West. One purposes
stated in the Daughters of Norway Constitution "is to unite
into a sisterhood women of good moral character of Norwegian
birth or descent or married to one of birth or descent". Another
purpose is "to render throughout the subordinate lodges, pecuniary
aid and other assistance in case of illness to our other members".
The latter is one aid still carried on by the Sunshine committee:
visiting ill people weekly and thereby keeping together the
bond of sisterhood.
051 The Daughters are trying to develop closer ties with the
culture. Some of the renewal of interest was due to the book/movie,
Roots, but this cultural bond always existed to some degree.
066 There are ten lodges in the West: two in Seattle, one in
Everett, one in Silvana just north of Everett, one in Tacoma,
one in Astoria, OR, two in the San Francisco Bay area in CA,
one in Sparks, NV [the newest lodge about seven years old],
and one in Butte, MT.
As the Sons of Norway lodges increased in number, "they were
swallowed up by the Daughters and that was a great deal of controversy".
She heard this through older members who are willing to talk
about it. The Sons wanted them to unite or join, but the women
felt they were individuals, and they fought hard not to "lay
down". They felt women needed the opportunity to remain independent,
have a business sense about them, be leaders in the community,
and strengthen their ability to survive in this society. The
1920s-30s were important for women's rights. Florence believes
that the Daughters has lived up to these purposes.
/02
The Daughters published their first paper in 1936 in Norwegian.
By 1946, the paper was printed half in English and half in Norwegian,
and by the 1950's, it was all English. One lodge in CA has trouble
now. It is a small group of elderly members, and no one is actively
pursuing new members.
189 Grand Lodge. The organizational structure is such that one
person from each lodge serves in an officer's capacity in the
Grand Lodge. The Embla [Tacoma's group] lodge provides the secretarial
position this year [1979] which is filled by Ann Christianson.
Grand Lodge officers serve two year positions in alternation,
so that only once every 20 years does a lodge have a president
of the Grand Lodge. Sometimes it takes that long to develop
a good, active person to fill that responsibility. She must
have been president of the local lodge before becoming the Grand
Lodge president. This is not true for other positions.
226 Rituals in Daughters. There is a password for regular meetings
which allows only members in. This is also true for the Sons
of Norway and generally fits into the framework of fraternal
orders.
Certain meetings are open to the public, like Sankt Hans fest.
For this occasion and a couple of others, the meeting is eliminated.
All business meetings--held twice a month on the first and third
Thursdays--are closed to just the membership. After the meeting,
the entertainment or social hour is open. About 50-55 women
attend regularly--good attendance. There is strong feeling amongst
the older women that more meetings keep the sisterhood strong.
The recent surge of new members is due to the cooking, beadwork,
Hardanger and dance programs/workshops.
288/03 Florence is of the opinion that the younger members come
to learn and continue the culture and traditions. It's important
to have active, interesting programs to get and keep new members.
She would like to see a women's choral group start also. A number
of women have been identified as good musicians, vocalists,
instrumentalists, etc. There are songbooks available from past
days.
322 One songbook from 1940 is full of advertisements which helped
pay costs of printing, expenses of annual conventions, etc.
The drill team is small but active. These teams used to be an
integral part of the 17th of May celebration with silk, handmade
banners. She's interested in reviving the banner construction
as there is a large number of skilled needleworkers in the group.
349 Wearing of costumes is encouraged at festivals. At the next
May festival, one person will demonstrate lefse making, another
will make open faced sandwiches. These people will wear the
work bunad because of the jobs. But normally, dress bunads are
worn to identify the Norwegian women and to promote heritage
and culture.
373/04 Cooking classes have been held in the fall and spring.
A lady also teaches beadwork and Hardanger. Bunad wearing needs
help, especially the Leikarring group who do not wear authentic
bunads. Florence feels that improper costumes do not reflect
well on the Daughter's--"a bit shabby". She would like to arrange
for needleworkers to help the Leikarring people because she
feels strongly that authenticity must be adhered to.
421 Emigrants from Norway wear the bunad from that district.
The Hardanger bunad has become the national "drakt", so the
Daughters wear the red top with the beadwork, black skirt, etc.
A woman can buy and wear the district bunad or make one. A Tacoma
lady does the beadwork, belt, and Hardanger for the blouse.
Florence has the work bunad from S›r-Trondelag, all the material
and most of the silver for the fest bunad from S›r-Trondelag
and also the Hardanger bunad. She is also gathering materials
for a costume for the Western rosemalers: pewter clasps, striped
skirt, etc. It's a made-up bunad, but it's called the Western
Rosemaling costume. About 50 women have this particular outfit.
455 Western Rosemalers have about five to ten men as members,
and the remainder [most] are women.
467/05 There is no library at Normanna Hall. They have found
old books, mainly songbooks. The history of the lodge has been
recorded in books by the group's historian. In addition, the
minutes of the Grand Lodge and local lodges would provide good
histories. Other people who would be helpful to contact about
the Daughters are: Ida Apalseth, Ann Christianson, Alice Ericksen
from Seattle, Mrs. Shervheim, Gyda Christoferson an early founder,
Marie Berglund, and Anne Marie Steiner.
562 End of tape.
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