    
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
Hanna Hekkala Sippala
A Guide to Her Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Sippala, Hanna Hekkala
Collection Nr: t087
File Content:
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3 file folders
1 photograph
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 Donna Mallonee
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 Hanna Sippala on August 28, 1981
in Astoria, Oregon. It provides information on family background,
emigration, employment, marriage and family, and Finnish heritage.
The interview also includes a photograph of Hanna's homeplace
in Finland. The interview was conducted in English.
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Hanna
Sippala was born on December 15, 1897 in Kello, Finland, which
is located in northern Finland, near Oulu. Her parents were
Juho Jaakko Hekkala and Kristina Teppo Hekkala, and Hanna had
a half-brother and half-sister from her father's first marriage
as well as a brother and sister from her parents' marriage.
When Hanna finished school, she got "America fever" and convinced
her parents to let her go. Hanna traveled to New York and found
a housekeeping job with a minister's family. She was paid $10
a month at first but then got a $2 raise every month, as her
English improved. Hanna's sister came to America thirteen months
after Hanna, and Hanna found another housekeeping job, giving
her previous job to her sister. In 1919, Hanna and her sister
moved to Astoria, OR, where Hanna's sister's boyfriend lived.
In Astoria, Hanna found more housekeeping jobs and met her husband,
who was also from Finland. Hanna's husband was a logger but
began working as a longshoreman when their daughter, Violet,
was born in 1922. From 1929-1931, Hanna and her husband managed
boardinghouses, and Hanna also worked in the canneries for twenty
years, starting in 1939. Hanna belongs to the Finnish Brotherhood
and has made one trip back to Finland. She remains in contact
with her relatives there but would never want to move back to
Finland herself.
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Full Name: |
Hanna Kristiina Sippala
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Maiden Name: |
Hanna Kristiina Hekkala
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Father: |
Juho Jaakko Hekkala
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Mother: |
Kristiina Teppo Hekkala
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Paternal Grandfather: |
Janne Hekkala
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Paternal Grandmother: |
Hilma Maria Hekkala
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Maternal Grandfather: |
Jaakko Heikki Hekkala
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Maternal Grandmother: |
Helmi Helena Kari
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Brothers and Sisters: |
Helme Hekkala
Heikki Hekkala
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Half-brother and sister: |
Jan Hekkala
Hilma Hekkala
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Spouse: |
(?) Sippala
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Children: |
Violet Paulson
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Sippala, Hanna
Hekkala, Juho Jaakko
Hekkala, Kristina Teppo
Paulson, Violet (Sippala)
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Family Names |
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Sippala family
Hekkala family
Paulson family
Teppo family
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Geographical Names |
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Kello (Finland)
Astoria (Or.)
Oulun province (Finland)
Raahe (Finland)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Finland
Finland -- Emigration and immigration
Christmas -- Finland
Finnish Brotherhood (Tacoma, Wash.)
Finnish-Americans -- Ethnic identity
World War, 1939-1945
Cookery, Finnish
Finland -- Social conditions -- 1945-
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Occupations |
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Domestics
Logging -- Washington (State)
Stevedores
Boardinghouses
Cannery workers
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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.
012 HANNA KRISTIINA SIPPALA: Born in Kello, Finland on December
15, 1897. Kello is in northern Finland, near Oulu.
044 PARENTS: Father - Juho Jaakko Hekkala. Mother - Kristiina
Teppo Hekkala. Father was a farmer. Fished on the ice in the
winter. They moved to Raahe when she was 9 years old. About
100 miles from Kello.
118 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: a brother and a sister from father's
first marriage. She has a brother and sister from father's second
marriage.
134 HALF-BROTHER AND SISTER FROM FIRST MARRIAGE: Jan and Hilma
144 BROTHER AND SISTER FROM SECOND MARRIAGE: Helme and Heikki.
153 CHILDHOOD: Tells about when her youngest brother was born.
Hanna had been the youngest before. She shows a picture of the
house.
194 GRANDPARENTS: Never knew her grandparents. Hanna's maternal
grandparents died when her mother was very young.
216 FAMILY NAME: Her dad wanted to take the Petiole name as
his brothers did, but when they moved from Kello to Raahe, he
took the name Hekkala, which was the name of the farm in Kello.
253 SCHOOL: When Hanna was through with school, some of her
teachers wanted her to go to teacher's college. Father said
no. He needed help on the farm.
280 After Hanna was through with school she got "America fever."
Parents didn't want her to go. Hanna said to them, "I lay down
on bed and you can feed me here if you don't let me go to America."
Her father said, "We don't want to feed grown people there.
Let her go." Her mother said she'd let her die before she'd
let her go to America. Parents gave her money to go and come
back.
328 Hanna helped pay the fare of some other Finnish girls who
didn't have money. They were separated at Ellis Island. Didn't
see them again.
352 Brought only a suitcase of clothes with her. A girl friend
in Jersey City, N.J. met Hanna at Ellis Island.
361 FEELINGS ABOUT LEAVING FINLAND: Happy when she left. She
wanted to go. After she got here, she almost went back.
376 Stayed with her brother in Kello, Finland for 3 days while
waiting for her passport. Traveled by train to Kristiania (Oslo),
Norway. Hanna left her home in Raahe on July 25, 1916 and arrived
on Ellis Island on August 25, 1916. Waited three days in Kristiania
(Oslo) for...
398 the boat. The boat trip took two weeks. There was war in
Europe then. The US wasn't in the war yet. Mines were in the
water, so the boat had to move carefully. All of the Finnish
girls were in the same room. They tried to have fun.
426 Worked as a maid and lived with a family when she first
got here. People liked to have Finnish girls work for them because
they worked hard. First worked for a minister's family. Hanna's
sister came 13 months later. Hanna worked at another place and
her sister worked...
462 for the minister. Hanna got $10 a month first. $2 raise
each month until she got $20 a month. When Hanna went to the
2nd family, she got $25 a month.
481 Hanna liked New York. She went to Astoria in 1919 because
her sister's boyfriend was there. He wanted Hanna's sister to
come to Astoria, Oregon but she didn't want to go alone so Hanna
went too.
496 TRIP TO ASTORIA: Another girl came with them. They stayed
with a family for a week. Then put ads in the paper to work
for families as maids.
533 LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES: Didn't speak English when she came
to America. Had to learn English at her first job. In Astoria,
she got $45 a month. Before she got married, she got a housecleaning
job across the Columbia River in McGowan, Washington which paid
$50 a month.
555 MEETING SPOUSE: Met her husband when she first came to Astoria
with her sister. Some Finnish boys heard that some Finnish girls
were coming to Astoria so they came to visit. Hanna's husband's
birthplace was close to Raahe. Finland. They were married in
1921.
570 They have one daughter. She grew up in Astoria.
574 HUSBAND'S WORK: First worked in a logging camp. When daughter
was born, he started longshoring. He wanted to stay home. When
he worked in logging camps, he could only come home on Sundays.
He worked as a faller in the logging camps. They used long saws,
one man on each end.
599 Liked Astoria when she first came, but thought it was small
after being in New York.
611 Became an American citizen.
613 Learned English from working. Didn't take classes.
618 Always lived in Astoria after they were married. In 1929,
they rented two boardinghouses in Uppertown and managed them
for 2 years. Bought their own house in 1931. Built the house
Hanna lives in now in 1941. They managed Henrikson boardinghouse
from 1929-1931.
654 Started working in canneries in 1939. Filleted fish for
20 years. Salmon, tuna, etc.
668 Belonged to the Finnish Brotherhood.
673 One trip back to Finland. Some things are the same. It seems
so small. Nice to visit. Wouldn't want to live there. Still
keeps in touch with relatives.
692 Finnish heritage has been important.
712 HOLIDAYS: Christmas as a child in Finland - Had to guess
who presents were from. Midsummer - Juhannus - was a big holiday.
Bon fire and dancing.
748 NEW YEARS EVE: Melt tin. Put it in water. The shape of the
tin would predict what the New Year would bring.
761 FINNISH FOOD: Laxlåda, a salmon and potato casserole. Rice
pudding.
774 Reads in Finnish.
793 DESCRIBES HER CHILDHOOD HOME: Painted red, 3 rooms. They
had a sauna. They had 8 cows. Sold milk to families.
826 Hanna is glad she came to America.
834 Three grandchildren. Two great-grandchildren.
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