    
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
Martin Rasmussen
A Guide to His Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Rasmussen, Martin
Collection Nr: t098-099
File Content:
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3 file folders
10 photographs
2 sound cassettes
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 Martin Rasmussen on October 8,
1981 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. It
provides information about family background, apprenticeship,
service in the military, emigration, employment, marriage and
family, and Danish heritage. The interview also includes two
photographs of Martin as a soldier in the German Army during
WWI, three photographs of Martin and his telescope, five snapshots
of Martin at the time of the interview, and an article about
Martin from the Pierce County Herald (August 20, 1981).
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Martin
Rasmussen was born on February 1, 1896 in Tornum, Denmark to
Jeppe Hanson Rasmussen and Lucille Jensen. At the time of his
birth, Tornum was a part of Germany but was later returned to
Denmark in 1920. Martin had four brothers and one sister, and
the family lived on a farm in northern Germany. Martin attended
school through the eighth grade, learning both German and Danish.
When he was finished with school, he became an apprentice with
a machinist for four years and then went on to work in a Hamburg
machine shop. By this time, the war had begun, and Martin was
called into service. He elected to join the Air Corps and did
cleaning jobs on the flying field in Hamburg. After the war,
Martin returned to Denmark and entered the Engineering Institute.
He attended the institute for three and half years and then
obtained a job handling boilers and making cheese machines.
In 1923, Martin decided to immigrate to America for lack of
adequate jobs in Denmark. From Ellis Island, Martin took the
train to Moline, Illinois and spent the next four years working
in various machine shops throughout the Midwest. In 1927, Martin's
mother fell ill, and Martin returned to Denmark for one year.
Upon his return to America, he began building dye casting machines
in Newark and Chicago until the Depression set in. At that time,
Martin traveled to the West Coast, settling in Tacoma, Washington.
In Tacoma, Martin found work at an automotive shop and spent
his free time developing his own telescope. He also met his
wife and was married in the Danish Church in 1943. They had
one son, Edward, who became an engineer. Martin spent the rest
of his working career at a plywood machinery company in Tacoma
and also became involved with the Danish Brotherhood and an
astronomy club, of which he was a charter member. Martin feels
he is more European than Danish but does have a special place
for Denmark in his heart.
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Full Name: |
Martin Nielson Rasmussen
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Father: |
Jeppe Hanson Rasmussen
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Mother: |
Lucille Jensen
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Paternal Grandfather: |
Rasmus Hanson
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Brothers and Sisters: |
There were four boys and one girl.
Sern Rasmussen
Peter Rasmussen
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Spouse: |
(?) Olson
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Children: |
Edward Rasmussen
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Rasmussen, Martin
Rasmussen, Jeppe Hanson
Jensen, Lucille
Hanson, Rasmus
Rasmussen, Edward
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Family Names |
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Rasmussen family
Jensen family
Hanson family
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Geographical Names |
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Tornum (Denmark)
Hamburg (Germany)
Moline (Ill.)
Tacoma (Wash.)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Denmark
Christmas -- Denmark
Church attendance -- Denmark
World War, 1939-1940
Germany -- Luftwaffe
Engineering Institute of Denmark (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Denmark -- Emigration and immigration
Tornum (Denmark) -- Emigration and immigration
Astronomy Club (Tacoma, Wash.)
Danish Brotherhood (Tacoma, Wash.)
Lifestyles -- Denmark
Marriage service
Danish-Americans -- Ethnic identity
Plywood Machinery Company (Tacoma, Wash.)
Denmark -- Social conditions - 1945-
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Occupations |
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Farmers -- Denmark
Machinists
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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.
004 PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Born February 1, 1895 in Tornum, Denmark
which was part of Germany at the time of his birth.
010 In 1920 the land was returned to Denmark. He talks about
this happening.
016 PARENTS: Jeppe Hanson Rasmussen and Lucille Jensen. Father
was born in Denmark. Mother born in the same section of Denmark.
Martin was the name of the farm.
021 FATHER: Immigrated to the northern part of Germany. He had
a nice farm.
026 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: four brothers and one sister. Oldest
brother, Sern inherited the farm in 1913. Sister never married.
Three brothers were in the military service between 1914-18
during WWI.
042 Brother Peter Rasmussen was wounded in Poland and died there.
049 Martin had Typhus during the war.
054 AFTER THE WAR: Went to the Engineering Institute in Copenhagen.
058 CHILDHOOD: Went to German schools, very strict. Finished
the 8th grade.
064 Went into an apprenticeship in machinery.
069 LANGUAGES: Learned German in school. Learned also Danish
in school.
073 Confirmed after school. This was in Danish. The area used
to be a Danish province before 1864 then there was a war between
Germany and Denmark.
083 CHILDHOOD: Worked on the farm. Got cows together before
school. Pulled turnips, rutabagas, and potatoes.
097 POTATOES: Packing potatoes was a special thing for two weeks
in September. The whole family helped. Stored potatoes in the
cellar. He describes the storing process.
116 RUTABAGAS: He describes the picking and the storing of these.
123 SCHOOL: Strict discipline. Teacher used a rod.
127 Discipline at home strict also.
135 CHILDHOOD ACTIVITIES: Went skiing in the meadows. Plenty
of snow in the winter. Summer went wading in the creek, played
soccer with friends, and went bicycling. Always had to work.
158 FARM: Good sized, mixed farming. 18 cows and 6 horses. Rode
horses on Sundays.
170 WOMEN: Did sewing, weaving (talks about weaving in some
detail), and baking. Had a big oven. Baked white and pumpernickel
bread, 30 loaves. Baked cakes and cookies first.
201 Pumpernickel bread was laid on the bed when it came out
of the oven.
207 BUTCHERING: The women did this in the fall. They had hogs
and cattle.
216 HOG FARM: He talks about his nephew with 1300 hogs in Denmark.
They mass produce there.
222 Another farm has 180,000 fryers a years. They send them
to Italy and get spaghetti back.
229 GRANDPARENTS: They were farmers. Father's parents had a
little farm in Denmark. His name was Rasmus Hanson.
249 MOTHER'S PARENTS: Martin's mother was descended from a minister
who in 1500 was important to the Reformation. He describes the
history of his mother's family.
273 This minister died of the plague. Talk of this incident
very interesting. 400 people died 1/3 of the people in the town
died.
294 MOTHER'S NAME: Lucille Jensen.
309 CHRISTMAS: Had a tree in the biggest room. Used candlelight.
Danced around the tree.
328 CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER: Best meal of the year. Pork and "all
the things that go with it." Put out grains for the birds.
338 FARMING: Didn't have much machinery. Cut hay with a hand
machine. Rye was harvested first. 4-5 men used sythes. Women
rolled the grain together. Used pieces of straw as string to
bind it together.
364 WOMEN'S WORK: Helped in the fields a great deal. Did the
milking three times a day.
372 MILK: Took milk to the dairy where it was processed. Milkman
picked it up. The skim milk came back to feed the hogs and calves.
Made money by selling cream and milk.
390 GRAIN: Took grain to the miller. Went to windmill and was
ground up to feed to hogs and cattle.
398 HARVESTING MACHINE: Cut grains. Went back to tie it. 150
acre farm.
409 FARMING: Got fertilizer. More livestock. Got food for the
cows in cakes made from soybeans and other herbs, which was
made in Mongolia. This helped the cows produce more milk.
426 NEW BARN: In 1910, a "fancy building" built with rocks from
the fields. They were split and then used.
456 HOUSE: The house was connected the barn. Some slept in the
barn, easier to care for the animals.
477 CHRISTMAS: Gifts.
501 NEW YEARS: Before New Years Eve they went to relatives and
shot off fireworks in the afternoon. In the evening the adults
went from house to house for coffee and cookies until 12 or
1am.
537 THIEVES: Problems with neighbors stealing things from the
barns, wheelbarrows, etc. Brothers stayed up to guard the barn.
558 In the winter, the grain was worked off the straw. Process
described in detail. Used the straw for roofing houses. Some
problems with roofs catching fire with lightening.
595 CHURCH: Not as a child. Adults went on Christmas day.
609 EATING: Everyone ate out of a common dish when they were
kids. There was a big pan and everyone had a spoon.
622 FOOD: Side-pork, potatoes, beans, beets, zucchini were all
pickled. Talks about preserving ham.
655 GRAIN: Stored above the living quarters. Good insulation.
Single pane windows. Flower-pots in windows. Beds built in.
681 Card playing for entertainment, black jack.
SIDE II
001 FOLK STORIES: The woman in the graveyard without a head.
Many things seen. A graveyard was a place one didn't pass by.
020 CHURCH: Men sat on one side, women on the other. Singing,
no dancing. Minister spoke in Danish. Mostly Danish people.
A few Germans.
032 CHURCH: Children went to church during confirmation and
met with the pastor at his house. Pastor lived well. Lay people
brought food and grain.
047 PASTOR: Was from Germany but could speak Danish.
054 CONFIRMATION: Learned about the Bible, singing. Girls on
one side of the hall, boys on the other.
067 SCHOOLS: The pastor was also the head of the school district,
Lutheran church.
077 APPRENTICESHIP: After school he was an apprentice with a
machinist for four years. Lived with the people he worked for.
100 Germans could wear some sort of hat, but an apprentice wasn't
allowed to wear this and could be punished if they did.
118 War began after his apprenticeship. Stayed home for a while.
126 WORK: Got a job in the Hamburg machine shop. Had to make
tools couldn't buy them.
139 WORK: Several close calls with the machinery, not always
safe.
157 WAR: Called to war. Could select what he wanted to do. Wanted
to be in the Air Corps.
165 Worked on the waterfront in Hamburg making big grooves on
bullets.
175 Went out on the flying field in Hamburg. Did cleaning jobs.
Didn't have runaways.
191 STORY: Big Zeppelin (air balloon) was having difficulty
landing. This is described in detail.
214 WENT TO BERLIN: Took the train from Hamburg to Berlin. Got
a job on the air field in the Southeast part of Berlin. Didn't
get any pay for a week so he starved for a week.
237 Brother had died in Poland.
241 SIGHTSEEING IN BERLIN: Saw the Egyptian museum and an armament
museum. He describes these places.
263 DANISH AND GERMAN CONFLICTS: Couldn't sing certain hymns.
Big problem with this.
291 Picture of the Kaiser was damaged and the person had to
skip the country because this was a serious offense.
309 DRAFTED: Heard propaganda on how great war was. Hard to
fight in German war because of his sentiment was Danish.
322 ARMY: 2 million students in Germany volunteered for the
army. They had different feelings when they got to the Russian
front line.
334 IMPRESSIONS OF WAR: Nothing beautiful about it. "Hell on
earth." Moral and other defects created by war.
343 Was in France. Contracted typhus and came back to a German
Hospital. Was well taken care of.
256 AFTER WAR: Came back to Denmark in 1919. The border was
open. The land went back to Denmark from Germany.
368 Entered Engineering Institute. Needed past apprenticeship
experience to get in. Practical experience very important.
389 ENGINEERING SCHOOL: Did drawings in school of steam engines,
etc. 3 1/3 years of school. School was based on German techniques.
408 WORK: Got a job in a dairy machine place. Handled boilers.
Made cheese machines.
428 USA: Went to the US in 1923 at the age of 27 because there
were not enough jobs in Denmark. Couldn't use all the technical
men in Denmark.
442 Didn't know anybody in the US when he went but knew of a
few.
462 TRIP OVER: Didn't pay for it. Did dishwashing on the boat.
478 PARENTS FEELINGS WHEN HE LEFT: Dad died in 1917. Mother
didn't have much say.
496 WORK: Got a job in a plow shop in Moline, Illinois.
498 ELLIS ISLAND: Remembers two guys playing checkers. Waited
for a long time.
521 Got on a train. Took a few days to get to Illinois. Got
to Chicago.
530 BOAT RIDE OVER: Good, in June it wasn't rough.
538 MOLINE, ILLNOIS: Worked at a plow shop. Big blacksmith who
he helped. Very hot furnaces. Temperature changes made it difficult.
558 SPEAKING ENGLISH: He knew a few words. People couldn't understand
him.
574 Worked with a sledge hammer all day.
579 STORY: Experiences in a Greek restaurant. Hard to explain
what he wanted. He pointed at things.
589 DAVENPORT, IOWA: Worked at a machine shop. Made castings.
Talks about the chimney in town, was an American invention.
He describes this detail.
633 President Harding's death is mentioned.
648 CHICAGO: Stayed at the YMCA. Worked at a small machine shop.
The owner had been a German navy man. He was very strict.
681 JULY 4TH: Showed up for work, he didn't realize this was
a holiday.
TAPE 99
SIDE I
013 LINDBERGH: His flying over to France is mentioned.
014 RETURN TO DENMARK: Went because his mother was sick. He
worked his way over by working under decks. Steam kettles.
030 This trip was in 1927. He stayed one year. On way back to
the US with stops in London and Paris.
038 Binoculars or "spy-glasses" are described. He really liked
these.
046 NEWARK, USA: Worked building dye casting machines. English
was improving.
054 Stock market went broke. Laid everyone off.
068 NEWARK: Ran two machines, made $10 a night.
073 CHICAGO: Made four dye casting machines. Everything collapsed.
He still had some money.
081 TELESCOPE: He made one because he was interested in finding
a way to see the moon and the stars.
090 WYOMING: Drove out in an old car and worked in the beet
fields. Shoveled beets into trucks. Hard work. Had meat three
times a day, always burnt.
106 The owners were Russian-German from around Volga, River,
Soviet Union. Used Mexicans and Indians for labor.
121 TACOMA, WASHINGTON: Came out west to Tacoma in 1930 during
the depression years. Not much steady work. Low wages. Worked
on Market Street fixing automobiles and trucks.
141 TELESCOPE: Worked on weekends developing it. Came up with
a good one.
152 DANISH BROTHERHOOD: Joined in 1962. Became secretary to
the group. For ten years. He was also the treasurer. His wife
joined the sisterhood.
168 MEETINGS: Made 100's of sandwiches.
172 WIFE: She was the choir director in the Danish Church in
Tacoma for twenty-five years. He met her in church.
190 Wife's maiden name was Olson. She had seven brothers in
the US and two in Denmark who are farmers.
200 WEDDING: In the Danish Church in 1943. Hard to find things
to eat because of the rations. About 100 people came.
225 CHILDREN: Edward was an engineer. Lost all his hair. Work
became a hazard. Could get dust in his lungs. Now on a pension.
Wife is a nurse.
265 GRANDCHILDREN: Two boys, they live in Silverdale, Oregon.
Ambition to get them through college.
278 WORK: At a plywood machinery place in Tacoma for 25 years.
Used engineering some. He describes this.
313 Made plywood machinery. Describes these machines. Automatic
machines. Made presses, panel saws and other machines.
340 Got into the company by showing drawings of some presses
to the owners.
353 Interested always in the heavens, stars, etc. A real stargazer.
Curious about all this.
363 ASTRONOMY CLUB: They are charter members of this. All members
experts in electricity, machinery, etc. About twelve members.
379 HOBBIES: Plays chess, likes to read about it. Thinks about
it all the time.
387 HOBBIES: Also enjoys classical music, had lots of records.
Likes Mozart, Beethoven, and Grieg.
416 Talks about the origin of man. Religious Beliefs:
423 Billy Graham is all wrong. Deuteronomy can't be believed.
Talks about Adam and Eve fables.
449 TRIPS BACK TO DENMARK: Changes, not Christian anymore, now
only 5%. They have something else, different interpretation.
470 CHANGES: All talk one language. Not old dialect anymore.
Hard to understand slang.
505 Farms more up-to-date. Mass production. Insemination of
cows. He goes into detail about these new ways of farming.
539 Lots of machinery because they can't get help.
544 DANISH HERITAGE: He feels more European than Danish. Special
liking for Denmark. Great country.
560 They eat too much meat in Denmark side pork, etc.
571 Danish language spoken. Good example of the language.
602 Europe is where one finds beauty and history. The US is
ahead in living conditions, technique, and industry. No country
like the US.
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