Anton Magnus Hopen

Information Resources
Robert A. L. Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WASHINGTON 98447
Phone: (253) 535-7586 E-mail: archives@plu.edu

Anton Magnus Hopen
A Guide to His Oral History Interview

Administrative Information

Creator: Hopen, Anton Magnus

Collection Nr: t114

File Content:
	3 file folders 9 photographs 1 sound cassette 0 compact discs

Processing Information:
	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
Restrictions:
	The collection is available for research.

Preferred Citation:
	[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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Scope and Content Note

The interview was conducted with Anton Hopen on November 2, 1981 in Tacoma, Washington. This interview provides information on family history, fishing and farming in Norway, childhood, school, work in Norway, reason for emigrating, voyage to America, train trip to Tacoma, work in U.S., Great Depression, fishing in U.S., citizenship, Norwegian organizations in Alaska, visits to Norway, and changes in Norwegian farming. The interview also contains photographs of Anton Hopen in Tokeen, Alaska, the marble quarry in Tokeen, Anton cutting marble, Anton and other quarry employees, Brunwald (the boat Anton fished on in Alaska), Anton's home in Svardal, Norway, and Anton and his wife Anna at the time of the interview. The interview was conducted in English. Also see Anna Hopen, T113.

Biographical Information

Anton Magnus Hopen was born on January 6, 1902 in Eikefjord, Norway, which is twenty-five miles north of Bergen. His parents are Salamon Mathias Hopen and Dorthea Svardal, and he had two brothers and two sisters. They lived in Svardal for a few years and then moved to Eikefjord because his father was in the fishing industry and had to move to follow it. Anton was confirmed in 1916 and attended school until he was 15. He left home when he was 16 and worked on the telephone lines; he was foreman for one year. He left Norway on April 11, 1923, landed at St. John's in Canada, and took a train through Montreal, Winnipeg on to Blaine and Tacoma, Washington. He worked at a logging camp near Enumclaw, Washingotn for a year and then for the railroad building track into the logging camps. He went to see an uncle in Alaska and got a job with Vermont Marble Co. in Tokeen, Alaska working in the marble quarries. He visited Norway for six months in 1926 and came back and worked in the marble quarry until it shut down in 1932. He then fished for many small companies in Alaska and went to Tacoma in the winter. He met his wife, Anna Tweiten, during a snowball fight at 13th and Market in Tacoma, and they married in 1936 in Cordova, AK. Anton became a citizen on September 20, 1937 and received his papers in Cordova. In the 1940s, he worked for Oceanic Fisheries out of Seattle and built his own boat in 1948. He then fished on the Puget Sound during the fall and Alaska in the spring, fishing for himself, and he quit fishing in 1973. He was a member of the Moose Lodge in Alaska for many years and took trips to Norway in 1970, 1975, and 1979.

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Lineage:
Full Name:	Anton Magnus Hopen
Father:	Salamon Mathias Hopen
Mother:	Dorthea Svardal
Paternal Grandfather:	Samson Hopen
Paternal Grandmother:	Ellen Maren Lovise Hopen
Maternal Grandfather:	Johan Antoni
Maternal Grandmother:	Inger Olsdatter H�vik
Brothers and Sisters:	Borghild Susanne Hopen Samson Kristoffer Hopen Johan Ingolf Hopen Magna Bolette Hopen
Spouse:	Anna Malena Tweiten
Children:	Sigvald Dagfin Hopen Phillip Obed Hopen Alf Magnus Hopen Ruben Harald Hopen Bruce Leon Hopen

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Selected Search Terms This collection is indexed under the following headings
Personal Names
	Hopen, Anton Magnus Hopen, Salamon Mathias Svardal, Dorthea Hopen, Samson Hopen, Ellen Maren Lovise H�vik, Inger Olsdatter Hopen, Anna Malena Hopen, Sigvald Dagfin Hopen, Phillip Obed Hopen, Alf Magnus Hopen, Ruben Harald Hopen, Bruce Leon
Family Names
	Hopen family Svardal family H�vik family Tweiten family
Geographical Names
	Eikefjord (Norway) Svardal (Norway) Lemon Beach (Tacoma,Wash.) Tacoma (Wash.) Enumclaw (Wash.) Tokeen (Alaska) Cordova (Alaska)
Subjects
	Family -- Norway Norway -- Emigration and immigration Eikefjord (Norway) -- Emigration and immigration Ocean travel Railroad travel Depressions -- 1929 -- United States Naturalization Norwegian language Moose, Loyal Order of -- Alaska Norway -- Social conditions -- 1945- Norwegian-Americans --Ethnic identity Confirmation -- Lutheran Church -- Norway
Occupations
	Fishing -- Alaska Logging -- Alaska Railroad workers
Genre/Form
	Oral history
Institution
	Pacific Lutheran University. Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection

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Partial Interview Transcription

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.

003 Anton Magnus Hopen. Born in Eikefjord, Norway on January 6, 1902. Eikefjord is 25 miles north of Bergen.

010 PARENTS: Salamon Hopen and Dorthea Svardal. She was from Svardal. Hopen comes from great-grandfather.

027 FATHER: Father was in the fishing industry. He retired early because he was sick. They lived on a small farm. Father did most of his fishing in the winter. Fished for herring. Made a good living, nothing extraordinary.

048 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Borghild Susanne worked in Bergen. Her husband worked with shipping cod and other fish. Samson Kristoffer went through school and went to work for the Post Office as Postmaster in Ramsdalen, north of Bergen. He transferred to the office in Nesttun, outside of Stavanger during the war. Also transferred to Oslo. He had retired in Lillehammer. Johan Ingolf immigrated to the U.S. in 1924. He did fishing in Alaska. Magna Bolette is married to Einar Jacobsen. She lives in Norway. They have a little farm.

130 GRANDPARENTS: Paternal - Samson Hopen born 1818 and Ellen Maren Lovise. Maternal - Johan Antoni and Inger Olsdatter Hoevik. Lived in Svardal.

189 CHILDHOOD: Lived in Svardal a few years. Went fishing in the lakes, many mountains around.

205 FARMING IN SVARDAL: Small farms, 6-7- cows, potatoes, and barley. Enough for families to use. Caught trout and salmon in the lakes.

221 Fishing rights to a lake close by were sold to doctors in Bergen so they could not fish in the lake anymore.

228 Describes fishing in places where the fish jumped. Used a dip net to catch fish.

244 Moved to Eikefjord because father had to move with the fishing industry.

268 SCHOOL: Went in Svardal. Shared a teacher with another school. Had three weeks on and three weeks off. One room schoolhouse 7-8 kids. Went until he was 15 years old.

287 CONFIRMATION: 1916, Rowed across the lake and then walked to church. Had church once a month. Pastors rotated to 3-4 different churches.

310 School in Eikefjord was bigger, one teacher.

317 Left home when he was 16, worked on the telephone lines. Lived at the place he worked. Was a foreman for one year, 28 men under him. 1920 made 9 krones a day. Foreman job paid 18 krones a day.

362 REASON FOR LEAVING NORWAY: Did not want to be in the service and it was time for him to go. It was compulsory and he did not like the idea.

376 Put in an application for utvandring (emigration). He had to leave before April 14, 1923 or had to go in the service. Left April 11, 1923.

408 TRIP: Went to Bergen to Newcastle, England. Took boat here to Liverpool. Went to France and picked up more people.

418 Across the Atlantic got into ice and fog around Newfoundland, stayed still for eight days on the ocean. There were Russians, Germans, and French people on the boat.

432 BOAT: "Old tub," not real nice, food was good. Many Scotchmen playing the bagpipes, people dancing. Took 16 days from Liverpool to St. John's in Canada.

463 TRAIN TRIP: Problem with river washing out the railroad tracks. Had to wait a while on the train. A loaf of bread and sardines were provided for them. Train went through Montreal, Winnipeg and landed in Blaine. Went through customs with no problems.

516 No language problems. Could find people who would help with translations.

536 Took the train from Blaine to Tacoma. Arrived in Tacoma at 11pm, slept on the benches in Union Station. Met a friend who sponsored Anton. Went to work for a logging camp by Enumclaw.

605 Trip took 28 days from Bergen to Tacoma. Cost about 1500 krones. 5-6 krones to the U.S. dollar.

620 Worked at the logging camp for a year. Fed really well.

SIDE II

006 WORKING ON THE RAILROADS: Did work with the timbers that were used to build the ties. Built track that went into the logging camps.

010 LEARNING LANGUAGE: People were patient with him.

016 Worked on the 4th of July on RR and got double pay. Made good money.

025 Went to see his uncle in Alaska. Got a job at Vermont Marble Co. He worked in the marble quarries. This was in Tokeen, Alaska. Made $100 a month, free room and board.

055 Big bunkhouse. Camp right by bunkhouses. Food was good. Had an Englishman as a cook. More meat here than Norway. Worked here until 1926.

073 TOOK TRIP TO NORWAY: Stayed for six months. Took the Stavangerfjord. Went with a Swede. This was in 1926 so there were not many changes yet.

097 Attended a wedding in Norway that lasted four days. They had fourteen barrels of homebrew. Saturday afternoon until Wednesday afternoon. Wore out two pairs of shoes from dancing. Came back to the U.S. and went back to work in the marble quarry.

120 Used the hot springs in Alaska because he had rheumatism from wearing boots. Shut down the quarry in 1932.

137 FISHING IN ALASKA: Worked for many small companies, one was New England Fish Co. In the winter he came down to Tacoma.

150 DEPRESSION IN 1933: Did herring fishing in the Aleutian Islands, had a herring gill net. Set up their own company. Shipped herring to Seattle. The Norwegian Consulate was a broker, sold fish in Seattle. Good way to make money during the Depression.

180 In 1940s he fished for herring for many years. Worked for Oceanic Fisheries out of Seattle.

186 In 1948 he built his own boat, 36 feet long, a salmon fishing boat. Fished on the Sound during the fall, Alaska in the spring. Fished for himself. Quit fishing in 1973.

205 Never had much difficulty in finding work. Some problem during the winter.

209 Stole a job at a wheat shed. Wheat came in from the Midwest to the warehouse. Unloaded boxes and stored the wheat in warehouses.

240 MINORITY GROUPS: Not many around. Worked with other people besides Norwegians.

248 AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP: September 20, 1937 got paper in Cordova, Alaska. He was a resident in Alaska. Hard winter there, nice summers. Studied for citizenship. Problems with witness. They gave the wrong information to the judge. He had confused Anton with another friend.

296 NORWEGIAN ORGANIZATIONS IN ALASKA: He was a member of the Moose Lodge for many years. Not many activities going on. Way to meet people.

327 There was not a Lutheran church in Alaska, more Russian Orthodox churches. Describes spending a night in one of these churches. Pictures of Russian monks.

375 Married in 1936, they met during a snowball fight at 13th and Market in Tacoma.

387 TRIPS BACK TO NORWAY: 1970, 1975, and 1979. Did not know many people. New farm owners, more modern farms. Talks about the cows. Things have hanged with feeding and milking them. They drive cows hard.

435 Still speaks Norwegian. Speaks more Norwegian at home than English.

450 SPOKEN NORWEGIAN: Describes why he is glad to be a Norwegian in the Norwegian language.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Administrative Information

Scope and Content Note

Biographical Information

Lineage:

Selected Search Terms

Partial Interview Transcription