    
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
Inga Karolina Johanna Brobak
Davidson
A Guide to Her Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Davidson, Inga Karolina Johanna Brobak
Collection Nr: t127
File Content:
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3 file folders
3 photographs
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 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 Inga Davidson on January 14, 1982
in Tacoma, Washington. It contains information on family background,
emigration, work, marriage and family, church, and Norwegian
heritage. The interview also provides photographs of Inga's
family and Inga and her husband Odin at the time of the interview.
The interview was conducted in English. Also see Odin Davidson,
T128.
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Inga
Davidson was born on November 3, 1898 in Revik, Vågsøy, Norway
to Mons Brobak and Magnhild Heggen. Mons was a fisherman, and
Magnhild was his second wife. The Brobak's lived on a farm,
and in addition to Inga, there were seven other children in
the family: Mikal, Anton, Marie, Anna, Alette, Johannes, and
Anders. Inga attended school for eight years before being confirmed,
after which she began working in a cannery. Following the cannery,
Inga worked for a family and then for Dr. Olvik in a health
institution south of Bergen. Inga's older brothers had immigrated
to America when she was fairly young, and when she was twenty-six,
she received a letter from Anton and decided to join them in
Seattle, WA. Language was a difficulty at first, but Inga attended
night school and learned from the families she cooked and cleaned
for. In addition to housekeeping, Inga also made dresses at
a shop in Seattle. Inga met her husband, Odin Davidson, at a
joint birthday party of hers and a friend. Odin was a fisherman
and the brother-in-law of Inga's friend. They were married at
Ballard Lutheran Church and then rented an apartment in Tacoma.
In 1930, Inga's daughter Judith was born. Inga also had another
daughter, but she died of rheumatic fever when she was fourteen.
Inga and Odin eventually bought a house in Mt. View, where Inga
became active in the Lutheran Church and Ladies Aid. During
the summers, she also worked in a cannery while Odin was out
fishing. At the Davidson's home, Norwegian was spoken and Inga
continued to cook traditional Norwegian foods. Nevertheless,
Inga loves the United States and is thankful to live here.
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Full Name: |
Inga Karlina Johanna Brobak Davidson
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Maiden Name: |
Brobak
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Father: |
Mons Brobak
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Mother: |
Magnhild Heggen
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Paternal Grandfather: |
Mons Brobak
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Paternal Grandmother: |
Malena Kvalheim
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Maternal Grandfather: |
Knut Heggen
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Maternal Grandmother: |
Ingeborg Heggen
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Brothers and Sisters: |
Mikal Brobak
Anton Brobak
Marie Brobak
Anna Brobak
Alette Brobak
Johannes Brobak
Anders Brobak
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Spouse: |
Odin Davidson
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Children: |
Judith Davidson
Another daughter who died at the age of 14 due to rheumatic
fever.
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Davidson, Inga
Brobak, Mons
Heggen, Magnhild
Heggen, Ingeborg
Heggen, Knut
Kvalheim, Malena
Davidson, Odin
Davidson, Judy
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Family Names |
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Davidson family
Brobak family
Heggen family
Kvalheim family
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Geographical Names |
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Vågsøy (Norway)
Bergen (Norway)
Seattle (Wash.)
Tacoma (Wash.)
Mountain View (Wash.)
Edgewood (Wash.)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Norway
Norway -- Emigration and immigration
Vågsøy (Norway) -- Emigration and immigration
Stavangerfjord (Steamship)
Christmas -- Norway
Ballard First Lutheran Church (Seattle, Wash.)
Railroad travel
Norway -- Social conditions -- 1945-
Mountain View Lutheran Church (Edgewood, Wash.)
Norwegian-Americans --Ethnic identity
Family -- Economic aspects -- Norway
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Occupations |
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Cannery workers -- Norway
Domestics -- (Seattle, Wash.)
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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 Inga Karlina Johanna Brobak Davidson. Born in Norfjord,
Vågsøy, Norway. This is an island belonging to Norfjord, close
to Bergen. Maaloey was a town on the island. Born November 3,
1898.
020 PARENTS: Magnhild Heggen and Mons Brobak. They lived in
Revik. Name comes from 'bro' bridge and 'bak' hill.
028 Father was a fisherman, married, and had six children. First
wife's name was Anna, from Kvalen. Inga's mother was his second
wife from Indefjord (?).
037 SISTER: Her name is Anna Nebak(?) and she lives in Puyallup
now.
043 Had a farm when she was growing up in Norway. Father and
brothers fished. Three brothers came to America, Anton, Mikal,
and Johannes. They all came to the West Coast. This is why Inga
came to America.
054 SISTERS: Marie married and had a child in Norway. She died
young. Alette Lilevik was an officer for the Salvation Army.
She married a man from Oslo. A brother Anders stayed in Norway
around Hardanger until he died.
068 BROTHERS IN THE U.S.: One brother married and had children.
The family lived in Norway without their father for a while
and later joined him in Seattle.
079 FATHER FISHING: Did cod fishing and other kinds of fishing.
Had small boats. Farm was good size, grew food for the family,
sold some animals. Father helped at home too. He did not fish
far away. Cows were up on the hills and needed to be milked
and the milk carried home.
095 GRANDPARENTS: Paternal grandfather was Mons Brobak and Anna.
Maternal grandparents never saw. Knut Heggen was her mother's
father.
107 HOME: River and ocean close by. Lots of white sand which
is now very famous sand. "As white as wheat flour." There are
now many tourists in this area because a bridge has been built
between the island and the mainland.
121 CHILDHOOD HOME: Big. Brothers left home before Inga really
knew them.
131 CHRISTMAS: Had tree in the middle of the floor. Went to
neighbors and sang around the Christmas tree.
137 CHURCH: Walked. Went Christmas Day, the preacher came by
boat. Had church every three weeks because the pastor had other
churches.
148 CHRISTMAS FOODS: Spekekjott, julesteik (this steak is a
side of lamb salted, dried, and steamed for three hours), ate
potatoes, and flatbroed with it. Also ate roemmegroet.
163 Could not afford to have many gifts. They usually made their
own. Did baking and preparing before Christmas.
176 CUSTOMS: Heard about the Julenissen but did not believe
in it.
181 SCHOOL: Walked. Went for eight years. Went to confirmation
after school. Skated to places in the winter, too rough for
skiing.
199 Had a nice childhood. Worked from the time that she was
little milking cows.
204 WORK: Worked in a cannery in Måløy after school. Also worked
for a family. Worked for Dr. Olvik, south of Bergen in an institution
for sick people, worked in the dining room. He was a natural
doctor, cured without medicine. Used foods, proper diets.
222 Age 26 Inga got a letter from her brother Anton in America.
Anton worked for the Standard Oil Company in Seattle. Ivar Dahl,
Inga's uncle was really responsible for getting them all to
America. Her brother sent money for her ticket over.
254 Came to America in 1927. It did not bother her to come over
because she had done so much traveling in Norway.
267 TRIP OVER: Took the Stavangerfjord, left from Bergen. Took
a week to get all the way to the West Coast. Really enjoyed
the boat trip.
293 In New York they were examined for what they brought over.
No trouble. Got on a train to come west.
296 LANGUAGE: Could not speak any English. No difficulties making
out on the train. Met by her brother in Seattle.
300 WORK: Started work in Seattle working for families doing
cleaning and cooking. This helped her to learn English.
310 Brothers had a house. She did housekeeping for them. Did
dressmaking at a shop in Seattle. She had learned this skill
in Norway. Paid by how many dresses they made.
338 MOST DIFFICULT THINGS ABOUT COMING TO THE U.S.: Language.
Went to night school and learned there. People were nice to
her here.
359 CITIZENSHIP: Received this after she was married.
362 MEETING HUSBAND: Interesting story. Had a friend who had
a birthday on the same day as her. At a birthday party she met
her friend's brother-in-law. Later to be her husband. This friend
was from the area in Norway that Inga was from, her name was
Carolina (?). Inga's husband name is Odin Davidson.
386 WEDDING: Went to Ballard Lutheran Church. Friends were there.
397 Husband fished. They had an apartment in Tacoma. Daughter
Judy was born in St. Joseph's Hospital in Tacoma. Husband was
gone fishing for months at a time.
420 DAUGHTER: Married and has six children. Husband's name is
Wilfred. Inga had another daughter who died of rheumatic fever
at the age of 14. Judy's husband was a teacher, now does mechanical
things for Boeing.
441 Inga lived in Seattle for a while until they bought a house
in Mt. View. Lived here many years and had a farm.
465 MT. VIEW LUTHERAN CHURCH: Active in the church and in Ladies
Aid.
474 WORK: Did work in the cannery during the summer when her
husband was gone fishing.
480 FARM: Had sheep, cows, used the wool for blankets. Ate lamb
meat.
490 THINGS BROUGHT FROM NORWAY: Rosemaling.
509 Inga's mother made all their clothes when they were young.
She did carding, spinning, weaving, and sewing.
514 GRANDCHILDREN: Oldest girl lives in Santa Clara, California.
Her name is Pamela. She works for Crocker Bank. Oldest son,
Rodney lives in Bellevue and works for the Oil Company. Kevin
had been in Germany in the Army. He is now a security officer
at a bank. Darrell is a cook in a restaurant. A grandson does
work for the National Journal in Washington D.C. Todd is the
youngest. Randy is here in Tacoma.
580 SCANDINAVIAN ORGANIZATIONS: Does not belong to any Scandinavian
organizations, they are too far away. She is more involved with
the church.
587 TRIPS BACK TO NORWAY: 1951 took a trip back with her sisters.
CHANGES: Homes had more nice things, more money, better life.
Pay a lot of taxes, government takes care of health care and
retirement. Childhood home still there, has been sold to the
neighbors.
631 BOAT TRIP: Talks about taking a boat back to the U.S. and
spending the night on the boat in New York. Says she looked
at the Statue of Liberty all night, it was so beautiful. Appreciates
being in America.
640 CITIZENSHIP: Studied for it, went to court. Had not trouble
getting it.
658 FEELINGS ABOUT LEAVING NORWAY: Not ashamed. Norwegians are
intelligent good people. Thankful to be in the U.S. Had no intentions
of staying in Norway. Still has some contacts in Norway, writes
letters.
SIDE II
013 Brother's family still is in Tacoma. His children live around
University Place. They had all come from Norway in 1929.
027 COMPARING SWEDES TO NORWEGIANS: All Swedes have been very
nice people. Swedes are used to a better life than Norwegians.
Swedes had more money.
040 Inga's daughter grew up speaking Norwegian. It was the language
spoken at home. Her daughter went to PLU.
049 CUSTOMS STILL MAINTAINED: Julestek, lefse, gumme (cooked
milk until it's brown). Still do baking at Christmas.
068 NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE: Has forgotten much of the language and
Norwegian expressions.
085 Inga loves this country. People are very nice to her here.
Work here more fair than in Norway. Paid about $30 a month,
when working with a family, including room and board.
128 In Norway maids were slaves, could not eat with the family.
Could eat with the family in America.
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