    
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
Odin Jentoft Davidson
A Guide to His Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Davidson, Odin Jentoft
Collection Nr: t128
File Content:
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3 file folders
6 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 Odin Davidson on January 14, 1982
in Tacoma, Washington. It contains information on family background,
emigration, work, church, and Norwegian heritage. The interview
also provides photographs of Odin and his brother Aksel, Odin
halibut fishing, and Odin and his wife Inga at the time of the
interview. The interview was conducted in English. Also see
Inga Davidson, t127.
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Odin
Davidson was born on August 3, 1900 in Rødøy, Helgeland, Norway
to Ole Davidson and Jakobine Olsen. Ole was a fisherman and
carpenter and had twelve and a half acres of land, where the
family raised cows, sheep, and potatoes. In addition to Odin,
there were four other children in the family: Olaf, Kasbara,
Aksel, and Sigur. Odin attended school through the eighth grade
and then began fishing with a neighbor after his confirmation.
Not making a sufficient amount of money in Norway, Odin decided
to immigrate to America in 1920. His brother Olaf had a farm
near Albert Lea, MN. Odin lived with Olaf and worked on various
farms for three years and then moved west, where he could fish
and make a better living. After finding work in Seattle, Odin
was shipped to Alaska, where he fished for salmon. In the early
days of his fishing career, the men could fish from the dories,
which were 16 feet long and held two men each. However, in the
1930s, dories were abolished, and they began long-lining-fishing
from the big boats. Odin maintained fishing as his occupation
until retirement. On April 27, 1929, Odin married Inga Brobak
and had two children, Judith and another daughter who died of
rheumatic fever when she was fourteen. The family lived on a
small farm north of Seattle, where they had cows, chickens,
and raised some of their own vegetables. Odin was not involved
with any Norwegian organizations but was active in the Lutheran
Church. Odin returned to Norway in the fall of 1949 - February
1950 and still speaks and understands Norwegian. He also continues
to cook traditional Norwegian foods.
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Full Name: |
Odin Jentoft Davidson
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Father: |
Ole Davidson
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Mother: |
Jakobine Davidson
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Paternal Grandfather: |
David Olsen
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Paternal Grandmother: |
Kasbara Olsen
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Maternal Grandfather: |
Mons Olsen
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Maternal Grandmother: |
Marie Olsen
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Brothers and Sisters: |
Olaf Davidson
Kasbara Davidson
Aksel Davidson
Sigur Odin Davidson
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Spouse: |
Inga Brobak
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Children: |
Judith Davidson
Another daughter who died at the age of fourteen 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, Odin
Davidson, Ole
Olsen, Jakobine
Olsen, David
Olsen, Kasbara
Olsen, Mons
Olsen, Marie
Brobak, Inga
Davidson, Judith
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Family Names |
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Davidson family
Olsen family
Brobak family
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Geographical Names |
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Rødøy, Helgeland (Norway)
Albert Lea (Minn.)
Seattle (Wash.)
Alaska
Mountain View (Wash.)
Edgewood (Wash.)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Norway
Norway -- Emigration and immigration
Family farms -- Norway
Family farms -- United States
First Lutheran Church (Seattle, Wash.)
Norwegian-Americans - Ethnic identity
Naturalization
Depressions - 1929 - Washington state
Stavangerfjord (Steamship)
Oslofjord (Steamship)
Norway -- Social conditions -- 1945-
Christmas -- Norway
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Occupations |
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Fishing -- Norway
Fishing -- Alaska
Carpenters
Farmers -- Norwegian-Americans
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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 Odin Jentoft Davidson was born in Rødøy, northern Helgeland,
Norway on the polar circle. Born in a fjord called Tjongsfjord.
Born on March 3, 1900.
024 PARENTS: Ole Davidson and Jakobine Olsen. Father did fishing
and carpentry. Fished for cod, halibut, and herring. Father
was gone out fishing for long periods of time. Had about twelve
and a half acres of land. A few cows and sheep. Raised potatoes
and feed for the cows. Ate lots of fish.
050 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Olaf farmed in North Dakota and Minnesota.
Worked on the West Coast and in shipyards. He came to the U.S.
in 1911. Kasbara is a housewife in Norway, she had two children.
Sigur was fishing in Norway and did construction work. His wife
is still there.
075 CHILDHOOD HOME: Had eight rooms.
078 Odin made a trip to Norway in 1949-1950. Noticed many changes,
improvements. Modernized a lot.
083 GRANDPARENTS: Marie Olse was his maternal grandmother. Paternal
grandfather was David Olsen, a fisherman, and Kasbara Olsen.
098 Odin's name in Norway was Olsen. Used Davidson when he got
his citizen papers. Brother also changed his name when he came
over.
110 SCHOOL: Twenty minute walk. Went through the eighth grade.
116 WORK: Went fishing.
118 CHURCH: A mile away on an island, Rødøy. Went often in the
summer. Away in the winter fishing.
128 Mother died with Odin was two-years-old. Had a stepmother.
139 CHRISTMAS: Tree, apples and cookies were the trimming. Had
presents.
152 CHRISTMAS FOOD: Christmas Eve, lutefisk, potatoes, butter,
lefse, flatbrød, rissengrøt. Christmas Day, rissengrøt and roast.
166 Went to church the second day of Christmas. Stayed home
Christmas Day. Had bazaars, lots of celebrating. Had to make
your own fun.
186 "TØYELSMESSDAG": Day they took the tree down in Norway.
He spells it "Tolesmesda." It is not in the dictionary.
192 TROLL STORIES: Did not believe in them. Just stories.
196 CONFIRMATION: Was the end of schooling unless they paid
for more.
204 FISHING: Age 15 did cod and herring fishing. Stayed on a
big boat. Did not fish on Sundays as it was forbidden. He fished
with a neighbor who had a motorboat. They sold fish to cities
down south, they shipped it out.
234 Had a cook on the fishing boat. He fished until he was 20
years old.
239 REASONS FOR COMING TO THE U.S.: Came to the U.S. because
he was not making enough money in Norway. Poor times in Norway.
Left May 1920. His brother was in the U.S. close to Albert Lea,
Minnesota. Olaf had a farm there.
251 They tiled farms in Minnesota, put pipes in to drain the
land because it was so wet. Olaf did tiling for the county.
265 Olaf had written to Odin and encouraged him to come. Olaf
was married in Minnesota to a girl from Sogn, Norway. Her family
name was Orn (?).
279 Olaf sent a ticket to Odin and his brother, Aksel. His father
was not thrilled about the idea, but figured it was best for
the boys.
291 TRIP OVER: Took the Stavangerfjord. Ellis Island, "nothing
to it," no problems. Could not understand a lot of what was
going on because he could not speak English. No difficulty getting
on the train.
306 Agents helped them get on the train. Bought food on the
train, he pointed at what he wanted. Train trip took 3-4 days.
Went to North Dakota where Olaf was farming.
320 Started working on the farms. Everyone spoke Norwegian,
no problems getting along. Stayed here for three years. Came
out West because there was no money on the farms. Made $40 a
week.
340 Came out West because of the fishing. Took train out West.
Shipped to Alaska after he got work in Seattle. Went salmon
fishing. Had no trouble finding work. Made $90 a month.
357 Stayed in Alaska until salmon season opened. Went out on
a sailing boat in Ketchikan, Alaska.
362 Has fished all his life. Mostly in Alaska. Ran boats for
others. Bought a boat with his brother in the 1960s. Was skipper
for boats.
385 Fished for tuna, halibut, sold fish in Seattle and in Ketchikan,
Alaska, and Prince Rupert. Came into port every two weeks or
so.
394 Since 1960 there was a conservation of fish. Could not fish
for ten days.
404 DIFFERENCES IN FISHING NOW: Used to fish from the dory.
Describes this. About six dorries on each big boat. On a big
boat you would dress and ice the fish. Held 100,000 pounds of
fish. Fished 8-10 days each trip. In the 1930s they abolished
dorries because too many men were lost. Then began fishing from
the big boat.
435 LONG-LINING-FISHING: From the big boat. This was much safer,
could fish in any kind of weather.
447 DORRIES: 16 feet long, two men each. Describes working the
dorrie. Stayed in them all day long.
474 No protection from the weather. Had to put up with it in
the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Dug out ice to get a
hold of coal.
502 DEPRESSION: Continued fishing. Sold fish for four cents
a pound. A lot of work for little money.
520 Family lived in Seattle during the Depression. Odin bought
a few acres in north Seattle. Bought a cow, few chickens, something
that helped. Raised some of their own food.
544 There was a three bedroom house on the land. Odin paid $900
for this, he used the money he had saved up so that he was not
in debt.
555 DEPRESSION: Many people on WPA. Odin managed to stay off
WPA. Odin cleared his land, cut wood for wood burning stove,
saved money.
571 CITIZENSHIP: April 27, 1929 in Seattle. Went to school for
this. Odin was married the same day.
588 Worked in the shipyards one winter during the 1960s, waiting
for the fish season to open up.
608 FISHING: A rough life. Conditions better in the U.S. than
in Norway.
633 Worked with other minorities. People from the East Coast,
New Foundlanders. Most gone now.
SIDE II
008 No problem dealing with other minorities.
010 PROUD TO BE NORWEGIAN: "A good race of people." Decent people.
Doing well for themselves. Look at Ballard and see what they
have built up. Other Scandinavians are also hard working people.
024 Did not belong to any lodges. Did not have time for meetings
and such. Met Norwegians from fishing. Many live in Ballard.
Met at church.
037 CHURCH: Used to go to Rev. Nesvig's church (First Lutheran)
on Boren and Virginia. Active church. They preached in Norwegian.
049 TRIPS BACK TO NORWAY: February 1950. Took the Stavangerfjord
back, took Oslofjord back to America. Boat was nice.
063 Oslofjord was not a good sea boat. Took eight days to get
to Oslo and seven days to get home.
073 Stavangerfjord was sold in 1950 to someplace in South America.
It was getting old.
081 CHANGES: Improved, modernized more now than in 1920. New
Norsk made it difficult to understand some people. Odin learned
Old Norwegian. It is much different from New Norwegian. "They've
ruined the language.
104 People are still going to church. They built a church on
Odin's home place. They used to have a boat out to church.
117 Sister-in-law and niece still live in Norway. They still
correspond.
126 Still speaks and understands Norwegian. He is getting rusty.
Can not talk to the new people coming over.
140 Children could speak Norwegian when they were young. Quit
when they went to school.
144 Other customs maintained, cooking.
155 Odin's father was still living when Odin went back to Norway.
He was 80 years old.
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