    
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
Anna Georgina Hansen Ekrem
A Guide to Her Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Ekrem, Anna Georgina Hansen
Collection Nr: t140-141
File Content:
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3 file folders
4 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 Anna Ekrem on February 8, 1982
in Tacoma, Washington. It provides information on family background,
schooling, work, emigration, marriage and family, church and
community activities, and Norwegian heritage. The interview
also contains two photographs of Anna as a young woman and two
photographs of Anna at the time of the interview. The interview
was conducted in English.
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Anna
Ekrem was born on February 21, 1891 in Eidshaug, Kolvereid,
Norway to Adolf Hansen and Caroline Johansen. Adolf was a fisherman
and Caroline took care of the family's farm when Adolf was out
fishing. Anna had six siblings: Haakon, Henrietta, Johan, Katrina,
Hildur, and Regine. Anna was confirmed in Kolvereid, where she
had to stay with friends during the week for two - three months
in order to attend classes at the Church. Following confirmation,
Anna graduated from high school and then went to Trondheim to
learn how to knit. Anna worked in Trondheim for three years
and then immigrated to Tacoma, WA with her Aunt Maren in 1914.
On the their way to America, Anna's boat was stopped by the
Germans, who knew that three English boys were stowing away.
Rather than searching the boat, the Germans stayed for seven
days, knowing that the boys would eventually starve to death.
When Anna first arrived in America, she stayed with another
aunt of hers in Arlington, WA for two months and then rented
an apartment in Tacoma. In Tacoma, Anna got a housekeeping job
for a wealthy Norwegian couple on Pt. Defiance, and then obtained
a knitting job. She also joined Nordlandslaget and the Sons
of Norway. At a Christmas get-together, she met her husband
Ole Ekrem, who was originally from Ålesund, Norway and had come
down to Tacoma from Alaska for the winter. Pastor Ordal married
Ole and Anna in Tacoma on November 16, 1917, and they moved
to Petersburg, Alaska after Christmas. In Alaska, Ole worked
at a marble quarry, but while buying fish at the dock one day,
he tried to help someone with a hoist and injured his arm. The
doctors were going to amputate his arm, but a young doctor from
Chicago decided it was not necessary. Nevertheless, Ole has
never been able to fully use his arm after the injury. Having
studied nursing in Tacoma, Anna was working at the hospital
while Ole was admitted there, but after he got out, she began
working in a fish house and Ole eventually began cooking at
logging camps during the winter. In Alaska, Anna joined both
the Sons and Daughters of Norway and also attended the Lutheran
Church in Petersburg. In 1919, Ole and Anna had their first
daughter, Caroline, and in 1924, their daughter Phyllis was
born. Anna continued working, and in 1942, the family moved
to Seattle so the girls could attend college. Caroline attended
Pacific Lutheran University. In 1961, Ole and Anna returned
to Norway for five months, and Anna observed many changes, particularly
in the way people dressed. At home, she continues to speak Norwegian
on occasion as well as cooking some traditional Norwegian foods.
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Full Name: |
Anna Georgina Hansen Ekrem
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Maiden Name: |
Anna Georgina Hansen
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Father: |
Adolf Hansen
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Mother: |
Caroline Johansen
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Maternal Grandmother: |
Marit Johansen
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Brothers and Sisters: |
Haakon Langstrand
Henrietta Hansen
Johan Hansen
Katrina Hansen
Hildur Hansen
Regine (?) Hansen
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Spouse: |
Ole Ekrem
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Children: |
Caroline Gerbel
Phyllis Pellmore (?)
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Ekrem, Anna
Hansen, Adolf
Johansen, Caroline
Johansen, Marit
Ekrem, Ole
Gerbel, Caroline
Pellmore, Phyllis
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Family Names |
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Hansen family
Ekrem family
Johansen family
Gerbel family
Pellmore family
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Geographical Names |
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Eidshaug, Kolvereid (Norway)
Trondheim (Norway)
Ålesund (Norway)
Tacoma (Wash.)
Seattle (Wash.)
Petersburg (Alaska)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Norway
Norway -- Emigration and immigration
Eidshaug (Norway) -- Emigration and immigration
School attendance -- Norway
Confirmation -- Lutheran church -- Norway
Kristianiafjord (Steamship)
Ocean travel
Ellis Island Immigration Station (N.Y. and N.J.)
Railroad travel
Marriage service
Nordlandslaget (Tacoma, Wash.)
Sons of Norway (Tacoma, Wash.)
Knitting Machines
Norwegian-Americans - Ethnic identity
Norway -- Social conditions -- 1945-
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Occupations |
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Fishing -- Norway
Farmers -- Norway
Domestics
Nurses
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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.
TAPE 140
SIDE I
022 Anna Georgina Ekrem. Born in Eidshaug, Kolvereid, Norway.
Eidshaug is north of Trondheim. Anna's grandmother moved from
Hardanger to Trondheim about 100 years ago. Her name was Marit
Johansen. Anna was born on February 21, 1891.
101 PARENTS: Caroline Johansen and Adolf Hansen. Father had
been doing carpentry work in the U.S. Got hurt and came home.
Had a little
farm.
155 Started fishing. On their farm they had two cows, two pigs,
and some calves. Tells a story about feeding a pig in their
house while their parents were out. Mother did the farm work
while their father was fishing.
227 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Haakon Langstrand (?), youngest brother
lived on the family farm and fished. Henrietta came to Seattle
and worked in a hospital. Husband was a fisherman. Johan, older
brother fished with father. Died when young. Katrina. Hildur
lives in Canada. Married a farmer. Regine (?), youngest sister,
died during WWII when the Germans came. Mother and father died
then too.
346 GRANDPARENTS: Maternal, Marit Johansen (see also I-022).
"Came to Trondheim with one kid, one cow, and one man." Grandmother
lived to be about 100 years old. Doesn't remember her grandfather.
Paternal doesn't remember them.
381 SCHOOL: Had to take a boat to school. Now there are bridges
there. Graduated from high school. Anna liked to paint. Wanted
to knit. Went to Trondheim. Learned to knit on a machine. Brought
a machine to Tacoma, Washington. Got a job knitting.
436 CHURCH: Had to take a boat to church. Had to wear clothes
suitable for rowing. Changed clothes in a little shack on the
beach. Mother often stayed home. Took care of the little ones.
Had dinner ready when they came back.
479 CHRISTMAS: They'd go to the woods with their father and
he'd cut a tree. Couldn't trim it until Christmas Eve. Their
grandmother would help. Mother would make cookies and chocolate.
Lutefisk dinner on Christmas Eve. Potatoes, coffee, cookies.
Roast on Christmas Day.
539 CHURCH ON CHRISTMAS DAY: A long way to go to church. Snow
storms. Had to cross the fjord where all the steamers went.
Ice made some parts very narrow. Had to get out of the boat
in places and pull it along. Church was in Kolvereid. School
was closer.
564 Went to Kolvereid for baptisms, funerals, confirmation,
etc. GETTING CONFIRMED: Had classes at the church for 2-3 months.
Stayed with friends in Kolvereid during the week. Went home
on the weekends.
588 Grandmother used to tell them stories. Told them that the
time would come when you couldn't tell a man from a woman.
620 Anna used to fish herring with her father. She'd steer the
boat. Her sister, Henrietta wouldn't go. Anna was 12-13 years
old then.
646 After high school, she knitted in Trondheim. She was 16-17
then. Helped on the farm before she went to Trondheim. Liked
it on the farm.
684 Programs and picnics often when she was a child. Tells about
washing and steering sheep. Carding and spinning the wool.
721 Worked in Trondheim for about three years. Her Aunt Maren
and her husband (a druggist from Bodø) lived in America. Had
a daughter in Tacoma, Washington. Anna's aunt, Anna, also lived
in America with her husband and four children. Her husband was
a building contractor. Fell off a roof and died. Maren came
home. Stayed two years. Had never learned English. Anna went
back to America with her. Maren's daughter was married in Tacoma,
Washington.
805 Left from Rørvik on June 12, 1914. Changed ships in Trondheim
and Oslo. Sailed across the Atlantic on the "Kristianiafjord,"
which sank the following year.
824 Both parents were living when Anna left for America. Spent
the night in Roervik with her sister. Her mother was there too.
She fainted on the dock when Anna got on the boat. Father was
out fishing. Tells about saying goodbye to her grandmother.
864 Tells about how her grandmother would help her brother who
were both single. She'd walk up a hill through the woods with
her cane.
881 TRIP TO AMERICA: Were stopped by the Germans on the Atlantic
Ocean. Submarines all around. Three boys from England came to
Norway and were stowaways on the boat. The Germans stayed for
seven days. Didn't look for them. Just ate and drank. Germans
knew the boys would die because they couldn't get food.
977 Germans were tough people. Germans used to come to Norway
in the summer. Anna thought Kaiser Wilhelm was the only man.
Sat close to him and had dinner with him in Trondheim once.
Came every summer with his two ships. They say he started the
war, but he seemed like a nice man.
998 Came to New York around July 1. They took the cargo out
of the ship. Found the three English boys dead. Went to Ellis
Island for examination, eyes, ears, etc. Liked America. Had
cousins here. Thought she'd go back to Norway after a couple
of years.
1050 TRAIN TRIP: New York to Chicago. No problems. TRIP WEST:
Talks about Indians she saw nursing their babies.
1071 Got off the train in Seattle. Aunt Anna had a daughter,
Sigrid, whose husband had a dairy farm in Arlington, Washington.
They wanted to go there. Anna couldn't speak much English. Took
the bus there. Stayed for two months in Tacoma.
1104 TACOMA: Anna and her aunt took the train to Tacoma. Aunt
had a house. Anna got an apartment in Tacoma.
SIDE II
031 Met a girl who was adopted by a Norwegian lady, Mrs. Anderson.
The girl understood Norwegian. Spoke some. Showed Anna around.
070 Mrs. Anderson was like a mother to Anna.
081 Anna rented a room from Mrs. Vail (?) for $5 a moth. She
got a job housekeeping for a Norwegian couple on Point Defiance,
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson.
100 He was a millionaire. Made money from gold mining in Alaska.
Anna lived there. Got $25 a month.
174 Tells about New Years Eve 1916 in Tacoma. All the liquor
stores were closed. Had trucks that were loaded with liquor.
Snow and frost. Went downtown. Tells about what was going on
Broadway.
269 Stayed at the Anderson's for a year. Then got a job knitting.
A lady wanted to open a knitting shop but couldn't knit. Set
up a shop in her home. The shop was located in south Tacoma.
Anna had an apartment in the same area. Made $40 a month knitting.
Sent $5 home to her mother every month, paid rent, and went
out on weekends. Made enough to get along.
364 Joined Nordlandslaget in 1914 when she first came. Joined
the Sons of Norway too. Tells about the first pair of shoes
she bought in 1914 for a Christmas gathering for newcomers at
the Sons of Norway Hall. Paid $2.50 for them. Her daughter has
them now. They fit her perfectly.
400 When Anna came to Tacoma, Nordstrom's had a store downtown
on Broadway. She would go there because they could speak her
language. Mr. Nordstrom was Swedish. He visited them in Alaska
and they visited him in Seattle.
416 Anna went to evening school while working in the knitting
shop. Went there every weeknight. Classes at Lincoln High School.
447 Felt at home in Tacoma by this time. Had many friends, Gina
Larsen, Clara Magnussen, and Mrs. Kirkemo.
463 MEETING SPOUSE: Went to Christmas get-togethers. Anna was
serving food. After dinner, everyone went into the room where
the Christmas tree was. Boys sat in a row on one side, so the
girls went to the other side to sit in a row. As Anna walked
by, only one boy stood up and said hello. That was her husband.
His name was Ole Ekrem. When they danced around the tree, Ole
chose Anna. Ole was from Ålesund.
566 He was down from Alaska for the winter. He was working at
a marble quarry in Alaska.
582 Got married in Tacoma on November 16, 1917 at the home of
Pastor Ordal. Took the Ordal's out to dinner.
635 Rented an apartment on Ainsworth, across the street from
where Clara Magnussen was living at that time. Anna quit working.
They moved to Alaska after Christmas.
646 Moved to Petersburg, Alaska which is in southeastern Alaska.
Went there between Christmas and New Years. There was so much
snow that they couldn't get where they were supposed to go.
Went to the hotel in Petersburg. Asked Mrs. Peterson if they
could spend the night. Have been friends with Mrs. Peterson
ever since. She passed away in Sitka, Alaska last year (1981).
692 Tells about the place they lived in after they were first
married. Mr. Olsen, the man they rented from was cranky.
713 Didn't stay there too long. Ole got hurt at work. He was
down on the dock buying some fish. Rope on a hoist was worn
out. Someone was having trouble with it. Called Ole to come
help. Ole got caught in it. Kept hitting his head. They were
building a restaurant above the dock.
746 Couldn't work there anymore. Got a job working in a store
for a German man. While Ole was in the hospital, Anna was working
in the hospital. They gave her a room there. She'd studied nursing
in Tacoma. They were going to amputate his arm but a young doctor
from Chicago who was working in Juneau said it wasn't necessary.
That doctor helped Anna find a nice little house by the beach.
Anna paid $200 for the house.
832 Ole was fine when he got out of the hospital, but couldn't
really use his arm. Anna started working in a fish house. She'd
pick shrimp and crab. Got 25 cents an hour. Worked from 4am-4pm.
Ole was working in the German man's store.
859 Anna kept working. After their daughter, Caroline was born
a 14-year-old girl babysat for Anna. Daughter's married name
is Gerbel. They live in Ballard. Second daughter is Phyllis.
Married name is Pellmore (?). Husband is an electrician. The
whole family moved to Seattle in 1942 so the girls could go
to college. Caroline went to Pacific Lutheran University. Phyllis
still had to finished high school.
977 Phyllis studied bookkeeping. She is her husband's bookkeeper
now. Worked for the army after she graduated. Worked in Guam
for a year and a half. Met a boy from Alabama. They got married.
They have a boy and two girls. Caroline and her husband have
two boys. Anna tells what some of her grandchildren do.
1073 CHURCH: Went to the Norwegian Lutheran Church on Denny
Way. Too far to go now. They went to the Lutheran church in
Petersburg, Alaska. Was quite active in that church.
TAPE 141
SIDE I
010 In Alaska, after Anna's husband got a little better, Ole
started cooking at logging camps during the winter. Anna was
home alone. Stormy weather. Wind blew a window out. Nailed a
gunnysack over the window. It blew out too. Terrible night.
054 Man across the street was out fishing. Had to come in because
of the storm. Another man was hunting on the island across from
where they were. They couldn't get over to the island. Went
the next day and found the man dead.
107 Tough life. Explains how she got water at their house in
Alaska during that stormy night. She had to feed her daughter.
179 TRIPS TO NORWAY: Went in 1961. Nice trip. They took a boat.
Husband wouldn't fly. Left in May and came back in October.
Stayed with…
218 relatives and friends who'd moved back to Norway. Stayed
with youngest brother who was living on the family farm. He'd
remodeled. Tells about the big oven used for baking bread. Same
as his mother did it. He had running water but it was not in
the house.
275 CHANGES: Clothing much different. Nieces told her recently
that bridges connect islands and pieces of land in that area
now. Don't have to take boats anymore.
314 Churches have changed. Ministers dressed differently. Many
changes in Norway.
361 NORWEGIAN IN THE HOME: Sometimes Anna speaks Norwegian at
home. Hard to go when people don't understand. Phyllis doesn't
speak much. Caroline can speak quite a bit. She has had a Norwegian
and a Swedish neighbor.
400 NORWEGIAN FOODS: Lefse. Caroline cooks more Norwegian food
than Anna does. Caroline makes lutefisk, lefse, fiskeboller,
fish cakes, etc.
453 SPOKEN NORWEGIAN: Speaks some Norwegian. Says a prayer in
Norwegian.
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