    
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
Nannie Lundbeck Whitman
A Guide to Her Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Whitman, Nannie Lundbeck
Collection Nr: t166
File Content:
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2 file folders
0 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 Donna Mallonee
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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The
interview was conducted with Nannie Whitman on April 28, 1982
in Port Angeles, Washington. This interview contains information
on family background, Swedish holidays, school, work, emigration,
Swedish organizations, visits to Sweden, church and community
life, and Swedish heritage. The interview was conducted in English.
See also the interview with Nannie Whitman's brother, Emil Lundbeck
(SPEC T138).
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Nannie
Whitman was born Nannie Lundbeck in Toere, Sweden in 1898. One
of twelve children, Nannie lived on the Lundbeck farm and helped
with the chores. The Lundbeck family celebrated holidays like
Christmas, Pingst, and Midsummer. Nannie attended school through
the sixth grade. She worked one summer in Luleaa, but for the
most part, Nannie helped with all the children. She began to
think about improving herself, and she was convinced she needed
to move away in order to do so. Therefore, in May of 1923, Nannie
traveled to America. She sought out her mother's cousin who
lived near Hoquiam, Washington and helped Nannie find work helping
a local family. Then Nannie found a job at a boardinghouse where
she cooked and washed dishes. In 1924, Nannie married Mr. Whitman,
whom she had met on the ship over to America. They had three
sons. Nannie did some housekeeping and some weaving while her
husband worked in the lumber industry. In 1956, they visited
Sweden for the first time to visit relatives. Nannie initially
tried to maintain Swedish traditions in their home, but the
children did not seem to be interested. As a child, Nannie and
her family read Lutheran books and occasionally attended the
Lutheran church, but now she is a member of the Seventh Day
Adventist Church.
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Full Name: |
Nannie Lundbeck Whitman
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Maiden Name: |
Lundbeck
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Father: |
Anders Lundbeck
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Mother: |
Anna Lundbeck
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Brothers and Sisters: |
There were twevlve children in all.
(Please refer to Emil Lundbeck t138 for more detailed information.)
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Spouse: |
(?) Whitman
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Children: |
Lawrence Albin Whitman
Carl Stanley Whitman
Harold Eugene Whitman
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Lundbeck, Nannie
Whitman, Nannie
Lundbeck, Anders
Lundbeck, Anna
Whitman, Lawrence Albin
Whitman, Carl Stanley
Whitman,Harold Eugene
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Family Names |
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Whitman family
Lundbeck family
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Geographical Names |
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Toere (Sweden)
Hoquiam,(Wash.)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Sweden
Holidays -- Sweden
Seventh Day Adventist Church (Hoquiam, Wash.)
Emigration and immigration -- Sweden
Canadian Pacific Line (Steamships)
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Occupations |
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Farming -- Sweden
Domestics
Boardinghouses
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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.
018 PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Name - Nannie (Lundbeck) Whitman. Born
in Toere, Sweden in 1898. Toere was the county seat & was
about a half hour by car from Luleaa. This is in the northern
part of Sweden and is on the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska.
They lived by the Bay of Bothnia (Bottenviken). There is the
Gulf Stream, which makes the area warmer than Anchorage.
086 PARENTS: Anna and Anders Lundbeck. Father did a little of
everything. They had a farm; he was a cobbler and did fishing
too. She used to go fishing with her father. Father fished in
the evening and sold the fish from his wagon in the larger villages.
160 FAMILY FARM AND HOUSE: 2 houses on each place. Wasn't so
bad. They moved when she was 16 years old to a little bigger
place where it was easier to make a living. Father worked in
the woods in the winter.
192 MOTHER: She was very patient and gentle person. Father was
the disciplinarian.
210 FOOD: People weren't very interested in vegetable gardens.
Had milk, butter, and a lot of bread. Made flat bread and rye
bread. Picked wild berries - lingonberries and blueberries.
She was too far north to grow apples. Fruit was expensive to
buy because it was imported.
253 FAMILY: Their mother worked at home. There were 12 children.
One girl got sick and died - the doctor wasn't' very close by.
Talks about her siblings, which have passed away.
273 GRANDPARENTS: Didn't know them. They were farmers.
285 FARM: Barley was the main grain they grew. They thrashed
it themselves on the farm. They had a thrashing machine, which
was powered by a horse. Afterwards there would be a big dinner
for those who had been working.
315 FAMILY NAME: Hasn't researched the name. Wished that she
would have done that in 1956 when she was in Sweden.
345 HOLIDAYS: Christmas was very important. They danced around
the tree at several houses. They would get some treats - cookies
or something. One of the boys would go out and cut the tree
and then they would decorate it. Then they moved. Raaneaa was
the county seat. On Christmas morning they would go to Julafton
(a Christmas service) by horse and fancy sleigh. This was in
Raaneaa.
390 HOLIDAYS: Pingst. Midsummer - got lemonade, made something
out of birch branches. Had lots of church holidays. Thanksgiving
was November 2nd. Christmas - had a sleigh and bells on the
horses when they went to church early Christmas morning. Birthdays-
celebrated your name day rather than your birthday. This was
according to your name day on the Swedish almanac. Didn't do
too much celebrating because they couldn't afford to make so
many cookies.
470 SCHOOL: They were divided into three parts. The first part
was first and second grades, the second part the third and fourth,
and the third part was fifth and sixth. She finished the sixth
grade. Before they moved they skied to school. They didn't have
many frills in school. Sometimes they would put together a baseball
game and in the winter they would ski.
520 WORK: Worked some. There wasn't much work. She was really
needed in the home because there were so many children. Worked
out one summer in Luleaa.
558 WASHING CLOTHES: In the barn they had a large pot to heat
the water in and then they washed the clothes on a board.
575 CAME TO U.S.: May of 1923. Couldn't see any future on the
little farm. She thought that she would try to better herself.
There were so many children that she doesn't think that her
parents took it too seriously. Her father helped her get the
money to come.
596 SHIP TRAVEL: Came with the man who was to become her husband
and some others. Came on the Canadian Pacific Line. Crossed
the North Sea. Went from Gothenburg (Goeteborg), Sweden to England
where they took the train across England. It was here that they
went through customs and health inspection. She recalls one
lady who was a nurse who got really upset when they were searching
for lice in her hair. This was in Southampton, England. They
left there by Canadian ship and landed in Quebec and then Montreal
where they had to go through customs again.
620 FEELINGS AT EMIGRATION TIME: She was excited. It was an
adventure. She was about 23 years old.
629 LANGUAGE: Learning the language was the most important thing.
She came to her mother's cousin near Hoquiam, WA. This lady
found her a job helping with the family in a nearby home. Nannie
couldn't speak much English. The lady got out a first reader
and made her start reading aloud.
648 LUGGAGE: Brought the best clothes she had. Didn't bring
much.
657 TRAIN TRAVEL: Went through customs in Montreal, Canada.
Then she went by train to Vancouver, BC and then by boat to
Seattle, WA.
665 TRIP LENGTH: Took about one month. Left home the 28th of
April by horse and sleigh to Luleaa where she could catch the
train. Came to Seattle the last part of May.
695 HOQUIAM: Liked the food. Mrs. Bairnsfield (?) was very good
to her.
700 FUNNY EXPERIENCES: Had never seen a girl dressed in jeans
and a sweater. Nannie thought it was a boy.
717 WORK: Stayed one month with the family. Then she got a chance
to work at a boardinghouse 17 miles from Hoquiam, WA. Thought
she would make lots of money. She had her ticket paid back by
Christmas time that same year. Had board and room there and
was making close to $100 a month. She would have to wash dishes.
In the summertime there were up to 75 men. Later on she became
2nd cook. This was located at a place where the train went farther
up the line. The men who stayed there were going to the logging
camps farther up and would float the logs down.
750 SCANDINAVIANS: Weren't many others at the boardinghouse
except for the cook. Met one man from Dalarna, Sweden.
769 HUSBAND: Met him in Sweden. They were on the same ship.
There was another family in Seattle that was on the same ship
- Ellis Johnsen (?). They were married in 1924. Nannie wants
to research the Whitman name. They were married in Hoquiam,
but moved quite a bit.
795 HUSBANDS WORK: he worked in the lumber industry and moved
around a lot to do different jobs.
803 CHILDREN: three sons. Lawrence Albin Whitman, Carl Stanley
Whitman and Harold Eugene Whitman - lived in the same town.
She has eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
814 WORK: Worked doing housework and stuff for people by the
hour during the Depression.
830 WORK AT HOME: Wove a lot of material for working clothes
and even curtains. Work is much easier now. Everything is handy
and powered by electricity.
845 CHURCH: In Sweden the Lutheran Church was the state church
and you were born into it. To get your small pox vaccination
and be baptized in the church was required. Didn't go to church
very often because of transportation problems. Father used to
read to them on Sunday from a Lutheran book put out by Martin
Luther.
863 CHURCH LIFE U.S.: Didn't belong, but would go sometimes
to the Lutheran Church in Hoquiam, WA.
870 ORGANIZATIONS: Husband belonged to Vasa for a while. When
they moved in 1941 they didn't keep it up anymore. Nannie belongs
to the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
885 VISITS TO SWEDEN: Went in 1956. They brought the car and
drove from Gothenburg, Sweden. Everything closed early and surprised
them. They have quite a few relatives there. The boys have about
29 cousins on both sides. Some have come to visit in the U.S.
934 SWEDISH PEOPLE: They have changed from how they used to
be. They are ambitious and do good work. Her father was that
way.
950 LIFE IN OLD SWEDEN: She describes how they got water to
the barn.
966 SWEDISH LANGUAGE: She only uses Swedish when she has to.
The boys and their wives don't understand Swedish. They tried
to teach Lawrence Swedish, but he started speaking such a mixture
that they gave up. In the mid west there were many opportunities
to speak Swedish. They had Sunday school and lodges in Swedish
in the mid west. Nannie has forgotten some.
985 SWEDISH CUSTOMS: When they first came they tried to keep
up the customs in the home and teach the children Swedish, but
the kids never seemed to be around much and they gave up.
993 CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN'S INTEREST IN SWEDEN: Not really
interested. Harold can speak some Swedish because he was working
with some Swedes at his job. Lawrence was going to take a trip
to Sweden after he met one of Nannie's nephews, but the trip
never occurred.
1016 SPOKEN SWEDISH: Recites part of a song she knew from school.
1037 EXPERIENCE IN THE COOKHOUSE: A Lutheran minister used to
come and give a sermon there. They disturbed him while he was
preparing his sermon and got really embarrassed.
1053 Talks about a Norwegian man who hurt his food and that
she told the train brakeman to quit making fun of him.
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