    
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
Ida Pauline Apalseth
A Guide to Her Oral History Interview |
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Administrative
Information
Creator:
Apalseth, Ida Pauline
Collection Nr: t182
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 Morrene Nesvig
Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky
Husby
Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler
Recording Quality: Good. (the roar in the background
is the I-5 freeway below her apartment.
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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 Ida Apalseth on July 26, 1982 in
Tacoma, Washington. It contains information on family background,
emigration, settling in, marriage and family life, church, and
community activities. The interview was conducted in English.
See t32 for Ida's interview on the Daughters of Norway.
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Ida
Apalseth was born on December 18, 1896 in Litløy, Norway to
Ole Pedersen and Herborg Johnsen. Litløy is on an island in
northern Norway. Ole owned a bakery in addition to selling fish
and working as a mailman, and Herborg was a homemaker. Ida had
three sisters-Aslaug, Dagmar, and Herborg-and two brothers-Martin
and Halfdan. Ida was the eldest and Herborg the youngest. Herborg
and their mother died a week after Herborg's birth; Ida was
only six. When Ida was twelve, her father remarried and had
eight more children. The family was fairly well off and had
several workers; at times, there would be eighteen people at
the dinner table. After Ida was confirmed, she and her sister
moved to Trondheim, where Ida got a babysitting job. Not fully
satisfied in Trondheim, Ida decided to immigrate to Petersburg,
Alaska, where her older half-sister from her father's first
marriage lived. Ida left Norway in November 1916; she was nineteen
years old. From Ellis Island, New York, Ida took the train to
Seattle, Washington, where she was supposed to meet a woman,
Molly, who would help her get to Alaska. When Ida and Molly
contacted Ida's sister in Alaska, she told them that the weather
there was awful and Ida should just stay in Seattle if she could
obtain employment. Ida followed her advice and found a housekeeping
job with the family of a retired Navy officer within a week.
Ida was very fond of Seattle and joined a mixed Norwegian group
that met at the Norway Hall. She continued to work for this
family for nine months and then got a cleaning job at the Potter
Hotel on James Street. A boy from Ida's hometown had immigrated
as well and joined the U.S. Navy. He was stationed in Bremerton,
Washington, and Ida met her husband, Andrew Apalseth, through
him. Andrew was also born in Norway. He and Ida were married
on April 1920 at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Seattle and then
moved to Tacoma. They had one daughter, Olive (Rudsil). Once
in Tacoma, Ida joined the Daughters of Norway and attended Bethlehem
Lutheran Church. She returned to Norway once in 1973.
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Full Name: |
Ida Pauline Pedersen Apalseth
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Maiden Name: |
Ida Pauline Pedersen
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Father |
Ole B. Pedersen
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Mother: |
Herborg Johnsen
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Paternal Grandfather: |
Peder Kristian Olsen
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Paternal Grandmother: |
Maria Inbjør Olsen
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Maternal Grandfather: |
Albrigt Johnsen
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Maternal Grandmother: |
Laura Johnsen
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Brothers and Sisters: |
Aslaug Marie Pedersen
Dagmar Pedersen
Halfdan Pedersen
Herborg Pedersen
Martin Pedersen
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Half Brothers and Sisters: |
Ole Pedersen
Solvieg Pedersen
Vilhelm Pedersen
Edgar Pedersen
Margot Pedersen
Kristofer Pedersen
Olive Pedersen
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Spouse: |
Andrew Apalseth
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Children: |
Olive Apalseth Rudsil
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This collection is indexed under the following headings
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Personal Names |
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Apalseth, Ida
Pedersen, Ole
Johnsen, Herborg
Apalseth, Andrew
Rudsil, Olive Apalseth
Olsen, Maria Inbjør
Olsen, Peder Kristien
Johnsen, Albright
Johnsen, Laura
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Family Names |
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Apalseth family
Pedersen family
Johnsen family
Rudsil family
Olsen family
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Geographical Names |
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Litløy (Norway)
Trondheim (Norway)
Seattle (Wash.)
Tacoma (Wash.)
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Subjects |
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Family -- Norway
Norway -- Emigration and immigration
School attendance -- Norway
Christmas -- Norway
Norway Hall (Seattle, Wash.)
Daughters of Norway (Tacoma, Wash.)
Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Tacoma, Wash.)
Bergensfjord (Steamship)
Sons of Norway (Tacoma, Wash.)
Ocean travel
Lifestyles -- Norway
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Occupations |
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Boardinghouses
Domestics
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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.
027/08 Ida Pauline Pedersen Apalseth. Born December 18, 1896
in Litløy, Norway. Litløy is in northern Norway on an island.
Eight families lived on the island. Litløy is part of Vesterålen.
073 PARENTS: Ole Pedersen and Herborg Johnsen. Her father had
a bakery, bought and sold fish, and was also a mailman. He was
called "Nesskong." This means he lived on the point and had
little more than others. He also had a big barn and eight cows.
Ida's mother was a housewife.
168 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Four girls in the family. Ida, the
eldest, Aslaug, Dagmar, and Herborg, the youngest. She and their
mother died within a week after birth. Two brothers, Martin
and Halfdan. Half-brothers and sisters. (see I-320 and I-825)
197 GRANDPARENTS: She remembers her grandmothers. Both grandfathers
died before she was born. Her father's mother came to live with
them when she got too old to live alone. She was in bed most
of the time. They'd go in her room and talk to her and bring
her candy. Her name was Maria Pedersen. She and her husband
both came from Vesterålen. Ida's great-grandfather (Maria Pedersen's
husband's father) was called Borkenhaugen. They think that the
name comes from Poland or East Germany. He was lost at sea.
Her maternal grandmother had a little farm up in the mainland.
They used to go visit her.
320 HALF-BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Ida's father remarried when she
was 12 years old. Eight more children. The last two were born
after Ida had left for America. She met them when she came back
to Norway. They were both grandparents when she met them. (see
I-825).
338 CHILDHOOD: Nice to grow up on the island. At Easter, they'd
go up on the mainland to visit their grandmother or other relatives.
They'd go to church when the weather was nice. It was about
12-15 English miles to the mainland. It was open sea. They had
a quite large house. They had quite a few workers. One who took
care of the barn. One uncle came in the spring and baked. They
had a cook. A cousin did the housework.
390 CHILDHOOD: Her dad also raised a boy, who had no father.
The mother couldn't raise all of the kids herself. The boy fought
in WWI and was stationed at Fort Lewis. He came to America to
find his father. In the summer they needed help with the hay.
It all had to be done by hand. In the winter, the kids liked
to make snow houses, snowballs, and they liked sledding. They
had skis but conditions for skiing were poor. It was too rocky
and the steep hills went down to the water's edge. The island
wasn't very big.
456 SCHOOL: In the summer, they rowed a boat to and from school.
In the winter, they lived at school, which was on a near-by
island. The weather was rough and the waves were high. The older
kids rowed. The home life on the island was nice. It wasn't
until after confirmation that Ida began to think about leaving
the island. She didn't want to baby-sit her half-brothers. Ida
was six years old when her mother died. Her father remarried
when she was 12 and started another family. The older kids had
to help out. At times, there were 18 seated at the dinner table.
They had some schooling at home. They went to school for three
weeks in the winter. There was one teacher who had three schools
to teach at.
568 CHURCH: It was far away. She had to leave home to get confirmed.
To go to church, they had to take a boat and then walk a long
ways unless they had horses. Most people had working horses.
They usually didn't use them on Sunday. The minister rotated
between two churches.
597 CHRISTMAS: Lots of house cleaning, new clothes, baking.
They had fattigmand and hjortetakk which is like a doughnut,
krumkake, and a cookie like shortbread also made in an iron.
They made dry lefse and julekake. They also had rullepoelser,
fresh ham, and salted or smoked ham. They made flatbread throughout
the year. They had lutefisk now and then. When they made it,
they didn't use lye, they used ash. It had the same effect in
the fish. Ida still uses the cookie recipes. At Christmas, they
ate the same amount of food as they usually did. People didn't
have weight problems because they worked and played hard.
738 DARK WINTERS AND LIGHT SUMMERS: When it snowed, they had
to make roads to the bakery, the barn, etc. There wasn't that
much snow on the island. The wind blew it off. It was colder
and there was more snow in Trondheim. They dressed in wool clothes.
In the summer, they would stay up and read. Her father was a
member of the local government. He brought home an old gramophone.
The neighbors would stay outside on Sundays so they could listen
to the music. They girls used to play singing games. They would
clasp hands and dance in a ring. They played a game about a
fox up in the hills who was after a chicken.
825 REASONS FOR EMIGRATION: Ida and her sister wanted to go
somewhere to work, so they went to Trondheim in 1913. Ida got
a job babysitting three boys and her sister worked in a coffee
shop. Ida liked it there, but still wasn't quite satisfied.
She had an older half-sister in Petersburg, Alaska. Her father
had been married once before he married Ida's mother. In 1916,
Ida left for America. She was 19 years old.
888 TRIP OVER: Left on the ship, Bergensfjord in the late fall.
The war was going on in Europe. Ida was traveling alone. Her
father paid for her ticket. They had to stop in Scotland and
spend the night. The ship couldn't go out by itself. They had
some rough days. They played music on the boat and danced on
the deck. She became acquainted with Sigrid Dal, a girl from
Stavanger who was going to live with a sister in Seattle. They've
been friends ever since. When Ida left Bergen, two of her cousins
were there to see her off. They worked for the Northern Shipping
Company. When the boat left, it had to go north, through icy
waters, because there were U-boats everywhere. The bottom deck
of the boat was packed with Eastern Europeans. In Scotland,
some government officials took one person off of the boat. They
were looking for spies. They ran into bad weather on the Atlantic.
It took eleven days to cross it. They came to New York on a
Sunday and Ellis Island was closed. On Monday papers filled
out saying who you were and where you were from. It didn't take
long to get through Ellis Island.
998 TRAIN TRIP: Ida met 6-7 people on the boat who were going
to the Seattle-Tacoma area. They got to Seattle on Friday at
8:00am. They had to change trains in Chicago. A family that
lived on the same island as Ida in Norway had moved to Grantsburg,
Wisconsin. They had a daughter in Seattle who was supposed to
meet Ida and help her get on the boat to Alaska. Nobody was
there and Ida couldn't speak the language. Sigrid's sister didn't
have room for her. A Swedish man who helped them on the train
and asked what the problem was. He said that if Sigrid would
come with them, he'd find them a room in a hotel. He'd pick
them up in the morning and find a place for Ida to stay. She
stayed at a hotel by the King Station.
SIDE II
085 SEATTLE: Saturday morning a taxi came and took her to the
home of the lady who was supposed to meet her. A little boy
answered the door and said that his mother had gone to the train
station to pick up the girl from Norway. When she came home
and saw Ida, she said she had been in tears and didn't know
what she was going to tell Ida's sister. Molly and Ida contacted
her sister in Alaska. She said that the weather in Alaska had
been nasty and if Ida could get a job, she might as well stay
in Seattle.
122 WORK: Ida got a job as a housekeeper within a week. She
didn't want to be dependent on anyone. She worked for a retired
navy officer and his family. He had a boy and a girl. She carried
a notepad with her and wrote down new words. She learned English
from the kids, as well. Ida wanted to learn English as quickly
as possible.
217 SOCIAL LIFE: She met a lot of people from northern Norway
in Seattle. Many of them were fishermen in Ballard. They invited
her to a Christmas party. It was nice to speak Norwegian with
them. She and Molly had a good relationship. It was nice to
have a contact from home. A boy and girl who gone to confirmation
with Ida were also in Seattle. She had a lot of contact with
other Norwegians.
263 CHURCH IN AMERICA: Ida belonged to a youth group at Immanuel
Lutheran Church on Thomas Street in Seattle. The church had
a library with Norwegian books. On Friday, they'd have a social.
The boys who worked in the woods or fished could come on Fridays.
The pastor's name was Stub.
289 WORK: (See II-122) Ida lived with the family she kept house
for. They lived near Madrona Park. She worked there for nine
months. She helped cook, washed clothes, dusted, cleaned the
furnace, etc. She got $12 a month, plus room and board. She
had Sundays off and half of Thursday. Sometimes she'd go downtown
to a show with Sigrid. They would go to town by bus or sometimes
they'd walk.
342 IMPRESSION OF SEATTLE: She liked it in Seattle. Her sister
in Alaska said she should she stay there if she liked it. She
could get better work in Seattle. The best job she could get
in Alaska would have been canning herring. She never felt she
was treated prejudicially because she was a foreigner. The language
was the most difficult thing for her. She took the wrong bus
to Molly's once. All she could say was "transfer." She took
a bus back to Pioneer and then went home. The U.S. was exciting
because it was so big. Everything was new and there were so
many different people. At home, on the island and even in Trondheim,
she had contact with her family and didn't make an effort to
meet strangers. Ida really liked Seattle. She thought it was
pretty.
456 NORWEGIAN ORGANIZATIONS: Couldn't join Daughters of Norway.
They met on Wednesdays and that wasn't her day off. She joined
a mixed group that met at the Norway Hall. She met men and women
from different parts of Norway. They had a Norwegian choir.
Ida sang alto. They sang both Norwegian and American songs.
She was shy and wouldn't speak unless she was spoken to. Her
English was getting better. She could speak for herself.
497 WORK: (See II-122 and II289) After nine months, Ida wanted
to find a better job. She wasn't earning much as a housekeeper.
She could earn more money as a cook. One of Sigrid's relatives
had a hotel (Potter Hotel on James Street). Ida got a job there.
She had to clean 12 rooms, change sheets on the bed, wash clothes,
pick up, etc. She shared a corner room with Sigrid. She paid
$8 for the room and got $72 per month. When then hotel changed
owners, the new owners wanted to cut her wages. She said she'd
leave. They decided they needed her. She worked there for several
years. This job was better, more free time. The new owners were
Japanese. Their two-year-old son was killed by the cable car
on James Street so they went back to Japan. The next owner was
also Japanese. He was stingy so Ida didn't stay much longer.
She got another job at a boarding house on 8th Avenue. It was
called Blackstone and was a nice place.
660 MEETING SPOUSE: Her husband was in the Navy. They met at
the Norway Hall on Boren Avenue and Virginia. He was born in
Norway and lived in Tacoma. He joined the Navy because he didn't
want to be in the Army. He was a first class fireman in the
Navy. A boy from Ida's town immigrated to Montana. He joined
the Navy and met Ida's husband in Bremerton. Ida met her husband,
Andrew, through this boy. They got married in April 1920 at
Immanuel Lutheran Church in Seattle. Ida's Aunt Molly, one of
Andrew's Norwegian friends from the Navy and his girlfriend,
Olga attended the wedding. They were married by Rev. Stub. Ida
says that many Norwegian met their spouses through Norwegian
organizations. Ida and Andrew lived in Tacoma.
752 CITIZENSHIP: Ida's husband was already an U.S. citizen when
they got married. He had to be in order to be in the U.S. Navy.
Ida automatically became a citizen by marrying Andrew. She just
had to pick up the legal papers. They hadn't changed that act
yet. Later, women obtained their U.S. citizenship in the same
manner as the men rather than through marriage.
765 TACOMA: After their wedding, they spent the night in Seattle.
They took a boat from Seattle to Tacoma. At that time, there
were two boats going between Seattle and Tacoma, the Tacoma
and the Indianapolis. Andrew rented a furnished house in Tacoma.
Ida got homesick for Seattle. She didn't know anyone in Tacoma.
In June 1920, Andrew joined the Sons of Norway and Ida joined
the Daughters of Norway. Both clubs met on the same night. When
Ida joined the Daughters of Norway they met at the Fraternity
Hall between 11th and 13th on Summers (?).
811 The Sons of Norway met at the Eagles. In 1922, the built
Normanna Hall. It was owned by different Norwegian lodges, such
as the Normanna Male Choir, the Vikings, etc. They were also
selling individual shares for $10. Now, the Sons and Daughters
own all of the shares.
840 DAUGHTERS OF NORWAY TODAY: (See t32) The Daughters of Norway
are still very active. They are keeping up their heritage. There
are third and fourth generation girls in the group. Ida's daughter
is leader of the dance group, which is called the Daughters
Leikarring. Ida's granddaughters are also involved in Daughters
of Norway.
876 FAMILY: They've lived on McKinley Hill for most of the time
they've lived in Tacoma. Ida has one daughter, Olive Rudsdil.
She has two girls and a boy. Camus, Annette, and Victor. Olive
was named after Ida's father, Ole. She didn't like the name
when she was young. The kids at school teased her because of
Olive Oil in the comics. She tells more about Olive's childhood.
929 THE DEPRESSION: Andrew was out of work. Ida worked a little
during this period. This was the only time she worked during
their marriage. She worked at Bailey Underhill (?). She got
a job sewing overalls and children's jeans. It was a good job,
but when the business moved to Portland, Ida had to quit.
974 NORWEGIAN CUSTOMS: They spoke English with their daughter.
Ida's sister came from Norway in 1924 and they spoke Norwegian
then.
982 NORWEGIAN CUSTOMS: Ida's daughter was little and couldn't
understand her aunt from Norway. It wasn't long before Ida's
sister could speak English. She got a good job working for Lou
Johnson. He had a beautiful ladies clothing store in Tacoma.
She worked there for thirty years.
992 CHURCH LIFE: Ida belongs to Bethlehem Lutheran Church. She
didn't join when she first came to Tacoma because her daughter
was sick. She went to a little wooden church for a while. They'd
have fish dinners to make money to pay for the organ and the
church bell. They now have a new church, the Bethlehem Church.
1019 TRIPS BACK TO NORWAY: One trip in 1973. She got a little
insurance money after her husband passed away. She couldn't
go while he was living because she was babysitting her daughter.
Ida went on a Sons of Norway tour. She planned on going alone
but a friend who had left Norway when she was 2 years old went
along with her. Ida visited her half-brother in Oslo and then
flew to Harstad. She visited another half-brother who was a
teacher there. Another half-brother came down from Tromsö. He
drove and took Ida home to Bø in Vesterålen. The two half-brothers,
a nephew, and Ida made the trip. The trip was nice but sad.
She felt better after she'd seen the island. She saw the foundations
of the house and the stabbur, where they stored meat and things.
They sat on the steps of the bakery and had coffee and cakes.
They rented a big fishing boat in order to go to the island.
They had to find wood on the beach so that they could cook the
coffee. The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining and it
was light all night.
1099 WHAT IT MEANS TO BE NORWEGIAN: Ida is proud of being Norwegian.
She'd be proud if she was any other nationality. She learned
to speak good Norwegian through the family. Her father didn't
speak the dialect because he'd have to go to the bigger towns
for business sometimes. Ida says the language had changes. "They're
getting a little of that Swedish in it." Her daughter studied
Norwegian and counts differently.
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