Peter (Per) Geirhart Danielsen

Information Resources
Robert A. L. Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WASHINGTON 98447
Phone: (253) 535-7586 E-mail: archives@plu.edu

Peter (Per) Geirhart Danielsen
A Guide to His Oral History Interview

Administrative Information

Creator: Danielsen, Peter (Per) Geirhart

Collection Nr: t185

File Content:
	2 file folders 0 photographs 1 sound cassette 0 compact discs

Processing Information:
	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
Restrictions:
	The collection is available for research.

Preferred Citation:
	[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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Scope and Content Note

This interview was conducted with Peter Danielsen on September 15, 1982 in Tacoma, Washington. It contains information about family background, emigration, occupations, marriage, church and community activities, and Norwegian heritage. The interview was conducted in English.

Biographical Information

Peter Danielsen was born on March 31, 1915 in Rjukan, Norway to Daniel B. Danielsen, an inspector for a hydroelectric plant, and Julie P. Hansen Espevik, a homemaker. Peter had two older siblings, Gunnar (George) and Solveig, and one younger, Finn. In 1921, Peter's father immigrated to Brooklyn, NY, where he lived with an aunt and worked as an interior decorator for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Due to immigration limitations at the time, the rest of the family could not join him until 1925. The family settled in the Bay Ridge area, which was a Scandinavian community, and rather than attending regular school, the children went to classes simply to learn the English language. After one year, Peter felt comfortable speaking English and enrolled in regular school. He also began working as soon as he could. He did deliveries and worked in a soda shop. In America, the family continued to keep Norwegian traditions and began attending Bethany Lutheran Church in Brooklyn. To Peter, the Church felt like a second home, serving as a source of encouragement as well as a place for social activity. When he got older, Peter worked on Wall Street in an accounting department and as a runner and was also a clerk at the Bethlehem Steel Shipyards. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army and served for three years, following, which he attended and graduated from Long Island University. In 1948, Peter decided to move to Alaska, where he stayed for one year and worked for Birch Johnson Telecorporation, after which he took a job with the military government in the South Pacific for two years. On his way to Alaska, Peter had stopped in Seattle, WA, and that was where he first met Helen Field. Helen and Peter were later married in Moorehead, MN, where Helen was from. Helen was half Norwegian and half Danish. In 1952, Peter and Helen moved to the west coast, where Peter worked for the Food King chain and then for the post exchange system out of Fort Lewis, WA and Portland, OR. In 1969, they moved to Alaska and taught school for eight years. Peter taught the fourth grade, some business classes, accounting, and on-the-job training programs, while Helen taught elementary school and home economics. Peter and Helen have returned to Norway once and continue to cook traditional Scandinavian foods as well as using the Norwegian language. They also attend Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Tacoma, and Peter is a member of the Sons of Norway.

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Lineage:
Full Name:	Peter (Per) Geirhart Danielsen
Father:	Daniel B. Danielsen
Mother:	Julie P. Hansen Espevik
Maternal Grandfather:	Martin Hansen Espevik
Brothers and Sisters:	George (Gunnar) Danielsen Solveig Danielsen Finn Danielsen
Spouse:	Helen E. Field

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Selected Search Terms This collection is indexed under the following headings
Personal Names
	Danielsen, Peter Danielsen, Daniel Espevik, Julie P. Hansen Espevik, Martin Field, Helen E.
Family Names
	Danielsen family Espevik family Field family
Geographical Names
	Rjukan (Norway) Brooklyn (New York) Tacoma (Wash.) Moorehead (Minn.) Alaska Bay Ridge (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Subjects
	Family -- Norway Norway -- Emigration and immigration Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Tacoma, Wash.) Marriage Service Bergensfjord (Steamship) Long Island Union (New York, N.Y.) Bethany Lutheran Church (Brooklyn, N.Y.) School attendance -- United States Christmas Norway -- Social conditions -- 1945- Birch Johnson Telecommunications (Alaska) Bethlehem Steel Shipyards (New York) Norwegian-Americans -- Ethnic identity Elks (Tacoma, Wash.) Freemasonry (Tacoma, Wash.) Sons of Norway (Tacoma, Wash.) World War, 1939-1945
Occupations
	Interior Decorators Soldiers -- United States Teacher -- Alaska
Genre/Form
	Oral history
Institution
	Pacific Lutheran University. Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection

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Partial Interview Transcription

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.

020 PERSONAL BACKGROUND: Name is Peter Geirhart Danielsen. Born in Rjukan, Norway on March 31, 1915. Rjukan is located in the center part of Southern Norway near Porsgrunn. This is where the Germans made heavy water during WWII. There was a hydroelectric plant.

066 PARENTS: Father was Daniel Bernard Danielsen and his mother was Julie Hansen Espevik. His father was an inspector for the hydroelectric plant in Norway and in the U.S. he was the interior decorator for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His mother was a housewife.

098 GRANDPARENTS: Maternal grandfather owned a large farm in Porsgrunn, Norway that the Germans cleared all the buildings off of and made into an airstrip. He had a motorboat that he would take Peter out in.

140 DANIELSEN NAME: At one time he heard that their family's name was Holm. When Peter came to the U.S. his name was Per but the teacher in Brooklyn changed it to Peter.

185 GROWING UP IN NORWAY: Remembers playing, swimming, skiing, and berry picking. They lived in Krager� on an island called Tat�y. They were always down at the water or in the winter times they would be on their snow sleds. Sometimes they had to pay the bigger boys to play in certain areas. They would play ball.

265 SCHOOL: Started at age seven and went for three years. They went at least ten months.

285 REASONS FOR COMING TO AMERICA: His father came in 1921, four years before the rest of the family. There wasn't too much America talk in their home. His father would send money home. His father settled down with an aunt in Brooklyn, New York. They couldn't go with their father because of the limitation on immigration at that time. The rest of the family came in 1925.

358 BROTHERS AND SISTERS: Gunnar, Solveig, and Finn.

365 FEELINGS LEAVING NORWAY: They were renting their house. Peter cried because they couldn't take the cat. Peter was almost 10.

388 TRIP TO U.S.: Went from Tat�y to Krager� and took the boat to Oslo. They stayed in Oslo with an aunt one night and caught the Bergensfjord the next day.

400 LUGGAGE: They took furniture, bedding, and almost everything they had. Packed in the old-house round-topped trunks.

418 BERGENSFJORD: Old, safe, efficient ship. Very comfortable. All five of them were in one cabin.

450 SHIP TRAVEL: Crossing the North Sea was rough. Left March 21 and got to the U.S. March 31. The Atlantic Ocean was calm the entire trip. He thinks they stopped in Bergen, Norway and picked up some Danish people. For the five of them the crossing cost about $250. Made a stop in Halifax, Canada.

520 ELLIS ISLAND: Led to the see the medics. Got coffee with sugar, which they never had before, and some sandwiches. They waited a few hours.

535 MEETING FATHER: He was like a stranger to Peter. From customs they went to Bertha and Uncle Hans' place in Bay Ridge, New York. Father had a place.

557 FIRST IMPRESSIONS: He remembers learning his first English from the kids asking "What's your name?" He was numb, had no impressions.

590 FATHER'S WORK: He worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art doing painting whenever new pieces were bought.

620 LANGUAGE: They didn't go to school that year. They all went into classes just to learn.

640 COMMUNITY: Bay Ridge, Brooklyn was a Scandinavian area, but they lived in an area called Little Italy with the Italians. The immigrant groups were very well defined. Strong national identities. There were a few fights that broke out. There was lots of support within the community. Some of the women worked in "sweat shops" sewing for $1 a day in their homes.

710 HOME IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: A very nice upstairs apartment with 6-7- rooms a with a big porch and backyard. They lived there from 1925-1927 and then they moved to their own home in Bay Ridge. They paid about $12,500 for it.

750 CHILDHOOD IN U.S.: They had a bicycle. He took a job as soon as he could. He delivered chickens, groceries, and meat, worked in a soda store, and sold soda from his wagon. He also sold newspapers. Soon he had three bicycles.

800 PREJUDICES: They felt prejudice against them. They weren't invited to certain affairs and hearing people talk about them. Lots of jealously. The Norwegian community took root in the Italian community.

845 SCHOOL IN NEW YORK: They went to the regular classes. Everything was in English. He knew his math. The teachers were nice. After one year he felt comfortable with English. They were pretty quiet until then.

880 LANGUAGE USE: They spoke Norwegian in the home. He mother and his aunt went to immigrant English classes at Bay Ridge High School, but it didn't last for long. The kids spoke English between themselves or used whichever word seemed to fit best.

910 CITIZENSHIP: Father had to wait for five years to get his first papers. Father became a citizen in 1931 and all his children under the age of 15 became citizens under his papers. The two older children had to take out their own papers. Later Peter asked for his own papers. He had to take a loyalty test.

947 DEPRESSION: The kids all worked hard and still they couldn't afford meat for 3-4 days. Only heard of one Danish man, Mr. Madsen (?) that returned because of the Depression. He had trouble getting out because there was no record of him coming in.

985 SCANDINAVIAN TRADITIONS: Celebrated the same holidays. The churches in Brooklyn, New York kept up the traditions too.

993 CHURCH LIFE IN NEW YORK: He practically lived in church. He was there Sunday morning for Sunday school, Sunday services, Sunday evening for services, Wednesday evening for services, and Friday night for Luther League. In Norway, they hadn't had a full-time minister, they had a bedehus where the minister only came once and a while. They went to Bethany Lutheran Church in Brooklyn. The church was a source of hope and encouragement for the immigrants. He liked to go. It was a social place too. They had a Norwegian service once a month.

1045 CHRISTMAS IN NEW YORK: That was the big holiday. They would make up food baskets and go out and give it to the poor people. People donated their time to the church. The church was his second home. At home they had a big tree and walked around it singing songs on Christmas Eve. They had lutefisk and cooked rice with sugar and cinnamon for Christmas Eve. There was lefse and lots cookies. There were lit candles on the tree and they made paper decorations. They had presents under the tree.

1110 HOLIDAYS: They would go on picnics to the nearby parks. There was Prospect Park, Sunset Park, and out to Coney Island.

SIDE II

004 BAY RIDGE: He talks about the location of the various ethnic groups in New York. Bay Ridge is one of the last places remaining the same.

043 SCANDINAVIAN ORGANIZATIONS: Every country had their organizations. His parents didn't belong to this but his mother was involved in hospital groups - Martha Maria Foreningen. He would go some Saturday nights for their programs at the Sons of Norway. His mother's group would help in the hospital.

115 WWII: He enlisted in the Army. After getting to see some places outside of Brooklyn he realized Brooklyn wasn't for him. He had thought that the Dodgers and baseball were everything. He enlisted in 1942 right after Pearl Harbor when he was 26.

175 WORK IN NEW YORK: He had worked on Wall Street in an accounting department and as a runner. He was a clerk at Bethlehem Steel Shipyards. They were very busy during the war. He didn't have time to spend the money he was making.

230 In 1945 he got out of the Army and went to Long Island University and finished.

235 WEST COAST: Came in 1948 to visit his aunt in Los Angeles, California. This aunt was a housekeeper for the wealthy. She was working for Mrs. Slavik (?). What he really wanted to do was go to Alaska. On his way to Alaska he stopped in Seattle and met his future wife.

288 ALASKA: Stayed there for one year and worked for Birch Johnson Telecorporation (?).

297 SOUTH PACIFIC: Took a job with the military government there for almost two years.

300 Now he felt that he had seen the world. Brooklyn still doesn't appeal to him.

310 MARRIAGE: Married in Moorehead, Minnesota where Helen was from. Helen is half Norwegian and half Danish. She grew up in North Dakota and Minnesota. Her mother came from Denmark and her father from Norway. They didn't have any children.

335 MOVING AROUND: Taught school in Alaska in 196(?). In 1952, they were out west. He was working for the Food King chain and then for the post exchange system out of Fort Lewis and Portland, Oregon. They moved out here because of the nice climate. There is no better place. In 1969, they went up to Alaska to teach school where they stayed for eight years. He taught the fourth grade, some business class, and then to the University of Alaska Accounting Department. He also taught on-the-job training programs. Helen had elementary and home economics.

405 VISITS TO NORWAY: It took 53 years to return. Very little had changed. They left on a Sons of Norway trip from Vancouver, B.C. to Gardermoen in Oslo. It was fun and they want to return. He got along fine with the language. There were a few problems understanding the younger children.

480 NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE USE: He would speak Norwegian to his mother. He and his wife would also speak Norwegian sometimes. His mother would write letters to him in Norwegian. Also he would speak it with some of his neighbors.

500 SONS OF NORWAY: They became active in Tacoma.

510 CHURCH IN TACOMA: They go to Bethlehem Lutheran. They have been on the board and Helen belongs to the Circle.

515 OTHER ORGANIZATIONS: He belongs to the Elks and the Masons. They retired five years ago.

533 CONTACT WITH NORWAY: They have distant relatives that they write to. They are invited back.

545 IMPRESSIONS OF SCANDINAVIA: They are very friendly and very clean.

563 He has cousins in Brooklyn still. He is the last one in his family. He has some nieces and nephews.

570 SCANDINAVIAN TRADITIONS: They keep up the traditions food wise.

590 SPOKEN NORWEGIAN: He says that they have it good here in America in Norwegian. He recites I Jesu Navn.

620 IMPORTANCE OF NORWEGIAN HERITAGE: It is very important. At one time he wanted to be buried where his parents were. Has never had a bad moment in Norway, but has had some because of the U.S. His loyalty is to America.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Administrative Information

Scope and Content Note

Biographical Information

Lineage:

Selected Search Terms

Partial Interview Transcription