Alm, Ivar

3 file folders
1 sound cassette
1 compact disc

This interview was conducted with Ivar Alm on August 6, 1981 in Tacoma, Washington. The interview contains information on personal data, life in Sweden, emigration, settling in, work in Tacoma, Swedish heritage, and return trips to Sweden. A photograph of Ivar and his wife Edith on their fiftieth anniversary (January 28, 1978) is also available. The interview was conducted in English.

Also see Edith Alm.

Folder Contents

Box 3, File 17 Personal and Family History
Tape Archive Sheet, Family Background, and Tape Index

Box 3, File 17A Correspondence and Forms
Release Form
Letters from Janet Rasmussen regarding Mr. Alm’s participation.
Handwritten Tape Archive Sheet and Family Background

Box 3, File 17B Photographs
Five photographs

Interviewed by Morrene Nesvig
Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky Husby
Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler
Recording Quality: Good

Edith Alm (wife) oral history interview

Biographical Note

Ivar Gottfrid Alm (originally Ahlm) was born on June 15, 1897 in Boxholm, Sweden to his parents Per Gottfrid Ahlm and Elin Sofia Ahlm. Ivar grew up with his seven siblings in the industrial town of Boxholm, but he occasionally lived with his grandparents, Adolf and Christine Anderson, on a large farm.

At the age of 14, Ivar began working in a steel mill; he was promoted to electrical work. In December of 1917 the Army called him to serve in World War I. After the war Ivar quit the steel mill and moved to Linköping. He decided to seek work in America, so he traveled to Tacoma aboard the 'Stockholm' in 1921. Although he initially had a difficult time finding a job because he lacked English skills, Ivar was employed in a variety of places. These jobs included working at St. Paul Lumber, at a boiler house, at the University of Washington, and at Key's Place as a houseboy.

Ivar studied hard to learn the English language; he achieved his electrical degree at the YMCA. To enhance his social life, Ivar joined the Valhalla Lodge. There he met Edith Svensson, whom he married in 1928. Ivar has taken five trips back to Sweden. He still speaks Swedish with friends and participates in the Vasa Club and the Valhalla Lodge to preserve his heritage.

Lineage

Full Name: Ivar Gottfrid Alm
Father: Per Gottfrid Ahlm
Mother: Elin Sofia Ahlm
Maternal Grandfather: Adolf Fredrik Andersson
Maternal Grandmother: Karolina Andersson
Brothers and Sisters: Signe Teresia Larsson, John Gunnar Ahlm, Jenny Maria Nyberg, Karl Elis Valentin Ahlm, Carin Linnea Johannesson, Astrid Ida Viola Ahlm
Spouse: Edith Mathilda Svensson Alm
Children: There were no children