Berg, Emmy

3 file folders
4 photographs
1 sound cassette

This interview was conducted with Emmy Berg on May 12, 1982 in Seattle, Washington. It contains information on family background, emigration, employment, marriage, community involvement, and Swedish heritage. The interview also includes photographs of Emmy as a young woman, Emmy with her dance group, and Emmy at the time of the interview. The interview was conducted in English with some Swedish towards the end of the interview.

Also see Carl Albin Berg.

Folder Contents

Box 8, File 6 Personal and Family History
Tape Archive Sheet, Family Background and Tape Index

Box 8, File 6A Correspondence and Forms
Release Form
Handwritten Tape Archive Sheet and Family Background

Box 8, File 6B Photographs
Four photographs

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

Carl Albin Berg oral history interview

Biographical Note

Emmy Berg was born on January 3, 1892 in Transtrand, Dalarna, Sweden to Edward Erickson and Ina Anderson. Edward worked for the state, providing transportation for those in need, and Ina died when Emmy was young. Emmy and her sisters, Kristina and Anna, were raised by their paternal grandparents.

Emmy attended school until she was confirmed at age fifteen, and in 1909, she decided to immigrate to Tacoma, Washington, where Kristina had settled two years earlier. Emmy spent one year housekeeping in Tacoma and then moved to Seattle with her sister Anna, who had emigrated after Emmy. Emmy continued to do housework in Seattle and then moved to Portland, Oregon, where she worked for a wealthy family during the day and in an ice cream parlor in the evenings.

In 1915, Emmy went to the World's Fair in San Francisco and stayed there for one year before moving back to Seattle. In 1917, Emmy rented a restaurant in Tacoma with a Norwegian woman named Mary Davis. They ran the business for two years. At that time, Emmy married Carl Albin Berg and moved to Port Angeles, where they had their only son, Roy David.

They later built a house in Seattle. Roy does not speak Swedish, but Emmy did maintain some of the traditional Swedish cooking. Through the years, Emmy has been very involved in Swedish organizations. She has been the Vice President of the Swedish Club, President of the Vikings, and Financial Secretary of the Vasa Order. Emmy also started a dance group called the Swedish National Dancers.

Lineage

Full Name: Emmy Johanna Berg
Maiden Name: Emmy Johanna Erickson
Father: Edward Erickson
Mother: Inga Anderson
Paternal Grandfather: Erick Erickson
Brothers and Sisters: Kristina Erickson Bellmark, Anna Erickson Anderson
Half-Sister: Karin Larsback
Spouse: Carl Albin Berg
Children: Roy David Berg