Christenson, Lydia

2 file folders
1 sound cassette

This interview was conducted with Lydia Christenson on May 17, 1982 in Seattle, Washington. It contains information on family background, emigration, marriage and family, and Finnish heritage. Lydia's oldest son's wife speaks on the tape also. The information was conducted in English.

Folder Contents

Box 8, File 9 Personal and Family History
Tape Archive Sheet, Family Background and Tape Index

Box 8, File 9A Correspondence and Forms
Release Form
Thank you letter from Janet Rasmussen
Handwritten Tape Archive Sheet and Family Background

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

Biographical Note

Lydia Christenson was born on February 12, 1891 in Laukaa, Finland to Otto Savolainen and Hilma Kerurolaine. Her father was a businessman, and there were four other children in the family. Lydia attended school for four or five years, but attendance was not mandatory, and the children were taught how to read and write at home also.

Lydia immigrated to the United States when she was eighteen years old. She came with a group of teenagers from her neighborhood and planned on returning to Finland. Upon her arrival, Lydia began working at a laundry in Connecticut and then became a housekeeper in Worcester, Massachusetts. In Worchester, Lydia met her husband, Amund Christenson, at the Assembly of God church. Amund was originally from Norway and became a preacher. They had five children together: Arthur, Ray, Arnold, Enoch, and Elaine.

Through the years, the family lived in various towns throughout the Midwest, and Amund could be compared to a travelling evangelist. Amund passed away while they were living in Missoula, Montana, and Lydia then moved to Seattle, where Arthur and Ray lived. She bought a small house and got a cooking job at Fredrick and Nelsons, retiring at age sixty-five. Lydia has not been active in any Finnish organizations, but has made two trips back to Finland and cooked some traditional Finnish foods for her family throughout the years.

Lineage

Full Name: Hilma Lydia Christenson
Maiden Name: Hilma Lydia Savolainen
Father: Otto Savolainen
Mother: Hilma Kerurolaine
Brothers and Sisters: Otto Savolainen, Lauri Savolainen, Elli Savolainen, Liisa Savolainen
Spouse: Amund Christenson
Children: Arthur Paul Christenson, Raymond Christenson, Arnold Christenson, Enoch Rudolph Christenson, Elaine Mariam Christenson