Letters from Norwegian immigrants who settled in Washington state, written to Kirsti and Lars Kinsarvik back home in Norway. The letters span more than a decade in the lives of these families and describe events both in the United States and Norway. The 15 letters vary in length and were typed in 1974 from the original letters. The papers in the folder are copies. The letters are in Norwegian and are written between November 1908 and November 1932. All letters are written by Per and Martha Røthe except for one written by Ingeborg Sivertsen. All the letters are to Kirsti and Lars Kinsarvik who are living in Norway.
Detailed description
The first letter starts with a description of the new home that Per and Martha have just built. The letters also describes Per’s feelings about leaving Norway, and how glad he is to have moved from Wisconsin to Washington. Their new home is called Varalid, and is lying next to one of the small fjords in Puget Sound. They have moved there to get some peace and to get away from the city. The first letter describes the climate and the area around their home place. Lars was an artist and Per describes where he has hung the paintings he got from him. The next letter, from 1911, tells more about their new home and their new fruit trees and chickens. The rest of the letters comment about food in America and about the industrialization of Norway, in which he mused on the changes in urbanizing Norwegian society and the great migration of rural Norwegians to the cities. The letter from June 25, 1913 starts with Per’s reactions to reading “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by Shakespeare in New Norwegian. The rest of the letter regards Per’s view on happenings in the hometown. The next letter, from November 1913 starts with two pages regarding the people working in industry taking over Norway from the farmers. The next page contains Per’s comments about how well America has made it, even though the population in America started with all the people that could not live in Europe. The last part of the letter regards what Per has been doing in the last months. Except for a very short letter from 1914, the next letter is from November 16, 1915. This letter describes problems Per and Martha encountered due to World War I. The letter also describes the work Per is doing on Varalid. The last page of the letter contains a comment from Per about the situation in Europe, and how bad the situation is for mankind.The next letter is from July 4, 1917 and is marked by the fact that Per’s illness is not getting any better. The rest of the letter is a comment about the war and America's entry into it. The letter from November 1,1917 is the first letter in the collection written by Martha. Per is too sick to write letters so Martha writes for him. The letter describes Lars’ paintings hanging in Varalid, and how glad they were when they heard that Lars was trying to paint them another. Both the letter from Oct. 1918 and from July 1919 are clearly marked by Per’s sickness, and he is just able to wrote a couple of paragraphs. He comments about the Germans after the war, and what people are doing in America after the war.The letter from January 1, 1920 is written by Martha, but is dictated by Per. Per’s father has just died and the letter thanks Lars for speaking in the father’s funeral. Per has been sick for the last two years, the letter describes Per's failing health, and how grateful he is for having Martha by his side.The next letter is from March 1922 and is written by Ingeborg Sivertsen. The letter gives a brief update to Lars and Kirsti about what has happened to Ingeborg’s family lately. The collection also contains an undated letter. This letter is written by Martha and describes her homesickness and that Per is still sick. One letter written in November 1922 by Per describes a news clipping about Pastor M. A. Pedersen, who was in India. The last letter is from 1932 and is written by Martha. Both Per and Lars are dead now, and the letter is written to Kirsti. The letter expresses thanks for letters from Norway and describes what Martha is doing after she became a widow.
