Miller, Hilma

Miller, Hilma

• 1981-08-25 (Creation)

3 file folders
1 photograph
1 sound cassette

This interview was conducted with Hilma Miller on August 25, 1981 in Astoria, Oregon. It provides information on family background, marriage and family, emigration, employment, and Finnish heritage. The interview also includes a photograph of Hilma. The interview was conducted in English.

Folder Contents

Box 3, File 21 Personal and Family History
Tape Archive Sheet, Family Background, and Tape Index

Box 3, File 21A Correspondence and Forms
Release Form
Handwritten Tape Archive Sheet and Family Background

Box 3, File 21B Photographs
One photograph

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.

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

Biographical Note

Hilma Miller was born on January 25, 1893 in Joutsa, Finland, which is located in the central part of the country. Her parents were Gusta and Rikkina Laitinen, and Hilma had one sister, Anna. Gusta also had five other children and Rikkina had another daughter from their previous marriages. Hilma's family did not have a lot of money, and Hilma went to work when she was eleven years old. For seven years, she worked at various farms with her sister.

When Hilma was nineteen, she met her husband and was married. They immigrated to America one week after their wedding, settling first in Virginia, Minnesota. Hilma's husband found work at a sawmill, and they remained there for eight years. During that time, their first daughter, Lila, was born. The family then moved to Lost Lake, North Dakota, where Hilma's husband took care of a farm for three years and their second daughter was born.

In 1922, they moved to Astoria, Oregon, where Hilma's husband had hoped to go fishing but became a longshoreman instead. Hilma, on the other hand, worked as a short order cook, making Finnish food. She also became involved in Peace Lutheran Church and the Finnish Brotherhood. She returned to Finland once in 1960.

Lineage

Full Name: Hilma Miller
Maiden Name: Hilma Laitinen
Father: Gusta Laitinen
Mother: Rikkina Laitinen
Maternal Grandmother: Liisa
Brothers and Sisters: There were nine children.
Children: Lila Miller