Olsen, Jonhaga

Olsen, Jonhaga

• 1983-01-17 (Creation)

2 file folders
1 sound cassette

This interview was conducted with Jonhaga Olsen on January 17, 1983 in Seattle, Washington. It contains information on Jonhaga's family background, emigration, work, marriage and family life, and community involvement. The interview was conducted in English.

Folder Contents

Box 10, File 8 Personal and Family History
Tape Archive Sheet, Family Background and Tape Index

Box 10, File 8A Correspondence and Forms
Checklist and Release Form
Letter of inquiry 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: Fair. Sound occasionally fades as microphone moves around.

Biographical Note

Jonhaga Olsen was born on July 23, 1897 in Finnjord, Troms, Norway. Her parents were Anton Kristian Olsen and Olena Olsen, and she was one of nine children. After her confirmation, Jonhaga immigrated to America when she was fifteen. Her aunt, Ingeborg Jørgenson, lived in America and decided to take Jonhaga back with her when she came to visit her sister's family in Norway. Ingeborg lived in Astoria, Oregon, and Jonhaga stayed there with her, learning English and helping her aunt with the housework. She also held housework jobs for other families but was very lonesome. She was active in the Sons of Norway, but only because her aunt was also.

When a cousin from Minneapolis came to visit, Jonhaga decided to return to her. In Minneapolis, she found a job at a clothing mill and met her future husband, Hans Frederick Olsen. Hans was a typesetter, and his parents had emigrated from the same place in Norway as Jonhaga had. Hans and Jonhaga had four children: Howard, John, Lorraine, and Joanne. Jonhaga never returned to work after she was married, and she and children became active with the choir and Sunday School and Christ Lutheran Church.

After spending several years in Minneapolis, the family moved to Sacramento, California due to Jonhaga's asthma. They later moved to Oregon, but when Hans could not find work, they went to Seattle, where he got a job at the Foshay Towers. Jonhaga moved into a home in 1981.

Lineage

Full Name: Jonhaga Olea Olsen
Maiden Name: Jonhaga Olea Olsen
Father: Anton Kristian Olsen
Mother: Olena Olsen
Maternal Grandfather: Jørgen Olsen
Brothers and Sisters: Bergen Sørstad Olsen, Jørgen Olsen, Toralf Olsen, Alf Olsen, Gudrun Olsen, Anne Victoria Olsen, Else Olsen, Hannah Olsen
Spouse: Hans Fredrik Olsen
Children: Howard Fredrick Olsen, John Allen Olsen, Lorraine Helen Olsen, Joanne Olsen