Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1981-05-27 (Creation)
Extent
2 file folders
1 sound cassette
1 compact disc
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
The interview was conducted with Emma Mehus Varney on May 27, 1981 at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. It contains information on family background, emigration, marriage and family, community involvement, and Norwegian heritage. The interview was conducted in English.
Folder Contents
Box 3, File 4 Personal and Family History
Tape Archive Sheet, Family Background, and Tape Index
Box 3, File 4A Correspondence and Forms
Release Form
Letter from Janet Rasmussen thanking Mrs. Varney for her participation.
Handwritten Tape Archive Sheet and Family Background
System of arrangement
Interviewed by Morrene Nesvig
Transcribed by Mary Sue Gee, Julie Peterson and Becky Husby
Encoded by Kerstin Ringdahl & Amity Smetzler
Recording Quality: Good
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
Biographical Note
Emma Varney was born on April 11, 1908 in Nesna, Norway, which is located north in Helgeland near Mosjøen. Her parents were Ludvig Mehus and Eva Pedersen Mehus, and Emma had three older siblings: Elias, Henry, and Sigurd. Ludwig was a fisherman, and he immigrated to the United States in 1910, settling first in North Dakota. Due to a bad tornado, Ludwig later moved to Seattle, Washington, where his brother lived. Here, he began fishing again and did construction work on the Smith Tower during the winter.
In 1916, he sent for his family and had a home ready for them in Frigaria, Washington, where he had established a chicken farm. Emma attended her first eight years of school in a one-room schoolhouse and then went to Vashon Island and Seattle for high school. She married James Varney from Quatsino, Canada and has three sons: James H., L. Phillip, and Richard A.
Emma is very active in church and is also a member of Nordlandslaget, Norse Home Guilds, the Order of the Eastern Star, and the Leif Erikson League. She has served on the Board of Directors and as Secretary for the Norse Home Guilds, been a Matron for the Order of the Eastern Star, and served as Secretary for the Leif Erikson League. Emma is proud of her Norwegian heritage, but glad that her parents immigrated to the United States.
Lineage
Full Name: Emma Mehus Varney
Maiden Name: Emma Mehus
Father: Ludvig Mortensen Mehus
Mother: Eva Pedersen Mehus
Paternal Grandfather: Morten Mehus
Paternal Grandmother: Ellen Mehus
Maternal Grandfather: Peder Larsen
Maternal Grandmother: Kristine Larsen
Brothers and Sisters: Elias Mehus, Henry Mehus, Sigurd Mehus
Spouse: James Varney
Children: James H. Varney, L. Phillip Varney, Richard A. Varney