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Vivian L. Rousu History assignment 3/18/03 Interviewed by: Anna Hewitt 0-1 Y2 A little about her parents lives before they were married and before the children were born. 1 Y2 -2 Growing up in Starbuck, MN. Lived on a Dairy farm. School and her brothers and sisters. 2 Y2- 5 Mother died when she was 15, and she had to take care of her brothers and sisters. Sister was given away when her mother died. Other sister was taken care of by her godmother. 5-6 Depression. Had best crop ever in 1932 and in 1933 worst ever. 1934 her dad came out to Washington to find a place after he sold MN farm. Bought the land and home in Monroe. 6-6 Y2 Driving from MN to WA. 2 cars and she had to drive over the mountains. 6 3/4 - 9 Fresh fruit gave them hives because they weren't used to it. Walking to school and picking strawberries. Raspberries and blackberries. 9- 12 Cried all the time when she moved here. Weather here was better than MN. Dirty 1930s in MN. Dad wasn't used to the kind of farming here. Sold cords of wood for extra money. She came out from MN at the end of her junior year. Tough to change schools. 12- 14 Looking for a church in new community. Being welcomed by community. Started going to the Covenant Church. Played the pump organ for services. 14 Y2 -14 3/4 Could never get her husband to go to church with her, but her kids did. 15 - 18 Worked in the hospital after graduation. Got married and continued to work at the hospital. Met her husband in high school where he sat behind her. His father was brought into the hospital the day she started working there and she met his family. Lived with her husband's family after they got married. 18- 19 1/2 Later worked at a confectionary and soda fountain during the summer. 191/2- 22 Y2 Start of the war she gets a job at Safeway part-time. Worked there for 33 years. Manager years 1942-46 while the men were at war. 22 Y2- 24 Y2 Had first child in 1948. Got someone to watch him while she was at work. 24 Y2 -25 Was never scared to have kids, but difficult for her. 25- 26 Day care for first child. Took a year off after the second son was born. Stayed home until oldest went to school. 26 - 28 Sons well behaved and got along well. Gifts. 28 Y2 - 32 Second son got married after high school. First son was in college. She kept working at the store. Worked so they could have health insurance. Husband had to get his leg amputated. Son had to do farm work for them. Husband was a changed person after the surgery and became angry. 32 Y2 - 35 Husband had diabetes. Went to Virginia Mason to learn about his diabetes. 35 V2- 40 Growing up was tough. Never had a vacation until her oldest son was a junior in high school. Drove back to Minnesota. Kids had a party at the house while they were gone. Husband would drink, so he wasn't the best example. Didn't know how the kids got the beer when they were gone. Kids in sports. 41- 43 Shoplifters at Safeway. Story about 2 kids shoplifting. Shoplifting doctor. 44- 47 1978 husband died. All alone, just retired and kids were away. Health problems leading up to husband's death. 47- 49 Y2 Had to buy livestock to support themselves when she was pregnant. Borrowed money for purchase. Purchasing land. 50- 52 Was her dad's right hand man when she was young. Started milking cows when she was 7 years old. Delivered milk when she was 13. Milked by hand. 12 cows. 52 V2 -53 Feed for the cows. 53-54 1/2 She was supposed to be a boy, so she could help her father. And brothers in the war and sisters in the service.
Object Description
Rating | |
Title | Rousu, Vivian Oral History Interview, 2003 |
Interviewer | Hewitt, Anna |
Date | 2003-04-22 |
Description | 181 minute oral history with Vivian Rousu, conducted for a Women in the West (HIST 398 course at Washington State University). She talks about her early childhood and being raised on farm in Minnesota. She moved to Monroe, Washington with father and siblings after the death of her mother. After high school, she worked in a hospital until she married. She began working at Safeway in 1941, managed it during World War II, and worked there for over thirty years. Her first husband died of diabetes, but she remarried two years later. She describes their travels and her community activities. |
Subject | Farm life; Rural women; Divorced women; Working mothers |
Coverage | North and Central America--United States--Minnesota--Pope County--Starbuck; North and Central America--United States--Washington (State)--Snohomish County--Monroe |
Type | Sound |
Genre | Interviews |
Publisher | Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries: https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc |
Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
Rights Notes | In copyright. Item is in copyright until 95 years after 2011 publication date. |
Identifier | ua262b06f68 |
Source | Is found in Archives 262, Women in the West Oral Histories https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/finders/ua262.htm at Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc |
Holding Institution | Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries |
Contributors | Digitization and description funded through a National Endowment for the Humanities We the People grant for Washington Womens History to the Washington Womens History Consortium, a part of the Washington State Historical Society. |
Language | English |
Digitization | Original audio cassettes were converted to wav files using Audacity and a USBPre interface. Mp3 files were then created from the wav files for online access. Film clips were created as mpeg-4 files using Adobe Premiere Elements 9 to add selected images to the wav audio files. Print documents were scanned to pdf format using a Xerox Workcentre 5030 copier/scanner. |
Description
Title | ua262b06f68_Abstract |
Full Text | Vivian L. Rousu History assignment 3/18/03 Interviewed by: Anna Hewitt 0-1 Y2 A little about her parents lives before they were married and before the children were born. 1 Y2 -2 Growing up in Starbuck, MN. Lived on a Dairy farm. School and her brothers and sisters. 2 Y2- 5 Mother died when she was 15, and she had to take care of her brothers and sisters. Sister was given away when her mother died. Other sister was taken care of by her godmother. 5-6 Depression. Had best crop ever in 1932 and in 1933 worst ever. 1934 her dad came out to Washington to find a place after he sold MN farm. Bought the land and home in Monroe. 6-6 Y2 Driving from MN to WA. 2 cars and she had to drive over the mountains. 6 3/4 - 9 Fresh fruit gave them hives because they weren't used to it. Walking to school and picking strawberries. Raspberries and blackberries. 9- 12 Cried all the time when she moved here. Weather here was better than MN. Dirty 1930s in MN. Dad wasn't used to the kind of farming here. Sold cords of wood for extra money. She came out from MN at the end of her junior year. Tough to change schools. 12- 14 Looking for a church in new community. Being welcomed by community. Started going to the Covenant Church. Played the pump organ for services. 14 Y2 -14 3/4 Could never get her husband to go to church with her, but her kids did. 15 - 18 Worked in the hospital after graduation. Got married and continued to work at the hospital. Met her husband in high school where he sat behind her. His father was brought into the hospital the day she started working there and she met his family. Lived with her husband's family after they got married. 18- 19 1/2 Later worked at a confectionary and soda fountain during the summer. 191/2- 22 Y2 Start of the war she gets a job at Safeway part-time. Worked there for 33 years. Manager years 1942-46 while the men were at war. 22 Y2- 24 Y2 Had first child in 1948. Got someone to watch him while she was at work. 24 Y2 -25 Was never scared to have kids, but difficult for her. 25- 26 Day care for first child. Took a year off after the second son was born. Stayed home until oldest went to school. 26 - 28 Sons well behaved and got along well. Gifts. 28 Y2 - 32 Second son got married after high school. First son was in college. She kept working at the store. Worked so they could have health insurance. Husband had to get his leg amputated. Son had to do farm work for them. Husband was a changed person after the surgery and became angry. 32 Y2 - 35 Husband had diabetes. Went to Virginia Mason to learn about his diabetes. 35 V2- 40 Growing up was tough. Never had a vacation until her oldest son was a junior in high school. Drove back to Minnesota. Kids had a party at the house while they were gone. Husband would drink, so he wasn't the best example. Didn't know how the kids got the beer when they were gone. Kids in sports. 41- 43 Shoplifters at Safeway. Story about 2 kids shoplifting. Shoplifting doctor. 44- 47 1978 husband died. All alone, just retired and kids were away. Health problems leading up to husband's death. 47- 49 Y2 Had to buy livestock to support themselves when she was pregnant. Borrowed money for purchase. Purchasing land. 50- 52 Was her dad's right hand man when she was young. Started milking cows when she was 7 years old. Delivered milk when she was 13. Milked by hand. 12 cows. 52 V2 -53 Feed for the cows. 53-54 1/2 She was supposed to be a boy, so she could help her father. And brothers in the war and sisters in the service. |
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