book review: Wisconsin My Home

Wisconsin My Home, the Story of Thurine Olesen as told to her daughter Erna Oleson Xan is an imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press. It was originally published in 1950. I am not sure, but it reads as if the narrative was originally collected as an oral history, and then transcribed and roughly polished up for publication. It may even have been self-published at first.

Thurine Oleson was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants, the first child of their family born in America. Unlike many other immigrants, Oleson's family did not leave Norway to better their lives. They were, in fact, well-to-do farmers in Norway who emigrated because everyone was doing it. They settled in central Wisconsin just after the Civil War in a community with many other Norwegian immigrants, a large number of them friends and relatives from back home. Their life in Wisconsin started out being much harder than their previous life had ever been, and it sounds as if Olesen's mother never stopped regretting the move.

The narrative progresses in essentially chronological order, while each chapter is organized around general themes, for example Norway, America, Cooking, Church, Childhood, Neighbors, Courtship, Kinfolk, Children and a couple of chapters that are even more specific to Oleson's life. Because the stories were collected over time (or so I believe) there is some repetition in different chapters. Reading it was a little like listening to your grandmother talk: "And then there were the Jones girls, Gladys and Dolores. You remember them, don't you? Oh, they were wild ones."

I lived in Norway for a year, and hung out for a while with a guy who traveled around Wisconsin collecting oral histories of Norwegian-American fiddlers, so I found the book to be interesting with its descriptions of Norwegian customs and a smattering of Norwegian words that I could understand. I especially liked Oleson's talk about dance parties. They were her favorite form of entertainment, but her husband, who was 5 years older than her, had made a vow to his pious mother that he would give up dancing (which was considered by the Lutheran elders to be sinful.) Oleson had some spirit though; while her husband was away logging in the north woods every summer, she would kick up her heels and go dancing. And she continued to show that spirit all through 55 years of marriage -- yay!

I also liked that Oleson was neither overly sentimental nor overly critical. It really was a chronicle of her life, good times and bad. There were friendships, enduring marriages, and joyful times. There were also abusive marriages, illness, and death. They were all part of a life.

This is definitely a niche book, not for everyone. If you are interested in the Midwest immigrant experience written in a more literary style, I suggest two excellent books by Carrie Young: The Wedding Dress (a book of short stories) and Nothing To Do But Stay (written about her own mother's experience as a farm wife in the Dakota Territory.) There is also the classic Giants in the Earth, although it is rather grim as I recall.

(Cross-posted at the Spring Reading Challenge)