Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 01/Josephine Peterson

Overview
Josephine Peterson was a Swedish woman who immigrated to America when she was thirty years old. She spent her life providing for herself and her family by taking jobs wherever she could find them. Peterson lived through the Great Depression while living in Alabama, which was, as an immigrant, hard on her economically. She was interviewed for the Federal Writers' Project in 1939.

Early Life in Sweden
Josephine Peterson was born in 1872 on a densely wooded island in Sweden, in a village called Skogby (meaning, “Forest Village”) to Karin and August Peterson. She was taught “reading, writing, and some arithmetic” by her parents, and could read fluently at age five. This was common among Swedish children, as the Lutheran Church required that all children be able to read and write. When she was seven years old, Peterson taught “others who were much older than [she was].” Being the eldest child in the family, she was eventually needed at home to help her mother take care of her younger siblings, during which she “made rapid progress in [her] studies”. After completing public school and Confirmation school, Peterson began to look for ways in which to earn a living, as there were four younger children still at home who needed support. Her foremost desire was to become a school teacher, but because she was not wealthy, she had to take whatever job she could find. She learned the skill of dress-making, and worked as a seamstress for several years. However, the job did not provide enough money to live on, and Peterson decided to leave for Stockholm, Sweden in 1889.

Life in Stockholm, Sweden
In Stockholm, Peterson found a position as a seamstress in a “small dressmaking establishment” which made formal clothing and gowns for the “ladies of the court” and “other prominent people.” She worked for the company until the late 1890s. It was typical for new immigrants to take up smaller, temporary jobs before settling down into a permanent location and job. In 1898, Peterson wished to become a missionary. She took a course to prepare her for the task, but at its completion, was turned away due to her lacking the strength needed for the strenuous nature of missionary work. She, through connections from her friends at the missionary training school, became head of the department in charge of making children’s clothing and nurses’ uniforms at an institution for crippled and handicapped children. After about three years of living in this home, Peterson received a letter from her uncle, who lived in Mobile, Alabama. The letter was sent to ask Peterson to come live with her uncle and his wife, as two of their children had died as adults, and the third child was in “Government service.” She was familiar with Mobile, as three of her mother’s brothers lived in Mobile at various points in their lives, and another of Peterson’s uncles lived there intermittently while he was a sailor. It was very difficult for Peterson to leave the children at the institution, whom she had come to know and love.

Life in Mobile, Alabama
After visiting her parents for a few days, Peterson left her home on September 17, 1902. She had originally intended to only spend several years in Mobile before coming back to Sweden to marry her fiancé, but just a few years after Peterson moved to Mobile, her fiancé passed away. She took the standard route for emigrants of Sweden who wished to go to North America: she took a train to Gothenburg, then a boat to England, then another boat to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From there, she boarded a train to Louisville, Kentucky, where she waited from ten A.M. to ten P.M. for a train to take her to Mobile, Alabama. Josephine arrived in Mobile on October 8, 1902. She was told by her uncle’s wife that she must “get out and earn a living,” after she was fully rested from her journey. She then worked as a “house girl” at several different houses to earn money, learning English and performing tasks. In 1903, Peterson’s uncle sold his house, and he and his wife, who was in poor health, left for Sweden. They apologized for not having the money needed to bring Peterson along, but she had not yet seen enough of America to go back to Sweden. She continued to work at different families’ houses, while still studying English. She continued to study even after she was employed by Mobile Dye Works, which was Peterson’s first office job; Peerless Laundry; the Mobile Truck Company; as a bookkeeper for R. O. Harris, Company; and the People’s Ice Company.

Marriage Life and the Great Depression
Peterson married her husband in 1929. Peterson’s husband was in the U.S. Lighthouse Service for approximately thirty-five years. When she and her husband married, he was living off of his pension. After only nine months of marriage, her husband died of cancer in February of 1930. Though her hands became affected by rheumatism, which caused her to give up playing the piano and violin, she could still sing, so she decided to take up vocal study. After seeing a homeopathic doctor, Peterson regained some use of her hands. She then went back to work for the People’s Ice Company again for a year until her health caused her to quit. After two years, Peterson was finally able to look for work again, and she decided to attend a business college to “renew [her] stenography and typing,” but was unable to find any work when she applied to various jobs due to the Great Depression. During the Depression, every job offering to which she applied rejected her, with the reason being that they already have too many people employed, which was a common issue for the working class during the Depression. Because Peterson spent a great deal of money on doctors in 1934 to help with her health, she then had to apply for the Works Progress Administration in order to be able to eat.

As of 1939
Since then, Peterson has spent her time singing in church choirs, translating Scandinavian texts into English, “reading to the sick and blind in any of [her] four languages,” and other “self-appointed jobs” that provide no money, but provide her with great satisfaction.

The Great Depression (1929-1933)
The Great Depression was a period of intense worldwide economic hardship that began in the United States with the stock market crash of October 29, 1929. At the height of the Great Depression in 1933, unemployment in America reached approximately 25%. Many people lost their jobs and homes due to drastic monetary deflation, lowered or nonexistent wages, bank failures, debt, failing farms, and an increased demand for a decreased amount of available jobs. The Great Depression impacted migrant and foreign workers the most, as they already faced lower wages and prejudice at the hands of employers and native employees. The Great Depression is regarded as the most severe economic crisis in American history.

Nativism and Prejudice Against Immigrants in America
With the rise of immigration near the end of the American Industrial Revolution came mixed responses from Americans. While many Americans were tolerant of the new surge of immigration, there were some natives who held prejudice against them. Immigrants often found themselves facing stereotyping and discrimination at the hands of citizens, including employers. Immigrants were often paid less than native workers, and women were paid even less. There was significant social tension regarding the relationship between Americans and immigrants. Many groups formed in protest of immigration. One such organization was known as the “Know Nothing Party,” a nativist, anti-immigration, anti-Catholic (because many immigrants at the time were Catholic) group whose goal was to “restore their vision of what America should look like” by promoting American self-reliance, Protestantism, and temperance. This party officially lasted from 1844 to 1860, but its influence remained for decades after, influencing how Americans thought of and treated immigrants.

References and Resources

 * Abelson, Elaine S. ""Women Who Have No Men to Work for Them": Gender and Homelessness in the Great Depression." Feminist Studies 29, no. 1 (Spring 2003). https://www.jstor.org/stable/3178478?seq=1.
 * Blanck, Dag. "Swedish Immigration to North America." Augustana College. Last modified 2009. https://www.augustana.edu/swenson/academic/history.
 * Boissoneault, Lorraine. "How the 19th-Century Know Nothing Party Reshaped American Politics." Smithsonian Magazine. Last modified January 26, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/immigrants-conspiracies-and-secret-society-launched-american-nativism-180961915/#eGyUxXWirFxclpYr.99.
 * "Great Depression." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified September 16, 2001. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression#United_States.
 * History.com Editors. "Great Depression History." HISTORY. Last modified October 29, 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/great-depression-history.
 * Högmans, Hans. "Swedish History." Hans Högmans Släktforskning. Last modified December 14, 2019. https://www.hhogman.se/the-emigrant-journey.htm.
 * "Immigration to the United States." Library of Congress. Accessed July 12, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/immgnts/.
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 * "Scandinavian America." Library of Congress. Accessed July 8, 2020. https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/scandinavian7.html.
 * Tapia Granados, José A., and Ana V. Diez Roux. "Life and Death During the Great Depression." PNAS. Last modified October 13, 2009. https://www.pnas.org/content/106/41/17290.