Interviewer
Whitney Gaskill
Files
Description
Alfred Suneson describes his family’s history starting with the immigration of his father’s parents from Sweden. He reminisces about how his grandparents met and married in Sioux City, Iowa, before moving to Montana to homestead. He talks about the Suneson Ranch in Missoula that his grandparents owned and how they farmed using draft horses and kerosene lamps before modern machinery and electricity were introduced. He also mentions the Suneson family’s close friendship with their neighbors, the Randolphs. Suneson offers anecdotes about his father’s childhood which include growing up in rural Montana during the early 20th century, attending the Lutheran church regularly, getting caught in a terrible blizzard, and suffering from rheumatic fever. He tells how his father later attended Montana State University in Bozeman and worked as a plant reader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in California. Suneson recalls visiting his grandparents at their Montana farm and listening to his grandfather’s stories about the Old World.
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Document Type
Oral History
Subjects
Swedish immigrants, Montana; Farmers, Missoula, Montana; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Randolph family, Missoula, Montana; Ranchers, Missoula, Montana
Original Date
4-18-2007
Time Period
Twentieth century
Geographic Coverage
Montana
Language
eng
Original Collection
Northside Oral History Project, OH 414, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula
Digital Publisher
University of Montana--Missoula. Mansfield Library
Rights
Copyright to this collection is held by the interview participants and by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. Permission may be required for use. For further information please contact Archives and Special Collections: (406) 243-2053 / library.archives@umontana.edu
Oral History Number
OH 414-005
Media Type
Sound; Text
Original Format
1 sound disc (56:24 min.) : digital, + 1 transcript (16 p. : 28 cm.)
Digital Format
audio/mp3; application/pdf
Run Time
56:24 minutes
Local Filename
OH_414_005.mp3; OH_414_005.pdf
Citation
OH 414-005Suneson, Alfred, "Alfred Suneson Interview, April 18, 2007" (2007). Northside Oral History Project. OH 414-005.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/northside/1