Skip to main content

Guide to the Ole R. Blindheim collection.

 Collection
Identifier: OPVSIEmss_264

Scope and Contents

The first folder contains: A newspaper add in the Washington Post for 1 June 1939 for Kristoferson’s Dairy greeting Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha of Norway to Seattle, A clipping dated about 1928 about Blindheim’s dairy winning first prize in a contest, A clipping dated 15 April 1941 entitled “Norwegian Ship Engineer Flies Here for Visit After 33 Years” about Anton and Ole Blindheim, brothers, reuniting after thirty-two years, A clipping with a picture advertising a performance by Ole and his grandson, Dale, at the Tacoma YMCA. The second folder contains early snapshots: Ole as a child, Ole’s mother circa 1910, Ole’s grandparents Mikal and Gunhild Blindheim (Ole’s father’s father from Nordfjord), Ole’s father Rasmus Mikelsen and his third wife, Ole and Anna Blindheim’s wedding picture from 1919, Ole and Nick in Alaska about 1909, Ole in 1909 during the Alaska Yukon Exposition, Ole wearing a cowboy hat with a group of men in front of Smyser’s Hotel in Chatanika 1910, Nick and Ole in the mines, two pictures of the Ester Creek mine shaft, Blindheim family in front of the old homestead, Anna and Ole with Agnetta and Alvin about 1938, mining pictures, picture of a stainless steel truck trailer for taking milk from Sequim to Seattle by ferry daily about 1946, picture of John Peterson, Gus Carlson, Walter Barton, and manager Ole Blindheim in front of La Villa Dairy, Nick and Ole Blindheim in Fairbanks, Ole on Blueberry Hill. The third folder contains more recent, color snapshots: Five pictures from Blueberry Hill Farm in Bothell, Washington about 1965, three pictures of the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Christmas Pageant from 1984, 1985, and 1986, ten pictures of Ole, three large pictures of Ole playing harmonica at the Northwest Folklife festival in 1989. The photographs mostly have labels on the back with greater detail.

Dates

  • 1877-1986

Biographical / Historical

Ole R. Blindheim was born in Sunnmøre, Norway, and left in 1907 for America at age sixteen. He lived in California for a year then went to Fairbanks, Alaska, to work in the mines. He moved to Seattle in 1912 and lived there ever since. He entered into the dairy business and around the 1920s he owned the La Villa Dairy plant, which won several awards from the Seattle Health Department for its high quality. He was later vice president of the Kristoferson’s Dairy. He played harmonica. He married Anna and lived to be over 100 years old.

Extent

One Sheets

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Contains three folders, the first containing clippings, the other two containing photographs.

Title
Guide to the Ole R. Blindheim collection
Author
Kerstin Ringdahl and Solveig Roervik
Date
2017
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English
Sponsor
Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by Washington State Library. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Repository Details

Part of the Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection Repository

Contact:
Robert A.L. Mortvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
12180 Park Avenue South
Tacoma Washington 98447 United States