Thyra Haugen Interview, August 9, 1977

Thyra Haugen describes how her family emigrated from Copenhagen, Denmark, to the United States and her childhood Minneapolis, Minnesota during the 1890s. She talks about the chores she did, attending school, and working as a clerk in a store when she was a teenager. Haugen discusses moving to Great Falls, Montana, with her husband in 1897, how marriage was an expectation for women, and how most wives found jobs to help support their family. She recalls her involvement with the Order of the Eastern Star, which included organizing social events to support the women’s suffrage and prohibition movement. Interviewee reminisces about living in Choteau, Montana, the birth of their seven children, and working in her husband’s general store. Haugen concludes by describing the interactions between the white Choteau residents and the Native American, African American, and Chinese American communities in the area. She also recalls the drought of the 1920s and 1930s. When this interview was conducted, the interviewee requested to remain anonymous in the transcript and audio. Archives and Special Collections has chosen to lift this restriction now that the interviewee is deceased.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/mtwomen_oralhistory/1031/thumbnail.jp