"To Prove to You I Haven't Forgotten My Norwegian" The Audio Letters of Owen Veum

Abstract

Letters are important historical sources, not only for their textual content, which expresses a vast range of human interactions and thoughts, but also as a social practice. Immigrant letters, broadly defined, include all correspondence related to international
migration. This article examines the collection of audio letters recorded by Owen Veum, a second-generation Norwegian in the United States. The audio letters were recorded between 1969 and 2001 and sent to relatives in Norway. In 2015, the letters were donated to the Vestland County Council Archives.
The aim of this article is to discuss similarities between the written letters of Norwegian immigrants to the United States and the Owen Veum tapes. The Owen Veum tapes, though audio rather than written, provide a unique perspective on Norwegian emigration history. They document the life of a second-generation American with Norwegian immigrant parents and offer insights into a Norwegian-speaking community in the state of Wisconsin in the United States. The collection highlights the diversity of historical sources and the adoption of audio recording technology by immigrants.