Oral History Program Elda Johansen Interviewed by Marvin Hansen 13 September 1972 i Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Elda Johansen Interviewed by Marvin Hansen 13 September 1972 Copyright © 2012 by Weber State University, Stewart Library ii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in Special Collections. The Stewart Library also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber State College/University Student Projects have been created by students working with several different professors on the Weber State campus. The topics are varied and based on the student's interest or task for a specific assignment. These oral history assignments were created to help Weber State students learn the value and importance of recording public history and to benefit the expansion of the Weber State oral history collections. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Johansen, Elda, an oral history by Marvin Hansen, 13 September 1972, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: This is an interview of Elda Johansen by Marvin Hansen on September 13 1972 for the Weber State College Oral History program. This interview is being conducted at Elda Johansen’s home at 1465 7th street at 8 P.M. MH: Mrs. Johansen, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about your background and when you were born and raised, and what schools you went too. EJ: I was born in South Weber, Davis County. I went to Layton Elementary and Davis High School. MH: Could you give me a little history of what you know of World War II concerning your family and the Ogden area before World War II and during World War II and after World War II? EJ: We were married on October first 1941 and Pearl Harbor was December 7th 1941. We, of course were very concerned about my husband having to go into the army. He was drafted in April. I think it was of 1942. I was not working at the time that he left I worked at the Dee hospital on the switch board until he had finished basic. Then I went to Louisiana to be with him. All I remember about this was how primitive our conditions were. We shared a home with another couple. We had a two bedroom home. We shared the kitchen and the bathroom and the dining room. We did have running water, but it was not heated. The living conditions were very different from what we were used too, I thought I would die before I got home with the heat and the humidity. We were about a mile from the base I think, so transportation was no problem. My husband lived off base, and he was close enough that he could walk. We didn’t have a car. I think we 1 were about five miles from town. We were out in a rural area, and when you get that far outfit really is back woodsy, or at least it was at this time. There were very few homes around. We felt that we were very fortunate to have the house that we had. There were people that were a lot worse off than we were. The only thing that I can remember that was hard to get was the stockings. You couldn't get nylons, and I remember that we painted our legs with a special makeup so that it would look like we had stockings on. When we came home, Ogden had changed considerably and there were a lot more people here. We had a lot of difficulty finding housing. We finally had to be satisfied with federal housing which at best was very poor. During the war there were very few doctors around. It was hard to get in to see a doctor and get taken care of. MH: What was the federal housing like? EJ: It was cinder block. We were in one that had two units side by side or together in one unit. The inside was cinder block as well as the outside. There was no planter or anything like this. It was plain old cinder block walls and cement floors. We were fortunate enough to get two bedroom place. We were a little better off than some people. It was adequate and that is about all. After we came back I went to work for one of the doctors in town and worked until I got pregnant. He was an older doctor and that is why he still was here. We were really busy. Because of the shortages of doctors, we had so many patients. Lots of times we would see 80 people in one day. MH: Was there a hospital at this time and was it adequate? EJ: We had a hospital at this time and it wasn't too large, but I think that it was adequate. The hospital wasn't anything like it is today. I think it had the essentials and it seemed to be right up to date. 2 MH: Can you remember what Ogden was like before the war and during the war? EJ: When we left we could go down town and we would practically know everyone in town. Then when we came back this had entirely changed. There were people that had come into Hill Field and second street and it seemed to have grown a great deal in that time. MH: Were there people that were bitter about Hill Field coming in and taking farm land? EJ: I don't think so because where it was situated there wasn't anything except sand and the sand burs. This is my feeling, and all there was, was sand and it was remote. Second Street might have been different. I don't know that much about it. MH: Were things pretty easy to get at this time? EJ: The only thing that I can remember that we had problems with was sugar and gas, and I guess tires. We seemed to get along all right. I don't recall any problems because of this. We were able to do most of the things that we wanted to. We couldn't travel or go great distances, but to do the things that were necessary. We seemed to be able to do these things. MH: You lived on a farm, and what was it like to live on this farm than living in the city? EJ: Maybe this why we didn't feel the pressure so much. My folks could raise anything that they wanted and we had all kinds of food. We had meat. This is probably why I don't recall any pressures on us. MH: You said that you worked at the hospital and what were some of the jobs that you did? EJ: I was a switch board operator. I worked nights on the switchboard. MJ: Did you see much going on around the hospital? 3 EJ: I didn't see too much because the switchboard was away from the emergency room and operating room. We were out in the front office. MH: Did the hospital seem to function pretty good? EJ: Oh, yes, we were real busy. Of course when I worked up there it was before the people started to come in and before Hill Field had started to grow. I remember after we came back, after the people had started to come in; that they were really rushed. MH: I want to thank you for the contribution that you made to the Weber State College Oral History program. 4