WWII: VICTORY IN EUROPE: D-Day to V-E Day Celebrated Across the Globe, May 5, 1945

         

Victory in Europe Day meant the long march from Omaha Beach to Berlin was over.

My Dad, Melvin Kallman, would be coming home.

Thank you Dad, Uncle Arnold Sevald, Uncle Howard Johnson, Cousins Soderstrom, Jacobson, Kallman and all the others who served. Members of "The Greatest Generation".

1950 U.S. Census - Paul Sevald Family in Chicago, Illinois

 In the U.S., to protect the privacy of individual citizens, by law census records are not released until 72 years have passed. This year, 2022, the 1050 census was released to the public.

April 4, 1950 my grandparents, Paul and Dagmar Sevald are living in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Their address is 2420 N. California. My uncle Arnold is still at home while my mother Grace has married just six months earlier.

• line 8 Sevald, Paul, head, white, male, 55, married, born in Norway, naturalized citizen, worked 40 hours in the last week, machinist in a tool and die shop

• line 9 Sevald, Dagmar, wife, white, female, 49, married, born in Norway, naturalized citizen, worked 40 hours in the last week, assembler in a radio factory

• line 10 Sevald, Arnold, son, white, male, 24, never married, born in Illinois, worked 40 hours last week, assistant supervisor, paper mill

It is good to note how many people are now working as opposed to the 1940 census which was done during the "Great Depression" and pre U.S. entry in WWII. 

**click on photos to enlarge for easier viewing**

Arnold Calvin Sevald - Veteran's Day

 Today is Veteran's Day. This photo was posted online by my cousin, Arnold's son. Just a teenager, Arnold served in the Navy during World War II. Today our country is deeply divided and it shames me. It does not however diminish the pride I have for those who served and those who died to maintain our democratic freedoms. I pray that long may my country and home, the United States of America be the

 "LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE".

My Favorite Uncle
Arnold Calvin Sevald
1925-1983 

Thank you all who have served!

                             

75 years ago World War II ended

May 8, 1945 the Allies celebrated Victory in Europe but the war raged on in the Pacific. August 15, 1945 Emperor Hirohito declared unconditional surrender of Japan. After 60 Million deaths worldwide, WWII was finally over.

It was over and my uncle, Arnold Sevald, serving in the US Navy on the ship "Tinsman" would be coming home safely. August 15, 1945, he was 19 years old.

Thank you!
Uncle Arnold Sevald,
Father Melvin Kallman,
Uncle Howard Johnson,
Cousins....
Richard Peterson,
Hugo Milton Alvine,
Evald Artur Kallman,
Harry Soderstrom,
William H. Liljegren,
Gustave Arthur Jacobson,
Robert Harry Jacobson,
William Olson,
Robert Lee Johnson

and all the young men of "The Greatest Generation" for their sacrifice and service.

Who are these ladies?

A photo taken on a 1937 visit to Norway. It is not the best quality but I do recognize the little boy as my uncle Arnold Sevald. My great grandmother Gunhild is all the way on the left and my grandmother Dagmar is behind Arnold in the white dress. I really wish I knew who the other two ladies are? Gunhild did have three sisters; Helene Marie b. 1871, Olava b. 1878, and Valborg b. 1887
Any ideas?

Gunhild, ? , Dagmar, ?
Arnold
Skien, Norway 1937

update: The woman between and behind Great grandma Gunhild and Uncle Arnold is Margot Skaugen Øvald. She is great grandma Gunhild's daughter in law, the wife of grandma Dagmar's brother Finn. In 1937 Finn, Margot and their son Nils were living upstairs of my great grandparents on Vinjesgate in Skien. Thank you Arild!

Uncle Arnold saves Thanksgiving

My mom died in the spring of 1975. That Thanksgiving my Dad thought he would do Thanksgiving as we always had done. He invited my Uncle Arnold who was my Mom's divorced brother and my husband and myself. I had been married maybe two years at this time. I have to give my Dad credit that he was trying to keep the holidays the happy festive family time they always had been. He was going to do Thanksgiving for us all, all by himself.

It should be noted that my Dad came from a different time and place than men do now, He brought home the paycheck and my Mom took care of all the household duties. Their husband/wife division of duties was very clear cut and very traditional. When my Mom passed my Dad had no clue how to even boil water. I gave him a recipe for stovetop chili. My Uncle Arnold lived in Dallas Texas but his ex wife and kids were in Minnesota so between places he would often swing by our house. He told me once "please teach that man another dish!. All he eats is chili. The pot stays on the stove constantly and he just keeps adding more stuff to it! If I never again have chili it will be too soon!"

Thanksgiving was a good 6 months after Mom's death and Dad seemed so proud and confident of his abilities. "I don't need any help he said proudly." As we arrived I saw potatoes and veggies simmering on the stove, buns and stuffing ready to go into the oven. Pretty impressive for a guy who half a year ago had no clue how to turn on the burners. "I don't smell the turkey yet" said my Uncle Arnold who snuck a peek into the oven. "Mel,,,,this turkey is raw! How long have you been cooking it?"  "20 minutes" said my Dad confidently, "just like the instructions said." Uncle Arnold just looked at him incredulously, "20 minutes a pound is what it said and this turkey must weigh 18 to 20 pounds!".

Well, Uncle Arnold put the veggies on hold and reset the oven. We had our Thanksgiving later than expected but we all had a good time laughing over Dad's cooking ability and reminiscing about all the great family Thanksgivings we had in the past with Mom and those future holidays which may be different but also promised to be good in their own way.

1973 Mom and her brother, My Uncle Arnold

December 7 1941 - Pearl Harbor Day

75 years ago today the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the US entered World War II. Quite a few young men in our family, the sons of immigrants, found themselves called to defend our country. I believe that for my immigrant family the bombing of Pearl Harbor may have been the truly defining moment. We were now above all and forever after, Americans.Very few veterans of that war are still with us. The WWII veterans of our family are also all gone.  In their honor tell their story to your children and grandchildren today.

Here is the story of my favorite uncle, my mother's brother Arnold Calvin Sevald. 

My Norwegian grandfather Paul Sevald stepped off the boat unto Ellis Island August 1, 1923. August 16, 1923, he filed his intent to become a United States citizen. When his son was born two years later he named him after the current president, the 30th, Calvin Coolidge. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec 7 1941, Arnold immediately joined the Navy. A parent had to sign for him. Knowing his father would not and his mother's English was poor he tricked her into signing. He had just turned 16 in September of that same year. He served as a sonar detector on the U.S.S. Tinsman. Most importantly to me.........he came home.

my maternal uncle

Arnold Calvin Sevald

b: 18 Sep 1925 Chicago, Illinois USA

d: 26 Nov 1983 Dallas, Texas, USA

 

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead, who never to himself hath said, 

This is my own, my native land!  - Sir Walter Scott 1771-1832

Legacy of Love, Joy and Laughter

This is my absolute, hands down, favorite photo of my Mother, Uncle, Grandmother and Grandfather. The Sevald Family. It is a posed portrait studio but none the less it shows the true nature of the family. Joy. How often in older photos so you see everyone smiling? My grandparents leaning in toward their children and each other, my mothers hand on her father's knee and my uncle standing proudly behind grinning widely. This was a happy loving family. And they all knew how to laugh,.... lots. That is the sort of legacy I am most thankful for today.

@1937 Chicago, Ill- The Sevald Family;
Paul Dagmer Arnold & Grace

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Sibling Saturday - Arnold and Grace Sevald

When they went to the studio in Chicago for family photos, they had to return another day as the photographers camera malfunctioned. Arnold forever after teased his sister Grace..."Your face broke the camera!".   Just like a brother.

     my mom Grace Gunhild Kallman 1927-1975

my uncle Arnold Calvin Sevald 1925- 1983

***click on photo to enlarge for easier viewing***

Dagmar's Stories - Arnold's "sensitive" hearing

remembering one of the many stories my grandmother Dagmar shared with me

December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Hawaii and America entered World War II. Dagmar's son (my uncle Arnold) had just turned sixteen the previous September.

Dagmar's beloved Norway had been invaded and fell to the Nazi army in April of 1940. King Haakon VII had escaped and was in exile in London. Dagmar's small immediate family in Chicago were cut off from their extended family in Skien, Norway. Until the war's end they would have no clue as to the fate of their family in occupied Norway.

Dagmar's son, Arnold was one of the many patriotic American young men (and women) who enlisted after Pearl Harbor. Perhaps because his Norwegian uncles Rolf and Oddvar, who he had been close to, had both worked as sailors, Arnold chose the Navy.

The problem was that Arnold was underage. He was only a junior at Kelvyn Park High School in Chicago. He needed a parents signature to enlist. My grandfather Paul's English was good and he never could have been persuaded to sign such a consent for a young boy. Dagmar, who rarely left her immigrant neighborhood, spoke poor English. Arnold tricked his mother into signing consent and was inducted before she realized what had happened.

Spitting mad at Arnold, but more in fear for her only son, Dagmar took the "L" downtown and got on a train headed for Boston. She would NOT be dissuaded until Arnold was home.

Dagmar came home the next week proud that she had "talked to Arnold's commanding officer himself". She had explained, in her thick Norwegian accent, that Arnold was unfit for service. As a child he had broken both his eardrums playing with firecrackers and his hearing was very "sensitive". She felt she had fixed the situation and certainly the Navy would send the boy home where he belonged.

The Navy promptly made Arnold Sevald, with the "sensitive" ears, a sonar operator on one of its cruisers in the South Pacific.

U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949, Ancestry.com, Original data - Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy  Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities, 01/01/1939-01/01/1949;  A-1 Entry 135, 10230 rolls, ARC 594996. Records of the Bureau of Naval Personal

Arnold did return home after the war and got his high school diploma. Uncles Rolf, Oddvar and the remaining family in Norway also survived the war.

 my Uncle 

Arnold Calvin Sevald

     b. 18 Sep 1925  Chicago, Illinois

d. 26 Nov 1983 Dallas, Texas

*click on photos or documents to enlarge for easier viewing*

1940 US Census - The Sevald Family Chicago, Illinois

I explore a census record and list the genealogical clues it contains (or doesn't)

1940 US Census - Chicago, Illinois - The Sevald Family: Paul, Dagmar, Arnold and Grace

lines 24, 25, 26 and 27  These are my grandparents Paul and Dagmar Sevald and their children. My uncle Arnold and mother, Grace.

*The family lives at 2432 Harding Ave. and have since at least 1935. This is good considering the depression. The family remains in what was a predominantly Scandinavian immigrant neighborhood (Logan Square). They no longer have boarders living with them. Although the children are now in their teens and need more "space" I would think if finances were still tight boarders would be a necessity to keep their apartment.

*Arnold and Grace are 14 and 13. They are both in the 7th grade. I had expected to see Arnold in the 8th grade at this age since he will be 15 in Sept. He may have been left behind a grade or as was common with immigrant children their parents enrolled them both in school together. My mother had told me that she spoke no English until she went to school. Both are still in school which is encouraging. The depression had not made it necessary for them to find work at this young age for the family to survive.

*Paul and Dagmar had both finished 8th grade in their education. It is marked that Paul gave the answers for the family so it may be possible that he finished 8th grade but I don't know. His mother died when he was 14 and he may have been schooled until that time but my grandmother told me she quit school at 12 (very common for the times in Norway) to serve as a cook for the crew on her fathers boat.

*Paul is now a naturalized American but Dagmar is not. She will become an American during WWII which was very common for immigrants who had procrastinated in the past. During wartime they became citizens as a form of solidarity or "proving" loyalty and fidelity to their new home. The women immigrants in particular I have seen became citizens during WWII. Perhaps in support of their sons who were serving?

*Paul works as a mechanic (machinest) in a printing factory and worked 44 weeks of the year. I am sure he did not vacation for 8 weeks. Most likely layoff due to the depression. It states Dagmar did not work except in her home but she told me and also Uncle Arnold told me that she took domestic type work on and off to help. I am guessing not so different from today, immigrant women working "under the table" for cash at less than the prevailing wage.

*Paul earned $1585 in his work. A pittance today but seems in line with his neighbors in the area.

Unfortunately the 1950 US census will not be available to the public until 2022. I expect to see a phenomenal difference in the lives of my family during that time. Children will both be grown and married. My uncle will have served in the Navy. The country as a whole will have changed a LOT, pulling out of the depression to WWII and then post-war recovery and boom. 

Can't wait to see it.

*click on documents or photos to enlarge for easier reading"

1930 US Census Chicago, Illinois - The Sevald Family

This Sunday I explore a census record and list the genealogical clues it contains (or doesn't)

1930 US Federal Census
Chicago, Cook, Illinois

This is the first American census that my grandparents Paul and Dagmar are in



noted from this census:

*This appears to be the first time they have dropped the "sen" from Sevaldsen and have shortened their name to Sevald. Later in September of 1930 Paul will become naturalized and make the name change official.
*Address is 1807 N. California Ave. which at this time is a mostly a Scandinavian immigrant neighborhood. They rent one apartment of this two flat building for $50 a month. The owner of the building occupies the other unit. This was no more than a 3 bedroom apartment and they have 4 roomers with them, a married couple and two single gentlemen.
*They own a radio, important enough to be a question on census records?
*Paul was 26, Dagmar 21 when they married
*Paul is said to be a "mechanic" at a "printing press". In actuality he was a machinest. He was still at work even though the country is one year into the Great Depression. It states Dagmar is at home which was common, almost universal, for married women at that time. She had worked earlier as domestic help for a rich Danish gold-coast family.
*Dagmar is still an alien but Paul although not quite a citizen does have his first papers or intent to naturalize. It is noted they arrived in 1923. (Dagmar actually immigrated a year later in 1924)
*They have had two children. My uncle Arnold (1925) and my mother Grace (1927).





1807 N. California still stands (2015) just two houses from the elevated tracks. My mother remembered riding the train on Sunday afternoons "for fun". They would go to the end of the line and back again numerous times, each time hollering and waving to their parents as they passed them sitting on the back porch visiting with friends. I am then guessing that they occupied the second floor apartment.

(clicking on photographs or documents will enlarge them for easier viewing)