Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Emma Christiansen travel diary
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Emma Christiansen travel diary
- Date
- 1926 (inclusive)
- Creator
- Christiansen, Emma E., 1895-1981
- Extent
- 0.04 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Göteborg (Sweden)
- Travel -- Personal narratives.
- Voyages and travels
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged by format. The Wade Hall Collection of American Letters has been processed into discrete collections based on provenance.
- Preferred Citation
- 2009ms132.0193: [identification of item], Wade Hall Collection of American Letters: Emma Christiansen travel diary, 1926, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Emma E. Christiansen (1895-1981) was born in Louisville, Kentucky to Danish immigrants Andrew Christiansen (1858-1923) and Johanne Christiansen (1856-1919); she was the youngest of three children, her siblings were Mary (b. 1893) and Henry (1892-1911). Emma worked as a stenographer and never married.
- American Letters collector Wade Hall (1934-2015) was a native of Union Springs, Alabama. Starting in 1962, he lived in Louisville, where he taught English and chaired the English and Humanities/Arts programs at Kentucky Southern College and Bellarmine University. He also taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Florida. He held degrees from Troy State University (B.S.), the University of Alabama (M.A.), and the University of Illinois (Ph.D.). He served for two years in the U.S. Army in the mid-fifties. Dr. Hall was the author of books, monographs, articles, plays, and reviews relating to Kentucky, Alabama, and Southern history and literature. His most recent books include A Visit with Harlan Hubbard; High Upon a Hill: A History of Bellarmine College; A Song in Native Pastures: Randy Atcher's Life in Country Music; and Waters of Life from Conecuh Ridge.
- Scope and Content
- The Emma Christiansen travel diary (dated 1926; 0.04 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprises a diary by Emma Christiansen that documents her travels to Norway and Denmark in the summer of 1926. In the diary, she describes her trip from Louisville, Kentucky to New York City, where she will board the ship, and the friends she ran into along the way. Emma provides a description of the ship she is sailing on, the Bergensfjord, through the Norwegian America line, and life on board during the crossing. She discusses the excitement among the passengers, crew, and public after discovering that Arctic explorer Roald Amundsen would be on their ship to return to Norway after becoming the first man (undisputed) to reach both poles. Upon reaching Norway, Emma describes the parade for Amundsen, churches she visited, meals, hotels stayed in, and family that her and her sister Mary visited. Emma visited many landmarks in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Gothenburg, and described the differences she noticed in each place compared to America. Emma also details her visits to relatives, describing their homes, the scenery, attending church, helping with chores, playing with children, and attending a funeral at one point. Finally, Emma describes her return trip to the United States on the ship Frederick VIII from the Scandinavian America Line, including movies seen, families met, and what her stateroom looked like. At the end of the diary, Emma lists incidents that occurred while on board and on land, such as someone entering their stateroom at 3:30 in the morning, addresses of friends and family, a genealogy of her uncle's family, and autographs from friends and family. On the very last page and interior of the back cover of the diary, is a drawing of the polar basin with a marked starting point of Amundsen's journey possibly and a pullout map of the world with markings where Emma's ships sailed.
- The Emma Christiansen travel diary are part of the Wade Hall Collection of American letters, which includes correspondence and diaries from all over North America covering the time period of the Civil to Korean Wars. The materials were collected by Wade Hall and document everyday men and women.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- The collection is open to researchers by appointment.
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Table of Contents
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
