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3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
Madeline Bengston Family Papers Swedish-American family, East Greenwich, R.I. Papers, 1884-1940 Size: 0.5 linear feet Catalog number: MSS 994 Processed by: Rick Stattler, December 1996 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
Madeline Bengston (1907-1996) was a Swedish-American woman who lived in East Greenwich, R.I. It appears that she was the daughter of Swedish immigrants John Albert Bengston and Alma K. Olson, who were married in 1904. Donated along with her papers were numerous books of popular sheet music, from which we can infer that she was an avid cornet player (these books were not retained). From her papers, it appears that she was the daughter of Swedish immigrant Adolph Bengston. She had an uncle, Carl "Ben" Bengston, who removed to Nebraska. Madeline graduated from the East Greenwich Academy in 1925, and for the next fifteen years was employed at the Rhode Island Insurance Company in Providence before being laid off. She never married.
Scope and content:
This collection includes three diaries kept by Madeline Bengston, as well as scattered other personal papers. There are also several letters in English and Swedish addressed to her mother Alma (Olson) Bengston, mostly before her marriage. Some of these letters are from her future husband; others appear to be from a woman she worked as a maid for. A large number of postcards are addressed to and from various family members, including many written from overseas. There are also documents and other memorabilia relating to the immigrant experience.
Provenance:
Processing note:
Some photographs and other visual material may be in the Graphics Division.
Inventory:
Folder 1. Pocket diary, 1931
Diary, 1935-1939
Diary, 1940-1944
Folder 2. Personal account/memorandum book, 1938-1958
School records, East Greenwich Academy, 1921-1925 (6 items)
Red Cross Home Nursing certificate, 1943
Rhode Island Insurance Company correspondence (5 items) 1925-1940
Report card for Swedish school in East Greenwich, 1919
Letter from Elizabeth Regan, 1942, apparently a Red Cross instructor
Typewriting speed certificate, 1925.
North Park College - Sunday School teaching certificate, 1932
Family papers:
Folder 3. Letters in English to Alma Olson, from Elizabeth L. Treat Babcock
and to J. Albert and Alma (Olson) Bengston, 1938.
Folder 4. Letters in Swedish to Alma Olson, 1895-1906
Including several from future husband Albert Bengston
Folder 5. Family postcards in English, 1910-1924
Folder 6. Family postcards in Swedish
Folder 7. Money orders from Sweden, 1895-1902
Folder 8. Documents:
Charles Bengston naturalization, 1892
Alma Olson documents (in Swedish), 1884 (copy) and 1895
and U.S. inspection card, 1895
Olaf Larsson document (Swedish), 1902
Death notices of C.E. "Ben" Bengston, 1961,
and Irene A. Bengston, ca. 1917.
C.E. Bengston certificate, World War II war work, 1945
Folder 9. Miscellaneous, in English:
Newspaper clipping re Swedish Congregational Church in Campello, Mass.
Wedding announcement, John Albert Bengston and Alma Olson, 1904
Receipt from dressmaker, undated, possibly for wedding dress.
Lock of hair
Poem by Edna Peterson
Loose addresses of friends
Folder 10. Miscellaneous, in Swedish:
Newspaper clippings, recipes, pamphlets, etc.
Folder 11. Various Swedish newspapers, 1895.
Subjects:
Diaries - 1931, 1935-1944
East Greenwich Academy
Emigration and immigration - Rhode Island
Rhode Island Insurance Company
Swedish-Americans - Rhode Island
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RIHS1822