OLSON SISTERS:
An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Olson Sisters, creator. | |
| Title: | Olson Sisters papers. | |
| Dates: | 1895-1979 (bulk 1900-1924). | |
| Language: | Materials in English and Norwegian. | |
| Abstract: | News clippings and published items, programs, recording agreements, and photographs of Eleonora and Ethel Olson, Norwegian-American singers and comediennes. | |
| Quantity: | 0.4 cubic feet (1 box and 1 folder in partial box). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Eleonora Olson (1870-1946) and Ethel Olson (1885-1943) singers, musicians, and comediennes specializing in Norwegian-American dialectic performances from 1900 to 1924. Originally from Chicago, they were closely identified with Minneapolis. They toured with the Skovgaard Concert Company and recorded for the Victor Talking Machine Company. Ethel married Dr. Reuben M. Peterson in 1923. In 1925 they published a collection of humorous stories entitled Yust for Fun, which was republished in 1929 and 1979. They were sisters of Jacob Alexander Bing, also a well-known performer.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Olson Sisters Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 16,487
Processing Information:
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Catalog ID number: 990073771070104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| P2760 | Newsclippings and published items, undated, 1902-1933, 1979. | ||||||||||
| Includes posters, photocopies of articles, biographies, and compilations about the Olson Sisters and their family; also includes an original watercolor entitled The Old Woman from Sogn (sketched for Victor Record No. 72183); and two serials, The Voice of the Victor (August 1924), and The Sons of Norway Viking (October 1979). | |||||||||||
| Programs, undated, 1901-1915. | |||||||||||
| Includes program for Tenth Assembly Cedar County Chautauqua Association (Tipton, Iowa, August 1915). | |||||||||||
| Recording agreements with the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company and the Victor Talking Machine Company, undated, 1920-1923. | |||||||||||
| Eleonora Olson photographs, undated, 1900-1924. | |||||||||||
| Ethel Olson photographs, circa 1895-1920. | |||||||||||
| Eleonora and Ethel Olson photographs, undated, 1910-1924. | |||||||||||
| Includes images of Jacob A.O. Preus, Herbjorn Gausta, Paul Preus, and Dikka Koren | |||||||||||
| Family and friends photographs, undated, 1904-1905. | |||||||||||
| Includes images of Axel Skovgaard, Jacob Alexander Bing, and Christina Nelsen. | |||||||||||
| 132.H.6.1B-2 | Broadside of Victor Records featuring the Olson Sisters, 1924. | ||||||||||
| Includes photographic reproduction as well as original. | |||||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Norwegian Americans.
- Norwegian American singers.
- Women comedians.
- Document Types:
- Photographs.
- Posters.
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