Interview with Jean Saffarek
https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions12292
- Date Range
- January 14, 1995
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- GMD
- sound recording
- electronic record
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Jean Saffarek (nee Anderson), recorded on January 14th 1995 by Carly Blair. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, .MP3 access file, and a .jpg release form.
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- Creator
- Carly Blair
- Fonds No.
- C5
- Item No.
- 2021.21.71
- Accession No.
- 2021.21
- Physical Description
- 730 MB of digital records
- Date Range
- January 14, 1995
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Jean Saffarek (nee Anderson), recorded on January 14th 1995 by Carly Blair. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, .MP3 access file, and a .jpg release form.
- Notes
- First several minutes of interview are very quiet.
- Type of Record
- Archival Description
Audio Tracks
Interview with Jean Saffarek - January 14, 1995
Interview with Jean Saffarek - January 14, 1995
https://search.bvmuseum.org/media/Digital%20Fonds%20and%20Collections/C5%20BVM%20Oral%20History%20collection/2021.21.71_Saffarek,%20Jean/Saffarek,%20Jean%201995_01_14.ACCESS.mp3
Jean Saffarek (nee Anderson) discusses her family and her early days in Smithers. Her parents came from Sweden to Alberta, where they lost two daughters to diphtheria, before moving to Smithers. (Note: section is very quiet).
Alberta; bathing; carrying water; chores; deaths; diphtheria; house; poplar trees; running water; Smithers; washing
childhood; childhood home; family
Saffarek discusses skiing for fun and to get to school during her childhood in Smithers. (Note: section is very quiet; volume increases around 3:20).
school; Simpson's Gulch; skiing; skis
childhood; entertainment; recreation
Saffarek discusses the deaths of her parents, Axel and Lydia Anderson, when she was a young mother.
Axel Anderson; deaths; illness; Lydia Anderson; parents
Saffarek discusses community events (Christmas concerts, Elks show, Halloween) held in Smithers when she was young.
boy scout hall; Christmas concerts; Elks show; Halloween; movies; outhouses; pranks; theatre; trick-or-treating
community events; Smithers
Saffarek discusses visiting neighbours in Evelyn and bringing laundry up to her father up at Silvern Lake.
Axel Anderson; building roads; chores; Evelyn; Glacier Gulch; hikes; Scandinavians; Silvern Lake; walking
community; laundry; neighbours; outings; socializing
Saffarek discusses attending school in Smithers.
classrooms; Della Carpenter; Della Herman; exercise; Grace Ball; lunch; skiing; Smithers Elementary School
education; school; teachers
Saffarek discusses her working career after graduation, including working at the post office and for the forestry industry.
Central Park Building; forestry industry; Forestry Office; Kilpatrick family; payment; post office; Royal Bank; wages
career; employment; jobs
Saffarek sums up her feelings towards Smithers.
change; community; family; scenery; Smithers
Saffarek describes the education she received as a child, what subjects were taught, and how students were disciplined. She also states that she and her brother may have been the first set of twins born in the first Smithers hospital.
discipline; hospital; left handedness; nurses' house; punishments; school subjects; twins
education; school
Saffarek shares a story about how a milk cow once followed her mother to town. She then describes the chores that were done on a typical day during her childhood.
breakfast; clearing rocks; cow; food preservation; milking cows; picking berries; refrigeration
Axel Anderson; chores; Lydia Anderson; normal day; parents
Saffarek briefly discusses her parents' lives and personalities.
adopted out; church; dancing; religion; women's organization
Axel Anderson; Lydia Anderson; parents