Guide to the Olaf Torgersen Collection
Special Collections & Archives
University Library
California State University, Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8326
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Creator:
Torgersen, Olaf
Identifier/Call Number: OCH.OTC
Extent:
0.23 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1907-1957
Abstract: Olaf Torgersen was born in 1885 in
Larvik, Norway. He left Norway in 1914 to work as a sea captain in China and Hong Kong,
where he captained a number of ships until returning to Oslo, Norway, with his wife in 1951.
The collection contains the personal and professional papers of Torgensen, including
identification cards and passports, his master's certificates and records related to his
service on various ships, and personal correspondence, ephemera, and articles.
Language of Material: English,
Chinese,
Norwegian,
French,
German,
Spanish; Castilian
Biographical Information:
Olaf Torgersen was born in 1885 in Larvik, Norway. He left Norway in 1914 to work as a sea
captain in China, where he captained a number of ships to various destinations around
Southeast Asia. He also met and married Mary Fischer while in China, who had four children
from a previous marriage, including Elsa Shelton Miller. On December 8, 1941, his ship was
captured by the Japanese Naval Forces in the waters near Shanghai. He was imprisoned for a
month in Shanghai before being sent to Sasebo, Japan, for questioning. He was eventually
released in June of 1942, but did not find work again for 3 and a half years. In 1951, he
and his wife returned to Norway and settled in Lillehammer.
Scope and Contents
The
Olaf Torgersen Collection consists of personal and
professional documents related to Torgersen's life as a sea captain in China and Hong Kong.
The collection is divided into three series:
Identification
Documents
(1914-1952),
Career Records (1907-1950), and
Personal Materials (1927-1957).
Series I,
Identification Documents, consists of various vital
records belonging to Torgersen, including his baptismal certificate, two Norwegian
passports, a Chinese sailor's identification booklet, an official Chinese identification
card, a medical information card and a business card.
Series II,
Career Records, contains records relating to
Torgersen's work as a sea captain. Items in the series include letters verifying Torgersen's
service on a number of ships, master's certifications from Norway, China, and Panama
allowing Torgersen to captain vessels, statistics taken regarding a shipping route from
Shanghai to Keelung, and a statement written by Torgersen seeking damages for losses
suffered by him during World War II.
Series III,
Personal Materials, contains miscellaneous
correspondence, ephemera and documents related to Torgersen's life in China and Hong Kong.
Items in the series include membership cards, receipts, newspaper articles, correspondence
about loan assistance, a ticket to the Hong Kong Jockey Club and a postcard sent to
Torgersen in Norway in the 1950s.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Identification Documents, 1914-1952
Series II: Career Records, 1907-1950
Series III: Personal Materials, 1927-1957
Related Material
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Janet Augestad, 08/31/2011
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival
Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Jessica Geiser, 2013
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ephemera
Documents
Photographs
Series I: Identification Documents, 1914-1952
Box 1, Folder 1
Baptismal Certificate
1923 May 23
Box 1, Folder 2
Norwegian Passport
1931-1952
Box 1, Folder 3
Sailor Identification Booklet
1947
Box 1, Folder 4
Identification, Medical Assistance, and Business Cards
1950
Folder 1, Item 1
Norwegian Passport
1914-1915
Series II: Career Records, 1907-1950
Box 1, Folder 5
Service Records
1907-1947
Box 1, Folder 6
Norwegian Sea Captain's Certificate
1917
Box 1, Folder 7
Panamanian Sea Captain's Certificates
1937, 1950
Box 1, Folder 8
Statement Seeking Compensation for Damages Suffered as a Prisoner of the
Japanese During World War II
1946 July 31
Box 1, Folder 9
Shanghai-Keelung-Kana-Keelung Route Information
Folder 1, Item 2
Chinese Sea Captain's Certificate
1947
Series III: Personal Materials, 1927-1957
Box 1, Folder 10, Item 1
Lodge Cosmopolitan No. 428 Life Member's Card
1927 July 15
Box 1, Folder 10, Item 2
Receipt for Binoculars from Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation
Administration
1947 May 24
Box 1, Folder 10, Item 3
Newspaper Article on Captain A.A. Warild
ca. 1949
Box 1, Folder 10, Item 4
Loan Assistance Letter from Norwegian Consulate
1951 April 2
Box 1, Folder 10, Item 5
Receipt for Two Plane Tickets from Hong Kong to Oslo
August 1951
Box 1, Folder 10, Item 6
Ticket to a Hong Kong Jockey Club Event
October 1951
Box 1, Folder 10, Item 7
Postcard to Olaf Torgersen from Harald Odberg
December 1957