Ola and Minnie Hanson papers, 1890-2004

Collection

Identifier: MSS-Miss-20

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Lost Book: Ola Hanson is a video from 2004 on the Kachin and translating the Bible into their language. It is unclear who made it.

The Nam Mali Laia Na N'htoi book is the Kachin translation of Light in the Jungle: Life Story of Dr. Ola Hanson by Gustaf Sword. It was given to Rev. Tom Stella at Bethlehem Baptist Church from Duwa Zah Bawm.

The Marriage Souvenir book was from Ola and Minnie's wedding in 1890, from Frank and Emma Peterson.

The Greek New Testament was Ola Hanson's book he used to translate into Kachin.

Ola Hanson's pen used in translation is part of this collection.

Two folders of photographs are of the Hansons, as well as the Kachin in Burma.

The Correspondence folder dates between 1913 and 1936, mostly corresponding with J.E. Klingberg and G.A. Hagstrom.

The Homeletik notebook is labeled Oakland, Neb. It is in Swedish.

The Index Scrapbook on Dr. Ola Hanson folder was compiled by David Strand in 1961. It includes lists of the materials in the scrapbooks, with English translations of Swedish writing.

There are five scrapbooks dating between 1890 and 1917. They include mostly newspaper clippings and a few photographs of Sweden.

The loose papers include the 1938 issue of the Bulletin of Bethel Institute, which includes the address by Gustaf Sword on Ola Hanson during Founders' Day. There is also a paper written by Ola Hanson entitled "Slavary [sic] and Human Sacrifices in Upper Burma."

There are two folders of Psalms in Kachin, one holding the original edits made by Hanson during translation.

Dates

1890 - 2004

Creator

Hanson, Ola , 1864-1928 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for researcher use.

Biographical note

Ola Hanson was born in 1864 in Ahus, Sweden. He immigrated to the United States in 1881 to Oakland, Nebraska. He attended what would later be Bethel Theological Seminary both in St. Paul and in Stromsburg, Nebraska. He was ordained at First Swedish Baptist Church in Minneapolis in 1890. That same year, he married Minnie Johnson, who had been born in 1869 in Oakland, Nebraska. They had two children who survived infancy, Leslie and Harold. The couple moved to Burma in 1890 through the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. They worked in Myitkyina, Bhamo, and Namkham with the Kachin people. Ola Hanson developed a Kachin-English dictionary, and by 1911 had finished the New Testament. He completed their Old Testament translation in 1926. In 1929, they returned to America, and Ola died that year at Midway Hospital in St. Paul. Minnie died in 1957 in Philadelphia. They are buried in Oakland, Nebraska.

Extent

1 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Kachin; Jingpho

Swedish

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection was arranged by material type according to the processing archivist's order.

Custodial History

Much of this collection was donated by the Hanson's son, Harold at an unknown date. This includes the Greek New Testament, the Marriage Souvenir, Homeletik notebook, the scrapbooks, and the Psalms in Kachin.