Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
This wooden chair joined the museum's kitchen display after Elvera Johnson purchased it at an auction in 1973. It is quite ordinary in character, ordinary enough it evoke familiarity in many museum patrons.
Elvera Johnson had a knack for sniffing out everyday items that spoke of the times. The Aloha coffee tin and blue Monarch cocoa canister are just two items that Elvera acquired at auctions and estate sales with the express purpose of donating to the museum.
There are many elements involved in keeping a museum. When I first began offering my archival skills to the Eddy County Museum, my primary task was to document each artifact and enter it into a spreadsheet database. With more than 3,000 artifacts on display, it was a daunting task. However it had been attempted before, in a notebook, years before computers and digital spreadsheets were accessible. Elvera Johnson had begun lists of items that resided in the schoolhouse.
If you recall, the Hulbert Schoolhouse was the first building to be placed on museum grounds. It would make sense then that in the first years of the museum, that every donated artifact from that era would have ended up in the schoolhouse. Just take a moment to imagine hundreds of artifacts piled in the museum. That's the collection Elvera was working with.
It was a collection that Elvera knew well. In fact, many of the tags had her name listed (although with various spellings.) I expect she was a collector herself.
Elvera was an Anderson, the daughter of Henning and Ida, and was born in Sheyenne in 1901. She graduated from Sheyenne High School, and later earned a teaching certificate from the Valley City Teachers' College. After teaching in several rural schools in the Eddy County Area, Elvera married Carl A Johnson.
As a member of both the Pioneer Daughters and the Eddy County Museum Board, Elvera had a profound impact on the museum we know and love today. She donated nearly 50 artifacts to the museum. While there were certainly shares of hats, gowns, and feathered plumes, many of the artifacts donated by Elvira were male-oriented. Hats, ties, cuffs and a cummerbund came from both Elvera's father, husband, and father-in-law. There were also shaving mugs, serving cutlery, hole punches, blotters and even an awl for poking holes in leather. She provided a beautiful selection of school-oriented items such as a teacher's chair and a tin of Dover Dustless chalk.
Evidence suggests that many of the items Elvera donated were ones she purchased from estate sales. Two of the ladies hats from the Victorian-Era within the museum collections, Elvera acquired from the estate sale of Mrs. Nuetzel. The white wooden chair that now resides in the "kitchen" of the depot, was once purchased at an auction.
Elvera even teamed up with others to restore purchased items. The tag upon an antique baby walker conveyed that the walker was repaired by Elvera in tandem with William Seiler and Josephine Seiler. She also helped Elsie Kerr to organize her postcard collection before its donation to the museum.
The volunteer time that Elvera offered the community extended to the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd as well. In May of 2001, at the age of 99, Elvera was recognized as having been the longest serving and oldest volunteer. In that time, she sent over 600 letters of sympathy to families. She passed away in October of 2001.
In the coming weeks, look for more contributions made by members of the early board that oversaw the beginning of the museum.
