Phyllis Harrison Z 7J ii 3 q
P.O. Box 235
Arvada Co 80001 0 J
Sept. 26, 1987
Jens Lund
Washington State Folklife Council
7510 Armstrong St. S.W.
Tumwater WA 98501
Dear Jens:
Thanks for the letter from the Folklife Council regarding cosponsorhsip of the “Celebration of Puget Sound.”
Regarding the notes on artists for the State Capital Museum exhibit,
I have pulled out the most apropriate names from the people I interviewed las summer. Following is a list of names with a brief description of
the individual’s work.
Al0
Scandinavian: H
ci S. Ji
Solveig and Emile Indrebo (Mr. & Mrs.), Tacoma. Mrs. Indrebo spins ftç,J(.and has a gorgeous spinning wheel she brouht from Norway. She uses her spun wool to knit and crochet. Mr. Indrebo makes Hardanger fiddles. Both are from Norway.
N ic’
Alfred (Al) and Nora Anderson (Mr. & Mrs.), Wauna (near the Purdy Bridge).
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson make tine (Norwegian oval boxes with flat lids). Mr.
Anderson learned from his father, and Mrs. Anderson began helping her
husband when his eyesight began to fail.
Elene Emerson, Tacoma. Mrs. Emerson learned hardanger embroidery from Mary Rice through the Daughters of Norway. Mrs. Rice is from Norway and learned hardanger there. Mrs. Emerson now teaches other women in the Tacoma Scandinavian community. She has several students now. Her work is regarded as very good by others in the community.
Thorlieff (Tom) Hagelund, Bremerton. Mr. Hagelund learned woodcarving
by watching his father work. His father made diamond willow canes, which Mr. Hagelund hasn’t tried. Mr. Hagelund carves animals, model cars, and is noted for his clocks, some of which have handcarved wooden works.
Rugs:
Ethel Fox, Orting. Mrs. Fox has made braided rag rugs as long as she can remember, though she quit making rugs while she was working and resumed after she retired.

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Rugs (cont.):
Kathy Peterson, Arlington. Mrs. Peterson’s great—grandmother made crochet rag rugs, though she never worked directly with her great- grandmother. She began to crochet rugs a few years ago. Hers are very good. Most are rectangular.
Sylvia Skeers (Darrington). Mrs. Skeers learned to crochet rugs about 30 years ago. She makes round rugs and she makes them small so they can be easily washed. She uses a hook carved for her by her husband.
Mrs. Mina Sacho, Bremerton. Mrs. Sacho learned to hook rugs by experiment, from books, and from a neighbor in the Star Auto Camp when she came to Tacoma in 1939. Her name is pronounced sacko.
Needlework:
Mrs. Hazel Holm, Darrington. Mrs. Holm crochets and embroiders, but she is particularly known for her tatting, which she learned from a cousin. Her mother was an excellent tatter, but by the time Mrs. Holm wanted to learn, her mother had lost the knack.
Josephine Miadenich and Ann O’Brien, Ballard. (Mrs. Miadenich lives in
\ \ “%. a nursing home in Lynnwood. Her daughter Ann lives in Ballard.) Both Mrs. O’Brien and her mother create Yugoslavian outwork and embroidery. Mrs. Mladenich also made needlelace. Mrs. M. learned these needle arts as a girl in Croatia and from other women in the Croatian community in Ronald WA. Mrs. M. no longer does needlework because her eyesight has failed. Mrs. 0. hasn’t done any for a while because she has so much of her mother’s work and her own children have samples of her work. However, she still knows how to do the outwork and the embroidery.
Native American:
Edith Bedal, Darrington. Mrs. Bedal is Sauk, and she is an accomplished basket maker. She learned from her Sauk mother. She also knits the traditional socks and hats of the area. Further, Mrs. Bedal is a delightful person with a great knowledge of and concern for the history and traditions of her tribe.
Raymond Fryberg Jr., Marysville. Mr. Fryberg is Tulalip and lives on the Tulalip Reservation. He is a drunmaker and also a regular performer at Pow-wows.
Shannon Pablo, Marysville. Mrs. Pablo is Tulalip and lives on the reservation in Marysville. She is an accomplished beadworker and leatherworker.
Charles (Chuck) Campbell and Cy Williams, Marysville. Both Mr. Campbell and Mr. Williams are Tulalip, and both can often be found in front of the Trading Post on the main highway through the reservation. They create totem poles and traditional figures with chain saws.
Andy Wilbur, Skokomish Reservation, Mason County. Mr. Wilbur is an accomplished carver. He also paints his carvings.

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Misc.:
Frank Swallender, Orting. Mr. Swallender is a student of John Engfer. He has changed Mr. Engfer’s design a bit (and I gather Mr. Engfer doesn’t exactly approve of that!) into what Mr. Swallender considers a stronger and more attractive basket. I would say Mr. Swallender is a definite must for the exhibit.
Spirit Flags (tuong proleang), Cambodian Buddhist Temple, Tacoma. Another definite must. The flags are made by various members of the Tacoma Cambodian community and donated to the Temple. They are created in memory of a deceased relative and the donation of a flag to the temple assures the maker of good fortune in the hereafter. To obtain some samples, contact either Marilyn Bentson, Tacoma Community House, 383-3951 (she arranged my visit to the Temple) or Keo Soth, who was my translator at the Temple, at the same number.
Dr. Branko J3orozan, Edmonds. Dr. Borozan makes tambura, and his learning process was a mixture of trial and error, verbal instruction from Milan Opovich, and previous experience with wood working. He sells his instruments to members of the Croatian community.
*To Consider:
Charles (Charile) Yost, Bremerton. Mr. Yost carves beautiful scrimshaw, which he has pretty much taught himself. He is also a wood carver and has been carving since “I was old enough to hold a knife.” Currently he is doing more work with scrimshaw than with wood carving.
Pete Merrill, Belfair. Mr. Merrill has been carving wood since he was in highschool, though he never really worked with another carver. He has made a number of complicated and fascinating whirlygigs, and has recently begun working on large (life—size) wooden figures.
*These are people whose work is very good but whose person—to—person tradi— tionality is questionable. Actually, Dr. Borozan should be in this category.
I hope this is answers your needs. Let me know if you have further questions.
71

Sept. 4
Dear Jens,
Back safe and sound in Colorado-—the cats are delighted, anyway. I already miss Washington.
We’ve had some management changes here at the Arvada Center, and it looks as though a good deal of the tension and frustration is missing——a much nicer atmosphere.
Enclosed are log sheets, proof sheets, negatives & slides. Since I labeled the slides themselves, I did not add detail to the log sheets for slides. I have a proof sheet and four rolls of slides being processed down here. They’ll be ready next week, and I will pick them up, label them, and send them off to you as soon as they’re ready. I am missing several rolls of slides, PHC4, PHC5, and PHC6. I suspect they were not back from the processor when I picked up my materials from you. So, send them along and I’ll label them. I did find a roll of Harry’s slides and a set of his b/w proofs & negatives. They are enclosed.
I neglected to list two resource people who were suggested to me by Marilyn
Bentson at Tacoma Community House. They are Mang yang (725—8012) and Farmkouci
(725—7437), and are excellent sources for I{nong textiles. If you want to
call Marilyn for more info. (it was Marilyn who arranged my visit to the
Cambodian Buddhist Temple), her number is 383-3951.
I hope all is going well with your move, and with the fieldwork for the museum exhibit.
Cheers!