Archival Anecdotes: Where do the artifacts come from?

In 1966, twelve residents of Eddy County came together with a mission to create and maintain the Eddy County Museum. Pictured above, early board members make the entry into the Dodd's Schoolhouse, the first of three structures that would one day house the entirety of the museum's collection.

The next priority became acquiring items to include in the collection, and area residents were happy to help.

Elvera Johnson may have been a collector herself, but the records suggest that she found most of her acquisitions at estate sales and auctions. Her careful eye salvaged many items including a white kitchen chair and a wooden egg crate once used at the L.B. Garnaas Store in Sheyenne (pictured below left). She even purchased a baby walker dating back to the 1890s and repaired it with the help of Bill and Josephine Seiler.

Clyde Hall donated items that were sourced from his own experience, like an advertisement for Dr. Bell's Pine Tar Honey and a copy of "Government of North Dakota and the Nation," complete with what appears to be handwritten notes inside.

Some items told more than one story, like the handmade bedspread donated by Eva Flaskrud. It dates back to 1920 and includes embroidered names of Sheyenne residents.

Lucy (Rodenburg) Purdy donated items from her parent's store that went by the name Rodenburg, providing insight into the worlds of retail and small business early in the 1900s. The Monroe Adding Calculator is among those items.

Laura Clark kept her grandmother's memory alive by incorporating many fashion items that her grandmother wore into the collection.

Today the museum collection is approaching 3,000 diverse items including recently digitized historic photographs as well as the recently established medical display.

The museum is expected to be open this summer, but until then, please enjoy your weekly dose of Archival Anecdotes.