July 2007 - White River Valley Museum

TheWhiteRiver
Journal
a newsletter of the white river valley museum
July 2007
Featured History
What’s Happening?
Junior Historians
From the Back Room
Good News!
Page 1, 4
Architectural Terra-cotta
Page 2
Summer Programs
Page 3
Let’s Make Ice Cream!
Model Railroad Show
Page 10
Caring for Fragile Weavings
Page 11
Awards and Generous
Sponsors
Featured History
I
feel smug that Auburn history includes something as cool and
aesthetically pleasing as being one of the world’s major producers
of architectural terra-cotta.Within the world of historic preservation, the name Gladding McBean is said with reverence.A company
that could take plain old ordinary clay from the Green River Valley,
fire it with coal from Black Diamond, employ Auburn laborers to
heft it about, and a Viennese master sculptor to produce voluptuous
wreaths, walrus heads, gargoyles, roaring lions and floral caps for
columns—now that is the stuff of extraordinary history!
Several years ago the son of Arthur McMichael, the entrepreneur
who developed the Northern Clay Company (later to become
Gladding McBean) allowed us to copy his father’s scrap book of
company photos.They detail the process in glorious black and white
images, and are featured in our exhibit.About that time the sketch
books of sculptor Louis Schubert were donated to our collection.
Schubert lived in Seattle and rode the electric Interurban to Auburn,
sketching during his commute.
Bob Mitchell discovered our museum via the web.A search engine
directed him to our archive of newsletter articles that include one
on the Northern Clay Company. His first hand knowledge of and
respect for architectural terra-cotta completes this story. Become
one of those in the know, read on and see if you don’t end up feeling
just a bit smug also.
—Patricia Cosgrove
Terra-cotta ornamentation on
Seattle Group Health building.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
What’s Happening?
Summer Classes & Programs
Abby Williams
Hill Western
Pioneer and
Landscape Artist
Hill’s landscape paintings
are on display through
September 23.
Class
Family day
July 14, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Plein Air Painting in the Pacific
Northwest
$30 for Museum members, $35 for non-members.
August 18, 12 to 4 p.m.
The Art in the Wild
Experience painting in an outdoor
setting, as Abby Hill preferred it.
The class will depart from the
Museum to a destination on Mt.
Rainier, where Elise Richman,
Assistant Professor of Art at the
University of Puget Sound, will
lead a tutorial on watercolor
painting. No prior experience is
necessary, materials will be provided, and participants must bring
a sack lunch.
Call 253-288-7439 to register.
Free with regular admission.
Join us for a fun-filled exploration of mother-nature inspired art
projects for kids of all ages.
Slide Show
Sept 15, 4 to 6 p.m.
Abby Williams Hill and the Lure of
the West
Free with regular admission.
Enjoy a slide show and lecture
by Dr. Ronald Fields, Professor
Emeritus of art history at the
University of Puget Sound and
expert on Abby Williams Hill.
Summer Adventures
Free for everyone and no registration is needed!
Hooked on History
Books Bring History Alive
Wednesdays, 10:30 –11:30 a.m.
Fridays, 11:30 a.m. –12 p.m.
July 18 July 25 August
August
August
July 20, 27, August 3, 10, 17, 24
Read All About it!
Cultural Connections
1 Summertime Fun
8 Old Technology
15 Fashion Forward
Come join us as we explore a
new theme each week, discovering the Museum’s collections
with special guests, stories,
games, music and crafts.
Books Bring History Alive caters
to children aged 2 to 5. Each week
a new book is selected and read
aloud in the galleries, followed by a
simple, complimentary craft project.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
2
Junior Historians
Things To Do
aking
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Enjoy this summertime treat by
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making it the old fashioned way!
Glen
Making
homemade
ice cream!
Materials
1 lb. Coffee can
3lb. Coffee can
Duct tape
Large towel
Ingredients
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup light cream
1 beaten egg (or use equivalent reconstituted dried)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
,
e Wedeen
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L to R
ce cream etty Robertson.
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and B
ynolds,
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C
elebrate the trains that have long been important to Auburn
as the White River Valley Museum presents our annual, family-friendly model railroad show with hands-on experiences for
all ages. With fabulous layouts from G scale Lionel to N scale
and railroad artifacts from our collection, this event will keep
you on the right track to fun!
A special admission of
$3 for adults, $2 for
children and seniors
will be charged.
Instructions
Mix all ingredients in the 1 lb. coffee can. Seal can lid with duct tape.
Put small, sealed can inside larger, 3
lb. can. Pack ice and 1 cup of rock
salt around the small can. Place lid
on large can and seal with duct
tape. Roll can(s) back and forth on
a large towel for 15 to 25 minutes.
Open the large can, dump ice and
water, remove and open the smaller can, and enjoy
Model Train Show
September 8 and 9
www.wrvmuseum.org
11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• 253-288-7433
3
Featured History
A Look at
Architectural
Terra-cotta...
from a C urrent
Perspective
by Bob Mitchell
Estimator, Pioneer Masonry
Restoration Company, Inc.
Terra-cotta at Seattle’s Pacific
Lincoln Mercury dealership.
Continued from page1
H
ave you ever used the term, “architectural terra-cotta” in a conversation? Well, join the crowd; to most people terra-cotta is
something that expensive flower pots are made of. Some people may
have even heard of the Qin Terra-cotta Warriors from Emperor Qin
Shi Huang’s Mausoleum in China (circa 211-216 B.C.). Occasionally it
will remind someone of a chimney pot that they saw on a chimney top
in London or a tile from a Roman spa or from a visit to the ornament
section of the local garden store. Architectural terra-cotta is nothing like
these things, yet it is like all of these things!
From Britannica Online: Terra-cotta: (Italian: “baked earth”), literally,
any kind of fired clay but, in general usage, a kind of object—e.g., vessel, figure, or structural form—made from fairly coarse, porous clay
that when fired, assumes a color ranging from dull ochre to red. Terracotta objects are usually left unglazed and are often of a utilitarian kind,
because of their cheapness, versatility, and durability.
If you are wondering what this has to do with Auburn, Seattle or
Renton, that’s where the “A Look at Architectural Terra-Cotta...from a
Current Perspective” comes into play. My particular experience with
terra-cotta came with my first good job after moving to Seattle from
Baker City, Ore. in 1972. After the usual series of happenstance jobs
that one gets after dropping out of college, I found a skilled trade
job as a Pointer – Caulker – Cleaner ( P.C.C.) craft worker with a
Seattle masonry restoration contractor. Back then we were just called
Tuckpointers, tell that to someone at a cocktail party once or twice and
finally you just say that you are a mason. Anyway, the term terra-cotta
entered my vocabulary shortly after becoming a masonry restoration
craft worker. It only took me 33 years to discover that a great deal of
the architectural terra-cotta used in the building facades that I have
worked on for my entire career was manufactured in Auburn, by the
Northern Clay Company
Between then and now, I have worked on a great number of terracotta clad buildings in the Northwest, and I have come to appreciate
the positive qualities of architectural terra-cotta as well as the short
comings of the material.
One of the first things that you notice about architectural terra-cotta
used in building facades is the size of the pieces. Keep in mind that the
material was used as the exterior walls of the original high rise buildings
constructed during the industrial revolution and the building of the great
cities of America. This application required the use of terra-cotta pieces
bigger and heavier than flower pots or roof tiles, as well as the necessity
of being weatherproof and capable of supporting immense loads.
After many of America’s major cities burned to the ground because
the buildings were made of timber, we started to look for something a
bit less flammable. Being non-flammable and more permanent, masonry
was a natural choice for a durable building material.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
4
Architects became aware of the flexibility of terra-cotta; it could be
almost anything that they could dream of. At first it was used to copy
more expensive materials like granite and other natural stones. Surface
glazes were developed to mimic almost any natural building material.
Then architects and designers realized that glazed terra-cotta offered
almost limitless opportunities to be creative and original, they could
make durable art out of their buildings at small expense compared to
using expensive stone carvers and artisan building trades.
But alas, all good things must come to an end, and for architectural
terra-cotta, the end of economical production was due to a combination of circumstances. The direst of these was the onset of the Great
Depression when new construction literally came to a standstill.
Secondly, the flexibility of the material became burdensome and
overly expensive as designers exercised their creative gene. Largely
ignored at the time, the true competitive value of terra-cotta was that
a great number of large universal pieces of terra-cotta could be manufactured from a single mold. For every non-typical piece of terra-cotta
needed for a building, a new one-off mold was required. Each of these
molds was made by craftsmen using hand carved clay sculptures made
by some of the most talented sculptors of the time. Every unique
piece required a different mold and a sculpture to make the mold
from. Manufacturing the molds was one of the most time and money
consuming parts of terra-cotta production. Not to mention that you
needed exceptionally talented workers, cheap energy to fire the kilns,
a location as close to the construction site as possible (the railroad
tycoons didn’t get rich hauling heavy objects cheaply) and it took a long
time to move from design to finished product.
Finally, as if the deck wasn’t stacked sufficiently against the terra-cotta
gurus, the rapidly developing concrete construction technology, the
advent of stainless steel and aluminum coupled with the abundance of
cheap hydroelectric power and American mindset of “faster is better”
architectural terra-cotta production was brought to its knees.
Unfortunately, the use of architectural terra-cotta in new construction seems doomed to be a novelty that is only used by enlightened
institutional building owners that need to get several hundred years out
of their siding or by preservationists that realize that the buildings that
we have inherited are not easily replaceable, not only because of the
cost of manufacture, but because of the reduced capacity to manufacture the material in local markets.
The up side is that there is considerable interest in preserving terracotta clad buildings nowadays rather than knocking them down and
rebuilding with other materials. There also appears to be enough restoration and new work on the market to keep the limited number of
architectural terra-cotta manufacturers busy enough to invest in modern equipment and maintain a skilled work force.
www.wrvmuseum.org
• 253-288-7433
5
Currently the two main suppliers of architectural terra-cotta in the
U.S., at least that I am aware of are, Boston Valley Terra-cotta in New York
(www.bostonvalley.com), and Gladding McBean in California (www.gladdingmcbean.paccoast.com). Both companies have interesting and informative web sites worth perusing.
Top Seabord Building terra-cotta cornice, Seattle.
Above Banana republic (was Coliseum
Theater,) Seattle.
Terra-cotta as a Building Material
Terra-cotta is part of the family of ceramic materials. “Ceramic(s) - Made
of or pertaining to fired clay.” This family covers a lot of ground and
includes brick, tile, pottery, dishes, chimney flues and pots, roofing tile,
sewer pipe and the list goes on.
The subject of the manufacture of architectural terra-cotta has been
covered in great detail and is beyond the scope of this article except to
state some of the more important points.
Architectural terra-cotta is generally glazed to provide weatherproofing to the bisque (body clay that makes up the structural unit) and to
provide the desired finished appearance. There are generally two styles
of glaze used in architectural terra-cotta: Slip glazed and what is simply
referred to as glazed terra-cotta.
Slip glazed terra-cotta is a finish technique where the glaze material is
made from a similar clay as the body material but is watered down to a
paint-like consistency and applied to the piece prior to firing. The finished
pieces are usually a dark red in color, but can run from brown to black.
Slip glazed terra-cotta was generally used to imitate natural stone materials (such as sandstone) and was not manufactured or used extensively in
the Seattle area.
Glazed terra-cotta is finished with mineral glazes that are formulated
to provide a ceramic coffee mug (glassy) type of finish, but can be a matt
(flat) finish as well. Glazed terra-cotta was manufactured in a great variety of colors and finishes with the most common being single opaque
colors ranging from whites to tans. Vivid colors such a cobalt blues, yellows, greens, and some metallic colored glazes were occasionally used
as accents in friezes, columns, cartouches, soffits, and other ornamental
pieces. Multicolored glazes (mottled or speckled) were sometimes used
to imitate the look of natural stone, with granite being one of the stone
types most successfully imitated. King Street Station and the Olympic
Tower Building, located in Seattle, are good examples of granite finish
terra-cotta.
One of the more misunderstood features of architectural terra-cotta
is the thickness of the material. While a piece of terra-cotta can be quite
large, the surface shell is generally only one and one half to two inches
thick. Webs of clay are used across the hollow back of the piece as well
as the perimeter, but you should visualize a typical piece as similar to an
old wooden milk crate standing on its side with the bottom being the
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
6
finished face and the clay webs being the dividers that separate the milk
bottles. This design made it possible to make pieces strong enough to be
used in a wall system yet be light enough to be supported by the frame
of the building. The thin shell design also made it possible to fire large
pieces without cracking of the surface.
So What’s Up With Terra-cotta Falling Down?
Why do we occasionally hear about a piece of terra-cotta falling from
a building façade onto a public sidewalk? Is there something inherently
wrong with architectural terra-cotta as a material? Why does the City of
Chicago require regular inspections of terra-cotta facades that include
tapping each piece with a rubber or plastic mallet?
First off, we can blame gravity! Secondly, nearly all of the failures where
terra-cotta disconnects from a building and hits the sidewalk are related
to faulty installation, ill conceived design, lack of maintenance and unexpected movement such as seismic activity and settlement. Since we can’t
do much to ease the gravity situation, let’s talk about the other problems.
Faulty Installation
Architectural terra-cotta is usually attached to the structural frame of
a building with some type of mechanical anchor. Larger pieces and most
projections like cornices, large water tables, statuettes, spires, parapet
walls and balustrades were usually individually attached to the building
frame. While non-ferrous wire ties and dowels were recommended for
tying pieces together and to the structure, standard steel wire, wrought
iron and steel clamps were often used. The major structural supports for
cornices, oriel bays, large openings such as entries and windows were by
necessity made of structural steel I-Beams, C-Channels, and angle irons.
The terra-cotta pieces would then be suspended from the structural
steel using steel and wrought iron threaded rods, steel straps, small diameter steel rod, ferrous pipe and wires. Often times the terra-cotta was
attached to structural members that had little or no corrosion protection
and ferrous metals were often used when non-ferrous materials (brass,
bronze and copper) would have been of adequate strength. Failures of
architectural terra-cotta systems are usually caused by water damage to
anchors and supports rather than the material itself.
Below Terra-cotta trim on the
Washington Athletic Club, Seattle.
Faulty Design
It is important to remember that the use and installation of architectural terra-cotta cladding was as new to the building trades of
the time as high rise buildings. Protection of the anchors and built
in waterproofing features (deflector flashings, weep holes, etc.)
were not always as well considered as they may have been. When
you consider that shrinkage of the building frame coupled with
expansion of the masonry skin can vastly exceed the structural
www.wrvmuseum.org
• 253-288-7433
7
capability of the terra-cotta, it is not difficult to understand why the shells
of some terra-cotta clad buildings fracture and fall from the structures.
Above Indian head sculpture on the
White Henry Stewart building, Seattle.
Below Sculptor Louis Schubert poses
with a magnificent terra-cotta ornament at Auburn’s Northern Clay
Company, c1920.
Lack of Maintenance
By far the greatest damage and cause of failure of architectural terracotta systems is caused by a lack of maintenance. This issue is also a testament to the high quality and durability of well made terra-cotta. Terracotta was almost always set in place using mortar; usually lime mortars
in the old days and cement based mortar in later years. Failure of the
mortar joints and failure to replace missing mortar joints was and is the
primary route of water intrusion into the structural anchors and hangers
that support the terra-cotta. Because of the slow rate of corrosion of the
structural members, damage to the structure often went undetected or
was ignored until a leak into the interior of the building was noticed, or
a piece of the terra-cotta fell from the building. Falling terra-cotta almost
always gets the attention of the news media and the material itself usually
takes the blame. Rarely is it mentioned that the building has been standing there for a hundred years without benefit of regular maintenance
prior to the piece falling off. As with any structure built from any material,
if water is allowed to penetrate the façade surface, bad things are sure to
follow!
Unexpected Movement
I can’t think of any building movement that is more of a surprise than an
earthquake. While all newer buildings constructed in areas of high seismic
activity are designed with earth quakes in mind, most of our older buildings were not. One of the downsides to terra-cotta during an earthquake
is because of the rigid nature of the material; any lateral movement, such
as swaying of the frame, causes stress fractures in the mortar joints and
the terra-cotta itself.
After the 2001 Nisqually Earthquake, I wandered around Seattle for
hours taking photos of damaged masonry buildings. As I walked around
downtown, I noticed that even at seemingly undamaged buildings, pieces
of mortar were laying all over the sidewalks. The fact that the mortar fell
out of the joints as the building released energy from the swaying superstructure was no great surprise, but the fact that most of the missing
mortar joints were simply swept up and never replaced is a little disconcerting. As I was called to inspect buildings for months after the quake, I
discovered that many of the buildings I was inspecting had been damaged
in previous earthquakes but were never repaired at that time either. This
is the type of damage that when left un-repaired will greatly accelerate
corrosion of terra-cotta structural members and cause catastrophic failures in the future.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
8
Summary
Personally, I have developed a great deal of respect for architectural terracotta and appreciate both the material and the people that manufactured
it. My hope is that this article will inform and inspire interest in preserving
the terra-cotta clad buildings that remain in the Puget Sound area.
T
here were several manufacturers of terra-cotta
in the Puget Sound area in
the early 1900s. While it is
not always possible to discover who manufactured the
terra-cotta for each building,
some of the more prominent
buildings have been noted
in historical documents. The
following listing provides
information regarding the
manufacture of terra-cotta
for some these buildings. It is
of interest to note that the
Northern Clay Company
of Auburn Wash., as well as
most other local terra-cotta
manufacturers, was assimilated into the Gladding McBean
collective by the time of the
Depression. The Northern
Clay Company was purchased by Gladding McBean
in 1925, but continued producing architectural terracotta under the Northern
Clay Company banner until
1927 when it was renamed
the Gladding McBean Auburn Plant. The Auburn
plant was closed in 1932.
The following buildings are
located in Seattle unless
otherwise noted:
Northern Clay Company
Coliseum Theatre
Washington Securities Building
Washington Mutual Savings Bank
Telephone Building
Joshua Green Building
Pantages Theatre – Tacoma
Fredric & Nelson Building
Gladding McBean d.b.a.
Northern Clay Company
Dexter Horton Building
Olympic Hotel
Northern Life Tower
Federal Office Building
Gladding McBean
Medical & Dental Building – Vancouver
Marlborough Arms Apartments
Gladding McBean –
San Francisco
L.C. Smith Building (Smith Tower)
Denny-Renton Clay and
Coal Company
King County Courthouse
Times Building
Artic Club Building (Artic Building)
Home Economics Building – University
of Washington
Franklin High School
Right Top Detail of walrus from Artic Building, Seattle.
Right Artic Building façade with walruses above.
Right Bottom Detail of the Smith Tower’s beautiful cornice.
www.wrvmuseum.org
• 253-288-7433
9
From the Back Room
By Angela Stalgis
Curator of Collections
Storing Large
Weavings
H
ere at the
museum, we
care for thousands
of artifacts so that they
will be preserved for
future generations.
We do this through careful handling, exclusion of insect pests,
regulating the environment (temperature, humidity, light and pollution), and through appropriate
storage strategies. It is the aim of
this article to suggest methods for
storage, particularly textile storage,
which can be used in the home.
I was inspired in my choice of
topic by an object in the Museum’s
collections; a beautiful and rare
Muckleshoot cedar bark mat. This
mat is exciting both because of its
local history and because of the
superb quality of the craftsmanship
and materials. The mat would have
been used traditionally as either
a sleeping mat or a screen that
divided living spaces in a communal
house. When not in use, it would
have been rolled. This piece was
made by a skilled weaver using thin,
uniform strips of the inner bark of
a Western Red cedar, which were
plaited in an over-under pattern.
The bark is free from any knots or
irregularities, and is of a quality that
could not be duplicated by a modern weaver because similar materials do not exist!
Unfortunately, this mat suffers
from some entirely preventable
Folded textiles are
subjected to stress
along the fold lines.
This image illustrates
the long-term deleterious effects of folding textiles.
Thanks are
due to Warren
Kinggeorge, Museum
Board member and
Muckleshoot Indian
Tribe Oral Historian,
who provided valuable
historical information
about this mat.
condition issues. At
some point in the
past, the mat was
folded lengthwise
and then again in thirds. This created pressure along the fold lines,
and over time, the fibers of the
mat deteriorated. Now, the mat
is separated into two halves along
the lengthwise fold and is severely
weakened along the remaining
folds. This damage could have been
prevented through the use of
appropriate storage methods.
If you can visualize the damage
to this cedar bark mat, then you
can begin to understand the stresses being placed on that old antique
quilt in the closet or Grandma’s
wedding dress. Creases in fabric
eventually weaken the fibers and
become devastating breaks.
Flat storage is best for textiles
as it eliminates creases that can
become breaks. But,
flat storage takes up
a lot of space and is
generally not feasible
for large textiles.
Rolling textiles takes up less
space than flat storage, and puts
less stress on fibers than folding.
Here in the museum, we roll most
of our quilts and rugs. We start
with a cardboard carpet roll and
wrap it with Marvelseal 360, an
aluminum foil coated with nylon on
one side and polyethylene film on
the other. This plastic coated foil is
an important step because it serves
as a barrier between the acidic
cardboard and your treasured heirloom. Follow the foil barrier with a
layer of acid-free tissue on which to
roll your textile. If possible, roll acidfree tissue with the textile so that
the layers of your textile “burrito”
do not touch one another. Once
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
10
GoodNews!
Tara Wins Award
Quilts are shown as we store them, rolled on large tubes in the museum’s dark,
cool, back room.
your textile is on the roll, you may
add an unbleached muslin sheet
if you wish, for added protection
from dust and sunlight.
If folding your textile is the only
available option, you can stuff
crumpled up acid-free tissue along
the folds to avoid sharp creases.
Be sure to use acid-free tissue as
commercially available acidic tissue paper can damage your textile
over time. You should also re-fold it
every few months making sure that
the creases fall in different areas.
Rolled rugs in the museum’s back room
awaiting re-housing on our wall racks.
As is, they benefit from rolling, but over
the long term each will be damaged. It
is always best to hang the rolls so that
they do not flatten with the weight
concentrated on the bottom. By hanging the roll, the curvature of the wrap
will also stay consistent.
www.wrvmuseum.org
Recognizing her foresightful
work matching standardized testing and lesson
requirements with museum
programs, the Association
of King County Historical
Organizations honored Tara
McCauley, our Curator of
Education with the 2007
Heritage Education Award.
This Award is presented to
a King County teacher who
has promoted heritage by the
innovative incorporation of
local history into the curriculum and/or through a project
that involves students with
the heritage community.
Free Wednesdays Sponsored
Each Wednesday is a Free
Day at this museum. This
is made possible by some
very generous donors.
Sponsors for a Month of
Wednesdays: American
Building Supply, Kiwanis Club
of the Valley, US BANK and
Valley Bank. Sponsors for
one or two Wednesdays:
Auburn Windermere Realty,
Beyersdorf family, Law Offices
of Thomas Campbell, Kiwanis
Club of Auburn, Mt Rainier
National Bank, Dr. Stuart
Rich, Sons of Italy, Tom Tollen,
and Woloshyn & Clements
Orthodontics. Thank-you!
• 253-288-7433
11
White River Valley Museum
918 H Street SE
Auburn, WA 98002
253.288.7433
2007
Board Members
NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
AUBURN, WA
PERMIT NO. 193
Address service requested
Gordy Nishimoto
President
Warren Kinggeorge
Vice-President
Doug Hedger
Treasurer
Ronnie Beyersdorf
Secretary
Pat Bailey
Ken Calvert
Jan Cavanaugh
Nancy Colson
Terry Davis
Jean Farrington
Mike Gerber
Mike Harbin Jr.
Dr. Michelle Marshman
Judi Roland
J.B. Rupert
Jennifer Traufler
Russ Welch
Interested in seeing some historic photos?
Go to our web site, www.wrvmuseum.org, scroll down
the home page, click on photo search.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary History
Emeritus
Mae Yamada
Museum Staff
Patricia Cosgrove
Museum Gets Walrus!
DIRECTOR
Angela Stalgis
CURATOR OF COLLECTIONS
Kristen Bruhahn
BOOKKEEPER
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Tara McCauley
CURATOR OF EDUCATION
Janet Wells
VOLUNTEER AND FACILITY
COORDINATOR
White River Journal
is a quarterly
publication of the
White River Valley
Museum, which is
supported in
large part by
the City of Auburn.
T
hanks to the generosity of
Bob Mitchell and International
Masonry Institute we now own
an architectural terra cotta walrus
head, salvaged from the restoration work on Seattle’s magnificent
Artic Building. By the 1960s all the
walrus heads were deteriorating. A
mold was made from one and new
walrus heads were fabricated and
installed. This head weighs roughly
200 pounds and originally had ivory
tusks. Our walrus will be in storage
for a while until we can mount it on
permanent display in our Northern
Clay Company exhibit.
White River Journal is edited by Patricia Cosgrove, designed by Susan Hernday
White River Valley Museum • 918 H Street SE • Auburn, WA, 98002 • Tel. 253.288.7433 • Fax 253.931.3098 • wrvmuseum.org
Open 12 noon to 4 PM, Wednesday through Sunday, and by appointment for group tours and research.
Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for children and seniors, and Wednesdays are free for everyone.
Provides Ongoing
Support