History and Heritage

ROOTED:  On Sunday, we paid a visit to the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard. Our group included G&G who came down from Mukilteo for the afternoon. Our families have Norwegian and Danish heritage, and so the museum was a place to learn more about our forefathers (and mothers).  

The museum is housed in a gorgeous old school in northwest Ballard, and features three floors full of artifacts and artwork.

I'll let the kids tell you a bit more about it, starting with CJ: 

On March 29th, I went so see the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard, occupying a former school building. The museum's countries documented include Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland. While inside the museum, I learned about the process in which immigrants coming from a Scandinavian country had to go through to get to Seattle, with the process being the following: Take a steamboat from your country to Ellis Island, get checked for trachoma (don't look that up), and take a train from New York to Seattle. I learned that Scandinavian immigrants my age who had to farm would often live in these unclean-looking goat sheds that didn't even have a clean bed, and later on in the museum, that some Scandinavian families had to live in these crappy "houses" known as "slums," which were typically infested with rodents and weak, creaky stairs. On the second floor, we saw the exhibit "Finland: Designed Environments", which detailed Finnish culture and art in the last 15 years.

And here's what Annabelle had to say ... 

On the 29th of March, I went to the Nordic Heritage Museum. The museum used to be a school, and it had a lot of exhibit room as a result. The main exhibit was about how Nordic people arrived in America, more specifically Ballard. Most of the emigrants that arrived in Ballard were Scandinavian. It details how the maritime industry came to popularity, and how Ballard grew as more emigrants came. The other exhibits upstairs included different rooms for the many different cultures in the Nordic group. There was also a room about Scandinavian design, which included stuff like a really cool light-up swing and a necklace made out of a book. Another side room was about folk art and it featured things like ceramics, music, outfits, and others. The museum was, overall, very cool to look at. The only downside is that some of the mannequins in the cultural rooms freaked me out. Otherwise I really liked it.

There was so much to see and learn about. Following are a few highlights. Outside the museum, there was a replica of an old Finnish sauna.

We read many a story about emigrants' journeys to the United States. We learned about where they came from, why they came, where they settled ... 

and we learned about when they came (often in waves).

They couldn't bring much with them. Often, they had to pare their worldly possessions down to one trunk. 

One display showed a list of what immigrants would bring back then, contrasted with a list of what teenagers today say they'd want to bring with them should they have to emigrate.

We read about their new lives in the new-to-them country, and learned about how they worked to earn a living in the new country. We saw more than a couple amazing old devices for making weavings and lace.

One of the more interesting things we learned about on Sunday was the sinking of the Vasa, a Swedish warship built in Stockholm between 1626 and 1628. The grand ship, complete with bronze cannons, sailed a whopping 1,300 meters (1,400 yards) on her maiden voyage before foundering and sinking due to insufficient ballast.

               Photo by Peter Isotalo via Wikipedia

The ship rested in a watery grave for nearly 300 years, until 1961, when it was successfully recovered.

Today, the Vasa serves as a one-of-a-kind museum, and one of Sweden's most popular tourist attractions.

Photo: Holger.Ellgaard, Wikimedia Commons

In addition to antiques, there were more contemporary items in the collection, including some troll-themed items from amazing August Werner, like the chair pictured below. 
                               

Born in Bergen, Norway, in 1893, Werner, a renowned vocalist, emigrated to the U.S. He eventually became a professor in the School of Music at the University of Washington from 1931 to 1965. Also an artist working in many media, Werner was a sculptor and painter. Werner was decorated by the King of Norway with the Order of St. Olav and as a Knight of St. Olav by the King of Sweden. 

There were a number of lovely old pieces of furniture on display. Had to love this convertible, space-saving bed dating back to pre-IKEA, ha ha.                                                                                  And check out this cool side saddle!                                                                                                     

The grounds around the museum were in full bloom. 

And we found a really cool sundial in the park next door. Too bad the sun wasn't out!

SAUCER SHOW:  Tuesday morning, NASA will test its Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator spacecraft, more commonly known as NASA's flying saucer, due to its appearance. 

   Art from NASA

Tuesday's exercise will be a "spin table test," conducted at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. You can watch online from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Livestream in a live, interactive broadcast from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Here's the link: http://www.ustream.tv/NASAJPL2

The inflatable craft is 15-feet across, and uses drag to decelerate, which would come in handy for a soft landing on the Martian surface. 

MEANWHILE, IN THE ISS:  Love this graphic NASA released today about the #YearInSpace mission. It really puts it into perspective.