In this week's Artifact spotlight, we're featuring a new item on loan to the museum, a new discovery made about a set of photos on exhibit, and a new donation.
Golden Trowel
While not made of real gold, this trowel, on loan from longtime museum supporter Leon Warmuth, sure shines like it is. The inscription on the trowel reads "Presented to Francis E Morrell by Arcata Lodge No 106 F&AM Arcata Calif."
The Trowel has been placed on display in the Freemasonry section of the Fraternal Organizations of Humboldt County Exhibit, which will be on display until the summertime.
The Trowel has been placed on display in the Freemasonry section of the Fraternal Organizations of Humboldt County Exhibit, which will be on display until the summertime.
Weeott Tribe Gathering in Scotia Photo
These photos, on loan from the Humboldt County Historical Society, feature a gathering of people in Scotia, c 1920. When the photo was first brought to the museum to be put on exhibit, we didn't know much about the situation that called for such a gathering and impressive redwood-stage construction. The mystery, however, has been solved.
The photos feature members of the Weeott Tribe, a local chapter of the Improved Order of Red Men. The celebration is for the dedication of the newly-completed Redwood Highway going through the town of Scotia. In later years, the Redwood Highway would be known as Highway 101. The Improved Order of Red Men was incredibly popular in Humboldt County into the 1950s and 60s, with 7 chapters at its peak. You can read more about this group's history in Humboldt County here.
Croatian Fraternal Union Ribbons and Founder's Photo
Helen Saunders, a previous museum donor, brought by two ribbons and a group photo featuring the founders of the local chapter of the Croatian Fraternal Union. The photo includes Mrs. Saunder's father, Joseph Susich, who played a large role in the creation of the lodge and is in a custom made frame built by Mr. Susich.
Mr. Susich is indicated in the photo by the green tab and arrow
Mr. Susich was born in Croatia in 1895 and immigrated to Eureka in 1911 when he was 16 years old. He was able to meet up with his father, who had immigrated before him and he lived in Samoa. Like many of the Croatian immigrants to the area, he worked in the mills. While his father went back to Croatia around the beginning of the second World War, Mr. Susich stayed and was buried in the Croatian plot of the St. Bernard Cemetery, now known as the Ocean View Cemetery, in Eureka.
These two ribbons, also donated by Helen Saunders, are from two separate Croatian Organizations that existed in Eureka in the early 1900s. The smaller ribbon is from the Croatian Benefit Society Heart of St. Mary while the larger ribbon is from the Croatian Benefit Society of St. Helena. The ribbons are double sided with a reversible pin top to allow the wearer to wear the colored side facing outward for club events and the black and silver side out for somber events like funerals.
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