Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1960

Date Range To

1970

Materials

SILVER

No. Pieces

2

Length

19.1

Description

ENGRAVED PAIR OF CHOPSTICKS, FLORAL DESIGNS ON END. GOLD CENTERS TO FLOWERS. CHOPSTICKS ARE SILVER, POSSIBLY SILVER PLATE. CHOPSTICKS FORM PART OF SET WITH SPOON P19739432002-GA.

Subjects

FOOD SERVICE T&E

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

HISTORY NOT PROVIDED. DATA IN RECORDS P19739432001 & P19739432002 DUPLICATED DATA RECORDED IN OLD CATALOGUE RECORD P19739432000. RECORD P19739432000 WAS CONSEQUENTLY DELETED ON 25 AUGUST, 2006 TO PREVENT FUTURE CONFUSION AND FACT THAT ONLY ONE SET OF CHOPSTICKS AND ONE SPOON RELATED TO DONOR CLARA KANE EXIST. *UPDATE* IN 2016 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT RUTHANN LABLANCE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF CLOTHING, INCLUDING A PAIR OF SLIPPERS (P19739422) AND A SCARF (P19739426000) DONATED BY CLARA KANE. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS COMPILED USING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND “COYOTE FLATS HISTORICAL REVIEW 1905-1965”. CLARA LOUISA KANE (NEE KING) WAS BORN IN PARK RAPIDS, MN, ARRIVED IN LETHBRIDGE ON DECEMBER 1, 1906, AND FILED ON A HOMESTEAD IN MARCH 1907, NEAR PICTURE BUTTE. SHE MARRIED ERWIN PHILANDER KANE IN GREAT FALLS, MT IN 1912. CLARA AND ERWIN FARMED TOGETHER UNTIL 1944, WHEN THEY RETIRED TO LETHBRIDGE. ERWIN PASSED AWAY AT AGE 59 ON MAY 21, 1946. BEGINNING IN 1952, THROUGH THE SOUTHMINSTER UNITED CHURCH, CLARA CHOSE TO FOSTER CHANG MYUNG CHAN FROM SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA. WITH HER ASSISTANCE, CHANG WAS ABLE TO ATTEND UNIVERSITY AND EARNED A DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, AS WELL AS A DOCTORATE OF DIVINITY. CLARA AND CHANG WERE FINALLY ABLE TO MEET IN 1965 WHEN THE LATTER VISITED LETHBRIDGE. CLARA PASSED AWAY ON AUGUST 17, 1977 AT THE AGE OF 93. SEE PERMANENT FILE P19739422 FOR HARD COPIES OF ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD AND “COYOTE FLATS HISTORICAL REVIEW 1905-1965”. *UPDATE* IN 2018, COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A COLLECTIONS AUDIT, WHICH INCLUDED A NUMBER OF ARTIFACTS DONATED BY CLARA KANE. AS PART OF THE AUDIT RESEARCH, PUNDYK INTERVIEWED KANE’S GRANDDAUGHTERS – JERRI BOLTON AND HEATHER SPEELMAN – WHICH TOOK PLACE ON 6 MARCH 2018. BOLTON AND SPEELMAN WERE CHILDREN OF KANE’S DAUGHTER, JOYCE ALBERTA JORGENSEN (1923-1995) AND HER HUSBAND, JAMES EDWARD JORGENSEN (1917-1984). THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION HAS BEEN EXTRACTED FROM THAT INTERVIEW: “[OUR GRANDMOTHER, CLARA KANE,] WAS A HOMESTEADER IN THE PICTURE BUTTE AREA,” BOLTON. THE GRANDDAUGHTERS HAD A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP TO THEIR GRANDMOTHER IN PART BECAUSE OF THE PERIOD OF TIME THEIR GRANDMOTHER AND GRAND-AUNT LIVED WITH BOLTON AND SPEELMAN’S PARENTS ON THEIR FARM IN IRON SPRINGS FROM THE YEARS OF APPROXIMATELY 1959 TO 1963-4. “AND THEN THEY MOVED INTO AN APARTMENT [ON 8TH STREET] IN LETHBRIDGE TOGETHER,” SHE REVEALED, “AND THEN MY GRANDMOTHER MOVED TO GREEN ACRES LODGE, WHICH WAS RIGHT HERE ON THIS PROPERTY.” ACCORDING TO BOTH BOLTON AND SPEELMAN, THEY WERE UNAWARE OF THE DONATION MADE TO THE MUSEUM IN 1973, THOUGH BOLTON EXPLAINED, “I’M NOT SURPRISED THAT SHE WOULD HAVE [DONATED]. SHE CERTAINLY VALUED HISTORY AND WOULD HAVE SUPPORTED THE MUSEUM. WHEN WE CAME FROM THE FARM IN IRON SPRINGS TO STAY WITH GRANDMA IN TOWN, SHE ALWAYS TOOK US TO THE GURNEY MUSEUM [IN THE GALT GARDENS].” WITH THE PROVENANCE OF THE MAJORITY OF THE COLLECTION’S ITEMS BEING LISTED AS “KOREA,” IT IS PROBABLE THAT THESE ITEMS FIRST CAME TO KANE AS GIFTS GIVEN TO HER BY A KOREAN STUDENT – CHANG MYUNG CHAN – WHOSE EDUCATION SHE SPONSORED BEGINNING IN 1952 (ARCHIVAL INFORMATION REGARDING THAT IS LISTED IN ABOVE IN PREVIOUS AUDIT INFORMATION). OF THAT SPONSORSHIP, KANE’S GRANDDAUGHTERS RECALLED THE FOLLOWING: “WE CALLED HIM CHANG, BUT CHUN WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS FIRST NAME BECAUSE IT’S REVERSED IN KOREAN. WHEN HE AND HIS FAMILY CAME TO THE STATES, THEY TOOK THE FIRST INITIAL OF ALL OF THEM AND ANGLICIZED THEIR NAMES, SO HE BECAME CHARLES.”… HE WAS GOING TO UNIVERSITY WHEN SHE FIRST CHOSE HIM AS HER FOSTER CHILD… [MY GRANDMOTHER] SAID SOUTHMINSTER UNITED CHURCH HAD A PICTURE OF THE GROUP OF BOYS WHO WERE WISHING TO ATTEND UNIVERSITY, BUT NEEDED HELP,” BOLTON SAID, “AND SHE CHOSE HIM OUT OF THAT PICTURE. [SHE] ASSISTED HIM WITH FOUR YEARS OF UNIVERSITY TRAINING AND THEN ON TO POST-GRADUATE WORK IN SEOUL, KOREA. HE [THEN] CAME TO THE U.S. WITH HIS WIFE AND FAMILY [ENDING UP IN] FLUSHING, NEW YORK. I DON’T THINK HAD [MY GRANDMOTHER AND CHANG] MET UNTIL HE CAME TO THE U.S…” SPEELMAN EXPLAINED, “HE NEVER LIVED WITH HER AT ANY POINT IN TIME.” “BUT SHE ALWAYS CALLED HIM HER SON,” BOLTON ADDED, “SHE HAD ONLY OUR MOTHER AS A CHILD HERE IN CANADA. [CHANG] CALLED HER ‘MOTHER’ AND HE CALLED [OUR MOTHER] ‘SISTER,’ AS WELL.” FROM THEIR MEMORY, THE SISTERS DO NOT BELIEVE THAT KANE EVER WENT TO SOUTH KOREA. BOLTON EXPLAINED, “I THINK [CHANG] ALWAYS CAME HERE. THEIR CORRESPONDENCE WOULD HAVE BEEN LETTERS AT THAT TIME. BACK AND FORTH, [SENDING] PICTURES AND PROBABLY SOME OF THESE GIFTS [THAT ARE NOW IN THE MUSEUM’S COLLECTION].” “HE WAS ALWAYS SENDING HER THINGS [FOR OCCASIONS, SUCH AS] MOTHER’S DAY, CHRISTMAS, AND HER BIRTHDAYS],” SPEELMAN ADDED. WHEN ASKED IF THEY RECOGNIZED ANY OF THE ARTIFACTS, SPEELMAN ANSWERED, “[WE RECOGNIZE] SOME OF THEM. BUT THERE WERE A LOT THERE THAT I DON’T EVER REMEMBER SEEING… [MOST OF THE THINGS SHE DONATED WERE] MORE DECORATIVE THAN SOMETHING SHE WAS USING.” THESE CHOPSTICKS WERE VAGUELY RECOGNIZED BY THE SISTERS. “THEY LOOK METAL AND I THINK THAT’S WHY I REMEMBER THEM,” SPEELMAN EXPLAINED, “I DON’T KNOW WHERE SHE HAD THEM, BUT I REMEMBER SEEING THEM AT SOME POINT IN TIME.” “THEY WERE IN A BOX,” BOLTON ADDED. THEY BOTH EXPLAINED THEIR GRANDMOTHER DID NOT EAT WITH CHOPSTICKS AND THAT THESE WERE MOST LIKELY FROM CHANG. CONTINUING TO DESCRIBE THEIR GRANDMOTHER’S HOME, WHERE SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN KEEPING OBJECTS SUCH AS THESE, BOLTON SAID, “[OUR GRANDMOTHER] LIVED WITH US ON OUR FARM [IN IRON SPRINGS], ALONG WITH HER SISTER, AND I DON’T KNOW WHEN THEY MOVED THERE, BUT I WAS IN MY EARLY TEENS AND HEATHER WOULD HAVE BEEN NINE. SO THEY WERE PART OF OUR FAMILY AT THAT TIME FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS.” “OUR PARENTS’ FARM [WAS IN IRON SPRINGS],” BOLTON CONTINUED, “MY GRANDMOTHER’S FARM WAS ON VIRTUALLY THE SAME ROAD AS WE LIVED ON. SHE WAS VERY CLOSE TO PICTURE BUTTE AND WE WERE CLOSE TO THE COULEES ON THE COALDALE HIGHWAY. OUR FOLKS HAD BUILT AN ADDITION ON THE BACK OF THE HOUSE FOR MY GREAT-AUNT AND MY GRANDMA. SO THEY ATE WITH US AND LIVED WITH US, BUT THEY HAD THEIR PERSONAL ACCOMMODATIONS FOR SLEEPING.” SPEELMAN ESTABLISHED THAT THE OBJECTS SUCH AS THE ONES IN KANE’S DONATION WOULD HAVE BEEN QUITE VISIBLE IN HER HOME, “[OUR GRANDMOTHER] USUALLY PUT THEM AWAY. AND, SHE HAD CUPBOARDS WITH GLASS DOORS AND THAT’S WHERE SHE WOULD KEEP THOSE KIND OF THINGS.” THE GRANDDAUGHTERS CONFIRMED THAT KANE’S CONNECTION TO CHANG AND SOUTH KOREA WAS A LARGE PART OF HER IDENTITY. SPEELMAN EXPLAINED, “SHE WAS VERY PROUD OF CHANG AND PROUD OF WHAT SHE DID TO HELP HIM. I WOULD SAY HE WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO HER. WE TALKED ABOUT IT LOTS.” MUCH OF THE CHARITY WORK KANE PARTICIPATED IN WAS THROUGH HER CHURCH, THE SOUTHMINISTER UNITED CHURCH. CHANG MYUNG CHUN TRAINED TO BECOME MINISTER THROUGH KANE’S CHURCH SPONSORSHIP. SPEELMAN EXPLAINED, “SO THAT WAS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO HER, BECAUSE SHE WAS VERY, VERY RELIGIOUS HERSELF. I DON’T KNOW IF THAT’S WHAT HE ENDED UP DOING WHEN HE CAME TO THE STATES, BUT I KNOW THAT HE WAS TAKING THEOLOGY.” “I THINK HE WAS A PASTOR IN KOREA,” BOLTON CLARIFIED, “BUT HE CAME TO DO BUSINESS IN THE STATES.” “AND THE MISSIONARY WORK [OUR GRANDMOTHER DID] WAS VERY IMPORTANT. THIS INCLUDED OUTREACH PROGRAMS AND CHARITIES,” BOLTON REMEMBERED, “SHE WAS A GREAT DONATOR TO A BUNCH OF AGENCIES THAT WOULD HELP PEOPLE. SO [THIS DONATION] WOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY CONCRETE REMINDER OF WHAT SHE HAD DONE WITH HER MONEY.” “IT WAS A BIG EVENT WHENEVER CHANG CAME. HE CAME ON HIS OWN FAR MORE THAN HE CAME WITH HIS FAMILY, BUT I REMEMBER MEETING HIS FAMILY. HE WAS JUST SUCH A KIND, GENTLE, ADORING MAN. HE ADORED MY GRANDMOTHER. AND THEN I THINK THE FACT THAT SHE HELPED HIM GET WHERE HE GOT TO WAS EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT [TO HIM]. IT WAS A NICE, HAPPY RELATIONSHIP… AND HE BECAME A VERY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN IN THE STATES. WE’LL HAVE TO TRACK DOWN WHETHER HE’S STILL THERE. HIS CHILDREN ALL DID EXTREMELY WELL AT UNIVERSITY, [WHICH] WAS A REAL PRIDE THING, TOO, FOR GRANDMA.” WHEN ASKED IF THIS COLLECTION WAS THE ENTIRETY OF ITEMS GIVEN TO THEIR GRANDMOTHER BY CHANG, BOLTON ANSWERED, “I THINK THERE WAS A LOT MORE. A LOT MORE FIGURINES, SMALLER DOLLS, AND BASKETS… I THINK [THE ITEMS SHE CHOSE TO DONATE] ARE THE PRISTINE ONES. [THE] THINGS THAT SHE PROBABLY FELT WERE REPRESENTATIVE, BUT NOT EVER SORT OF DUSTY. [THINGS SHE] SORT OF TUCKED AWAY [FOR SAFEKEEPING]. APART FROM THOSE COUPLE [ITEMS] THAT WE THOUGHT WE RECOGNIZED, I SUSPECT THESE WERE THINGS THAT HADN’T SEEN MUCH DAYLIGHT.” “I SUSPECT THAT THE DECISION TO DONATE THEM WAS RELATED TO SPACE THAT SHE WAS ALLOWED IN THESE [NURSING] HOMES,” BOUTLON EXPLAINED, “SHE COULDN’T CARRY MUCH, ESPECIALLY TO THE ONE HOME ON NORTH SIDE. I THINK HER SUITE IN GREEN ACRES WAS A SINGLE BEDROOM ROOM, BUT SHE HAD QUITE A BIT OF ROOM FOR DISPLAYING HER PERSONAL THINGS THERE. SO I BET IT WAS AFTER [LIVING THERE], WHEN SHE MOVED TO THE NURSING HOME THAT SHE PROBABLY GAVE [THE ITEMS] UP.” ACCORDING TO THE GRANDDAUGHTERS, KANE WAS LIVING IN LETHBRIDGE AT THE TIME OF DONATION. TOGETHER THEY ELABORATED, “SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE LODGE… SHE WAS WELL. SHE WAS TOTALLY MENTALLY CAPABLE.” DESCRIBING THEIR GRANDMOTHER’S HISTORY FURTHER, BOLTON BEGAN, “[HER FAMILY WAS] FROM MINNESOTA. [IN 1906, SHE CAME UP TO CANADA IN A COVERED WAGON AS A SINGLE WOMAN OF THE AGE TWENTY-THREE.] … WHEN SHE [ARRIVED SHE] WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TEACHERS IN IRON SPRINGS, SO SHE WAS CERTAINLY A PIONEER WOMAN OF HER DAY… [MY GRANDFATHER] CAME TO LETHBRIDGE IN NOVEMBER OF THE SAME YEAR WITH HIS FAMILY. [OUR GRANDPARENTS] GOT MARRIED IN 1912… THEY THEN HOMESTEADED IN THE PICTURE BUTTE AREA. SO THAT’S WHERE MY MOM WAS BORN ON THAT FARM… [AS A COUPLE], THEY HAD MOVEDOFF THE FARM AND INTO THE CITY IN 1944. MY GRANDFATHER DIED THE YEAR MY BROTHER WAS BORN IN 1946.” BOLTON AND SPEELMAN’S MOTHER’S NAME WAS JOYCE JORGENSEN. SHE WAS BORN ON THE IRON SPRINGS HOMESTEAD IN 1923. BOLTON STATED, “[MY GRANDMOTHER] WAS A HUGE PART OF MY LIFE. THERE WAS JUST THE THREE OF US [GRANDCHILDREN], SO I WAS THE OLDEST GIRL AND WE HAD A VERY STRONG CONNECTION. I VISITED HER WHEN SHE WAS IN THE HOMES. I REALLY HAVE STRONG MEMORIES OF SPENDING TIME [WITH HER]… SHE WAS A FEISTY WOMAN. VERY PRIM AND PROPER AND EVERYTHING ALWAYS IN ORDER. APPEARANCE-WISE, EVERYTHING WAS COORDINATED AND MATCHED AND BROOCHES WERE ALWAYS ON HER LAPEL. AND THEN THERE WAS THIS SORT OF OTHER SIDE OF HER [WITH A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOUR.]” SPEELMAN REMEMBERED, “SHE WAS [CLOSE TO US] BECAUSE SHE WAS OUR ONLY GRANDPARENT. I REMEMBER HER AROUND LOTS, SUCH AS ON CHRISTMASES… [I REMEMBER] THE HUMOUR SIDE THAT OTHER PEOPLE MAYBE DIDN’T SEE, BUT WE DID.” PLEASE SEE PERMANENT FILE P19735877000 FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE CLIPPINGS AND FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTIONS.

Catalogue Number

P19739432001

Acquisition Date

1973-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail