Tamara Edevold – Keeper of Clearwater County History

 

Tamara Edevold was just 16 years old when she visited her first museum – the historic home of Marques DeMores in Medora, North Dakota. 

“I think I like this,” Tamara remembers saying to herself as she browsed through history and learned of the family that lived there. She was hooked on history from then on.

She went to college at Minnesota State University Moorhead and graduated with a BA in History, minoring in Archeology.

For seven seasons she was involved in archeological studies in the Red River Valley in North Dakota, along with her husband, Mark. She says that was one of the only times she used her archeology studies.

The other was one of her first jobs, which was to do a survey for Clearwater County of the archeology on Long Lost Lake Road in 1989. Findings were being collected by the History Center. The survey was of a CCC camp from the 1930s, as well as an 1890s logging camp; the largest logging camp in the area housing 300 men at the time. 

That link is what got her started with the Clearwater County History Museum. 

When they moved back to Bagley, the Historical Society had decided the museum needed a staff person. And Tamara fit the position. There was one catch.

“It was like running my own business,” Tamara recalls. “I had to raise the money for my own salary. We started with a budget of just $5,000, and 18 members.”

She says they began reorganizing, and in 1990 the County Board funded them for the first time since the 1980s. 

“We are so lucky in our county to have such support. Some counties don't get any county support. What Clearwater County gives covers about 20% of our expenses. Also our members help. We needed to raise $12,000 to balance the budget this year. In two months after we put out the call, we received enough.”

The paperwork was signed in 1968 to start the History Museum in a small room behind where the dental office is currently located. In 1974, a building was obtained on the property where the Farmers Market operates. 

With the United States Bicentennial Celebration in 1975-1976 a resurgence of nostalgic and historic interest brought in a lot of donations. By 1980 there were around 150 members. Now the Historical Society has 800 members, about 300 out of the county. 

“We get support from all over the country,” Tamara says. “Six times a year the newsletter is sent out, that's our signature. Many people join just to get the newsletter.” 

“A definite highlight was when the History Museum moved over to Shevlin,” Tamara says. “We were just too crowded at the Bagley location and there was no storage. The old Shevlin School had been empty for three years, and was a good place for the museum; and with the grounds, gave us a place to put the Log School, Vern School, Log Cabin, replica of Emanuel Church, and other buildings. In 1994-95 the money was raised, time was spent to do the work, and the move was made. 

Tamara handles the membership, publishes the newsletter, plans and secures local and traveling exhibits, coordinates the work of the other staff and volunteers, helps families do research and genealogy and look for grave sites or photos.

She writes the grants to make sure all of the Historical Society projects get funded, especially from the Minnesota State Historical Society.

Last year they replaced the heating and air conditioning system with a $40,000 grant. Another grant was used to purchase microfilm, on which to store newspapers. They also have an annual bake sale as a fund raiser.

“We change exhibits every year,” she says. “This year we currently have 'The Home Place: Homesteading in Clearwater County', and a Military Exhibit began recently.”

“Minnesota’s Historic Northwest”, a group that Tamara is part of, recently received a grant to build a traveling exhibit about the fur trade. The 12 northwest counties will share a $94,000 grant for the project and will rotate their individual exhibits about fur trading for the next 15 years.

Next fall the history museum will also host a State Historical Society Traveling Exhibit on the fur trade. Some of the other Traveling Exhibits that Clearwater County has hosted are “Electrifying Minnesota” about electricity coming to Minnesota; “Minnesota on the Map – County Boundaries”; and “1968”, about what was going on then nationally, such as the Moon Walk, protests, and the Beetles. 

The upstairs of the building contains archives, boxes storing historical treasures of many kinds. One held a uniform from the Weme Baseball Team, and another the tiny embroidered dresses from an infant that have been donated. 

The museum conducted two cemetery inventories in the last dozen years, Tamara explains. The information can be located on the findagrave web site for Clearwater County.  Carol Sundquist who volunteers at the museum spends time indexing obituaries for the county, back to the early 1900s. 

“Obituaries weren't as common until the '20s and '30s, and were very flowery and blunt then. For instance phrases like 'Is no more' followed the name of the deceased, or the death may be described by saying the person 'dropped dead,' with little history like they include today.” 

Other positions at the museum include Millie Dickenson, who organizes photos and tours; Edna McKinley, in charge of the artifacts collections; and Jim Michel, who does research and maintenance. 

There are five regular volunteers, and dozens of others who can be called on when needed for special projects.

Mark Edevold and Tamara Anderson were high school sweethearts. Mark graduated in 1977 and Tamara in 1978 from Bagley High School. They have been married for 38 years, with no kids, and two cats. 

Mark is a Facilities Specialist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. He oversees 600 structures, in a region that covers the northwest and west central part of the state. 

A big annual event that Tamara coordinates is the First Lady of Clearwater County. Until 2006 this was done by the Tuesday Study Club, and the Gamma Upsilon Chapter of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority before that. 

She is also the coordinator for Northern Exposure to Lifelong Learning, which is a separate non-profit with a Board that helps with program suggestions. She organizes all of the programs. 

“I love looking for, and telling the stories of the people who came here. It's awesome to have the old stuff, but it’s about the people, the cool things the people did, and what these pioneers went through,” Tamara says.  “This is such a great job!” 

Thank you, Tamara Edevold, for being the keeper of Clearwater County history.