Karen Rude Collection

Collection

Identifier: GRHC SC 081

Staff Only

Content Description

The Karen Rude Collection contains textiles and additional family items including a photograph, memorial card, descendant cart and family story. The collection includes three textiles: a comforter, blanket/shawl, and a skirt. See Separated Materials list for the full description of textiles. The other materials included are a Memorial Obituary Bookmark in honor of Selma Wollerman, born on 28 May 1889 in Russia, and died on 19 June 1990, with a photo included. A scanned photograph of a rural house including part of the Retzlaff family: Alfred Raugust, Edwin, Robert, Maria (Flegel) Retclaff [Retzlaff], Selma, and Edith. A descendent chart for the Karl Retzlaff family made by Karen Rude and a story of the textiles and family history.

Dates

2003
2005

Access

Access to the physical collection is available upon request. Request must be made at least three (3) business days prior to ndsu.grhc@ndsu.edu.

Copyright

Copyrights to items in this collection remain with the original copyright holders or are in the public domain.

Biography

Karen Rude, born on 14 March 1947, is the daughter of Jane Rude and is the grand-daughter of Salome (Retzlaff) and Otto Wollerman. Salome was born to Maria (Flegel) and Karl Retzlaff in 1889.

Karl Retzlaff was born 20 November 1852 in Hoffnungsthal, Besserabia, Russia. He married Maria Flegel on 20 December 1874 in Kulm, Besserabia. They immigrated to the United States in 1892 and moved to Kulm, North Dakota. Together they had six children: Freidrich, Otto, Magdalena, Salome, Martha, and Reinhold.

Included is a portion of family information story provided by Karen Rude: “My grandmother grew up in the Kulm area and homesteaded there with her first husband. He left her with three children but she continued to work the farm with family help. A few years later my grandfather (Otto Wollerman) came and asked her if she would do housekeeping for him and his family as his first wife was sick. She went to live with them, taking her daughter and leaving her two sons with her mother. The wife later died, so she brought her boys to live with her and married Otto. This was all in the Edgely area. Ultimately, they had eight more children together and moved to the Grand Rapids/Lamoure area to farm.”

Extent

3 Items (three textiles)

1 Folders

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Summary

The Karen Rude Collection contains textiles and additional family items including a photograph, memorial card, descendant cart and family story.

Provenance

Materials were donated by Karen Rude on 11 February 2019.

Separated Materials

The textiles from the Karen Rude Collection are currently housed at the Emily P. Reyholds Historic Costume Collection on the NDSU campus. Advanced notice is requested for the viewing of these items.

Textiles

Comforter: The comforter, measuring 37” by 36”, has nine blocks with an outer border. Each of the nine blocks has an embroidered 8-point star in black or maroon appliqued on with blanket stitches in with pink or orange yarn. The blocks are black, maroon and dull orange. The blocks were sewn together and embellished over the seams with small individual sheaf stitches in red, pink, yellow and black. The back fabric is olive drab and forms three of the top borders. The forth border is black with a faint raised floral design. One star has a figure in bright green yarn which might be an “l” done in a chain stitch. Layers in all three corners are secured with a short row of stitches in black thread. The fill is actually quilted. It is a pad of white cotton with an unknown filling secured by large running stitches in red yarn. The one visible edge is closed by white thread by a whip stitch.
Blanket/Shawl: The blanket/shawl, measuring 38” wide by 77” long, is striped. Tightly woven horizontal stripes in black and green with every other stripe being an orangey-red. Each orange-red and black stripe is bisected with a band of black, red, white, light blue, red and black again in various widths. Each green stripe has red, black and red in varying widths. Between each stripe is a band of white and light blue, red, purple and back again in various widths. The warp appears to be medium blue-green. The warp ends are neatly rolled and sewn.
Skirt: The skirt is striped, measuring 36” wide by 116” circumference. It has narrow stripes of red with white bisecting the stripe. Smaller stripes evenly spaced in black, black and green, purple and white. Ends were stitched together for 26” of the 36” width. One long side has a double row of long running stitches in black next to the edge. The other long side has broken double running stitches 7” from the edge where there appears to be a crease. The edge on that side is also finished. The warp appears to be similar to the first striped blanket. The back has a raw-edged cotton “pocket.” Pocket fabric is tan in color or stained, folded double 12” by 6,” and stitched down in black thread with a loose running stitch on three sides.