The Living Legacy of Margaret Bergman - Weaver
Margaret Olofsson Bergman was born June 22, 1872 near Rorosjon in Jamtland, Sweden. She learned to weave at the age of seven from her mother, Maria Einarsdotte, who wove for the local community.
In December 1901, at the age of thirty, Margaret immigrated to the United States. One month later, she wed John Bergman in Seattle, her betrothed since his emigration from Sweden in 1893. They soon moved across Puget Sound to the Bergman homestead near Breidablik (Big Valley Road), a Scandinavian settlement north of Poulsbo. There they build a home, cleared land for farming, and raised six children. About 1914, after an absence of thirteen years while she raised her family, Margaret returned to weaving.
Margaret conducted weaving schools in Tacoma, and Annapolis, Washington, as well as seminars throughout the Pacific Northwest and parts of British Columbia. In 1935, her students in Tacoma formed the first weaving guild in the western United States; she was instrumental in the formation of the Seattle Guild (1937) and the Kitsap County Guild (1938). To meet student demands for weaving equipment, she designed and patented two looms. Both the Bergman Suitcase loom (1933) and the Bergman Floor loom (1936) employed unique folding frames, enabling the collapse of the loom even when fully warped. Loom production quickly became a family enterprise and Margaret's son Arthur joined his father in running Bergman Looms in 1936.
Margaret Bergman's importance as a weaver stemmed from her willingness to share her knowledge. Her weaving career bridged the world of her youth, where home craft production was performed in a pre-industrial manner, and modern life in America, where such skill was an anomaly actively sought by those wanting a satisfying handicraft to perform. She was, according to one local weaver, the “spark plug” who ignited an interest in hand weaving in the Puget Sound region and beyond. Much of her original patterns were never published as she devoted her time to teaching her craft, not documenting her work and techniques. At the 1947 National Weavers' Conference in Salem, Oregon, where Margaret Bergman was honored for her contributions to American weavers, she was quoted as saying, “Share what you have. Nothing ever comes out of a closed fist.” That philosophy encapsulates Margaret Bergman's life work and invites a closer examination of the rich weaving legacy she left behind.
Margaret continually refined her skills, working at the loom until just a few weeks before her death on July 18, 1948, at the age of 76.
Arthur Bergman, her son, continued to build Bergman Looms until the early 1970s. In 1956, he and his wife Ann opened the Yarn Barn on the old Bergman homestead, (now the site of Molly Warden's Garden Restaurant), a store that remained a fixture for Northwest hand weavers and knitters until its closure in 1973. Throughout that time, Arthur preserved his mother's weaving legacy by demonstrating her techniques and caring for her textile collection, which he donated to the Nordic Heritage Museum in 1992.
Bibliography
The Bremerton Sun – Tuesday, Jan 28, 1975, Article Barn Houses More than Just Yarn by Rosie Atkinson
The Seattle Times, Sunday, September 16, 1962 Article Poulsbo's enchanting yarn Barn by Patricia Loken
Nordic Heritage Museum Foundation – Flyer The weaving of Margaret and Arthur Bergman July 1993
Western Viking June 18, 93 Article Retrospective of Weaver's Craft.
Sumitted by:
L.E. Hart