Johanne Hovemoen was born in Norway in 1890. She went to weaving school before coming to America in 1910. She married Elling Svendsbye in 1914. They worked their farm in North Dakota through the depression and drought until 1935. The Svensbyes moved to Bonners Ferry in 1936; and purchased a house on Ash Street.
Johanne received many prizes for her canning and handiwork at the county fair. During WW II, she taught many teachers and local women to knit sweaters for the soldiers. Johanne so enjoyed working her loom. It was said’ “She can weave anything.”
These are the curtains Johanne wove to hang in the Svendsbye home on Ash Street. They were given to the Museum by her daughter, Josephine Poindexter.
Johanne Hovemoen Svendsbye