Finnish Folk Art Museum Pasadena 2009

8th Finglish trip June 2009 #24

The Finnish Folk Art Museum is located on the grounds of the Pasadena Museum of History in Pasadena, California. The only museum of its type in the United States, it was created in 1974 by Yrjö Alfred Paloheimo, a native of Finland, who was the husband of Leonora “Babsie” Curtin.

Consul Yrjö Paloheimo had a sauna built at the back of a garden at the manor originally owned by the family of his wife, Leonora Curtin Paloheimo. Finnish folk art and heritage materials were also collected there. Mrs. Paloheimo bequeathed the collection to the Finlandia Foundation and the Finnish Folk Art Museum is part of the museum complex donated by the Paloheimos to the city of Pasadena.

The Finlandia Foundation was established in 1953 upon the initiative of Consul Paloheimo to unite all friends of Finland in America and to support the American-Finnish cultural heritage.

Next The Pasadena Museum of History Pasadena California USA

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