Linda Tessner

Everything.

I mean, from the bathrooms to signage.

Really soon after I started at Maryhill, I got this call from a woman named Anna Bennett, who was the textile and costume curator in San Francisco.

And she wanted to know if she could drive out to Maryhill Museum and take a look at the Tatra de la Mode.

It was like somebody walked into the museum and provided information that had been missing for a very long time.

She was a woman that wielded a lot of power.

She was very interested in fashion.

She'd been in the fashion industry for her entire life.

At the time I met her, she must have been in her 50s, late 50s, maybe.

And she knew its importance, and she couldn't believe that it was, like, there was this time capsule, there was this collection sitting in where?

Like, Goldendale, Washington?

What?

She was very intimidating because she was a very tall, thin, elegant, very elegant woman.

This was a woman that, I mean, I'm sure that a French fry rarely crossed her lips.

Maybe it was an older sister, younger sister relationship.

Listen.

You can hear it in Linda's voice.

She wore these big earrings that were cut glass, but was like a big chunk of rock on her ear.

And they were so shockingly beautiful to me.

I'd really never seen anything like that.