Wright, Margaret Nickelson 1926-

PERSONAL:

Born October 22, 1926, in Lafara, CO; daughter of Mathew Bertram (an apiarist) and Margaret Eva (a newspaper owner and operator) Nickelson; married Barton A. Wright (an ethnologist and artist), April 16, 1949; children: Frances E., Matthew Q. Ethnicity: "Middle Europe, Slavic." Education: Adams State College, B.A., 1948; University of Arizona, graduate study, 1949, 1951. Politics: Independent. Religion: Presbyterian. Hobbies and other interests: History of Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, gardening, music.

ADDRESSES:

Home—4143 W. Gelding Dr., Phoenix, AZ 85053.

CAREER:

Writer. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, ethnographer of Hopi arts and crafts. Worked as museum receptionist and cataloger for eleven years and as a field interviewer for U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC. Flagstaff Symphony Guild, president and chair of ticket sales; guild member and volunteer at San Diego Museum of Man and Heard Museum.

WRITINGS:

Hopi Silver: The History and Hallmarks of Hopi Silversmithing, Northland Press (Flagstaff, AZ), 1972, 5th edition, 1998, reprinted, University of New Mexico Press (Albuquerque, NM), 2003.

Wright's book was also published in Japanese.

SIDELIGHTS:

Margaret Nickelson Wright told CA: "Silversmithing was a new craft to Native Americans in the Southwest. The first Hopi smiths were active in the early 1900s, but little was known of them. I wanted to find out something about these innovators while there was still time to speak to their friends and relatives, or in some cases, the smiths themselves.

"In addition, after World War II, the craft became an important economic resource for the Hopi people. At that time hallmarks, individual symbols of the makers, stamped on their work, began to be used widely, but no record was kept of the marks. Interviewing smiths and researching records enabled me to get a fairly complete listing of the hallmarks, but while I recounted the evolvement of silversmithing at Hopi, I also wanted more than a name and a symbol.

"As the number of crafters continued to grow through the years, I attempted in a brief way to give clues about the individuals. Their clan membership, village, information on how they learned the craft, and the time period when they worked all give some picture of the skilled artists who made the beautiful pieces of jewelry one sees."