BY AVERY GOODSTINE for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 10/23/2026
“Papier-mâché in reverse” is how Parks Tacoma historian Claire Keller-Scholz described salvaging a 1913 newspaper that was discovered inside the hollow Henrik Ibsen bust in Tacoma’s Wright Park.
In late May, Parks Tacoma was assessing the statue after receiving a report that it had been vandalized, and observed subtle cuts in an attempt to separate the bust from its base. Keller-Scholz said the statue was almost completely cut through.
“Our staff was actually able to just pull it off the rest of the way,” she said. “I still get chills thinking about how close we came to losing it entirely. Like, if someone had waited a day later to report it [or] our staff hadn’t caught the cut marks that day, it would have been gone.”
Parks Tacoma staff removed the bust for safekeeping, and that’s when they discovered the newspaper inside. Keller-Scholz said she thought it might just be filler at first, but it turned out to be something historic: a 113-year old edition of the Tacoma Tidende, a Norwegian-language newspaper dated May 2, 1913.
Right away, Keller-Scholz knew preserving it wouldn’t be easy. In an effort to salvage the damp and crumbling paper, she put it in a Ziploc bag in her home freezer where it stayed for about three months until she had the necessary supplies to re-wet it in an attempt to unfold it.
“Newspapers are known for being incredibly fragile,” she said. “So when you start getting to historic newspapers, you’re fighting a losing battle against deterioration. And so the best you can do is to stabilize them. And so that was part of the challenge of finding a newspaper inside a statue from 1913, when you’ve got material that’s already wanting to degrade as soon as you open it.”
For the first 20 minutes of delicately unfurling the pages, Keller-Scholz said she wasn’t sure it was even going to be worth it. But, she was able to salvage most of the main page with a headline specifying May 17, Tacoma, and the Ibsen bust.
Keller-Scholz said she was “surprised and very gratified” by how clear the words and photos on the front page appear.
Other English newspapers from that time reported on an unveiling of the Ibsen bust at the Tacoma Armory on May 17, 1913.
Keller-Scholz said W. W. Seymour was the Mayor of Tacoma at the time and accepted the bust as a gift from the Tacoma Norwegians. The Parks Tacoma website states the statue celebrates the 99th anniversary of Norway’s separation from Denmark by honoring the literary contributions of Ibsen as a famous Norwegian playwright and poet.
With the newspaper unfolded, Keller-Scholz was on another mission to find someone who could translate the articles.
She connected with someone from the Sons of Norway in Tacoma who is originally from Norway and immigrated to the U.S. with his family in the 20th century. He was able to transcribe the paper and told Keller-Scholz the article highlights a high-profile Seattle-based Norwegian-American attorney who attended the ceremony for the Ibsen bust.
She said she’s still working on getting more complete translations of the other articles on the page. So far, she knows they reported on a home for abandoned children in Poulsbo, as well as information about trips to and from Norway. There are also advertisements on the back of the page that highlight businesses with a Norwegian connection.
Other pages from the newspaper were unsalvageable as they were highly crumpled and wrapped around two Norwegian coins. Keller-Sholtz found what she believes is a 1909 Indian head penny. She thinks the other one is a 1980s øre, which is 1/100th of a Norwegian krone, which is equal to 0.11 U.S. dollars.
Keller-Scholz also learned that it was common for Norwegian-Americans to send a penny to their family still in Norway as a symbol that they made it to America and are making money.
The Tacoma Tidende was in operation from 1890 through the early 1920s under different names, and Keller-Scholz said she hasn’t yet been able to find anyone who worked for the paper. She also hasn’t been able to find any other archives of the paper dated the same year as the one she has.
“I was really hoping to be able to find another version of the 1913 paper, so we can read the whole article, including the missing parts,” she said. “Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find that yet, and it makes me slightly nervous because that means I might have the only copy left, or the only known copy of this particular edition, and that means that the responsibility to take care of it also comes with that.”
While there’s no definite answer as to who put the newspaper in the bust or why, Keller-Scholz said she’s pretty sure it was the Norwegian-American community in Tacoma who made it a mini time capsule because that was common in the 20th century.
Keller-Scholz said finding the newspaper is “pretty high up there” for the most interesting project she’s ever worked on.
“Most of my job is combing through records, which we know exist, and just kind of going into more detail for whatever project I’m working on,” she said. “But in terms of my background, which is history and public history, this is definitely the coolest thing I found. And I never dreamed I’d find actual treasure, like coins or one of those things you think that only archeologists find. So definitely, it was a really cool moment when I realized that I had something, and it wasn’t just extra newspaper.”
Right now, Keller-Scholz said there isn’t a long-term plan for the newspaper, but it will most likely be kept in the Parks Tacoma archives, given to the Sons of Norway, or kept in another archive.
After spending so much time preserving the paper and researching it, Keller-Scholz said she does feel a sense of responsibility for it, especially since it might be the only copy.
“As a historian, stuff only matters if people know about it,” she said. “And so, being able to tell the story and to help people connect with this 113-year-old newspaper is part of why I became a historian and got into public history, and so it’s very much about that sense of this shouldn’t just stay somewhere hidden away. We want people to know about it and to connect with it, and also part of my job is making that happen, and also connecting it for the next generation … I’m not Norwegian, but this is part of the story of Tacoma, and so, it’s important.”
While this is an undeniably cool story, the vandalism that led to the discovery isn’t.
Since the beginning of 2025, Parks Tacoma has had more than 262 incidents of vandalism and property damage costing over $100,000 in repairs. 125 of those incidents have been this year, and it’s believed these numbers represent only about 60% of total incidents.
The issues Parks Tacoma is facing include a wide range of damages including graffiti, burned restrooms, deliberately clogged toilets, and hand dryers and soap dispensers ripped off walls. There have also been instances of stolen cars being driven onto grass fields and running over fences and landscaping.
There are issues with illegal dumping, punctured Parks Tacoma fuel tanks, maintenance and recreation equipment damaged and stolen, cut down trees, defecation under park benches, and copper theft.
“Working in public spaces, we’re always going to have those incidents where a few bad actors unfortunately ruin it for a lot of other folks,” said Keller-Scholz.
Mike Yaden, who’s overseen maintenance at the parks for over 20 years, said he doesn’t know why there’s been a sudden increase in damage, but it could be because of the overall rising cost of living.
“Some of the vandalism is clearly either theft of precious metals, where folks are probably just trying to make some money, and some are illegal dumpings, where folks are probably just trying to save money,” he said. “But it’s hard to say why the other senseless acts, where it’s just smashing the soap dispenser or pulling a limb off of a tree for no apparent reasons.” Yaden said the issue is at an “all-time high.”
While parks across the city are targeted, some receive more damage than others.
A Parks Tacoma press release states that Melanie Jan LaPlant Dressel Park has had so many incidents this year that the parking lot next to it has been closed.
Additionally, the South Park restrooms and sprayground have been closed since 2024 because the large amount of copper theft left those facilities non-operational. Damages are estimated at $500,000.
Last month, staff found around 80 tires in a ravine at Swan Creek Park that had been illegally dumped.
Keller-Scholz said that Wright Park is particularly vulnerable because of its central location. She said theft is one of the biggest issues at Wright Park, specifically people stealing plaques. The Ibsen bust plaques have been stolen and replaced multiple times. Finally, Keller-Scholz said they decided to make replacements out of granite rather than bronze, like the originals.
She said another recurring target has been a mural along the Owen Beach promenade. During the first few months of COVID, the painted panels were ripped off the building and thrown in the water. Luckily several of the panels were recovered and the artist restored them. But, the mural was defaced again in 2024 by someone who splashed blue paint on it.
When it comes to replacing things like plaques and artwork, Keller-Scholz said there’s a balance between restoring it while making sure the public knows it’s not original.
“For my assets, it’s kind of that balance of what do I need to repair, put on to make it whole, to make it convey the original intent of the original artifact without, you know, just copying the whole thing,” she said.
Parks Tacoma spends about $1 million annually on safety and security measures, which include a contracted security company to patrol the parks and respond to issues.
“We’ve spent an increased amount of money on that, where we used to have our security … there to lock up the bathrooms and park gates at night,” Yaden said. “Now we’re kind of using them more like our own first responders.”
The Tacoma Police Department has also increased patrols at parks that get hit the most.
Yaden pointed out that it’s difficult to pursue criminal charges against the vandals because there are a lack of cameras in the parks, and the police can’t respond to every instance of vandalism. The police are only involved if a larger crime has been committed, such as arson.
There are security cameras in the community centers and other Parks Tacoma facilities, but there aren’t any in the parks due to people’s overall uncomfortability with them, Yaden said.
“Sometimes they get caught and sometimes they don’t,” he said. “When they do, we’ll try to get some restitution.”
Yaden said there isn’t an easy deterrent for vandals. One thing they’ve seen success with is by using stronger products when building facilities, but those can cost more and don’t look as nice. The best thing people can do is say something if they see something, he said.
“My message to the rest of the citizens is to be vigilant,” he said. “Try to help us, because we can’t be everywhere at once.”
