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"We are saddened that we have lost a treasured friend and author, Martha Louise Swan.  She died January 15, at age 94, in her home.  She will be deeply missed by her friends and family.  Louise was best known to us for her book "American Cut and Engraved Glass:  The Brilliant Period in Historical Perspective," a wonderful legacy.

She married Earle J. Swan in 1938, and they spent the next 32 years together raising their family and enjoying life to the fullest.  Louise enjoyed motherhood, immersing herself in the role.  She and Earle enriched their children's lives with music and ballet lessons.  For Louise, her love of music and language was not just a career but a way of life.  Always wanting to learn and grow, she earned a Master of Education from Lewis and Clark College in 1964.  She was a teacher in the Portland Public Schools for 31 years.  She taught music, French and Spanish, as well as private lessons in voice and piano.  Nothing was too difficult for her to undertake, and her drive was an inspiration to all, from meeting difficult situations head-on, to elaborate ballet costume-making.  She was a source of encouragement and had a profound effect on everyone she met.

The origins of her interest in cut glass began when Earle inherited a dozen pieces of cut glass when his mother died in 1965 at age 98.  At an antique show in 1967, they spent $1,200 on cut glass from one dealer.  Until Earle died in 1970, they spent every weekend and vacation finding beautiful pieces in shops, homes and auctions.  They had planned to open a museum with a shop on the side when they retired.  Upon Earl's death, Louise decided instead to write a book.

Louise spent about a dozen years in research for her book, with three years writing and rewriting.  At the same time, Louise took care of her aging parents, retired from teaching and acquired 23 piano students to make ends meet.  She says that working on the book kept her sane during those difficult years.

Her book carries the reader back to the Gilded Age between the 1876 Centennial Exposition and World War I, vividly portraying the role of cut glassware in the upper layers of society.  She has a scholarly approach to her book, which makes for very fascinating reading.  Her daughter Noreen, who spent countless hours reading & editing, says Louise also wrote 22 articles for various antiques and glass magazines.  Noreen and Louise attended 11 American Cut
Glass Association conventions starting in 1988, until travel became difficult.

At one point, Louise had over 700 pieces of glass in her collection.  Noreen tells how Mother would disappear during the day and come home from her haunts at the antique shops with new treasures.  When they went shopping together, they had a system--Louise would look at eye level and Noreen would look up at the top shelves.  About 20 years ago, Noreen delighted her mother by finding a cut glass lamp at the Portland Expo Antique Show high on a top shelf.

Bob O'Toole (a local cut glass collector and ACGA member) recalls how antique dealers would tell him about Mrs. Swan and her significant cut glass collection.  He heard about her for years and thought perhaps she was just another 'urban legend.'  At an antique show, an ACGA member invited him to a chapter meeting at Mrs. Swan's home.  Indeed, the legend did exist!  Members of the Columbia Chapter recall meetings at her beautiful home.  It was a perfect setting for cut glass, a three-story mansion with a magnificent antebellum-type staircase in Portland.

Louise is survived by four children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Memorial donations may be made to purchase a piece of glass for the ACGA collection in her name.  Please send your donations payable to ACGA, Ginger Taylor, 534 Yosemite, Farmington, MO  63640.  Funds will be collected through December 2007."

(by)  Ingrid Hoover