ANN BAUDIN STULLER
Nominated for Scandinavian of the Year, 2022
Written by Rhonda Erlandson
Ann Baudin Stuller currently serves as Secretary for Swedish Roots in Oregon and is one of two dedicated genealogists on the organization’s Board of Directors. SRIO is very pleased to nominate Ann Baudin Stuller for this year’s Scandinavian of the Year. This annual award will be presented at Nordic Northwest’s Scanfair on Saturday, December 10, 2022, located at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE M L King Blvd, Portland Oregon.
Ann was born to Swedish immigrant parents at the old St. Vincent’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon, 82 years ago. Her father, Fredrik Baudin, immigrated in 1923 from Kalix, Norrbotten, directly to Portland where his mother´s sister lived. He took the train from Vittvattnet to Göteborg, and then sailed on the Drottningholm to New York. He traveled by train across Canada and from Vancouver, B.C. to Portland. He was a carpenter by trade and had a job waiting for him as three of his mother’s and aunt’s cousins were building contractors. He left Sweden because of the economic opportunities in the USA, and there were a number of people from his home community who had already settled in Portland. He lived with his aunt and her family upon arrival.
Ann’s mother immigrated in 1913 at the age of 5 together with her mother from Torsåker, Ångermanland. Her father (Ann’s morfar) had immigrated earlier in 1909 because he could no longer work for his employer as his brother was killed working in the same mill. Ann’s mother’s family had relatives in Portland, so her father was able to live with them and secure employment, eventually becoming a longshoreman. When he had saved enough money, he sent for Ann’s mother and mormor. They left from Oslo, Norway, on the Oscar II and sailed to New York. They continued by train to Portland settling first in Oak Grove, and then in Portland’s Mt. Tabor district where Ann’s mother attended Glencoe School and graduated from Franklin High School. After attending business college, she worked for Loggers and Contractors. In 1928, she married Fredrik Baudin who she had met at a dance at Linnea Hall.
As a long-time board member, Ann has worked on many SRIO projects. Most recently she co-authored the book Swedes in Oregon published by Arcadia in 2020. She assisted in the successful completion of the exhibit From Sweden to Oregon held at Nordia House in 2019, helping with research, identifying notable photographs, and reaching out for additional information to individuals whose ancestors were featured in the exhibit. She created the binders that traced the family history for all individuals presented in the exhibit (one of the most popular pieces of the exhibit!), and she gathered and arranged many items for the exhibit’s display cases. Ann also created the video that was shown at the exhibit’s opening.
Ann is very generous with her time in helping others research their Swedish ancestry, and she has contributed greatly to Oregon’s Swedish heritage online. In 2013, SRIO received a grant from the Pro-Suecia Foundation to establish a genealogical database for Swedish Oregonians. From the start of that project, Ann took a leading role in adding names to the database which to date features more than 22,000 Swedish family names with supporting historical data. When SRIO’s new website was inaugurated last year, Ann assisted in creating the rich genealogical portions of the site which can be viewed at www.swedishrootsinoregon.org. In this regard, Ann’s work not only enriches the Swedish community in Oregon but reaches out to benefit Swedes all around the world. Ann’s latest project is assisting with organizing SRIO’s extensive archives. This rich collection of Swedish Oregon history will be curated by the Oregon Historical Society and available for researchers in 2023.
Ann was exposed to spoken Swedish at an early age but did not begin to develop fluency in the language until she was a graduate student at the University of Washington. Additional study at Portland State University and Augustana College’s summer program in Sweden helped develop her language skills. She also attended the Swedish Institute’s program in Sweden for foreign teachers of Swedish. She taught Swedish for Portland Community College for 23 years. In the 1990s she led two Elderhostels to Scandinavia. She has traveled to Sweden over 20 times during which she has traveled between Ystad in the south and the Polar Circle in the north.
Ann is also an accomplished artist and uses her creativity to support SRIO in a variety of ways. For example, she designed several PR pieces including SRIO’s logo as well as the cover for Swedish Roots, Oregon Lives, published by Swedish Roots in Oregon Press in 2013. In addition to SRIO, Ann has been an active member of Portland’s broader community, serving on several different boards, being a deacon and Stephen Minister/Leader, and a long-time treasurer for her P.E.O. chapter.
The winner of this year’s Scandinavian of the Year will be presented at 1:00 pm on Saturday, December 10th, at Scanfair. We look forward to seeing you there. Be sure to stop by SRIO’s table to learn more about the work we do to support Swedish heritage in Oregon.