Amelia Norder was born in Sweden on June 22, 1871. As a young child, she immigrated to the United States with her father, Peter Norder, a blacksmith. She was raised by a family friend in Minnesota.
By 1888, Amelia was living in Denver and working as a clerk for photographer Joseph Collier. He noticed her artistic abilities and taught her the photographic trade. She mastered all phases of the occupation, from the operating room to developing and finishing photographs. Her artistic skills made her a natural as a photo retoucher. Norder worked for Collier for more than fifteen years.
When she was not occupied in the photo studio, Norder worked with her oil paints in the back of the gallery. An article in the Denver Times (January 12, 1902) states that Norder learned portrait painting from Scottish-born artist John Phillips (1822-1890). Phillips had a national reputation as a portrait painter.
Norder’s first commission came from John McGilvray, the builder responsible for many of the buildings on the Stanford University campus. She was hired to paint portraits of his three daughters. She also painted many prominent Denver figures, including Davis Hanson Waite, who served as governor of Colorado from 1893 to 1895. The painting was displayed in the State House. It now belongs to History Colorado.
Skarstedt, page 415.
Her warm relationship with her employer was displayed when Amelia married Ole Ravnos at Collier’s home on February 24, 1902. Ole, originally from Norway, worked as a builder. A few years after their marriage, the couple moved to Santa Cruz, California, where Amelia gave lessons in oil and china painting. Ole operated a photography studio, perhaps learning the trade from his wife. Amelia Ravnos passed away after a long illness on March 23, 1940.
Thank you to History Colorado staff Jori Johnson, Collections Access Coordinator, and Aaron Marcus, Digital Imaging Studio Manager and Associate Curator of LGBTQ+ History, and Amanda Clapham, Curation and Education at the Colorado State Capitol.
