RG 21.4.1969.07.31.b Mortensen (4 of
4).wav
Tue, 07/30 01:58PM
22:02
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
symphony, minneapolis, people, music, augsburg, augsburg college, concert, year, choir,
isaac stern, students, band, directed, tickets, sang, girls, choral, play, talk, elizabeth
SPEAKERS
Gerda Morten... Show more
RG 21.4.1969.07.31.b Mortensen (4 of
4).wav
Tue, 07/30 01:58PM
22:02
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
symphony, minneapolis, people, music, augsburg, augsburg college, concert, year, choir,
isaac stern, students, band, directed, tickets, sang, girls, choral, play, talk, elizabeth
SPEAKERS
Gerda Mortensen
G
Gerda Mortensen 00:01
On this Choral Club tour up to Central Minnesota, which I went with people carrying my
luggage because I was recovering from surgery.
G
Gerda Mortensen 00:13
I played the components for the choir often then play the components for Miss Gerda's
fall when she sang solos and for Mr. Mr Opseth when he did the other cello playing. And
then we did a tour were taken by car from congregation to congregation. And on our final
ride home on the train from up near Brener downtown Minneapolis. I had instructed the
girls to be very quiet and dignified, then lady Lake on the train, not too upset. I said, you
know, your responsibility for the reputation of Augsburg. It just simply is up to you people.
And after we had been on the train for a half an hour, so a woman came up to me
interested I Mrs. Clarence Francis. And I just, I recognize, you know, I saw this gang of girls
coming on the train. And I thought, we're really going to have a nice ride into Minneapolis
at this point. But she said, I want to compliment you on the very fine sort of manner in
which your girls appear. Well, we came back to Minneapolis and the young men all met
the girls and they had dates at night, I suppose, and so on, and everybody talked about
this. But the grand payoff was the fact that we had a $500 balance from our first choral
club tour. And they meant Glee Club hadn't indebtedness and the grand piano in the
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chapel $500.
G
Gerda Mortensen 01:40
So the girls help the men pay for the balance of that first grand piano. Well, that was the
way the choral club started. They kept up having a choral club and a choir until around
1933-34. When they merged into a cchoir their there's a great deal of feeling about that
we should still keep separate organizations. But Mr. Sateren who had succeeded Mr.
Opseth, was much interested in having a choir. So we had a choir, composed of the
women of the choral and the Men's Glee Club. And then Mr. I think Donald Merrick was
director of that when Leland Sateren came back to service after the war. And he picked
up the second choir, which was then called the Crocker, but that was also a mixed choir.
So they started out with mixed choir music at this point. And we've had these groups
going and much music going since. But one of the very wonderful things about music at
Augsburg College is that we've been in this Metropolitan Community where the arts have
been coming from the beginning of the Minneapolis Symphony under the leadership of
emo Oberhof are playing the old Lyceum downtown Minneapolis and 11th Street. As an
undergraduate student at University Minnesota, I remember very well the first concert I
went to, to hear over half or play direct. And I had heard symphonies and this but I had
not heard tone poems. And every time subsequent years when I go to hear the
Minneapolis Symphony, they play the pines of Rome or the fountains of Rome. My mind
goes back to that concert, and there was a Debussy number, and I'd never heard Debussy
before. I think they played the sea, America.
G
Gerda Mortensen 03:35
And it simply, I was speechles with the beauty of the music and the loveliness of this and
other Oh, this is what I want to be doing want to go here. Well, I had taken piano lessons
from Sverdrup The very delightful treasure of Augsburg College, who's a sister George
Sverdrup. She had graduated from the Minneapolis school music was a very able musician
herself, had given some piano lessons, but because of problems with the curvature of the
spine, she had found it very difficult to sit and play piano. So she had accepted this
position the treasure box pretty quick. She did with utmost beauty and dignity, and she
added something that was just very fine. But she had also taught piano to tennis girls fold
who was teaching voicera dogs forget the time that I came, and her sister sacred, who was
dietitian at deaconess, and who was organist at Trinity Lutheran Church for a period of 35
or 40 years was a four of us decided that we would buy season tickets for the Minneapolis
Symphony concerts. So for years, we went downtown to the old Lyceum, we bought the
cheapest tickets. We oftentimes walked is running there was a good worker. And then we
would talk over the music. So I learned music by listening to music. I didn't know I had
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never formally studied music. But the thing just simply grew and grew, then over half or
left, and what was the name for Bruggen came. And we certainly get sort of tired, different
broken and Jenny, that piano violin is that he had, and then all at once, one day, it was
announced that we were going to have Eugene Armand DS director. He played directed
our Friday evening concert, and I was so excited. There's going to be an all Tchaikovsky
program and Sunday, I immediately went to the box office and bought tickets for my
whole family for the Sunday afternoon concert, and took everybody over there, including
Elizabeth, who's just a little little girl, but we sat and listened to the magnificent music that
he was able to bring out of that artist. He wasn't there many years and then he was
succeeded, but Dimitri metropolis, and we thought that we'd had the pinnacle with our
Monday.
G
Gerda Mortensen 06:01
But when this tall Athenian strode to the podium and directed this Symphony, it was
though it were all electrified over again. And I remember that opening concert, he did a
piano concerto with an orchestra and directed with his head and sat and played and
directed and oh, we just thought now. So we kept going year in and year out. This was a
Friday evening routine, listening to all this grand music. And then about in 1900 and 54.
We were approached by a subcommittee of the Minneapolis Symphony, in their interest to
try to bring the college's to, and more young people 10 the symphony orchestra concert,
they were starting something that they called Symphony forums, and they wanted to do a
pilot study with Augsburg College. Claire's German, I think, was in the Director of Public
Relations at that time, and he referred Stanley Hawks. And one Mr. London one, Mr. Zoe,
to me. So we sat down to talk about what we might do. It happened that my niece
Elizabeth Martin son, who was a major in music was chairman of music that year. So I
called her in And together, we sat down to talk about what we could do about selling
tickets, at a reduced rate to Augsburg College students and to Augsburg faculty. And then
three or two or three times a year, we would have the artists from the university come
over to meet with us. This just challenged everybody's interest. And that first year, two
thirds of our faculty and students, but this series of tickets, and this was an amazing sort of
thing. And in the program notes of that opening concert it talks about was with Martin's
and his Chairman, this committee, and that they had now established Symphony forums
at Augsburg College.
G
Gerda Mortensen 08:31
We arranged a dinner for all these people, faculty and students and anyone else who
would like to come and we were around 200 people in the old dining room. And on top of
the rat, he came over to talk to the group. And he talked about what constitutes listen to
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music. How do you listen to music? And how does the symphony operate and how does
the symphony work? At the end of the evening, we felt as if we had been at some renewed
spirit heights. Anybody who had a deep interest in religion and spirituality felt that they
had been tremendously and noble by this experience. We have some pictures in the family
and in the archives of durante being there and I know Elizabeth has one that she
cherishes, highly taken with diversity because she had done this. We also had the privilege
of having Isaac Stern come over to Augsburg one evening to talk to the symphony, we
decided that it was better to have a symphony forum the evening before the concert so
that people could come and meet this person and then talk with him. Isaac Stern is
always very willing to do this kind of thing and was quite articulate. He brought his very
charming wife with him. We were all ready for this down in the Student Lounge of science
Hall. When r1 to electric stern came on and the lights went out well Garrett a new her
some candles were in the home maintenance department and some candlesticks. So she's
grounded around and found all kinds of candles and candlesticks. And that little old that
little not old but that that student lounge was just so delightful. Set somebody at the door
to meet the people with the candle and to light the past down. It just set such a sort of a
romantic kind of setting. And
G
Gerda Mortensen 10:34
Mr.--oh, the business manager of the Minneapolis Symphony--Oh well, I think it was
named a little later. But he escorted Mr. Mrs. Isaac Stern, and they came on down I don't
remember now whether I wonder if there was a mystery land in this mystery Ellie and I
think that they were there with us. at the dinner wonder about he was there. Donald
Dayton was present because he was on this board to try to interest young people in a
concert. But of course the fact that we had done set to superb job of selling to such a
large number of people was a tremendous incentive to these people. And subsequently,
they extended this service to our colleges. And busloads used to come from Carleton and
St. Olaf Angus Davis. Adolphus and from St. Catherine's now, but they always said you
people disappear beginning and and then the next year. Durante came back again. And
he talked about his own bringing up in Hungary and about listening to music. And he and
he talked about Bartok because he would Bella Bartok was one of his favorites. And he
talked about how as you grew up in in hungry, you just grew up with music as though
you're eating the soil and the spirit in the soul of a country. Well as students who were
there and listen to these just never forgot these things.
G
Gerda Mortensen 12:08
And other years, we followed up and tried to get some people to come over. But then
there gets be competition to go to the Masterpiece Series. And some other kinds of things
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in the Minneapolis Symphony is changed to that they offer now to smaller series and
within these, and students still may buy tickets at discount. And we did in those early days
also have quite a few students who actually did the symphony. They had actually
downtown and they ushered over the Minneapolis Symphony, but then the music students
at the University of Minnesota got first chance and so they're less of them, but if they
really wanted to and didn't have money to buy tickets, then they could also you know,
make an effort and several of them did to get there. And now we have scrubber CHATZKY
and desert upcoming sim is in centennial year. We are speaking for the 19th of October to
have the Minneapolis Symphony play a Centennial concert. The original premiere of that
workflow Norway's work for orgs, written for Augsburg college choir, with the music
provided by the Minneapolis Symphony. The symphony will also want to play something
else they will play something Mozart, which relates to Mozart, whose home was in
Augsburg, Germany paying tribute to that connection. And also, they will play something
that they are already acquainted with. And so we're going to ask Mr. James Johnson
music department at Augsburg who has done the Greek concerto with a Minneapolis
Symphony and a concert at our place to do this at the university. Those were somehow
the beginnings of some of all of this.
G
Gerda Mortensen 13:50
Now talking about the University of Minnesota, we were just across the river, anybody
could walk over all the content, all the programs, all the lectures, all the workshops, all the
drama, they were open to us and faculty people at Augsburg, were always interested in
buying tickets, getting tickets, encouraging students to go. And so we have some of all of
this. We tried to think too, that there were some needs in our communities, we wanted to
reach out into the community to do something. And so one year, a number of us thought it
would be a very wonderful thing. If at Christmas time each year, we could bring members
of all the different churches in Minneapolis together to the Minneapolis auditorium TO
HAVE A Christmas Carol sing. Couldn't we start a create a new tradition to do something
like this? Well, I think we did it about three years. And we had quite a large number of
people coming. But then I think that with Claire's Germans coming to be in the Public
Relations Office, he didn't quite see the value of this. He didn't think it would be a going
thing. And so this idea was dropped only to be picked up by the Lutheran Welfare Society
using Luther College choir. At the core, our is the focal point and its director to put on
them as I every year at Advent on Advent Sunday.
G
Gerda Mortensen 15:22
This continued for many, many years. And many of the Augsburg choir people, anybody
who likes to sing could go and join the big mass choir that sang for the Messiah. I suppose
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the year that this Messiah stood out as a greatest rendition was the year that Jenny's
girdles falls saying the alto so and john to whom Mr. Sateren described as the best tenor in
the Twin Cities, saying the tenor solos, Russia Schouler from the University of Minnesota
race, and I forgot to know who your soprano was. But our we were just as proud as we
could be of Jenny scribbles fold and john to because they had done it absolutely excellent
work. acquires took tours east and west and north and south. And we had a band that
had been started in 1900 and 52, when Mayor Subodh came to Augsburg, he had directed
MacArthur's band in the South Pacific during the war period. And it came to us much
interested in doing something with the band. I was in charge of freshman week that year.
And as I met him in the hallway, I needed to go to the bank. He said, Let me take you
down to the bank. And on the way we talked about, what could we do to build up a
number of people would like to be in the band. So we decided we write to all the freshmen
everybody to take any instrument along the table fade and bring them with them and
take them up to freshmen camp.
G
Gerda Mortensen 17:04
And so this we did, and out of that group, there were some 7080 students who brought
their instruments along and made us have all had the electric car they are being able to
bring out the best in these youngsters. And they played some had so much fun rehearsing
then, and it was a nucleus of a band which grew and grew and grew from then, until now
he is a highly selective band. He is a second band. He is a repertoires, cultured class with
people just simply get acquainted with a great deal with music. The band has played for
national conventions downtown and at one of these national conventions meeting in
Minneapolis. He met some people from England and from Europe, other places who are
attending, and he invited them to come to attend. What was known for a number of years
is the spring and Tiffany at Augsburg College, which was a creative use of music, music,
art, drama, and speech.
G
Gerda Mortensen 18:07
Taking and this was always a second Sunday before Palm Sunday. Is it first or second?
Well anyway, before proceeding Palm Sunday. But we took the whole idea spring and
Tiffany is some creative way to express our own feeling about Easter about resurrection
about eternal life.
G
Gerda Mortensen 18:31
And as these people that Mayo had invited to come from that national convention
walked out of Simon LB Hall where that person Tiffany was given. I overheard somebody
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say, this is the most creative thing that I've seen in the line of music and all of us say this
reminds me of a story that Mr. Fauci, our chemistry professor told one time as he gave a
chapel talk, how are you going to learn how to appreciate the music, the mystery fast, he
was raised in the area of South Dakota, about the area where Roblox book giant in the
years had it setting. His family situation was such that he was not able to go to high
school until he was something like 15 1617 years of age. And so I think in two years, he
studied everything in high school and was ready to go on to college. In his home
community, there was a dear old country Fiddler. And he played the film. And he thought
there was just no music quite like the country Fiddler. So when he went to college, I don't
remember where this was. But anyway, he was always told that he should go and listen to
some other music and expand his interest in concert to music was, so he did go. And he
went to here concert and he went to your recitals. And he went to hear symphonies. But
all the time his thought went back to that country Fiddler. No music really came up to
what the country Fiddler was. And after he graduated, he went back to his home
community one time, and lo and behold, the country Fiddler was to play.
G
Gerda Mortensen 20:24
And lo and behold, he said, I discovered what I learned. And I had learned it by going to
listen, and listen, and listen. And imperceptibly I had grown. And I suddenly realized that
the symphony music and the beauty of all of this, this was what my soul really wanted.
And so it is also in the field of literature, you said, some people write books about flowery
frontier, it's in there so flowery, that they're just too heavy with perfume, and some
describe the backyard. So you see every pig and every bit of filth there ever is. You don't
need to see all the beauty, you don't need to see all the pills, you can find things that will
talk about things. And, and there can be something which is a happy medium between the
two. And something which is real and true and significant. And this is what's great
literature. So you can develop a capacity for great literature, and the capacity for great
music and the feeling that you have for art and for drama. by exposing yourself to these
things enough times until somehow by the process of osmosis. They've gotten into you
and they're part of your will bandwidth of your being. That was I've just never forgotten
that little talk by Mr. Fuzzy [audio cuts off]
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Show less
RG 21.4.1969.07.29 Mortensen 1 of 4.wav
Thu, 04/11 06:45AM
45:06
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
augsburg, people, father, mother, home, years, congregation, lived, mankato, called, church,
moved, teacher, pastor, augsburg college, children, grandfather, man, felt, married
SPEAKERS
Gerda Mortensen, M... Show more
RG 21.4.1969.07.29 Mortensen 1 of 4.wav
Thu, 04/11 06:45AM
45:06
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
augsburg, people, father, mother, home, years, congregation, lived, mankato, called, church,
moved, teacher, pastor, augsburg college, children, grandfather, man, felt, married
SPEAKERS
Gerda Mortensen, Marian Lindeman
G
Gerda Mortensen 00:27
Let me see if this is all right now.
G
Gerda Mortensen 00:35
This evening July 29 1969,
G
Gerda Mortensen 00:36
Marion Wilson Lindemann and I, Gerda Martinson, sitting on their delightful porch at
Parkers Lake, are going to start talking about my background and my experience over
many years as we worked together at Augsburg College.
G
Gerda Mortensen 00:36
I came there is a Dean of Women in 1923, and Marian came as a teacher--French and
other subjects--in 1926. That started the long lifetime friendship which has kept on
growing more meaningful over all the years. Now I'm going to start letting her ask me a
couple of questions.
M
Marian Lindeman
00:57
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I know what an important place Augsburg is always held in your life and still does. And I
wondered when did you first hear about Augsburg? When did you first become important
to you?
G
Gerda Mortensen 01:36
Augsburg was something which I always knew about I I don't know when I learned how to
read. I don't know. When I first heard about Augsburg, it was just something that was a
part of us. It was more than a school. It was more than a place. It was an institution. It was
a feeling; it was a conviction.
G
Gerda Mortensen 02:03
What kind of a home did I come from? Well, my father was a pastor. And as an immigrant
from Norway, he came to Augsburg in January 1885.
G
Gerda Mortensen 02:14
How did he know about Augsburg? Well, his uncle, Jacob Nygaard had come to window to
settle. And the young Jacob caught the " Amerika-feber" that characterized that island.
Hundred and 80 people a year moved off from that island until there were several
thousand that have come to this country. So uncle Jacob Nygaard had invited my father
to come to this part of the country.
G
Gerda Mortensen 02:46
He came in the fall of 1883. And during that winter, uncle, great uncle Jacob Nygaard took
father along to a meeting of the church group in camp release congregation, which was
outside of Montevideo, served by the then pastor Nielsen Baird, the father of Dr. Luthard
Burke and Miss Engelberg.
G
Gerda Mortensen 03:14
And during this time, my father said, I feel that I should go into the ministry. I would like to
go to school in America. So Pastor Nielsenberg said right to Dr., Professor George Georg
Sverdrup in Minneapolis, Augsburg College, Augsburg Seminar is it was called then. So my
father wrote, and he had a letter back from Sverdrup saying, "it is a good thing if you
could learn a little English before you come." So my father, a grown man of 23 years of
age, sat in the little country schoolhouse and learned how to spell and read simple simple
English.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 03:55
By Christmastime he felt that he had enough background to start at Augsburg.
G
Gerda Mortensen 04:00
And so in January 1885, he came on the Milwaukee train from way down to Minneapolis.
And he asked the station master, "can you direct me to Augsburg Seminar?" And the
station manager walked out on the sidewalk outside the Milwaukee Depot and he pointed
to- "do you see that building on the hill way out there outside of town? To the east of us?"
"Yes." "Well, that is Augsburg." So my father, suitcase in hand, walked up those little streets
up across the Cedar Avenue, which then was a creek and up the hillside up to Augsburg.
G
Gerda Mortensen 04:30
My brother Harold, speaking about father, said he "attended" Augsburg. No, he joined
[said with emphasis] Augsburg. And I think that he, together with many of the immigrants,
who were students at Augsburg felt that Augsburg was their home. Over the years I could
always hear him speak about going home to Augsburg. Those men didn't have what they
call a fraternity, as we know fraternities today, but there was a fraternity among them.
That was a very rich and deep and meaningful experience, which was it--something that
we cherished over all the years of our lives.
G
Gerda Mortensen 05:27
I can remember taking revenue Johan Knutsen past my father's room at the Ebenezer
home when father was very poorly and very ill and the two men shook hands heartedly
and looked at each other with love. And said nary a word.
G
Gerda Mortensen 05:48
Just [speaking in Norwegian] " Vi møtes igjen over" [translating in English] "We'll meet
again, above." They said goodbye; it was the last time the two men saw each other. But
words weren't necessary. They had lived through experiences together, which bound them
together into a fellowship, a brotherhood that was very, very deeply meaningful.
G
Gerda Mortensen 06:12
Now how did they might have to get to know my mother? That also is a beautiful little
story.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 06:19
My mother's people came from voters Norway. In 1884, a man with his family of sons and
daughters emigrated from Norway took 13 weeks on a little trip to New York. Went by
steamer up to Albany by that funny little wooden train across to Buffalo, on down to
Chicago, and then on over to La Crosse, Wisconsin, settling being the second settlers in
Boston Valley.
G
Gerda Mortensen 06:55
Grandfather took land in the hilly country there and later when I visited dollars, I could
understand why they wanted to settle among the hills, because it made them think of
their beautiful valley in Norway up and fathers high heels, trees, Brooks, and running water
and full of fish in the streams.
G
Gerda Mortensen 07:21
Grandfather married at the age of 19. A woman who'd also come from the from dollars,
she was seven years old years and he to this marriage were born eight or nine children.
And my mother who was one of these people who in her early life had the rare experience
of going to country school with a college trained teacher from Vermont. Her name was
Miss Moran, Miss Moran merengue.
G
Gerda Mortensen 07:56
Miss Marvin was one of those people who somehow just captured my mother's interest.
She wanted to excel she wanted to read this well she did she wanted to speak as well as
she did. She wanted to be able to do the things that an educated person can do. Miss
Moran was also very fond of my mother and I think found an apt pupil there. Probably it
was through her in bones.
G
Gerda Mortensen 08:23
But anyway, my grandfather, way back in the 1860s and 70s subscribed to The New York
Times. And the New York Times came regularly to their home I suppose it was a weekly at
that time. I don't know. But my father came is a teacher Vacation Bible School teacher
with column now to the congregation and North across the pasture then was EP horrible
the father of life and of and George Carbo and Mrs. Designer Andreessen Matilda, and he
took father along out to this country Parish, and they stayed overnight in this home.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 09:11
And my father promptly fell in love with this beautiful woman who was my mother. And
three years later, they were married.
G
Gerda Mortensen 09:22
Father love to talk Norwegian. Norwegian was a language that we used at home.But we
also used English. And we learned mother corrected or English and father corrected or
Norwegian. And we talked to father and Norwegian, we talked the mother in English. It
was not hard to teach us how to read Norwegian. I can remember learning the alphabet
and Norwegian when the Folkebladet newspaper came, our church paper. It was a big
one at that time.
G
Gerda Mortensen 09:53
And we would open it and this I can remember from the time we lived in Mankato, and I
was three years and nine months old when we moved away from Mankato. But if there
was a letter we didn't know, we would just turn to mother and take what is that?.
G
Gerda Mortensen 10:08
Until we learned our alphabet. And we learned how to read Norwegian and our textbook
was a Folkebladet. And if Ralph Lauren did, he was not quite two years older than I than I
wanted to learn it too. So I think we've always known how to read. And we always knew
how to read Norwegian as well as English, I think to their books of stories, and there were
books of the folklore and the even to the Fairyland Miss Susie and all those stories from
Norway that came into our home that we could enjoy.
G
Gerda Mortensen 10:43
There were songs of the North. And there was the experience of the wonderful men's Glee
Club and lacrosse and all kinds of people that income, because La Crosse got to be a
crossroads of the all the immigrants from the west that came from Chicago was to look
cross, many of them stopped. And then they spread out fan like overall this whole great
big Northwest.
G
Gerda Mortensen 11:06
And so here's there were many delightful and wonderful people. And it was a great, great
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Norwegian community until around the turn of the century. And then they sold out the
Germans that came and just huge areas of this valley were taken, the departments were
so determined and they came in.
G
Gerda Mortensen 11:29
But let me go back to a couple other remembrances from my mother's home. She was
born in 1859 and details about the Civil War period, there were three girls first v And
getting them was unheard of and Calico sold for 90 to $1 a yard. And so grandmother
took the Muslim curtains from the windows in the house, made the necessary garments for
these little girls.
G
Gerda Mortensen 12:05
At that time to I men could hire somebody to go in his place in the service. And my
grandfather having a family of five children and aged parents to look after some other
relatives felt that he ought to do this. So he hired a man to go in his place into the service.
G
Gerda Mortensen 12:27
Mother talking about it when said I saw my father cry twice. Once he came into the house,
and he said "Ingeborg, Abraham Lincoln has been shot." And grandmother and my
grandfather sat down and cried. And my mother in her little child mind wondered, "What
strange I haven't heard about this relatives, it means so much to the folks. How Haven't I
heard about Abraham Lincoln." And it wasn't until later that she was told that it was the
President did it states. But he meant that much to them, that they just wept bitter tears
because of this.
G
Gerda Mortensen 13:07
And the other time she saw my father, her father weep was when the man that my
grandfather had hired to take his place in the war, came home completely unscathed, and
in full health, in full health. And then there was a cry of joy, which was heightened. When
he told him that the last battle they were in one of the other sharpshooters and he this
other man said, Let's change places. They change places and that other sharpshooter was
killed. And so he had escaped miraculously to do this. We were brought up singing lots of
the old Civil War songs tending on the camp ground.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 14:02
There had been a Sunday school by one of the men in this valley, who had gathered many
people together because it was a beginning of a Sunday school movement. This hadn't
come to the Lutheran Church as such. But there was a Sunday school in this valley. And a
Mr. Dudley brown all young people together, and they had a Sunday school for younger
children and older children. There was no organ in the church. And my grandmother and
grandfather somehow had a little Oregon. And they would meet at our home and they
would practice the gospel songs, as well as a chorus for the Lutheran Church in four parts
so that they could sing in harmony when they were in church.
G
Gerda Mortensen 14:50
For many years later, in 1934, 35, while I was teaching in Hancock, China, the man who was
in the consulate there had a little daughter going design top private school. And she loved
to stop by and have the embassy car pick me up. And we would drive to school together
in the mornings. And her mother It was very much interested in came to visit us when
Saturday morning. And my sister in law as to where they hit. She had grown up and she
said Oh, it's a little town. I'm sure you never heard of it. It's in Wisconsin was she said my
husband service church in Wisconsin. The name of the town is West Salem. Oh, Patrick
said we had to drive through West Salem to go out to build schools to one of our
congregations. And I asked her what was your maiden name? She said deadly. And I
asked her and she was so surprised at the question. "Did your grandfather have a Sunday
school there for the people in the valley?" "Yes." When lo and behold, paths cross again.
And this was the granddaughter of that old man who had been my mother's Sunday
school teacher.
G
Gerda Mortensen 16:00
But this was an interesting blend of American language and the Norwegian language of
the American culture and the Scandinavian culture. And I think that my mother imbibed
quite a good deal of this as she grew up, because she didn't want to be just one thing. She
was always very proud of being an American. And born in America. We children used to
child every once in a while when father would say home in Norway and she said you
shouldn't say home in Norway because your home is here. And then we said But Mother
You say home in Wisconsin back in the cross. But that was different because that in this in
this country.
G
Gerda Mortensen 16:46
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My father was ordained and went out to his his first pastorage at Aberdeen Washington.
One little daughter was born to this marriage by the name of Agnes and 15th of July 1892,
just a year after they're married. And then my mother wasn't very well. The boom of
people moving out, was crushed by the Panic of 1893 and all the lumber industry, in
Aberdeen, hokey and Washington where my father was a pastor came to a standstill, and
they decided that they would have to give this up because the congregation could no
longer support them and come back to this part of the country. So naturally, they went
back to La Crosse and stayed there a while. Then my father was called Mankato,
Minnesota be pastor. And the second year little Agnes died of what would be called the
spinal meningitis I think today and the following year my brother Ralph was born.
G
Gerda Mortensen 17:57
I was born November 17, 1895 in Mankato. The particular spot on which the House did then
is now a school ground, I suppose symbolic of the fact that I was going to be a lifelong
school teacher who knows. Subsequently, my brother Harold was born some three and a
half years later, and when he was six weeks old in the fall of 1899, my father moved with
our family to Lumberton Minnesota. During those years in La Crosse, or in Mankato, my
father had been interested in following the Pioneer settlers that came up some Minnesota
Valley to man Kato and from there they branch north and northwest.
G
Gerda Mortensen 18:50
So he had found enough people in settlement around Lumberton around Milroy and the
mountain Lucan, Minnesota and those three communities father organized congregations
and they felt he wanted to follow and be with the pioneer. Mother was much more
interested in living in a city but she said "after all, you are the pastor, you do this work, and
I--where your work calls you and where you feel called to go there I will go too."
G
Gerda Mortensen 19:22
In Mankato there was a widow with three children the name of crouch and these children
needed help. Somebody gathered money to help them and one pastor there wasn't very
careful about the handling or husbanding these funds. So the upshot of the matter was
that they brought the three children to my father and said, Please do something about
these children. And my father and mother talk this over, had the children in their home.
And then father thought this would be a good project produced three new congregation
to lead organize it Lambert in mail Ryan looking to support a home for children.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 20:10
Subsequently they built home at Lumberton. And in this home, they got to be some 15-20
children. Among the people who came to take care of these children were to deaconess is
from the deaconess hospital and mother house in Minneapolis.
G
Gerda Mortensen 20:34
During the years that my father had been a student at Augsburg College and in the
seminary, he had, among other things, taught a Bible class to the weaknesses once a
week at the deaconess home and his acquaintance with these people. Let him to get in
contact with them and ask them to provide some sisters to look after this home for the
children.
G
Gerda Mortensen 21:03
So there was a sister Antoinette who came and, a sister Matilda, and the sister Carrie.
Sister Antoinette resigned A few years later to marry a Mr. Battalion, a widower with adult
children. And she lived on a farm home for many, many years. She's the mother of our
Abner photographer, who at present time is in Saigon, and who has been a very active
person in our church and then our college. Sister Matilda, later married Reverend Gilson of
our church. And our faculty at Augsburg is Dr. Crowd because like whose wife is Baba
Gilson, his sister married a brother, Bob Burg. Another sister nurses training died the later
and Carrie married to Mr. Nygaard and we've had some of their children at Augsburg over
the years.
G
Gerda Mortensen 22:13
This children's home the test two homes, as it was called the children's home at
Lamberton moved subsequently to near Wilmer, when the children in the home became of
age when they should be able to do some work. They thought that it would living on a
farm with cows and with animals and was firework would be a very good thing. And so
but testa Holmes was moved to a farm about five six miles outside of Willmar, Minnesota
on Eagle Lake. Father after having been a pastor at Lamberton for six years, was invited
to come as a financial secretary for Augsburg.
G
Gerda Mortensen 23:03
And in 1905, we moved to Minneapolis and lived there until the spring of 1908, during
which time, he of course, traveled in all of the loose and free church congregations went
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from home to home and talk to cause of the church related college and seminary and the
importance of sending the young people there. The young men I should say because
Augsburg was a men's school until it became co-educational in 1922.
G
Gerda Mortensen 23:35
My childhood memories go back to the days at Mankato and I can remember but frankly
one h in Hendrickson who came to teach vacation Bible school when I was a little girl, and
when I came to Augsburg is a member of the faculty. He was the registrar and he was on
our faculty. And we were great friends. Although he was a man who is a young seminary
graduate Rock me to sleep by singing me beautiful tenor solos.
G
Gerda Mortensen 24:13
The friendship from his family and my father's family David way back to number 10 day
and to Montevideo days, when my father had first come from Norway. There was a Pastor
Erickson, who was a pastor in that congregation who had been one of the first three
graduates of Augsburg Seminary in Marshall, Wisconsin, the very first year that they
started 1869. And he was one of, was it the three or five graduates in June of 1970
[correcting herself]--1870. Did I say 1869? And 1870.
G
Gerda Mortensen 25:02
He was called to this parish with no salary, but a place to work and an assurance from the
people that he would never starve. These were pioneers living inside what's in those days.
And everybody would try to raise some cattle, some sheep, some pigs, some chickens,
some grain, and out of whatever they had, they would bring to the parsonage some of
these things.
G
Gerda Mortensen 25:38
Now it happened that they had three sons and two daughters. I think they were five
children. It's time of this story. But one of my relatives, one of the fathers people. One day,
Mrs. Blix was going to bake bread and she thought I think I should make a double bed to
bed today. Because maybe they need bread in the person. And she gathered together
some vegetables and things and thought I'm going to send this over. And then Mr. Blix
came in. And he said, You know, I think maybe I should bring some vegetables and
butchered some, I think I should bring some of this meat over to the parsonage.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 26:24
So they loaded up the wagon was bred with vegetables with meet with food. At the
parsonage the evening before the children had gone to bed hungry. And the parents said
to the children, and one of these sons of this past year was a pastor had related this
incident to my brother, Harold, that we went to bed. And we were all told we should pray
to God that we had no food, just pray to God that He will send us food. So the next
morning, when these little children woke up, they were hungry. And they went downstairs
and there was nothing in the kitchen. And they went to their parents bedroom. And they
saw that the door was open. And their father and mother on their knees praying to God
for food.
G
Gerda Mortensen 27:22
And just then there was a rapid the kitchen door. And they went to the kitchen door and
there was these relatives of mine bringing food. God put it in their minds, you might need
some food today. And so this man I pastor himself in in these late years said, You have no
idea how to strengthen our faith in what pyramid.
G
Gerda Mortensen 27:50
Now these are some of the characteristics sort of ideas, faith and simplicity and so on that
people had a call from God to go out to be messengers of love to the people who come
here from their homeland. And it was in this atmosphere that my father found himself at
home and found himself in full sympathy with. And so it is no wonder that in his old age,
they won't last congregation he's here to the pastor asked me Do you know what they call
your father up here? And I said, No, the apostle of love. To which my brother Ralph said,
when I was going to go Wait, school father took me aside and asked me some things and
talked with me. And then he said, you know what I think about when I wake up in the
morning.
G
Gerda Mortensen 28:48
Well, we have said, so I just don't. But every morning when I wake I think of Who can I
make happy today. And we all said there by NGS a whole philosophy be of life. And so I
know that my father's great idea was to bring happiness and joy to others. And then he
was also the kind of person who could give it by like Mary Lou once said--this neice of
mine--Grandpa could accept a dozen eggs from a little lady, to make her feel as though
she were the Queen of Sheba.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 29:22
And this a habit of being able to accept gifts, with graciousness. And with us. It's a
something that you you live from the heart, it isn't anything that is put on, it's just simply in
with their well into this home of ours came these men and their wives, who had been a
part of our student body. And I can remember that as a child, how surreal we were that we
knew no region, because we could sit and listen to these delightful conversations. There
were no telephones, there were no radios, there were very few newspapers. There were
very few people that came.
G
Gerda Mortensen 30:06
And my mother is sometimes being burdened with the cares of the household and are not
feeling too well. I would say, oh, Jacob, why can't you have them stay someplace else? But
oh, no, they had to be there. And the conversations went on far into the night, not about
things, not about people, but about ideas and about the work of the kingdom of God, and
what they could do. Because their whole life was somehow dedicated to the idea of
serving this school. The so that, in turn could serve the people. I know that when I was
invited to come to expect to be a teacher, I felt that part of my responsibility was to help
confront every girl there with a personal commitment of life, to the Christian way of life,
which meant is surrender to Jesus Christ.
G
Gerda Mortensen 31:09
And I tried over the years, in many different kinds of ways to make this a reality. And there
was some very rich and meaningful experiences. Oh, I know, when I came, I thought how
in the world am I going to do this? And I read my Bible at night and I wondered, how am I
going to be able to so live so talk so work, that they can see that this is something that's
mine and want it
G
Gerda Mortensen 31:43
Oh, I thought too when I came to Augsburg as a graduate from the University of
Minnesota at the age of 26. "If I were only older, if I only had gray hair, if I only had been
married, so the girls would think 'well, if I do what she says well, then I too will probably be
married someday.'" What time took care,of the gray hair and the getting older and the
matter of being married or not. That somehow had gone by the way because like
Gertrude Hilleboe at St. Olaf and I and many others in our generation never dreamed that
we could be Deans of Women and be married at the same time. It was sort of a call to a
commitment of life to that kind of service.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 32:24
I think I should pause for a bit.
G
Gerda Mortensen 32:26
[There is a long break in the recording]
G
Gerda Mortensen 33:18
I started my educational career when I was seven years old by going to school at Lambert
in Minnesota.
G
Gerda Mortensen 33:25
We lived on a farm home about two miles from town. My brother Ralph had gone with his
body. My mother's younger sister and her husband, Mr. Weimer, who was a teacher at or
town College in Watertown, Wisconsin. And so took his first two years, the first year that
he lived with him. He came back a master of English and big vocabulary gear to just tag
along with him all around, and listen to everything and wanted to do this know this as
much as he did. So in September that year, we carried her little lunch pills with us. In
Waldorf two miles to town. There was a shortcut we could take, which was a mile. But
oftentimes the water was too high in the creek, or the snow to deepen the road to we'd
walk around. So here it was first grade. I can remember one thing about that teacher.
G
Gerda Mortensen 34:22
The thunderstorm came up and I was a little frightened. She came in sat down the seat
was made for arm around me, and comforted me and somehow made me Laverne. She
was married that following summer, and then the fall when school started. my pal of those
years surveyed, later told me that let's go down and see Mrs. Gabbert I said, and if she
could only have a baby, where we could go with the baby. We didn't know too much
about biology in those days. But my first year, went on rather uneventful me, but I learned
something in the second year. At last fall, I was down in spoke or last spring, spoken
language. And I told the people in the congregation that I had learned two things there.
G
Gerda Mortensen 35:14
And the one lesson I learned when I was in second grade. I came we had the carried our
lunch pills. I don't think any teachers used to stay during the noon hour. But I think that we
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had been some kind of goings on at the school during the noon hour window teachers
were there. And when I came back to when the teacher came back in the afternoon,
teacher, my class, she said, Now Gary, tell me what you did that was wrong.
G
Gerda Mortensen 35:47
You know, it was wrong. And I said, Well, what did I do? She shut me up completely. And
she said, You stand in the corner there until you can tell me what you did. It was wrong.
And I started to ask What did I do? And I said I don't just wouldn't listen to me. I don't
know. I stood in my little blue sailor suit dress all afternoon school started at one it wasn't
over was until four o'clock. And the children looked at me standing there all afternoon, the
sympathy was with me. And the teacher didn't do any explaining. So what I had done that
was wrong to this day, I don't know, I may well done something wrong. But I asked her
what it was.
G
Gerda Mortensen 36:27
But this taught me in all the years of my life, I wanted to give anybody a chance to say
anything they wanted to say about what they hit Done. And I carry judgments in, in this,
you know, didn't fail to pass judgment until I had felt that I had heard all sides of a story.
This was probably a pretty valuable lesson to learn that early in life.
G
Gerda Mortensen 36:52
But I have often wondered what it was that that teacher accused me of and wouldn't tell
me what it was so that I could get it rectified. That's, in one way a very horrible kind of
memory. But I can still feel the warmth and the affection of the children in the room. The
teachers on I was stubborn mule. I guess maybe I was stubborn in something, but I had
nothing to confess. So that was it.
G
Gerda Mortensen 37:19
And then the third grade one of my classmates fainted and I thought when I wouldn't it be
fun to be able to faint because she got a lot of attention. I didn't. Then we've had a
summer My mother was winter My mother was very ill had to go to lacrosse for surgery.
And I went along and lived in the hospital part of the time was there and stayed with a
cousin. That following summer we went out to Tacoma Washington where she had three
sisters, one each to take care of the two or three children. And my grandmother was still
living so mother stayed there. But we had a great summer picnic baskets out to point
divine spark practically every day, living by the seashore, just having a wonderful,
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wonderful summer. It started the whole series in my life of vacations in Washington, which
we're always connected with mountains was the ocean endless fun.
G
Gerda Mortensen 38:14
We moved to Lamberton and my father from Lamberton, we moved to Minneapolis. My
father had been invited by Augsburg College to be what was called the traveling financial
secretary. Father was a great person, for personal contacts with people he liked people.
He liked, talk with people, he liked to talk the cause of Christian higher education with
people. And he started a systematic covering of all the congregation's of the loose and
free church. He visited in every home. And for years afterwards, he could come to annual
conferences, and they say Oh, Hello, Mr. So and so. And he turned it back and said they
live tomorrow Norris and one mile east from a certain church.
G
Gerda Mortensen 39:03
But in those early days to gifts to the college were small sums and larger sums, mostly
small sums. But the list of the people who had given money were given in the folk about it
in a list of gifts to the school. And lo and behold, didn't my father reads those avidly. And
of course you refresh his memory about the people. But those that he can interested, he
was always concerned about seeing how they were following up with these gifts.
G
Gerda Mortensen 39:34
So this went on for three years. Meanwhile, we joined Trinity Lutheran Church, which was a
college church. And when all the students went to worship, there was a Sunday school,
there were the young people. There was a Norwegian young people's group and an
English young people's group. And here we're this word oops, and the after dolls and the
plugins and the heroines and the horrible, and all these wonderful people to be friends
with. They had a custom to have open house and their birthdays.
G
Gerda Mortensen 40:08
And the first time your birthday came around. And if you are new in the city, then you
invited. So mother and father were duly invited to the party parties, disparate groups. And
they have two dogs, both professors fair enough detail. And revenue goes above the door,
to the Patterson's to the night owls to the Holland, and in turn head open house
themselves. Both their birthdays were 10 days apart in in January. But on the 19th they
had open house for father and all these people came. And then 29th mother.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 40:45
These were wonderful days, because the people at Trinity Church had what they call
venomous friendship evenings, fellowship evenings, they get together just to listen to a
program good music, here's somebody talk, and then sit around and visit with each other.
And oftentimes, the far was taken by one or the other of these leading thinkers from
college and seminary. And so when could listen to the intelligent conversation that we're
professor, your expert group, or have professor or span of the Dow tell about life in Greece
because he'd gone to study there. And they came back and I can still remember, one of
the first set of slides that I had ever seen pictured in the church was a lecture on Greece
given by professors when after, when I was nine years old.
G
Gerda Mortensen 41:44
And thinking my this man must be remarkable. Who can speak a language that is
different dissolve this. Well, I went to school at school and skipped a half a grade. And
then we moved a little closer to August, Bergen, I went to middle school.
G
Gerda Mortensen 42:01
And Melvin Helland and I were in sixth grade and we were given the choice of who after
the first 15 minutes of mental arithmetic every out of 100 then we could go around and
collect the absence slips from all the boxes in the school. So we vied with each other and
both of us getting hundred every day, we had a chance to alternate. But this is where all
the children of the professors went to school because they lived in houses on the block at
that time, as we called it. There were the Patterson children and the Niedahl children, and
the Harbo children later in the [undefined] children, all these people going to this little
school was a great deal of fun. And then we had a wonderful Sunday school Professor
Niedahl alternated with him Mr. Rasmussen, this Sunday school teacher. And needless to
say, our Sunday school was all in Norwegian. And we sounds sang songs of a book called
Songbogen, which had been put together by one of the former teachers of our expert, but
the name of a mustard and the then pasture at Trinity Church.
G
Gerda Mortensen 42:02
And those are the songs that we knew and loved and sang, but in these schools, I can
remember in sixth grade at Monroe, we should have some home economics. And so we
had four lessons before we moved away in March. The first lesson was how to sweep and
desta house a second lesson was how to lay a fire the stove and the third was something
about utensils and weights and measurements. And then we moved away and the next
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recipe should be on how to make cream puffs and angel food cake and I got one of the
children to get me a copy and send them but we went moved to the country parsonage
were subsequently had chickens and I made more angel food cake cream puffs. The next
five six years I've ever made dollars to my life falling those recipes.
G
Gerda Mortensen 44:06
From Minneapolis, my father had a strange experience of during these years of losing
Professor Georg Sverdrup as President of Augsburg, who succeeded by his colleague Sven
Oftedal. The depression years of 1907 with it small panic came after that Oftedal was like
a man without a tie because he and Sverdrup had been such intimate friends, but he was
completely lost without him.
G
Gerda Mortensen 44:49
And with the financial situation being tight and difficult. And father's plan of long range
solicitation of friends and building up friendships. Oftedal, he could do better I guess
himself going at [the recording cuts off]
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Show less
RG 21.4.1969.07.30 Mortensen (2 of 4).wav
Tue, 07/30 02:07PM
64:13
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
student, people, augsburg, augsburg college, women, college, years, pastors, personnel, felt,
minnesota, christensen, dean, taught, lived, church, asked, group, ideas, met
SPEAKERS
Gerda Mortensen
G
G... Show more
RG 21.4.1969.07.30 Mortensen (2 of 4).wav
Tue, 07/30 02:07PM
64:13
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
student, people, augsburg, augsburg college, women, college, years, pastors, personnel, felt,
minnesota, christensen, dean, taught, lived, church, asked, group, ideas, met
SPEAKERS
Gerda Mortensen
G
Gerda Mortensen 01:24
Today we have something that we call student personnel services in the colleges and in
many other areas of business to your personnel departments. But the ordinary idea of
student personnel deals with everything from recruitment students to admissions to
registration to curriculum construction to orientation, health services faculty cancer
student counselors, housing, food service, Student Government, student activities, religious
life, vocational counseling, curriculum development, follow up alumni alumni records,
recommendations, discipline, and a few other areas. Whenever I first get to become
acquainted with some of all this as I said, I tended to Columbia University in the summer
session and 1924 after I had been Dina women for one year dogs and Miss hirable it St.
Olaf had recommended that I go she had had some wonderful work with one Romy at
Stevens who had started this work around 1910 1214 when she had been there for a
master's degree work. When I came this work was headed up by Dr. Sarah Stewart, whom I
became very fond of, and who helped me a great deal and that summer, she had a
beginning course the advanced course for people who were advisors to women and girls,
both college university and high school people. I told you my predicament I needed to
learn as much as I could in a shorter time as possible. could I possibly take the two
courses concurrently. Then I also wanted to take a course and institutional management
which would be something about how to take care of dormitories how to build them,
because one of the things that he said to me, wherever you go, be sure that you watch for
all the dormitory someday you will have a chance to plan something for Augsburg, so
keep notes in your mind and go take a look at dormitories wherever you can.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 03:39
That course was taught by Minnesota's Dean of Women, Dudley Blitz, whom I
subsequently get to know very well as she was a leader of our Minnesota Deans of
Women's Association for many many years. I also wanted to course in one other
thing...what was ithis? Vocational guidance. I think it was an education that women I was
also required to take a course in history. So here I started out in the beginning with all of
these different ideas. At Columbia University, I first came in contact with many people of
other races and other nationalities and other backgrounds. I had come out of a very close
circuited Lutheran Midwest group, although I had been in Mankato State, is it's called now
for two years met a number of people who are non-Lutheran, certainly at the University of
Minnesota when I finished my two years of undergraduate work. I had many friends from
many different kinds of circles. And still I was very limited in my outlook. I had a brother
who'd gone to China as a missionary and I had a great deal of interest in the people from
among whom he was working. among people that I met at Columbia that summer. Were
Mr. Mrs. Kohlberg, who had had one term is missionaries in China. They introduced me to
the so called indemnity students. It took me along to some of the meetings of the Chinese
as they were trying to understand the things they could do something so that they could, I
could understand a little bit more some of the problems that they'd had. And we're
having, and but it introduced me to a group of people among whom I could find some
friends and get away from some of the strangeness, that lack of contact with the
nationality group would mean. Among the women, the in studying that summer, we're
also two very lovely Negro women from Washington DC. One was the Dean of women at
Howard University, the other Edina women from one to the high schools. And these two
women were very fine people, they were always little reticent in class, they always waited
until the white people instead they had to go into a classroom and whatnot. But we tried
to treat them just as equals and as friends.
G
Gerda Mortensen 06:23
The year after I had been finished at Columbia University in 1929, we had a national
convention in Cleveland. I was asked by Anna Rose Hawks, who was at a rose at that time
from Washington University, who later married Dean Hawks from Columbia and recently,
but Anna Rose asked if I'd be willing to be one of the people who'd be hostess to this
Negro women. And we sat on a table just below the stage at the head table, because they
said we want to show all the things that we have a great deal of feeling of respect for and
want to recognize them fully as individuals. And so it was my happy privilege of being one
of 20 people sitting at that table between two Negro women. One of the sad comments
on these two Negro beautiful Negro Deans was they were injured some years later in a
car accident in Kentucky or wherever it was. And they were taken to a hospital. They
refused to admit them because they were negros. And both of them died before they got
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to a hospital was willing to take them. This kind of prejudice, this kind of discrimination is
something that is simply bring very deeply in hurt a great deal. I was asked a year later to
sit with Margaret Doty from Macalester in Atlantic City. And we brought some Negro
women and among them was a very charming, beautiful young Negro woman who had a
deep rose pink dress on formal and wore a beautiful pink rose to match in her hair. And to
just the chairman and Dean. The last year that I was dean of women before my retirement
in '64, I was hosted at a table in Portland, Oregon. And I asked the people at my table
would you like me God and bring a couple Negro deans and to sit with us? They said yes,
please do. And I saw these two, one taller one, one in one shorter went out in the hallway,
invited them a new place to sit? No, we haven't. I said want to please come and be guests
at our table. And they sat down and the shorter one sat next to me and I looked at her.
And across the years all at one Division I said were you at Atlantic City? And did you wear
a beautiful pink satin dress formal and wear rose in your hair? "Yes!" she said "I did!" "Well, I
sat at that table with you and met you then." So here we were, conversing over a lifetime
of experiences, from 1929 to 1964. Both of us having grown rich in experience over all
those years naturally.
G
Gerda Mortensen 09:01
But it was these opportunities to meet people and to be with others. It was also my first
contact with Puerto Rican people. I took a class in the philosophy of education from
William Hurt Kilpatrick, who was, to my thinking, the strongest and most wonderful
teacher at Columbia University was in philosophy, education. He had worked out of
workbook. We were something like 200 people in the class, and how can you have
personalized instruction with 200 people? But Dr. William Howard Kirkpatrick had worked
out a workbook on topics with questions. And we were divided into groups of 10 each, we
should meet, do our own reading, meet and discuss all these things and come with a
chairman from our group to report to the committee's or what we had found out. And so
William heard Kilpatrick always the Blackboard, back of a minute piece of chalk in his
hand, stood there tall, lean caches like figure and with sparkling eyes and would ask
questions here and there. And each group then reported, this took about 30 minutes of
the period. And then he would allow questions from one section to another. And
oftentimes there were questions. And I remember some of the most searching questions
were made by Puerto Ricans who were studying at Columbia. But he was very kind and
gentle with everyone and let them ask their questions. And then after about 10 minutes of
that, he would say, turn to the blackboard and draw a line from one point to another. And
he said, Now, this is what seems to me that you have said so far. And he would summarize
what the class had reported. And then notebooks all got out, and pencils got busy,
because he said, Now this is what it seems to me. And in about eight minutes of summary,
he pointed out upon the things that he felt were most significant in that lesson. And then
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we went on to the next session. But this was a whole term of this kind of studying and
teaching. I subsequently use that in the adaptation when I taught marriage and family
relationships. I had 60 students living sitting down at that one arm economics room, and I
put them at a router table. And here we had eight tables, and everyone could do their
discussing. So we had some of the same kind of thing. But this was a very exciting thing. A
wonderful teacher. And other people at Columbia that time that were much talkback was
Sunday, was William Bagley was Thomas Dewey was.
G
Gerda Mortensen 11:57
But some of the students get so excited about these. And one of the women who was
teaching in the elementary school for graduate students center children, said, Come to
the window and listen. And so we went to the window and listened. And here's the
children are crawling out on the on the playground. And they said turn back, you can't do
that to me or kill Patrick, come here, I'll punch you in the notes that were your bag. Now as
far apart as it could be, would be Thomas Dewey, and, and William Bagley and Kilpatrick.
But they oftentimes said, we had a wonderful day together. We discussed all day, we
didn't agree on a single thing, but we had a wonderful time together. It was a period of
very great enrichment. And Nicholas Murray Butler's president of Columbia at that time,
also did a good deal of talking whereas students had a chance to meet him. So these
were some of the kind of delightful things. The courses that I took in guidance and
personnel required us to do a lot of fieldwork and go visit all kinds of institutions and visit
colleges and universities in dormitories and slum areas and in churches and social work
centers and all this kind of thing. And in addition, I just, you know, hated to have any day
go by without some extra things. So I was always going to concerts or lectures, or listen to
different preachers. One Sunday go to St. John's a divine right near the edge of the
campus to hear some world famous pastor or I'd go down here Hugh black and the Fifth
Avenue Presbyterian Church. All right, go to that majestic Cathedral St. Patrick's never
having attended a Catholic service before I went to mass. And then I would go over once
a month or once in six weeks over to Brooklyn to my friends after dolls and pastor
segment at this Trinity Church in Brooklyn. But I always felt this is my opportunity to sort
of stretch my wings and get something else overpaid, fabulous, some for some Grand
Opera ticket to the Chris Olson, who was student pastor and I could go to hear Carmen
was Kirsten flagstick singing the role of Carmen. She was kind of a big Carmen, but over
the singing was just superlative.
G
Gerda Mortensen 14:22
The second time I went to Columbia in Jan February to 1928. I asked to live in Johnson
Hall. Eliza Reese Butler's sister, Nicholas Murray was the head and Margaret doty from
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McAllister college had had a year sabbatical the year before and had lived there. And she
said, Eliza, resist a everybody called her allies to resist very flattered if demons or women
want to come and live in her hall to see how it operated and run. So I came and filled in
the blank of the interests and whatnot. And the very next day here was a little note from
her inviting me to be her guests at dinner and afterwards at the opera, know at Carnegie
Hall. Somebody she explained a dinner that evening. And she had selected eight different
people to be her guests and go with us that somebody had died and her season tickets
for Connect Carnegie Hall had been given to the president and he sent them over to her
and said you could make use of them take somebody and treat them to these concerts.
So here we sat in this box. I didn't think I had a coat smart enough to go to Grand Opera
in and furthermore, I was anticipating buying out of season coat at one of the New York
stores so I got down to one and maker's Wade found a beautiful gray soft gray with a
gray squirrel trim line in grey squirrel. It had been $150 code and I got for $50 and I wore
that over little eating dress that I had made for myself. And I just sort of felt the elegance
and effort situation. And we sat in the box and several people came in bout wave to
advisories Butler and she had these men come in there you know dress uniform dress, and
came over to be presented. Two weeks later, I wanted to hear a wonderful concert and I
didn't have the money to buy a good ticket. So I bought standing room only and stood
through a coveted subsequently during the year I heard some very excellent, wonderful
music there is passionate music according to St. Matthew, At Easter time, I heard several
other concerts during the year but always tried to buy tickets far enough in advance to be
able to do things without costing too much.
G
Gerda Mortensen 16:54
But here was the richness of the New York Philharmonic playing off at the loose on
stadium. You could buy tickets and evening for 25 cents just sat way on the edges. So
during a hot hot summer, we would get on a sightseeing bus, Fifth Avenue bus no go down
Fifth Avenue back again out to the loose on stadium. Listen to concert two hours come
home at 1030. And then study until 3456 in the morning, this was all right. One was young
and on could do all of those things. And but these are some of the things that I hope gave
me a little bit of a scope and a little bit of a point of view as to some of the kinds of things
that one man, one man thought in terms of culture, and what one did to give to a group of
students again, I went to the art galleries, I went to some of the drama. I remember going
to hear Eva seeing Eva galleon play in her Repertory Theater where she wanted to have
good theater brought to the poor people. I saw Walter Hamptons in playing the man with
a big nose, Sudan Oh, yes. And play also that was a Persian, Tilden. It looked like pictures
on the prison picture. And they were in uniform and dressed like that. But all these things
just added a great deal of enrichment to my life. Read this very group and Martha Blegen
came through on their way to Europe. And I thought it's the end of the session when I had
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been there for six months. I think that I had spent more than they had spent going to
Europe, but I had also getting some of the things that I needed very desperately for my
own profession. One of the things that I was asked to do is summary term paper in my
course was to list a 10 or 15 or 20 year program for my institution as to what I was able to
think that we should be able to accomplish.
G
Gerda Mortensen 18:59
For instance, in the field of health, what could we do, we could work toward we had a low
infirmary and Mrs. Mrs. Jested, a retired, widowed missionaries wife, with four children was
living in a house and the campus was a Kosovo upstairs. And if any of the boys got sick,
She'd better make a bowl of soup and take over to them. Anybody got a girl, she'd have
to wait until she built a fire in this coal stove and they got to be warm enough in order to
move the people over there. This is all we had a line of health service. We had a couple
doctors who were friends box bridge doctor I received and Dr. CM on and if any expert
people became a all the they went to one or the other those and they charged them, I
think just the nominal fee. I know that that Dr receive it and did surgery for my brother
Ralph. And I think at that time, the old Medical Society still was an operation. And Ralph
was allowed some 15 $20 or something for this, how they managed to get through and do
some of these things, I don't know. But I had to talk with my teacher and counselor and
explained how we had a deaconess hospital it was affiliated with our same church group.
And so we worked out I worked out a kind of a program where we could start in by trying
to get a student who is a graduate nurse who wanted to study at the college to do
something about a volunteer business of helping take care of the sick. And when Mrs.
turbid came to be how smother and one of the dormitories, we were able to persuade the
authorities to move the health service over into main, which had steam heat that time.
Incidentally, steam heat came to the buildings at Augsburg during the time that my
brother Ralph was a student there. And he and other students went out that summer to
gather money in the congregation for Vermont opera out to heating pad for Augsburg
College.
G
Gerda Mortensen 21:15
And so it was in prior This was around 1914-15. I think that they installed heating plant up
to that time they had had wooden--still be airtight stoves. And so the boarding club fee
included dollar and a quarter or a year or something for cordwood to all the men had to
go on chop their own would carry pump their own water from the Wellness Center and
take up to their rooms. And there was of course a great lack of skill as far as household
housekeeping was concerned among the students. Well to change some of this and then
ultimately to have some kind of an affiliation with a with a doctor who would dispense
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certain number of hours on the campus, until finally we could set up a little health office
on the campus. Until finally we could have a whole health department in a hospital as we
do at Fairview hospital now. But when I moved from my old office in Martin Hall over to
the office in science Hall when that was built, I found that that copy of that paper, I didn't
have sense enough to save it. But I read through it. And I saw the steps that had been
taken and had been accomplished in all of those major areas that I thought were needed.
The least the slowest, was a matter of housing for women. But for the things which could
be done. Many of these things had been done that I had taught through these areas as
part of my study that particular time at Columbia.
G
Gerda Mortensen 23:07
Besides attending Columbia University, we're getting these ideas and trying to put those
into practice in our work at Augsburg came after a while to discuss with the president
then Dr. Christensen the idea of setting up something cogs to the personnel services at
Augsburg. So we set up a committee was Adolph of Paulson and Erling Urdahl. And I think,
man in education, I wonder if that was when Mr. Hansen was there, and myself. And we
should devolve some kind of a plan and a program for this to present to the faculty. And
as a result of our studying and talking together, we recommended fully that we should
adopt a student personnel program and set up our college on this kind of a basis. The next
day, it was presented to the faculty and it was passed. And later on that day, I met Dr.
Christensen. And he said, I hear you voted yourself out of a job yesterday. I said I did. Yes.
He said you decided to have student personnel work at Augsburg now. Was don't you
intend to have women's students at Oxbridge anymore? Will Yes, but if you have student
personnel program, then you have a man that the head of this and then you won't need
any one else. Well, this showed how terrible little understanding it was of all the things
that are involved in the student personnel program.
G
Gerda Mortensen 24:54
And later when they had built Gerda Mortensen and Hall and added this to the Sivertson
the then data Christensen one miracle and be the head residence here, I said, "Is this is
what you want me to be?" The 'Head REsident,' You don't want to be a Dean of Women
anymore?" "Well, you can be both." "No," I said. "I can't be both. Because they're just too
many things to do. And if the preference is mine, I will say the Den of Women." And then
we can have this others some auxiliary. Well. So it was always a matter of trying to, to
teach without too much success. Just what was involved because when I give all ones
time, 24 hours a day, I had lived in the Morton hall for 16 years. So I lived and worked with
those people. And my parents retired and I had to move down to Minneapolis, and I
needed to live with them and help take care of them. And of course, this started 19 years
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from then, with the loss of my parents and my two sister in law, and six children to look
after. And do some advising for my brother's children who went back to China and my
other brother, who never remarried and whom I helped Harold whom I helped was
bringing up his family and taken care of. But these were days that were that were full of
work. And full gross, because we were going as an institution, we were going as far as
numbers were concerned. And again, and again, I felt the great great need to entrust
much more of the local leadership to the students, and in student government and student
activities. And with all of these things, I gave him as much responsibility to students as
they will do much privileges they will be willing to assume responsibility for. I remember
when they started the National Student Association, Vernon 10th. And it was done by
President that they met to organize it were in Madison, Wisconsin, they showed me this
note that he got an inviting somebody to come to this meeting. So by all means just go go
and be a part of it. And bring back all the kinds of questions and all the kind of problems
that students see around. After a while it had little pink tinge. But they get rid of some of
the pink tinge in the National Association. But the students were always championing for
student responsibility, student privilege, student participation, and to the extent to which
we were able to give this and students who are elected Student Government subsequent
years always said when they came back from the National Student Association, we
discovered that the students at Augsburg have far more opportunity to participate in
everything, decision planning and all this sort of thing that any of the other institutions, I
can remember when they said they came back and they college St. Thomas students, all
they could do is plan dances Saturday nights, this was all they could do.
G
Gerda Mortensen 28:11
Well, they just felt that there were much more and I think this was one of the reasons
probably that students had his happier time taking care of their own affairs as they did in
the years when we had very little money to do things with in when they were rather
unsophisticated group of students. But at the same time, they had a very happy, rich time
doing it. I also went to national conventions I started in by going to our national women
Dean's and concerts convention in Boston, the year that I was at Columbia University in
February 1928. Among the people that I had met in the fall of that year at Minnesota
Education Association meeting was a sister Anthony man, who is president of the New St.
College of St. Catherine. And then lo and behold, I met her at this national convention,
and Didn't she say, Hello, Gary Martin's now are you. And I almost fell over because I
thought here, this woman knows who I am and speaks my name. And I thought that
please me. And I decided I was going to try to always do that as far as possible. If it gave
me some pleasure, could also do that for others. In Boston, I walked around and saw the
place where history had been made. But going out to Wellesley College, I sat with a very
charming woman who was a dean at one of the well established Eastern colleges. Her
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name was Agnes something that I can't remember the last name now, but she just talked
to me, because I was just a child among deans and those days, I was considered a rarity,
because nobody, but nobody could possibly start being Indian women until they were at
least 35 years of age, most of the women were in their 50s and 60s. And so I was just in
their child. But she talked to me about problems about some of the things. And again, she
said, the great thing, I think, is it, you are going to make this students feel that you have a
real genuine and a warm concern for you, I can still see us riding out in the bus together, I
had that grace coat with this girl craving, and a beautiful, pale blue hat that I bought for
spring in going out there and then at Wellesley in that chapel, and I had read the life of
Alice Freeman Palmer, written by her husband, who had been president there. And this
had also been an inspiration to me, as to how I should do and work with students. And at
this chapel, there is a beautiful statue by a woman dressed in Grecian robes, and a young
girl who stands holding the lab of knowledge. And the older woman puts her hand on the
shoulder of the one, and with the other hand, points the way. And she said, This is what a
teacher and a student is, I just walked away a little further than you but together, we are
still searching for truth. And I have just loved that idea. So this is another one of the ideas
that I kept, I had just lived a little longer than some of my students. When I first came, I
hadn't lived as long as some of them had. But after a while that changed to. So going to
national conventions, always trying to find out what the new ideas were trying to adapt
them and coming back with any new ideas that I could go into state meetings in
Minnesota as part of the student personnel services and served in various capacities and
creating chair one year of that, and for our state deans of women, I did everything from
being historian to Secretary to Vice President to President. And when I retired in 1964, the
state convention was dedicated to a program honoring me and this was tape recorded.
And we had many people who were there. And Dr. Taylor Haganah, University of
Minnesota, head of the counseling Bureau and Dr. Marcia Edwards. And Dr. Male, Mabel
McCullough, who's now assistant dean of students, they had worked out a program. And
Sarah hag, and I had worked out a new testing scale, to test the effectiveness of a Dena
women based on my life and work and activity dogs.
G
Gerda Mortensen 33:00
And I have a transcription of this that I will put into the folder so that this is there. But it
moved me very, very deeply. And just think that these people who were such highly
professional people would have that kind of a feeling about the life and work of what we
had done. But they always had the respect for Augsburg College from some of us who had
been over there and felt we were searching for the right way to do things and then willing
to experiment and always sending somebody over to get new ideas. What else did I do?
Later, we established the American student personnel Association, a PGA and several of
these conventions, I went to both of those, again, to garner ideas, this was lots of research.
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And I wasn't really able to do research. But other people research I could make use of as
far as taking some ideas. I suppose one of the greatest things that we tried to do is to try
to orient college students to come college. Now in the summer 1968, we've had a course
called transition to college, which is really the whole old idea of trying to train students to
be ready to do college work. It wasn't an intellectual orientation that to Christensen, it
taught that orientation to the world and knowledge in Marion Lindemann had also taught
that course. And I think you're taught that course, when you're doing to me. He taught the
science and you talked to where literature, bird's eye view of literature, and of and
astrophysics, and this whole field of science. And then when I was asked to do this, it was
to take this practical thing is to teach people how to use their time and study habits and
how to read and how to take notes and how to budget their time and how to plan to get
their work done, and how to take time for being employed, and still be able to get on
things in the need to do otherwise. I think this is about enough on this particular subject to
this point. I'm going to come back to this a little bit later, in some of the steps of life, which
we took as far as developing the idea of discipline, education that women the change of
records and all that sort of thing. In the summer of 1946, I went to attend the workshop in
higher education to University Minnesota, asked by the faculty to study the whole field of
student personnel services.
G
Gerda Mortensen 35:40
At this workshop, I became acquainted with Dr. Gilbert Rin, of the University of Minnesota
and Dr. Dugan, both of whom were very, very influential in the system, me and the general
thinking of the development of student personnel, and what kind of groundwork there
should be done. In order to build this better at Oxbridge. We had already participated in a
statewide testing program under the direction of Dr. Ralph birdie, who still is at the
University of Minnesota continuing his work. Subsequently, I learned to know Dr. seta
hagner and Dr. Marcia Edwards, Dr. Mabel McCulloch. Dr. May will powers a number of
others in this field. But out of this one summer session 1946 and again in 1947, we evolved
the general pattern for a program for student personnel work at Augsburg College. We
were being studied for accreditation within our central Association, and we needed to
have a good organization. Yeah, I also went in 1947 and suggested to Dr. Christensen that
Mr. Dolan, who was then had been made the dean of students to set up a good, tentative
program to follow for student personal well at work at Augsburg College. In the summers
of 52 and 53, I was a part of a workshop in family life education under the leadership of Dr.
Reuben Hill. I also took a seminar course, when it came to Minnesota, dealing with the
teaching of the subject of marriage and family relationships, which I had been asked to do
at Augsburg many years before and which I did for something like 30 years.
Gerda Mortensen 37:38
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G
Gerda Mortensen 37:38
As a result of this workshop and student personnel, I also took courses at the University of
Minnesota in the fall and spring of 46 and 47. And 4748. great deal of this work with Dr.
Gilbert when, in 1964 National APG convention, Dr. Ran was given one of the great awards
for Distinguished Service in the field is to the personnel. I congratulated him and he in turn
turned around to congratulate me and he said, Gerda we really laid the foundation you
would Augsburg and I at the University of Minnesota for some very effective student
personnel work. I've always cherished the memory of that. Dr. Christensen went to Europe
in the spring of which year was this? And at that time, Mr. Martin Coinbase, Dean of the
College was asked to take on the work of Venus students. And Mr. K. Brunner down who
had been this Dean of Students for a number of years, just returned to the English
department as a full time English teacher. During that time, it was very imperative that we
find somebody who could hit up student personnel. I asked a number of people for
suggestions. And one day Dr. Quanbeck called me and said, I think that I had just the right
man that we should have for student personnel work at Augsburg College. He's a very
young man, but he comes very highly, highly recommended a Doctor Willis Dugan at the
University of Minnesota said there is just no better candidate. I had asked Dr. Dugan also
as I had met him in Philadelphia at convention, whom he would like to recommend to us.
And he again had mentioned Mr. Peter HR cost. Peter arm cost at this time was 23 years
of age, graduated Denison University. And in graduate school in the field of psychology,
university, Minnesota, he came over to talk with us he was young, it is true. And I thought
to myself, Oh, Martin Quanbeck, you can't do this to me, asking me to take a man 23-24
years of age, to be the Dean of Students. I look forward someday to having as a dean of
students, somebody whom I could really trust somebody who could take the lead. And I
had to be very, very sure that this was the right man. So we did some talking that one day,
and I told that to Cristen--, Dr. Quantic, that I just felt very, very greatly that I wanted to
go over and have a talk with Dr. Ren, about this young man. So I made the appointment
went over to talk with him.
G
Gerda Mortensen 40:23
And he told me to that he is the kind of person that can go ahead and do the kinds of
things that need doing it on spring, you've laid the foundation, many of our students in
graduate school have been over to talk with you about the kind of work that you've been
doing, the kinds of ideas that you have. And now I think for your running mate, if you could
do something like this, and accept this young man as this, let him take the lead. And then
he turned to me said if you take him, how are you going to treat him? I said, Well, I've
looked for somebody to actually take the lead, who's to whom I could share wisdom or
insight that I've gained over the years. Well, they said you take him if you don't, I will. And
I knew that that you ran always selected the outstanding student to be his student
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assistant. So I felt All right. Let's take Peter, I'm a cost. I went back to Dean Quanbeck and
said, I agreed that we should offer this to Peter armor cost. The next day on the way over
to a state convention over at Bethel College in St. Paul. I stopped over in Dinkytown and
had to pick up some materials at the prions bookstore, and who should come walk over
the bridge But Peter arm cast and looked up and said hello. Hello. Have you had a word
from Dr. Quanbeck? He said yes, I just had the letter. So I said, Well, welcome colleague,
Welcome to Augsburg College, and he took my hand and shook it. Subsequently, he wrote
me a little letter and said yesterday when I met you, you called me colleague, I appreciate
that. You with your wisdom and experience and I was my creativity and vigor should make
a great team. Because what is the university is quite head has said, but the combined
wisdom of the experienced in the enthusiastic work of the young person. So Peter, I'm a
cos came to Augsburg in that fall, and we had a great great time together, took an
analyzed every phase and every aspect gives to the personnel work from A to Z. We
talked over.
G
Gerda Mortensen 42:37
Why did I think it's I thought why did I had I arrived at this particular point of view, why
this why that. And in the files of student personnel office, there will be a record of his study
after we had all done all the discussing an issue then he would take the books, and he
would formulate these are the statements that we want to live by the as the guidelines
that will want to establish, and then we would take them to student Personnel Committee
and discuss them pro and con in that committee. And then they arrive at a program of
activity which we should follow. This we did with every aspect of student personnel work
admissions, registration, orientation, health service, faculty, Counselor, student counselors,
housing, food service, Student Government, student activities, religious life, vocational
counseling, curriculum development, records, the idea of discipline, the idea of education
for special services, all these things we took under consideration and set up in the course
of two years, a program involving many of these things. This is the beginning of student
personnel at Augsburg College. Peter, I'm a cost left Augsburg to go to Washington DC
with the American College Association. Two years ago, three years ago, he summarized
the work which he had done in student personnel at Augsburg College, and a copy of this
report is on file with these papers.
G
Gerda Mortensen 44:29
Where did the students come from? In those first years at Augsburg, I suppose nearly all of
them were those who preach church, congregation members coming from small towns
and from rural communities. There were a few women and there were a few men. In the
Academy, we still had many men who were over age, who had lived in rural communities
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and who's it education had been delayed. The only people in the academy who lived in
the city were generally the children of the professors at Augsburg and one or two others
that that came in. But by and large, that Academy was made up of that strange cross
section of older men, some immigrants, and over age people, and then the regular run of
the college people. We also at that time had a shortage of pastors. And the standards of
seminary were not as high. And many men came and they became the confessing
personal Christian, they thought they should go into the ministry. And many of the well
meaning pastors out in the community, they said, Oh, he's such a fine person should go to
school, and they should enter the ministry. So many of them couldn't finish college. But
they were accepted the seminary. And this was one of the very great difficulties is for is
building up a better seminary and accredited seminary concerned. This together was a
coming of the education and more women students led to a development over the years,
whereby you're trying to seek a better standard of college education. That is very deep
started this. It was carried on Bernard Christensen. And after that, we moved into the
present day era, and that we would come to a little bit later. And thinking about the
people that came one of the things that Dr. squared up asked me to do was to be social
hostess for the college. And as I'm remembering now, the faculty wives of that group of
people who were there when I came to speak, there was Mrs. George Virgil had been a
teacher. And she had felt that she had the whole social responsibility of the college.
G
Gerda Mortensen 46:59
Mrs. Andreas Helen, the third was a sweet dear little lady who took care of her family.
There was Mrs. Large Lola who had not been well, there is Mrs. EP Harpo who was worn
out after having your raise that rear big family and who was in very poor health. Mrs.
Busby a never did see. Mrs. Hendrickson is a chronic invalid. Mrs. Fagan was an artist to
the temperamental temperament of an artist Mrs. RB nail I don't know what that I ever
really met her. We did have a few women at Augsburg who had been asked to come in to
teach when I came. So there was an artist out teaching mathematics. Her brother Mars
had taught the year before and was there for one or two years only before she married
Henry Munger. There was a bell me who's who'd come to teach panel, who was a very
ambitious person socially, professionally, and had a great deal of influence on what Mrs.
George Virginia thought, anyway. And then there was Jenny's girls for who was there
warmth and friendliness. And her teaching voice had been on the faculty for years. So
there was an Emma quarter who taught violin, there had been a sort of a smattering of a
an orchestra earlier. Directed by that to Pietri. a dentist, son of the pastor who had been
on the Pioneer pastors of August and others in church, there was Harry Anderson
teaching, directing the band and the choir the Glee Club. And upon his death within Mr.
upsets came. Yes, it was banned. In 1922, there was banned in the head, the uniforms,
there had been a little Joseph traveled around, that my father always had any Augsburg
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group come to these congregations. And when we were out near Montevideo, there was
an artist to that traveled around. This was about when Ralph played a trumpet in the
orchestra.
G
Gerda Mortensen 49:18
There was six tickets at traveled around the record hits. And then there was a Glee Club.
So there are always people out on tours, Professor Hendrickson reading, directing some of
the clubs, and later Harry Anderson coming on to do this. But then came Mr. upset the
beginning of the start of a really music department at Augsburg College. But when I take
a look in my mind, and think about this group of women, there was Mrs. nightgown couple
of other women who were able to help. But at that time, the customer had developed over
the years that the faculty wives gave a dinner went to Europe, the students at Augsburg,
and the students responded by having a dinner party once a year for the family. That was
the extent of the social activity. When Bell Mae was arrived. The year before I came to
orgs brick as a teacher, I was a student at the University and I was invited as a member of
Trinity Lutheran Church to come to this open house, which nobody ever heard about it
before. But what is now Old Main and the second floor had a big wide hallway. And there
were three rooms inside off from this. In each one of those, it was a tea table appointed
and everybody had borrowed some server service and some dishes from someplace. So
you had these beautiful places set up. And they are may whose was supervising make
you're making a paper 10 sandwiches when the girl said, I've never know my life, better
the bread before I sliced it up from the loaf. But this is one of the things that we did. And
so you had the beginning of something like this, whether social hostess at the college
really acted a little bit like a public relations person. Anybody who came to the campus to
be a guest, one of the things I had to do is to present at the dining hall, seven o'clock for
breakfast, 12 or 1215 for lunch, and six o'clock for dinner. The doors locked five minutes
after the bell was wrong. There was no electric bill, one of the theologians trusted
theologian, had the privilege of walking up see flights of stairs and ringing that bill, waking
people up at 630 in the morning and ringing 10 minutes of seven, and again at seven, and
then ring it for class for chapel for the meals. I don't know where they rang at 1030 at
night to put to bed or not, but like to supposed to be out at 1030. Two people came to the
campus. And among regular things that occurred at that time, there was always a pastor
summer school the last week in August. My father had been in charge of arrangements for
that when I was a little girl and we lived in Minneapolis and he knew something about it.
And when I came to Augsburg This was one of the ways in which doctor sort of asked me
to be sort of hostess of the college. And look after the welfare of all these pastors that
came presided the dining room and see to that things were done. The way the president
of the church at that time wanted them dead. And when that burnt it was president
church. He wanted this to be a very happy and formal kind of hour, or sometimes some
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serious discussion, but really an opportunity for the pastors themselves to sort of relieve
themselves of some of the tensions and have a good and pleasant time together. While in
the lectures that were given, they were really given some real instructions as to how to
study and how to make creative use of their years work in the ministry.
G
Gerda Mortensen 53:04
A second thing that I had to do at this time practically every other year, the annual
meeting of the Lutheran Free Church occurred in Minneapolis. And then they were housed
at Augsburg and I needed to I was always appointed to committee to arrange for food
service to arrange for meeting places to arrange for Hospitality for guests and all of this.
Incidentally, at the pastor Summer Institute, where many guests Pete people came into
the state at Morton Hall because that is where I lived. And that was the best of the kind of
housing that we had for students. And I can remember one time that Dr. Mrs. bergendorff
he was n president at August and I came and we had a very wonderful time my father and
mother were there with me and Berkman Chris Olson. and passionate Miss Dr. Mrs.
bergendorff. We all those were sort of family affairs almost. Then the pastor's of the some
key church met once a month. So the first time that I personally I was at school, that rich
writer said we're going to meet at this I want to take you long. Whenever we go to these
pastors meetings, I want you to go along and once a year, I want you to entertain the
pastors it so the pastors and their wives King.
G
Gerda Mortensen 54:19
In those days, there were 40-50 people and I'd have to provide about two quarts cream
for the coffee. Before I was to serve as hostess for these half a pint of cream is sufficient
because the old generation dropped off. And they didn't need that much cream. They had
learned to they had learned to they had learned to drink black coffee. But then there were
the occasion. The first year I was atAugsburg. I went to MBA and Dr. Theodore Blegen and
at that time was president of the Alumni Association. And he had arranged for a
gathering of the various teachers who are graduates of Augsburg to have a luncheon
together at the Curtis Hotel. And they were there that day, some 20-30 of them. Then they
said, Well, why can't we have this meeting at Augsburg College when it come next year?
And so the year after that, well, this is the way homecoming get started at Augsburg. Then
I wanted to talk a little bit about the kind of ways in which we try to reach out into the
community. There were nurses that came to attend deaconess hospital School of Nursing,
Swedish and Fairview that came from some of our own Lutheran pre church
congregations. And they were all young men that were at Augsburg. And so for many
years, Trinity Church had a reception every fall, and which they invited Trinity and people
were hosts, to these young people who would come and this way we started felt they
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could get acquainted with our church. And they could participate in either Sunday school
teachers are singing in the choir. And we had a very alive, young people's meeting at five
o'clock every Sunday afternoon. And at this time, they we had I had been elected
President of this young people society. And it was somehow the basis of say, Tell me said
Dr. Swear to that you have a good way with young people, and you can get them to do
things. And that church used to be packed Sunday evenings, but we had programs of one
kind another and I remember young man who was living it tonight, our home who played
violin beautiful, he later became a member of the Minneapolis Symphony. And I had him
play a group of Mozart music, violin numbers. And one of the oldest church fathers came
over to me afterwards, he said, wasn't that rather lively music to help the church.
G
Gerda Mortensen 56:48
But anyway, the students had lots of fun being signed to committees, to prepare the
luncheon and to serve it into worship the dishes afterwards. And then they went
downtown to some other church. And after a while, I discovered that there was one
church downtown that showed movies Sunday night, and this is where I went. I wasn't too
sure that that was a proper thing to do. Because there were those who felt that the movies
really were very ungodly. And they came from that awful place in California. And so
should we allow people to go to these or should we not? I remember one girl coming in
confessing the achievement there was a young man, and she wasn't at all sure that was
right. I said, Let your conscience be your guide. Well, there is some other people that
wanted to venture for us to that reminds me a one time a group came and said, we would
like to go to the Getty. We would like to not pay you go. But we would ask Clara Alex and
who was an older person who was completing a college degree work and teaching
commercial subject will ask Claire to go with us. And I had told the girls you can go and
anywhere you want to do anything you want to just tell me where you want to go. So that
I will always be able to say to people, they they told me they were going and I know where
they are. And I thought to myself, Oh, I don't want you girls to go there. But I thought you
get you have to find that out by yourself. So I said yes, you may go. So these people went
down and they walked into the gateway theater. They said they're less than five minutes.
And they felt so uncomfortable at the glances cast at them by the men that were in there,
that they just learned their lesson with great rapidity. And they gave riding home and they
told me all about it. No, no. It was this atmosphere that they sent out right away. Oh, I
know that there were students who wanted to go around and see everything. And this is
right. This is a time of life when you can certainly take a look around and see. But I was
always glad that I had sense enough to let them go and find this out for themselves. But I
wanted to come on to talk about some of the expanding horizons that the team to me we
were able to bring to this campus.
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G
Gerda Mortensen 59:21
Many of them had never been on a train until they came on train to come to Minneapolis.
This was before automobile for very common. So they came on a train and they wrote
letters and tried to describe themselves and Selma story and wrote to either Peterson who
was to be her big sister and said I will arrive wearing a black coat in my head. And I
thought oh here is a very, very sophisticated looking woman that she went down the
station to meet Stewart and there Salma was absolutely a jewel in their in their rep and as
far as pastured carriage and many things. They didn't correspond with a sparkler the spirit
of that well, but they still don't To this day, but she is really a Jew of a person.
G
Gerda Mortensen 60:27
Where was I just expanding horizons? Yes. Well, I've been a dog sprig from 1923 summer
24. I went to Columbia, and the second semester 28. In the summer, I was at Columbia
again. And then in 1932, a friend of mine held again I would lie had a 10 weeks trip to
Europe. In the midst of the depression. She was going to go to earn degrees, some credits
for her degree at Morehead State. And she was my sister in law sister so we went out and
had the benefit of the year rival rates, cut rates for the Eucharist Congress was going to be
held in Dublin that year. So our round trip ticket for 10 weeks in Europe was trained fair
and with hotel accommodations with breakfast so loud, except for two weeks time when
we were visiting relatives in Norway came to something between six and $700 round trip
to New York. We saw Paris Fashion in Paris. But we bought some things in little shops in
Brooklyn that looked like the things that we had seen. So we came home wearing red
velvet team dresses and carrying little bags, and little velvet hats. But it gave us a bird's
eye view. And it gave me a bird's eye view of something of a cultures of the historic
background. I was a teacher of history. I saw his GS it had grown. I saw the castles and the
hills and the little villages that grew up around them. Lots of things that I had read about
and taught now I saw in Norway, I felt as if I had walked into my own historic past and
understood myself and my father and understood my college better. Because I had been
there in the land from which our forefathers, the kinds of things that they had built. I got to
see art galleries, I got to see music outlet to meet people in various kinds of new, firsthand
meeting of people. We were frightened when we picked up the newspaper in Stockholm
and saw that the first elections had been going on in Berlin, and a rising young Hitler had
gotten himself nominated for something in that health bra house in Munich. And we were
just frightened and asked, Is it safe to go to Germany and this kind of a situation at which
we will share the assets very safe to go. Somehow we were calmed a little bit when Dr.
Charlie Stangl on medicine station in Berlin. And we went to the hotel, and he assured us
it was perfectly safe to be there and travel. But historically, looking back, I just realized it
wasn't so safe. But all of these things were part of sort of expanding my horizon anyway.
And I came back with a desire to help our students expand their horizons more. Little bit. I
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dream that two years later, I was going to have a chance to go out to teach in China, and
go to see the Far East. I had a brother Ralph, who had been a missionary since 1918. And
he had gone out again in 1900 2013. And wrote and applied for a school for me, and told
me that I had been elected that this place and would I please come and Dr. sweater said,
Oh, no, we can't let you go. But he sat there thinking thought about his own experience
eight years that he was teaching at American University in Beirut, Lebanon, and his work
in the Middle East. And he thought Oh, no, is it all subsequent reading? [the recording cuts
off]
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Show less
RG 21.4.1969.07.31.a Mortensen (3 of
4).wav
Tue, 07/30 02:02PM
64:39
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
students, augsburg, people, minnesota, college, day, field, department, christensen, year,
accreditation, faculty, university, education, girls, lutheran, home, dean, moved, colleges
SPEAKERS
Gerda Mo... Show more
RG 21.4.1969.07.31.a Mortensen (3 of
4).wav
Tue, 07/30 02:02PM
64:39
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
students, augsburg, people, minnesota, college, day, field, department, christensen, year,
accreditation, faculty, university, education, girls, lutheran, home, dean, moved, colleges
SPEAKERS
Gerda Mortensen
G
Gerda Mortensen 00:10
This is July 31, Marion Lindemann and I are still reminiscing, today we want to talk about
some of the things which we saw happening at Augsburg, which we think helped build the
present day liberal arts college, from developing liberal arts concept up through the years.
G
Gerda Mortensen 01:01
Dr. Russell Cooper came to the University of Minnesota and as a representative with the
North Central Association, organize some meetings of the Minnesota private colleges.
G
Gerda Mortensen 01:15
Dr. Sverdrup invited Professor Hendricks and then me to go with him to attend the first
such one, at the College of St. Catherine's, at least this I think, is the first one. Besides
being served a most delicious dinner in five, six courses are the most delicious food and
the most beautiful dishes that I'd ever eaten of them. We had an amazing sort of meeting.
Sister Antonine was president college, St. Catherine's Anna, and very brilliant and able
woman, Dean Pike from the University of Minnesota had been on the staff of the Board of
Regents are the advisors and creating and building up the College of St. Catherine's. I'm
not sure whether he still was living at that time and was there. But anyway, this was the
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beginning of a series of meetings with the North Central Association, talking about
college teaching, and how to teach better and how to reach people, testing programs.
And all this and out of this school, the cooperative effort of all the colleges in the state of
Minnesota, to have a joint testing program, and to develop a form of application to
colleges, which are the college's used Augsburg College being a and they offer but was
always at the top of the list. But I know that we grew a great deal by the experience of
joining with these other people. During the days of pushing for some accreditation, we
had a number of students who wanted to go on to graduate school, the University of
Minnesota after I came to Augsburg, and I know that we were seeking various kinds of
creditor nation with the State Department in Minnesota.
G
Gerda Mortensen 03:01
And they said if you can be accredited by your different departments at the University of
Minnesota, then I think this was a step in the direction of accreditation. And I recall very
vividly the one day I came down from chaplain here to Dr. Craig from the history
department universe, Minnesota. And one other man who was starting to do some
examination of different departments. Dr. Craig has been my advisor when I did my
undergraduate work in history, and he said, Are you teaching history year? And I said yes.
And Professor Hendrix and well, if you and Hendrix and they're teaching history here, I
know the history department is ok. So we were accredited by the history department.
Marion Lindemann tells me that some man from the French department came over to see
her. And I know that number of the different departments. So department by department,
we were accredited by the University of Minnesota. This led to a kind of a State
Department accreditation. And I recall to that the graduate school, I think, under Dean
Ford made a survey of the kind of work that Augsbug College graduates had been doing
at the University of Minnesota and found a very credible record. And so our students
graduates were allowed to enter graduate school with in regular process after that. But I
recall that when some of the years students graduated and wanted to teach in states
other than Minnesota, that is very deep, oftentimes took the train to the State
Department in these different states, and talk to them and really sold them on the idea
and explain to them that a graduate of Augsburg College was really glad to to have an
educated institution that was accredited with the University of Minnesota and with the
Minnesota Department of Education. I know he made one such trip to Montana, he made
one such trip to Oregon went to trip the state of Washington, these were really costly, and
we're very difficult.
G
Gerda Mortensen 05:02
But he did them in order to help the students. So I think that out of an experience, which
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grew out of the church together with our growing relationship with the University of
Minnesota, in this accreditation, was a workshop that the North Central, no, not the North
Central the American Lutheran Church made. There was an American Lutheran
conference formed by several of the church body bought joining together the then he sees
the AOC, the August tennis ended, and several others, they set up several commissions.
And among the Commission's that were established was one called the commission and
higher education. The executive secretary of that department was Dr. JCK. price was still
living, retired from his work for some some years ago. He was an April scholar and an
April, administrator. Among the people on his commission, I know Dr. George served at
one time whether Dr. Bernard Christensen was concurrent with that or not, I don't know.
But in the fall of 1935, Dr. Price had sent and this commission had sent invitations to all the
Lutheran colleges in the United States to meet at St. Olaf College. The first weekend in
October. Some four or 500 people came to that conference. Of course, there were several
hundred faculty people at St. Olaf, but there were representatives from Pacific Lutheran
University and the West Coast. Oops, our college and Wagner in the East Coast. And
happily, Dr. Craftsman from Valparaiso, the Missouri Synod was there. And he was an
ardent follower of this group all those particular years. And many all the colleges of this
Midwest area from the Appalachians to the Rockies.
G
Gerda Mortensen 07:22
They talked a great deal about the philosophy of Christian higher education. And I think
maybe they call Lutheran higher education. But like, in America, he said, why should say
always Lutheran because some of these places aren't just Lutheran isn't a Christian rather
than just Lutheran. This was one of the distinctions that we need to take a look at and
know. Now, just prior to this, Arthur Nash, at Augsburg headed a years sabbatical in order
to travel to New Zealand and Australia, and a workshop with a woman from the
university, so who is heading up this research, and I had had is a years leave of absence
flew out and teach in China during these times and these experiences where we visited
other countries and visited other colleges and universities. Again, I think the tool has got a
great deal outlook, something which we needed so early, to sort of bolster up the idea of
what kind of beds we should have in some of our educational programming. Shortly after
this, that to spread died, and entrepreneurs Christians, Christensen succeeded as
president Professor HN. Hendrickson served as acting president the year between one of
the things that Hendrickson asked me to do for him that year, said so many people are
wanting to go into social work and social work is upcoming field. So he asked me if I
would make a study and bring a report to him requirements in the curriculum for courses,
which would be necessary to lead up to the graduate school and social work at the
University of Minnesota. This I did other things I found there should be a survey course, the
introduction to home economics. Subsequently, we hired Mrs. Springer, to be our dietitian,
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and she taught two classes of introduction to home economics, his general education in
what had been the old laundry rooms at Morton Hall. But we will have another recording
session and bring all these people together, who worked with the Home Economics at
Augsburg. This is just to note that it is coming. But we also found that it would be very
important then, in this discussion with Dr. Christensen and Dr. Martin clambake, who had
been brought to Augsburg in the fall of 1930.
G
Gerda Mortensen 10:01
1938 38, I suppose was in the fall of 38. That we would need to make a preliminary survey
of what it would require to become a member of the North Central Association. We
learned that Dr. Neil NEA le at the University of Minnesota Professor of Public school
administration was on an examine committees in our central Association. And he also
made a practice of doing a private survey of colleges following the pattern so that we
engage to the services of Dr. Neil to make therapy. This was at a time when they were
discussing the pros and cons of whether to move out to Augsburg Park, or to stay on the
particular campus where we were just completed the in 1938 39 was a stretch above the
down Memorial Hall, which is very stupid day, given his last measure of physical strength
for and with this one new building located there. It seemed hard to think in terms of
moving out to dog park. Dr. Neil interviewed many people pro and con about accepting
that invitation to go out to Augsburg Park and build there. But his strong recommendation
at the end of these studies was that we stay and become a Metropolitan College. There
are many suburban colleges, but there are very few and there is no Lutheran Metropolitan
College. He spoke very enthusiastically about mandolin College in Chicago, adjacent to
Loyola University, which mandolin is a college for women. You know at that time, he spoke
about that as a beginning one who was that was doing a very excellent kind of thing.
G
Gerda Mortensen 12:10
Well, no Capital University is located in Columbus, Ohio, that's losing his former ALC. But
most of the colleges are located in rural towns or out of the country. Since then, of course,
Carthage College has moved from a rural community and Illinois to to the shores of Lake
Michigan, north of Chicago, and one of those separate towns. So it really is in the city. And
of course, I think the Missouri Synod have number of schools that are in cities. But at least
at this time, we made this recommendation was very strong, to stay where we were in to
plan to build and to develop our college there. So following this report, this study made by
him, which indicated a number of our great weak spots, especially in our business affairs
and our business arrangements. Then we moved on to develop for as a faculty, a five year
program, this we should do each year for five years. And having completed that five year
period, then we had corrected some of these glaring mistakes. At least we thought we
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were current, and made application to nurse central Association for accreditation. This
meant a year long study and reports and blanks. Now these copies of these are on file, I'm
sure in the dean's office or in the DNS records. And I remember very vividly that they came
to examine us one day I'd been having about was a flu. And I'm pretty day probably was
walking around with a walking pneumonia anyway, I went over to the Memorial Hall
dining room to meet these people. And we were going to talk and I became violently ill
and it'd be taken home and and i think it sort of threw the monkey wrench into the whole
business of what we're trying to do. At least they recommended that we wait a few years.
Before we Well, let's see the application went in. And at that time, we didn't have a library,
except the old library, which had been expanded the ground floor of what is now called
Old Main.
G
Gerda Mortensen 14:47
And we were turned down and accreditation. They said really you have enough going for
you so that we could give you accreditation, accepted if we give you a education now you
will delay getting your library. And we just feel that a new library is an exceedingly
essential part of this. Some of this you will find I'm sure in the references in the
correspondence that regard to that that's on file. So the question was, what are we going
to do? How are we going to get the money, our church body had decided that we would
have to have $100,000 pledged before the annual meeting in order to be able to raise the
money? Well, this was around 1900 5152. And in the spring of the year of 1900 52. One of
the senior boys had been in service Russell Berg and his fiancee, Esther Larson, who was
just finishing herself or here said to me the truth conference is going to be in Seattle this
summer. Why don't you come and go out west with us right out with us. Russell had
bought a car. dad and my sister and her family are coming for the meeting, mother's
staying home getting ready for the conference. Why don't you ride out with us and one of
the other boys is going to ride out to so before in our car and dad and my sister has been
two little boys and the other car. And I said oh, wouldn't that be fun and just walked away
thinking that no students are going to ask the Dena women to ride out west with him. In
the afternoon those two young people came into my office and they're Russell said I'm
dead serious misfortunes. And we'd like to have you ride out with us. Mother can't come in
as his mother can't go out. And we two boys don't want to ride along just with Esther, we
really love to have you come. So the upshot of the matter was, I did go and you don't drive
2000 miles was following the young people who accepted you as an equal.
G
Gerda Mortensen 16:51
And I discovered again, the tremendous insight that they had into the running of the
college, and the deep concern and the deep interest. And I talked about many things. And
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of course, they want to know just why didn't we get accreditation with our central? Why
were we turned down. And then Russell said, you know, we should tell dad some of these
things. But he got off to Seattle, Nothing doing. He wanted me to have his room at his
home. So he and his boyfriend took some bunks down in the basement and I was extra
guests in the home. I went to visit some of my relatives for a week after the annual
conference was over. And then was coming back on the train. And we were having a
picnic down on the beach. And Russell said come on now level with that level with that. So
I started to tell some of the inside problems that we had at the institution. And the
tremendous need that there was for this library for the accreditation. And when I get
through talking about all these things, Mr. Berg said, I'd like had a chance to raise
$100,000 for you. I said, may I tell my president this when I come home? Yes, he said
anyway. So I went immediately to the president's office. And the letter was dispatched
that very day to him, inviting him to come and to do this. But he and Mrs. bird came in the
fall. And they were my houseguests for about two months. And Gilberg traveled much of
the time. And he got sick world Yama to come with him. And they traveled up into North
Dakota, all around to the sea and to do different things, meet different people. And on his
own at his own expense, giving all this time just travel. He came to the annual conference
set following June with $100,000 pledged. And so great way with clear to go ahead and
to build this library providing we could get the accreditation that this introduced him to
Augsburg and he would always come for homecomings. And I remember one year he said
I owe my interest in Augsburg to go to Martin's and the visit that she made to our home
and the sharing of the needs of this institution with us. He was subsequently elected to the
Board of Regents and served for 10 years. During that time, he really started to have our
colleagues administration put on a really better business basis. He was a businessman
from Seattle, he knew business.
G
Gerda Mortensen 19:45
He went down to visit Valparaiso University studied the way in which they promoted
things. And we had the advice of a finance advisor for a number of years after that. But
this was an incentive to get the money. And having gathered the money, we built the
building. And then we wrote, again to make an application for accreditation with our
central. And this time, we had to have a year long study. So it would take us a whole year.
And at the end of the year. Again, the examiners were to spend a day with us. And at nine
o'clock in the morning, I was to be together with the other administrative people in the
President's conference room meeting with these people. 10 minutes of nine that morning,
a student from Martin Hall came crashing into my room and she said, we found someone
to up in the attic, with sheets ready to commit suicide? What should we do? Well, I dashed
over to the room and immediately called her college physician, who in turn call
psychiatrists. And he said keep an eye on that girl all day. I said I will have to have
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parental permission to ask wiser. And they live in the country. So I got these two girls,
roommates of this girl to not go to classes, but keep watching her all morning. The college
doctor was coming on campus, and the psychiatrist was alerted. So I came 15 minutes late
to that meeting. And then I needed to put on the longest after the hour was over. I said I
was an index. And it simply had to be excused because it's an emergency it isn't. But they
accepted this. And then when the man was in having a conference with me about my
work, I had put in a long distance call to the Father.
G
Gerda Mortensen 21:55
But they lived in a rural telephone line. And I said some emergencies happen Would you
please get to a private phone and call me back. And I couldn't understand why a whole
hour went by before he called back. He called back to say there has been such a
snowstorm out here. I had to wait until the worst of the snowstorm was over so that I could
get to town to telephone. When I explained the situation he gave me permission to then
then this meant this when I when this I said this tell for this emergency calls come you're
welcome to sit here and listen to the conversation or to step out whichever you wish, what
he decided to step out. But I arranged then and then telephone immediately to the doctor
and all and said that I personally would bring her out to Glenwood hills at five o'clock
when I will be through with some of these meetings. But that day which was so crucial for
us here I was faced with these most awful situation and then all went to girl said she
slipped out of her hand somewhere we don't know where she is on the she'd gone to get
her mail or something and then they hit located again. But by five o'clock when I walked
into the hospital with her and met the psychiatrists, and she was registered in and I could
finally having given it over two dinners. When my way home. I thought I had never lived
through that kind of a day. And what kind of impression with these people have of me
and my work? Well just look up to the record of the report when we were credited and see
what they say about Garrett and Martin's. There were two people, faculty people that
were singled out for distinctive comment when they created this. One was Ernie Anderson
is the head of Physical Education Department. And his standard describes athletes
athletics is concerned. And the second person was Gary Martin. Who is doing well. At least
credit to see Marion is insisting didn't tell her well, it just said that she is just Well, they
were disapproved of things. And Dr. Christensen said to me afterwards, you got us
accredited was an art center Association. Yes, I think so.
G
Gerda Mortensen 24:27
So of course I was terribly happy because I had really gotten Gilberg to get interested. But
it was a student that private me his own son that prompted me to do this. And these
students confident in me and in my interested in institution, and they're showing their
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interest. And then in turn getting Mr. Bird to come I opened my home for them they were
there and and I'm caught some of these things encourage them. And OES set for he had
his 50th birthday and discovered it was the same day that Bernard Kristensen had 15th
birthday. So they had open house over there. Now everybody spoke very fondly of Dr.
Christensen. They either used his initials BMCZ spoke about him or Dr. Christensen. And
when Gilbert came in, he slapped him on the shoulder and said, Hi, Bernie, how are you?
So we we were credited with the North Central Association. This made a very wonderful
feeling among the people on the faculty and the students at the college catalog and now
carry the statement fully credit with the North Central Association. This was a very
important aspect of the student need that had been met. Faculty felt very happy about
this. And proceeded immediately to make a five year plan again for a study of the growth
and development of the college faculty study committees reshare we had some faculty
workshops every fall with sometimes an extra week of summer school workshop. In
addition to this, in order to try to take a look at the problems of the growing College and
the needs for a current college. That was meeting the needs of today. Data Christensen
came as president box for college without the experience of being trained and
administration. He immediately set forth and his brilliant wife with him to study and read
everything possible that they could lay their hands on, on the problems of higher
education in the United States.
G
Gerda Mortensen 26:43
The progressive movements within higher education the United States and immediately
became became friends with Ruth Eckert Paulson, at the University Minnesota and other
people attended the national convention. And and I think intellectually equipped
themselves both Dr. Christensen and his wife to know what some of the trends were and
what some of the needs were. In. in those early years, we had a feeling that they were
really they intellectual leaders, they had a scope and their own education and scope in
their intellectual thinking, which rubbed off on to other faculty people. And we felt that
here, we had real intellectual leaders, as well as spiritual leaders. adapter, Nash was asked
to be Dean of the College for a year, he served a year and then he said to me one day, I
just can't be the Dean of the College. Because I don't feel that that Christensen comes in
and talks over problems with me. He talks him over with his wife at home and comes with
these ideas. And this is it and we all felt this way. When he came on, he asked us all to sit
down and he scrapped everything we ever had in student personnel work. And he wanted
this to simply to start from scratch all over again. It was very difficult I know. And some of
those first years, I resigned by letters three times, I said, I can't stand this, I have to have
the scope to work and move. And to do as I think is right to do and the insight that I've
gained. And so graduate after Christmas and came to census and to realize it. And when
we moved into the setup and decided to have student personnel work, he said, Now I want
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you to be coordinators, student activities, so all the Student Life on the campus is under
your direction. So I really was an associate dean of students, which Title I didn't get until
my retirement year. It was an honorary promotion, Dr. Anderson said it carried no financial
increment. So on is accepted to but this was one of the things that I think that the North
Central Association workshop in problems of higher education to University Minnesota
had one or two people at Augsburg College continuously from 1945.
G
Gerda Mortensen 29:20
Through all the years, some problem which needed to further study at Oxbridge was taken
by some faculty person. And I remember when we were starting to talk about building a
college center, college union Student Union, that I asked the inquiry one day, there's
anybody done anything in background, the philosophy of what is needed in all of this?
Maybe this is a topic that should be selected, maybe Mrs. Peters and your barn or Ernie
Anderson, or somebody turned around and said, Well, I think maybe you better go. So I
went from my third workshop and problems apparently education, and did the
preliminary study for the philosophy and the basis on which you're going to develop a
college center. These workshops and came back and with reports, and we tried to
implement some of these things that we had learned. And also at this time, other teachers
were encouraged to go to national conventions. There had been no but for national
conventions earlier, although doctors allowed me to go to conventions of the resistors.
Sometimes I had to pay my own expenses. But I just felt that a national convention, to
keep me abreast with my professional field was a necessity. And when Peter armor class
came, and they were talking about other people taking turns each three people in
department taking one year each in which to go to national convention, I said
administrative people and people in administration should go every year, you can't
possibly wait every three years. Two great changes are occurring in all of this feeling. So he
agreed to this. And the last years that I was there, I went to conventions with expenses
paid every year on these things had some implication as you came back and tried to
implement many of these. So we needed to keep accredited and keep growing. One of
the areas that needed more strengthening was the Business Administration. We also
needed to know where we were going to go and current educational trends.
G
Gerda Mortensen 31:38
The year that Mr. Harbo was acting president, we had the Booz Allen Hamilton study. And
they made a survey of us to see where we should go and head for the next five years, the
next 10 years. And this last year 1960 evidence 68 the business department and the
business director arrange to have a study made and so at this point, Mr. posses become
the Administrative Assistant to the President. And there is a new program plan for the
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financial record keeping in the development of some of these things at the college. But
these are all things which were steps in the direction of accreditation, we were again
examined by n Kate, or we were examined first about seven years ago. And we were given
the accreditation, and Kate for higher for the high school education that we're training for
secondary schools, and then temporary accreditation for elementary education. But if you
listen to the are taped interview with Martha Maxim, you see that we were given full
accreditation with NK now for elementary education. And it's a real appreciation the kind
of work when she came in the insight that she had as to what should be taught in
clambake had gone to a workshop in higher education and came back with a program,
which we thought would be the kind of coursework which we needed for setting up a
department we all enjoy each occasion. And she being interested in this area, I asked her
to take a look at it. And she said well, then didn't come back. He had to talk with her and
he and he said we'll come back with what you would think would be a course. So she sat
down on the basis of the needs teachers, it's a to me, I have not about a course in
elementary education, which I would like to suggest. And this subsequently, of the Martin
clambake somewhat reluctantly gave up the full plan which he thought was perfect to
bowed out as it were to her. And the department structured is Martha Madson thought it
should be. And she has done demonstrated, in the years since that this has been
exceedingly important and very effective program. We could do well to do something
with secondary education along the same line.
G
Gerda Mortensen 34:18
Of course, a college is composed of students and faculty. I think over the years of some of
the people who started some of the strengths in their various departments. RB nail came
as a first teacher of science. He was there dogs frequent I came a very simple little
laboratory down on the ground floor of Old Main and exceedingly simple little Physics
Laboratory. But in that Physics Laboratory, somebody's been experimenting with a radio.
And at that time, headline radio stations, Physics Laboratory, and second for a day, these
girls Walden I were offered is to provide some music for the radio, we were sorry that we
didn't have money enough to be able to continue this. But after a while, the station went
off the air and subsequently WCAO picked up the air and you get all the sort of thing that
we could do. But nails stayed for a while and then moved on. But among his students was
Arthur Nash, who spent a lifetime in service in science at Augsburg College. And he got his
beginning through the work with RB now. But to have science come into the curriculum at
this time, meant that we're really reaching out into different aspects of a current
curriculum. And beyond the idea that you're just educating men for the ministry, although
it might be a good thing for some of the men in the ministry to note something about
science. Following now, we had, I think, several other people in between, but then came
Mr. Fossey, who, during the poverty period at Augsburg was able to, to teach science in
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such a way that he was the teacher of a number of people who've gone into research.
G
Gerda Mortensen 36:18
Among those who really admired and followed in his footsteps in research and studied
Margaret Hubbard, always paid tribute to Mr. Fosse. The hard, hard work was some very,
very difficult. And she became, went into the field of nursing. And then she for a number of
years was head of neurological Nursing at the best Institutes of Health. And now she is in
the huge department of the government. And she is a counselor to schools of nursing who
want to set up trainings programs for the education of training nurses for neurological
issues. She has a highest position in the government, she has a highest rank as an armed
forces person, of any of the women that have ever gone to Augsburg. She's on the
centennial commission. Then we during the war period, here we needed to have
somebody to come in to be in the field of chemistry. We had brought to America and
Estonian refugee by the name of Mar, Nevada, Audrey. He was also taking work at the
University of Minnesota to to learn the English and to learn to do some advanced work.
And it was going on for a master's degree program at the University of Minnesota and on
later toward a doctorate. But we needed the second man in the field. At that time, we
asked Mr. George Michaels news on the faculties University and asked him who he knew if
you could recommend somebody and he recommended the Mr. Stanley reminisce key. So
the one problem with Mr. reminisce key is that he is Catholic at this early period at
Augsburg nearly everybody I suppose Marian Lindemann as Mary Wilson was the first big
change in the policy of just hiring Lutheran people to teach this I had been told that Mr.
reminisced he went to his priest and asked his permission to accept his teaching position
at Augsburg College and his preset yes he could do that providing he didn't take part in
any of the religious kind of activities to which then responded that they have a policy that
you expected to go to chapel there and I if I cannot accept the position unless I can do
this. But you may go to chapel providing you're participating.
G
Gerda Mortensen 39:02
And Stanley Romanesque he was always at Chapel any encourage students. He
announced in his classes when Spiritual Emphasis Week was coming. And he met students
he said well don't do you're going the wrong way we are belong in Chapel at this point.
And Stanley reminisce key and Marvel agree with the two who had the chance to help
plan the present day chemistry laboratories and science Hall and having planned and
they had the opportunity and the heavy responsibility of moving wherever equipment
there was over to the site or setting up all those laboratories. And carrying by hand
quantities in quantities and quantities of these things that were required for this new
laboratory. In the field of English, there were still many people who were born in Norway,
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who came to orgs. And with the advent of Reverend Peter a sphere again, came a new
day in the field of English. Here was a man I don't remember the date was in 19 1516. Under
15 I wonder if it wasn't about 1915 because Harold my brother spoke about him so often.
But here was a man who spoke perfect English. And he could in his English classes,
everybody had to have speeches, public speeches one day a week, and he would correct
these. And I recall after I came to Augsburg in 1923, that on one occasion Mr. reverent all
of Rodney was paying tribute to pa spag and saying thank you for all the patients you had
with us in pronouncing the SS. And the TH is well leafs virgin brand life bow.
G
Gerda Mortensen 41:01
And Bernard Helland. And many of these men paid very high tribute to the kind of insight
and the opening horizon that there was for the teaching of English which had changed so
remarkably, with the advent of swag and among his students who have since done
tremendous piece of work in our English department, I can mention and Peters news still is
there in this for many years acted as head of the English department, and Gerald Thorson,
who now is it to have college but who was head of the department at the impact of this
kind of thing. And the opening of horizons was very, very enriching to many of these
people. In the field of history, there was this man who sat at his desk in that one room and
was a registrar. And the registrar consisted of one man Professor HN Hendrix, new taught
history. But he was a perfect, groomed little gentleman, he taught Latin as well. There was
a hair never a hair out of place, he had a shoe brush that was in his desk. And when he
came into the office, he always looked just perfect. His grooming was his. He's singing, he
loved other kinds of things. He worked with people. But when students came in, he'd sit
down and talk with them and ask them where they had been, what courses it had, what
kinds of things they were like. And I can remember once when Omer Johnson came to
register, and he said his name was spelled OMER or OMAR and Professor Hendrickson
said, you are going to be a college educated man, you cannot have a name like that. You
that is a corruption of the name of Homer. So I'm going to read this to you as Homer
HOMER, Homer chance. That's a perfect name.
G
Gerda Mortensen 42:59
Well, among this student said he had was one Carl Chrislock, who today's head of the
history department, and he is doing a splendid piece of work in the field, and a writer, a
creative writer at present engaged in writing the history of Augsburg College, I also had a
chance to do some teaching in history. And when I had Carl Chrislock is a student in my
class--oh, I also had Paul Sonnack and Joel Torstenson and Irving whole and a number of
others who have distinguished themselves as students regardless of the teaching the had-but Carl Crisler did a term paper on the populist movement. And he is in right now being
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published by the Minnesota State Historical Society a volume, which he has written about
the Minnesota which is headed impetus or the seed planted as far as that class in history
was concerned. Joel Torstenson and took the paper that he'd written a paper term paper
farming and large it for his master's degree thesis at the University of Minnesota. It was a
subject which had to deal with the Lutheran Church and slavery during the Civil War
period. He has been interested in negro rights and negro problems all his life. And I think
he gained some real deep insight as he did that preliminary work for me and then
followed up later at the University. In the Department of Christianity, of course, when I
came to Augsburg there was as dean of men, Mr. Professor Simon, lb, who was not only the
Dean of men, but he was the head of the religion department. And he was the head of the
Physical Education Department, a rare combination of a great big he man who could
relate to students and to the men students, who also knew all the little finances that he
could contribute in many ways. And he said, Well, if you really want to know good,
manage, just buy a book and read it and practice it.
G
Gerda Mortensen 45:13
I think that I was sort of PQ nation and wanted to deal with a little delicate, individual
things where he could see things in a big scope. I recall one time, the state Dean's women
asked us each to bring our dean of students along. And I was most proud of Mr. Melfi
because he could handle themselves very well with everybody that was there. And I can
remember we had a Unitarian pastor was speaking. And he took issue with some of the
things that he said, and they had a little lively discussion during the noon hour. And the
deans of women said to me afterwards, my Aren't you lucky to have a man like that to be
your dean. Then came data Christensen, to the faculty and both in the field of philosophy,
BN in the field of Christianity, who is a scholar, and who, in everything that he read and
thought and said, seemed to reflect this tremendous scope of scholarship. in this field of
higher education in the fields of religion, we had Paul select later, and Philip Quebec, both
of whom, who turned some outstanding kind of work in this field. They are the kind of men
that students say, we go to these classes, they take us help us orient our whole field of
knowledge and thinking, and they do not make up our minds for us, but they show us how
we can make up our own minds, and challenge us to do the right kind of thinking. I've had
students say that the most valuable class that they've ever had at college was of course,
either with Sonic or with this is a marvelous kind of thing. And it is a way in which one can
really do something. adapter Christensen, who was always interested in great ideas, he
was a student in the seminary when I first came to Augsburg, and I recall that he had
selected 12 students at school who were the the best intellectual students and these men
had in one evening men only evening, where they talked about ideas. But he's always
been a man who is like to talk about ideas. And in his early years as a faculty person in
evening school work, which he inaugurated, and had some special classes and evening
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school, in deputation work wherever it was trying to get a few people together to talk
about ideas, not about people, not about things, but about ideas and how you can
implement ideas.
G
Gerda Mortensen 47:48
Of course, we had people who were characters like, and you love them for the warmth of
the person that they were. Dr. Image, I suppose, was one of these people who was a
teacher, German, who loved the German language, he looked as if he both need to be dry,
wet washed, his and his toupee needed to be dry, cleaned also, and brought down to wear
to a little gray of his hair, the fringe which hanged on black, but students who wanted to
really talk to somebody, I suppose Dr. Image did more informal counseling with students
than practically anybody else at school. And he had all kinds of love for people and
warmth. People took his class in German, because he was really a delightful person. Not
that they learned too much German characteristic would be first thing in the morning, he
would point to one of the girls and he said, Have you had breakfast yet? Shame on you,
you have to have breakfast before you came to class. Well, one never knew what was
going to come. I can remember one chapel talk to when he spoke to the chapel, students
and he said, this is a dangerous place. I repeat, this is a dangerous place. Students were
listening. Because one never knows what kind of challenge God is going to make you in
this dangerous place. But be ready for it. Then we had in the language department to
Marion Lindemann coming to teach in French. And an earlier record I've talked about
some of them are coming. But Marion was not a Lutheran. Marian was not a Scandinavian
background.
G
Gerda Mortensen 49:36
Marian came representing liberal arts. She came came to teach French. Did you also
teach Spanish to begin with? French. We didn't have Spanish Spanish was later. Little
Latin sometimes to help Hendrickson? But Marian came from the University of Minnesota
via...France where she had spent a summer. I shall never forget that entrance at the
magnificent, beautiful woman made onto our campus and into our lives. And how she
could like simple little me, I don't know. But she represented scholarship, refinement,
culture, centuries of breeding, all this kind of thing. She brought into our society at
Augsburg a quality of life that was more American than we were. We were still very much
an immigrant people. And I think many of us reached out for this quality in our life. And
this kind of something. When it came to counseling students, she said give me those who
are the non Lutherans and those who are on the fringe benefit fringe of the community.
And truly many of these people came and and sought her out, but in their quiet way. And
then especially, I think, a very wonderful way in which she could talk, education with Dr.
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Sverdrup. This led to an influence that was exceedingly meaningful in the development of
the college curriculum. She didn't come to many of the social things we did, she didn't do
some other things. But she was a part of our academic community that had some very
high standards, and herself capable teacher who demonstrated how she could be a friend.
And students who took a class in French not only learn the language, but they learned to
love it, and some of the culture of that people. Not only of that people, but of the breadth
of the world of knowledge that Marion moved around and with such perfect ease.
G
Gerda Mortensen 52:00
To assist in this foreign language department later came Mimi Kingsley, a beautiful Latin
lady. Here we are fortunate at Augsburg at times, somebody comes to the University of
Minnesota and their spouse wants to do something in the field teaching. And so it was
with me kings layer has been as on the faculty at the University of Minnesota, where they
have a regulation that no two members of the same family should be teaching. At least
that was the rule then. And we inherited lovely Mimi Kingsley, who speaks two languages
perfectly without any accent at all. She is an American made amazing piece of work in
the field of Spanish. And again, she has these high standards of quality that she can
somehow impart to our students and the great expectations. Don't peter out. And Ruth
Schmidt, who is has earned her doctorate in Spanish is one of the prized pupils that she
has had. In the field of drama, it took a long time before we could have somebody but
after we had decided that drama was a legitimate part of it. We had a Lucy made
Bergman come. And we did some operators and we did some serious drama. And then we
had Miss Eileen Cole and Dr. Esther Olsen come until we have developed in the field of this
some of the ideas that are really strong in the field to trailer. Dean Corbett came in the
field of education and helped us establish a much better background in the community
and and has been representative and many state committees and then some national
committees in developing the educational program for our own state of Minnesota is
highly respected for his contributions here. Later as he became Dean of the College, Dr.
Henry Britain is came to be in the education department and did a singular kind of
organization and set up a practice teaching program. And all this was just excellent. And
the fruit of that work is still being felt music and effort XR to other integral parts of the
community.
G
Gerda Mortensen 54:30
Way back in 1923 we had just barely started to have intercollegiate basketball. And we
were admitted into the Minnesota conference of basketball. And I can recall the
excitement that there was when we loaded up all the students in buses and went down to
Central College to play our first intercollegiate basketball game. Every student at school
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and I think every faculty, I think we had five six charted buses and there was one adult
person on each one and lo and behold, didn't we win this game? And one of the
cheerleaders for Sandoval had been in the academy at Augsburg Reverend theater Hi
Mark to the Good Shepherd. And I can still see the incredible surprise when I discovered
the dog sprig. We live August know when from them. Subsequently we went into football
and I can remember that we also did some rather startling thing by winning from Chris
Davis Adolphus when we played football one time. But the development of this program
under the leadership of Simon LB was passed on to Deke pouts, I suppose it was who
came in, then he went into the war. And then we had James Peterson, who had a different
concept of what the whole field of education for leisure should do. And in this the
importance of the activity of the individual, instead of so much emphasis upon
intercollegiate athletics, he wanted us to think in terms of the intramural getting more
people out there actually participating, doing things, learning to do things with their
hands, learning other sports, so we added other sports to our program in our curriculum.
G
Gerda Mortensen 56:24
And then oh, in the interests of the building a sort of a good community spirit. He had
talked to Dr. Sverdrup, and with me about when the first beautiful spring day comes, let's
have a skip the and dismiss school and go on our walk along the Mississippi River are too
many Park. But it turned out to be a beautiful spring. And so each day, this particular
week, Monday, we met in that disparate IPS office. Is this the day Oh, it's a Friday day of
warps. No, let's wait to see what it's like tomorrow. So tomorrow came and it was a little
warmer and more nice sunshine and the grass getting greener in the bugs coming up and
the trees. No, let's wait one day more. So I think it was on a Wednesday, we decided this
was the day that we were going to have our first skipped a doctor. And doctor spiritual at
the close of the chapel service said to the students, it is very beautiful day today that the
faculty decided that it would be very fun to dismiss classes and everybody go out to the
park and have a very wonderful day. And the students couldn't believe their ears to what
they were hearing. And that is fair to say, well, we really amended Are you interested? And
then Jimmy Peterson got up to announce that we were going to form in lines in 15 minutes
in front of them right in the center of the campus. And we were going to march out. And
he had men made arrangements, we would have food and coffee and donuts out beyond
Lake st page where we would gather and then we would hike out too many. And they
would have all kinds of recreation. There. People could bring their baseball bats and they
could bring their badminton and they could have softball teams, they could go hiking,
they could do this and we would have a huge picnic separate. This was the first time and I
don't know who the other man was. But I think we have a film on this in the historical
library somewhere. [Note: search for "Augsburg Skip Day 1947" on YouTube]
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G
Gerda Mortensen 58:38
And I think Professors Sveggen was one of the two first men that lead this hike, they went
out this big and I hiked out those five miles many a year with those students and stayed
and played all time till the end of the day. We never separate and picked up and metal
and fam family people could grow home and get pick up their families and take them
along. But it built a tremendous bridge of warmth and friendliness. And trying to help
people to be creative in learn how to enjoy simple things and the outdoors. And to do
things just with each other, just just to be happy. So this was the way our skip days started.
Well, we added other kinds of sports, we had a very difficult time finding some physical
education for women. We go over and rented the gymnasium at Monroe school and the
girls wonder were there for Tim. And we have to get this is the bond Peterson and the
people who worked in physical education together in RJ have a separate tape recording
above this. But this is a part of some of the things that came and after Jim BP and left
then we had a Mr. Ernie Anderson coming back from the word service in between we had
the handsome Robert Carlson as there and we had Kelly Swanson, who worked with us in
the nr department who later went to St. Joe college, who's retiring this year incidentally
from sandwich. Then we had the field of music and Augsburg people had always been
known how to sing. I can recall when I first came to Augsburg, the faculty sat and chairs
on the platform in the chapel. There was something like two 300 students over 35 girls I
know from where I said I could always count quickly to see 35 if all my proteges were in
Chapel, but that first day as I sat down and the chair next to Bill me who's and Anna
monger and just I sat right below the bust of Professor Georg spared. And I could
remember as a child, when I lived in Minneapolis, I had gone to commencement with my
father and mother. And we sat in a second pew. And professors Phaedra came and sat
down in front of us before the service was to begin. And he turned to me and he said, Dr.
Davis, Dr. This is your daughter. Yes, this is Garrett. You're hoping to box up to be in may
get a sneak peek. I hope that you will grow up to be a good little girl. A good person.
G
Gerda Mortensen 61:35
So somehow this is geared the older spirit. And so this was in 1923 that had been in 1986.
So here I started felt as if the spirit of the man was reaching out to give me a little blessing
upon my work cited starting as a dean of women at this college. But the singing, these
students could sing, they love to sing. And there was of course a Glee Club going there
had been sextet, there had been quartets there had been gospel duels, there had been all
kinds of singing but singing was Integra later on in the year among the 35. Women some
came to me and said we should really start a girls good. So I went to Mr. upsets who had
come to be the teacher of music at that time and the director of the male choir or male
Glee Club. As until all 35 girls came with whatever boys or lack of boys, they had to just
demonstrate that they had this interest. So we practiced in this true upsets put us through
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our paces. And we were getting ready after Christmas to prepare for a little concert tour.
In one of the girls came to me and she said Miss Morton's we've gotten this girls good club
started now. They call it the crowd. We've gotten it started. And some of us just simply
can't think and this is just awful agony for us. But we've done the cause, you know, can you
talk to Mr. Upset to single out now 20 people or the group that he thinks could be used for
this? So Jenny squirrels for who taught voice and I who is taking some voices from Jenny
and who could sing a little, we always traveled with this girls, the club called the crowd
club. And Mr. upsets played the cello. So we took his cello along, and the first year we
went out on a tour. Well it happened that the second year I was a dog spring, a broken
ankle, and I had to walk around in 25 with high shoes and and crutches for quite a while.
And the following year, I had to have surgery for gallbladder in January, and we're going
to start this tour in March. And that is very upset. Oh you have to go with the girls and
their first tour. We can't possibly let these girls go out alone without you with it. And it was
hard for me to carry even when one purse because in those days they operated from
Northeast southwest and we have 23 stitches I had been laid wide open. Well, after this I
just said yes, I'll go with them. But they girls carried my suitcase. They carried my
handbag and they gave me the best place we could halfway through the tour. We were in
doubt in Minnesota, the home of SG barely who was in the choir. She [recording cuts off]
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