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The Larson Sisters, St. Olaf College
 Women’s contributions in the field of
Lutheran education can aptly be demonstrated by the three Larson
sisters, all graduates of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, who
won recognition for their Alma Mater and distinguished themselves in
their chosen fields.
Dr. Nora Larson, class of 1923, a
research bacteriologist in the nutrition division of the Hormel
Institute at Austin, Minnesota held a Ph.D. degree from the University
of Minnesota in the field of biochemistry. Dr. Larson died on January 8,
1988
Dr. Henrietta Larson, class of
1918, was professor of business history at the graduate School of
Business Administration at Harvard University. Among her accomplishments
was the research and writing of the history of Standard Oil of New
Jersey. In 1979, she was honored by the Harvard Graduate School of
Business Administration with the Distinguished Service Award, the
highest recognition given by the school -- the first woman to receive
the honor to that point since it was first given in 1968. At the time of
her retirement in 1962, she was the only woman to hold tenure and the
rank of full professor at Harvard Business School and only the fourth in
the history of the entire university to rise to that position. She held
a PhD from Columbia University. She died on August 26, 1983.
Dr. Agnes Larson, class of 1916,
chairperson of the department of history at St. Olaf and author of The
White Pine Industry of Minnesota, did advanced class work at Harvard and
received her PhD degree from Radcliffe. A nationally known historian,
author and teacher of American history, Dr. Larson chose to use her
doctoral thesis to make a contribution to the wealth of Minnesota
history. She met with obvious surprise as she pursued her research on
the lumber trail. But her Norwegian heritage gave her a love of the
northern woods and a reverence for the majesty of the forests which
spurred her on in her work.
It is said of her that she was in love
with her subject and her students. She was enthusiastic about them.
While she taught well what the books contain, based on sound
scholarship, the best that she taught were her own spirit and
enthusiasm. She made the study of history and its lessons for today’s
Americans a lively and living thing. Dr. Larson died on January 24,
1967.
The sisters are shown here at St. Olaf
and the cornerstone laying for Agnes Larson Hall, October 10, 1964.
Pictured (left to right) are President Sidney A. Rand, Dr. Agnes Larson,
Dr. Nora Larson, Ms. Lela Larson Ronken and Dr. Henrietta Larson.
(Photo courtesy of the St. Olaf College
Archives.) |
