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10-1-08:
  • Did a few random internet searches on my monument. There's not much out there on the web about the monument in Wahpeton, although I did find a few articles relating to the bust in Como Park in Minneapolis and to the bust in Tacoma, WA.
10-8-08:
  • Did a little online reading about Henrik Ibsen's life -- plenty out there on the subject. Interesting point that I found: Henrik Ibsen was 1/2 German (on his mother's side), and spent most of his life outside of Norway, returning only a few times during his adult life.
10-15-08:
NDSU Library: ordered editions of Wahpeton Globe from 1912 through Interlibrary loan
Institute for Regional Studies:
  • Rummaged through the Herman O. Fjelde Family Papers (manuscript 82). Did background reading on Herman & Jacob Fjelde, made a few copies of pertinent information. Saw documents relating to Bjornson, Aasen, & Wergeland monuments, as well as monuments located in MN that J. Fjelde made ; very little mention of Ibsen busts.
  • Looked at Fargo Forum microfilm for May 12 & May 17, 1909. Bust of Ibsen given to NDAC by H. Fjelde, 1909. Fjelde had acquired the original bust which his brother Jacob had made in Norway. Bust placed in Little Country Theater, later goes missing.
10-21-08:
Institute for Regional Studies:
  • Did research on histories of Richland County, Ibsen Township, and Wahpeton. Found some information useful on Richland county, but very few resources on Wahpeton (relative to other cities in ND). Ibsen Township is in fact named after Henrik Ibsen -- one of the first members on the Ibsen Township board liked Ibsen, proposed to name the township in his honor.
  • Looked at Plainsfolk, section on Norwegians in ND. Should prove to be interesting reading -- Anglo-Americans thought that the Norwegian-Americans in ND were "pushy."
10-22-08:
NDSU Library:
  • Spent a few hours looking at microfilm of the Wahpeton Globe-Gazette editions from July 1911-May 1912. Found a number of articles relating to my monument. It was first displayed at the Richland County Fair in late Sept. 1911, then was temporarily stored at NDSCS, as the city hadn't yet found a permanent place for the bust yet. I didn't find any mention in the paper about the placement controversy. Also, the county was in the process of tearing down the old courthouse & putting up the new one in the same location in 1911/1912, which may have been part of the reason why the bust wasn't placed on the courthouse grounds.
  • Ordered more back-editions of the Globe-Gazette through Interlibrary loan, as I still haven't found a precise date for when the Commerce Club decided to acquire an Ibsen bust.

10-23-08:
Wahpeton:
  • I started my afternoon off at the Richland County Historical Museum, getting some assistance from Cindy. Found two different thesis papers on the early history of NDSCS.
  • Next stop was to the office of the Wahpeton-Breckinridge Daily News. Found an article from Oct. 8, 2000, that briefly talked about the monument's rededication ceremony that had occurred Oct. 6, 2000.
  • From there, to the NDSCS campus library. I had previously contacted Dan Koper and Mary Kroshus, two of the head librarians. Dan helped me find a book on the first 100 years of NDSCS history, which was written by local historian John Rienbold. The placement of the bust was described as a "rather curious event of cultural impact..." Also, apparently President Clair Blikre (president from 1966-1987) had some sort of issue with the monument, and removed it from where it was standing, and had it placed in the college coal bin; it was rescued after "several cultured people expressed their displeasure" and was placed back in the "Ibsen" oval. Upon being placed back, it faced towards Old Main (facing north, to honor the fact that Ibsen was from Norway), rather than away from Old Main (facing south) as it had originally been placed. I looked through old editions of the NDSCS paper, the Dakota Scientist, from this time period, but didn't find any mention of the monument. Unfortunately, the school didn't start printing the Dakota Scientist until the 1920s, and stopped printing it during the 1990s, so the school doesn't have separate records concerning the rededication ceremony.
10-24-08:
Wahpeton:
  • I interviewed Vernon Hektner, a former dean and professor of history at NDSCS from the 1940s-1980s. He told me about his mentor, Frank McMahon, who started working on campus in 1908 as a literature professor, and who was a great admirer of Ibsen's. Vernon told me a few stories about the monument over the years. The incident where the bust was moved to the coal bin happened in the 1960s. Also, Vernon mentioned that students moved the bust to Chahinkapa Park for a few months in the 1930s. I'm going to have to look at some school newspapers from that era, since I haven't checked those yet. Vernon was also a founding member of the Sons of Norway Lodge in Wahpeton -- it was only founded within the last 30 years. Vernon was the one who suggested that the lodge should be the "Henrik Ibsen" lodge, in recognition of Ibsen township and the Ibsen bust in Wahpeton.
11-5-08:
  • Today I read accounts of the Richland county commissioners proceedings from Sept. 1911- May 1912, trying to confirm that the county commission was in fact responsible for rejecting the courthouse as a possible sight for the monument. The proceedings that were published in the Wahpeton Globe-Gazette were very detailed. However, there was no such account of any resolution or vote on the subject in this time period, which may indicate that either, (one) the story about the 2 germans & the irish commissioner rejecting the monument is just that, a story, (two) it was some other group that was responsible for rejecting the courthouse as a location, or (three) the city really just didn't want to wait until the new courthouse was finished to put up the monument there (my own personal theory)...though it could be some combination of the truth in all three...
  • I also went through Globe-Gazette editions from 1909-1911, trying to determine when and why the Commerce Club decided to purchase a bust of Ibsen. Again, I completely struck out. Before the article announcing that the Commerce Club had ordered the bust, there seems to be no record stating any intention in putting up a monument or why.
11-6-08:
Wahpeton:
  • First stop today was at the Richland County Courthouse to look at proceedings for the County Commissioners from 1911-1912. Nothing mentioned about Ibsen bust.
  • Second stop today was at City Hall to look at proceedings for the Wahpeton City Commissioners from 1910-1912. Nothing mentioned about Ibsen bust.
  • Third stop today was at the Chamber of Commerce. The CoC does not have any records from the time period--so much for trying to discover why / when the CoC / Commerce Club decided to put up a monument to Ibsen.
  • I did conduct a brief (3 minutes or so) interview with a member of the CoC (who asked to remain anonymous), who stated that, while growing up, this person remembered that people would sometimes talk about the "controversy" of the monument -- that the reason why the bust wasn't on the courthouse grounds was supposedly because Ibsen was a communist. This person also recalled that, in the 1970s, NDSCS used to ask its freshman students if they knew who Ibsen was and if they had seen the bust on campus.
  • Back to the NDSCS library after that, looking at more issues of the Dakota Scientist, this time from 1929-1950, which actually yielded some results.


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jennifer.raveling 		Latest page update: made by jennifer.raveling , Nov 6 2008, 8:10 PM EST (about this update About This Update jennifer.raveling Edited by jennifer.raveling

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Webbmaster Research progress 0 Nov 5 2008, 9:34 PM EST by Webbmaster
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Sometimes things just won't come together. So, embrace the contradictions and gaps. It gives you the chance to act like a historian, musing over the fragmentary and folklorish nature of your sources!
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