{"id":18,"date":"2013-12-05T13:59:29","date_gmt":"2013-12-05T19:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2025-03-20T14:43:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T19:43:44","slug":"history-and-heritage-of-st-olaf-college","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/history-and-heritage-of-st-olaf-college\/","title":{"rendered":"History and Heritage of St. Olaf College"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-modular-content-collection><p><i>[Faculty Handbook Category #1]<\/i><\/p>\n<p>A group of pioneer pastors, farmers and businessmen in Rice, Dakota and Goodhue counties, under the leadership of the Rev.\u00a0Bernt\u00a0Julius\u00a0Muus, the Rev. N.A.\u00a0Quammen\u00a0and\u00a0Harald\u00a0Thorson, laid the groundwork for the college&#8217;s founding in 1874.\u00a0\u00a0The purpose of the school, then as now, was to offer a program of liberal studies to students preparing for careers in business, politics, the clergy and other professions.<\/p>\n<p>In choosing a name for the institution, the founders responded to strong Norwegian national as well as religious symbolism; it grew out of a celebration in the Norwegian immigrant community of the splendor of the Nordic middle ages as a means of defining ethnic merits and identity. They named the school for Olav II\u00a0Haraldsson\u00a0(spelled Olaf in the 19<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0century), king of\u00a0Norway\u00a0from 1016 until 1030.\u00a0\u00a0His martyrdom on July 29, 1030, at the Battle ofStiklestad, close to Pastor\u00a0Muus&#8217;s\u00a0own place of birth, made him\u00a0Norway&#8217;s patron saint and eternal king and secured a national monarchy and the position of the Christian church in that country.<\/p>\n<p>St.\u00a0Olaf&#8217;s\u00a0School was operated as an academy until 1886, when a college department was added. The name was changed to\u00a0St.\u00a0Olaf\u00a0College\u00a0in 1889.\u00a0The first college class graduated in 1890. The academy was discontinued in 1917.<\/p>\n<p>Affiliated with the\u00a0Lutheran\u00a0Church\u00a0throughout its history, St. Olaf is a college of the\u00a0Evangelical\u00a0Lutheran\u00a0Church\u00a0in\u00a0America.\u00a0\u00a0In 1900 the college department of the United Church Seminary was consolidated with St. Olaf, and in 1917 the college department of Red Wing Seminary was merged with St. Olaf.<\/p>\n<p>Many influences have combined to make St. Olaf what it is today.\u00a0\u00a0Dedicated faculty members have contributed to its academic reputation.\u00a0\u00a0Originating in the Norwegian immigrant desire for higher learning, the college has made a significant contribution to American liberal arts education while maintaining an academic center with a strong program for the study of Scandinavian culture.\u00a0\u00a0The rich St. Olaf tradition in music has gained worldwide renown for the college through its choirs and instrumental organizations.<\/p>\n<p>Since 1874 the college has had ten presidents: the Rev. Thorbjorn N. Mohn, who was first the principal of St. Olaf&#8217;s School and then the president of St. Olaf College until 1899; John N. Kildahl, 1899\u20131914; Lauritz A. Vigness, 1914\u20131918; Lars W. Boe, 1918\u20131942; Clemens M. Granskou, 1943\u20131963; Sidney A. Rand, 1963\u20131980; Harlan F. Foss, 1980\u20131985; Melvin D. George, 1985\u20131994; Mark U. Edwards, Jr., 1994-2000; Christopher M.Thomforde, 2001-2006; and David R. Anderson 2006 &#8211; 2023; Susan Rundell Singer (2023 &#8211; present)<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Faculty Handbook Category #1] A group of pioneer pastors, farmers and businessmen in Rice, Dakota and Goodhue counties, under the leadership of the Rev.\u00a0Bernt\u00a0Julius\u00a0Muus, the Rev. N.A.\u00a0Quammen\u00a0and\u00a0Harald\u00a0Thorson, laid the groundwork [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1379,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/1379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}