J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker Presidential Papers

J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker Presidential Papers, 1832-1974 | Luther College Archives

By Alison Sancken

Printer-friendly |

Collection Overview

Title: J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker Presidential Papers, 1832-1974

ID: LCA/RG02/5th President

Primary Creator: Ylvisaker, J. Wilhelm (1900-1981)

Extent: 6.0 Linear Feet. More info below.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into four series;

1.) Correspondence and Personal Papers (1832 - 1974)

2.) Administrative Papers (1865 - 1966)

3.) Special Events (1925 - 1963)

4.) Lutheran Organizations (1928 - 1960).

Subjects: Evangelical Lutheran Church, Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - Administration, Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - College Finances, Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - Faculty and Staff, Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - Students, Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - Students - Organizations, Women's Missionary Federation (Evangelical Lutheran Church)

Forms of Material: Correspondence, Minutes, Photographs

Languages: English, Norwegian

Abstract

A collection of correspondence, photographs from 1832 to 1974 from the office of J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker, fifth president of Luther College.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

This collection contains correspondence and subject files from 1832 to 1974 from the office of J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker (1900 - 1981), fifth president of Luther College, during his administration. These materials include personal and official correspondence with family members, students, and college and church associates; administrative papers, docments pertaining to special events, and correspondence and documents concerning Lutheran Organizations such as the Board of Christian Education. Much of the correspondence is in Norwegian.

Biographical Note

Johannes Wilhem Ylvisaker, Luther class of 1921, became president of his alma mater in 1948. Before returning to Luther, he completed a CT at Luther Theological Seminary, an M.Th at Princeton Theological Seminary, married Lucille Torgerson, and worked as a teacher and a pastor. Ylvisaker’s presidency from 1948 to 1962 was marked by growth and development in almost every aspect of the college. Six major buildings were completed, attendance skyrocketed, the endowment grew, and a development plan was created and implemented for the first time. While many changes took place over his fourteen years in office, Ylvisaker tried to work within the traditions of the school to maintain the stability established by his predecessor, O.J.H. Preus. His patience, intelligence, and wit were assets to his office and college. J.W. Ylvisaker resigned in 1962 after developing Parkinson’s Disease and passed away in 1981.

-----

Johannes Wilhem Ylvisaker, som gikk ut fra Luther College i 1921, ble president ved Luther i 1948. Før hans tid som president, tok han en CT ved Luther Theological Seminary, en M.Th. ved Princeton Theological Seminary, giftet seg med Lucille Torgerson, og jobbet som lærer og prest. Ylvisakers periode som president fra 1948 til 1962 var preget av vekst og utvikling i nesten alle områder av skolen. Seks viktige bygninger ble gjort ferdige, søknadsmassen økte kraftig, tondsmidlene vokste, og en utviklings plan ble laget og satt i verk for første gang. Selv om mye ble forandret i løpet av hans fjorten år som president, prøvde Ylvisaker å ta hensyn til skolens tradisjoner så han kunne opprettholde den stabiliteten som forgjengeren hans, O. J. H. Preus, hadde oppnådd. Ylvisakers tålmodighet, intelligens og klokskap var nyttige egenskaper for stillingen og for skolen. J. W. Ylvisaker gikk av stillingen i 1962. Han døde i 1981.

Subject/Index Terms

Evangelical Lutheran Church
Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - Administration
Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - College Finances
Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - Faculty and Staff
Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - Students
Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) - Students - Organizations
Women's Missionary Federation (Evangelical Lutheran Church)

Administrative Information

Repository: Luther College Archives

Alternate Extent Statement: 17 Boxes

Access Restrictions: All materials are available for research.

Use Restrictions: Though we may hold the property rights, Luther College Archives does not hold the copyrights for all materials. Individuals may use materials for non-commercial, private use, but commercial users must secure permissions from the copyright holders and/or Luther College Archives to reproduce, publish, or quote protected materials and photographs. For more information about the Luther College Library and Information Services copyright and fair use policy, please visit http://lis.luther.edu/about/policies/copyright.

Original/Copies Note: Some materials in this collection are reproductions and the originals are held by the publishing company that created them.

Preferred Citation:

Cite unpublished materials: J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker Presidential Papers, RG02 Office of the President, Luther College Archives, Decorah, Iowa

Cite published materials as required by your chosen citation style (Chicago, MLA, APA, etc.).

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Correspondence and Personal Papers, 1832 - 1974],
[Series 2: Administrative Papers, 1865 - 1966],
[Series 3: Special Events, 1925 - 1963],
[Series 4: Lutheran Organizations, 1928 - 1962],
[All]

Series 1: Correspondence and Personal Papers, 1832 - 1974

Box 1: Correspondence with Norwegian family, 1870-1931

Folder 1: Family Correspondence from Norway, 1870 - 1889
Folder 2: Family Correspondence from Leipzig, 1882
Folder 3: Family Correspondence with Grandfather Flugum, 1876 - 1889
Folder 4: Family Correspondence, 1891-1906
Folder 5: Family Correspondence from Norway, 1906 - 1931
Folder 6: Family Correspondence, Undated

Box 2: Correspondence, Sermons, and "The Secret of his Presence", Undated

Folder 1: Correspondence with brother Nils, circa 1870
Folder 2: Correspondence with family, 1871 - 1932
Folder 3: Correspondence with students, 1867 - 1883
Folder 4: Family Correspondence from Norway, 1871 - 1878
Folder 5: Correspondence with mother, 1882
Folder 6: Correspondence with Lars, Ole, and Wilhelm, 1877 - 1883
Folder 7: Correspondence with Marie, 1877 - 1915
Folder 8: Correspondence with Missionaries, 1895 - 1922
Folder 9: Correspondence, 1906
Folder 10: Correspondence with family, 1894 - 1906
Folder 11: Illegible Correspondence, 1880 - 1905
Folder 12: Sermons of N. M. Ylvisaker, 1915 - 1956
Folder 13: Letters from Tora and her Father, 1901
Item 1: "The Secret of His Presence", Undated

Box 3: Scrapbook and Personal Papers, 1832 - 1974

Item 1: Vilhelm Ylvisaker's Scrapbook, 1901
Folder 1: "Explanation of Luther's Small Catechism Almanac", 1905, 1909
Folder 2: Photographs and Correspondence, 1832 - 1877, 1939, 1961
Folder 3: Correspondence from the Holy Land, 1906
Folder 4: Family Photograph, Undated
Folder 5: Obituaries, circa 1917
Folder 6: Review of Kristi Ylvisaker's life, Undated
Folder 7: News Articles and Obituaries, 1945 - 1971
Folder 8: Geneaology of the Ylvisaker family, May 1974
Folder 9: "The Secret of His Cross", 1951

Box 4: Personal Papers, 1859 - 1961, 1974

Folder 1: The Order of St. Olaf, 1912
Folder 2: Luther College Centennial Programs and Publications, 1961
Folder 3: Chips Article and Luther College Commencement Program, 7 October 1955 - 3 June 1956
Folder 4: Church Programs, 1859 - 1944
Folder 5: Presidential Inauguration Materials, 15 - 17 October 1948
Folder 6: Guestbook from Family Reunion, 1974

Box 5: Photographs of Ylvisaker family, Undated

Folder 1: Portrait Photographs of J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker, Undated
Folder 2: Portrait Photographs of J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker, Undated
Folder 3: Portrait Photographs of J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker, Undated
Folder 4: Photographs of Ylvisaker family, Undated
Folder 5: Negative of Ylvisaker family, Undated
Folder 6: Candid Photographs of J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker, Undated

Box 6: Correspondence, A - Bo, 1940 - 1971

Folder 1: Correspondence with Johan Arnd Aasgard, 1940 - 1954
Folder 2: Correspondence, 1952 - 1955
Folder 3: Correspondence with Durwin Algyer, 1953 - 1971
Folder 4: Correspondence with the American Association of University Women, 1953 - 1956
Folder 5: Correspondence with the American Association of University Women, 1957 - 1959
Folder 6: Correspondence with the American Association of University Women, 1960 - 1961
Folder 7: Correspondence, 1959 - 1961
Folder 8: Correspondence with Arthur Andersen, 1940 - 1946
Folder 9: Correspondence with Anundsen Publishing Company, 1940 - 1959
Folder 10: Correspondence with the Association of American Universities, 1940 - 1942
Folder 11: Correspondence with the Association of Lutheran College Faculties, 1961
Folder 12: Correspondence with the Augsberg Publishing House, 1941 - 1961
Folder 13: Correspondence with Augustana College, 1940 - 1955
Folder 14: Correspondence with Augustana College, 1959
Folder 15: Correspondence with Harry Bangsberg, 1960 - 1967
Folder 16: Correspondence with Dr. A. J. Berg, 1948 - 1951
Folder 17: Correspondence with the Blufton Church, 1946 - 1960
Folder 18: Correspondence with the Board of Regents and about the Preus Gymnasium Fire, 3 February 1960 - 21 November 1961

Box 7: Correspondence, Br - Gr, 1940 - 1967

Folder 1: Letter to President Farwell and the Board of Regents, 8 May 1978
Folder 2: Correspondence with Harold E. Bredesen, 1940 - 1944
Folder 3: Correspondence with John Nicolai Brown, 1940 - 1959
Folder 4: Correspondence with Buena Vista College, 1956 - 1957
Folder 5: Correspondence with Carnegie Corporation, 1942 - 1943
Folder 6: Correspondence with A. R. Coffeen, 1942 - 1953
Folder 7: Correspondence with Orville Dahl, 1951 - 1953
Folder 8: Correspondence with Orville Dahl, 1954 - 1956
Folder 9: Correspondence with Lida Dahlberg, 1949 - 1958
Folder 10: Correspondence with Arthur O. Davidson, 1941 - 1954
Folder 11: Correspondence with Arthur O. Davidson, 1955 - 1967
Folder 12: Correspondence with Mrs. J. A. Dillman, 1956 - 1963
Folder 13: Correspondence with the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1955 - 1959
Folder 14: Correspondence with the Gardner - Cowles Foundation, 1947 - 1963
Folder 15: Correspondence with the Gardner - Cowles Foundation, 1956
Folder 16: Correspondence with Maurice Gjerset, 1959 - 1964
Folder 17: Correspondence with M. O. Grangaard, 1940 - 1953

Box 8: Correspondence, Gu - L, 1933 - 1966

Folder 1: Correspondence with Thaddaeus Franke Gullixson, 1940 - 1942
Folder 2: Correspondence with Thaddaeus Franke Gullixson, 1933 - 1957
Folder 3: Correspondence with Arthur Edwin Hanson, 1940 - 1950
Folder 4: Correspondence with Carroll B. Hanson, 1947 - 1948
Folder 5: Correspondence with Clifford Hanson, 1943 - 1957
Folder 6: Correspondence with Karl Hanson, 1922 - 1950
Folder 7: Correspondence with N. B. Hanson, 1939 - 1951
Folder 8: Correspondence with Ludvig Hektoen, 1957
Folder 9: Correspondence with Algo D Henderson, 1958 - 1964
Folder 10: Correspondence involving Homecoming, 1940 - 1942
Folder 11: Correspondence with Bernhard A Johnson, 1945 - 1958
Folder 12: Correspondence with Bernhard A Johnson, 1959 - 1966
Folder 13: Correspondence with George Johnson, 1940 - 1952
Folder 14: Correspondence with Ulrik Vilhelm Koren, 1938
Folder 15: Correspondence with Henning Larsen, 1954 - 1971
Folder 16: Correspondence with Einar R Larson, 1940 - 1958
Folder 17: Correspondence with Henrietta Larson, 1961
Folder 18: Correspondence with N. Astrup Larsen, 1935 - 1961
Folder 19: Correspondence with Lawrence R. Lunden, 1940 - 1956
Folder 20: Correspondence with the Lutheran Brotherhood, 1947 - 1959
Folder 21: Correspondence with the Lutheran Ladies Seminary Club of Chicago, 1943 - 1958

Box 9: Correspondence, M - O, 1940 - 1973

Folder 1: Correspondence with Olaf Gabriel Malmin, 1940 - 1961
Folder 2: Correspondence with Midwest Collegiate Conference, 1951 - 1958
Folder 3: Correspondence with Wilhelm Morgenstierne, 1940 - 1959
Folder 4: Correspondence with P. O. Nasvik, 1947
Folder 5: "A History of the College" by David T. Nelson, 1960 - 1961
Folder 6: Correspondence with Knute B. Norswing, 1949 - 1960
Folder 7: Correspondence with the North Central Association, 1937 - 1959
Folder 8: Correspondence with Nardal Nustad, 1941 - 1954
Folder 9: Correspondence with Rudolph A. Oefstedal, 1947 - 1958
Folder 10: Correspondence with Henry A. Olson, 1953 - 1973
Folder 11: Correspondence with Louis W. Olson, 1942 - 1955
Folder 12: Correspondence with Louis W. Olson, 1956 - 1961
Folder 13: Correspondence with Pacific Lutheran College, 1953 - 1961
Folder 14: Correspondence - Pastors, 1950
Folder 15: Correspondence with J.C.K. Preus, 1961

Box 10: Correspondence, S - Z, 1948 - 1966

Folder 1: Correspondence with Schield Bantam Company, 1956 - 1963
Folder 2: Correspondence with Heinrich Schmid, 1962
Folder 3: Correspondence, 1951 - 1961
Folder 4: Correpsondence, 1956 - 1961
Folder 5: Correspondence with Hermann W. Siefkes, 1961 - 1971
Folder 6: Correspondence with Arthur J. Smaby, 1951 - 1959
Folder 7: Correspondence with Laurence M. Stavig, 1951 - 1962
Folder 8: Correspondence, 1948 - 1959
Folder 9: Correspondence with the United States Steel Foundation, 1955 - 1968
Folder 10: Correspondence, 1957 - 1962
Folder 11: Correspondence with Who's Who in America, 1958 - 1966
Folder 12: Correspondence with J. M. Wylie, 1956 - 1965
Folder 13: Correspondence with Johan Wilhelm Ylvisaker, 1948
Folder 14: Correspondence, Undated
Folder 15: Correspondence with N. M. Ylvisaker, 1949
Folder 16: Correspondence with Nils Walther Ylvisaker, 1940 - 1957
Folder 17: Correspondence with Nils Walther Ylvisaker, 1958 - 1972
Folder 18: Correspondence with B. C. Ziegler and Company, 1948 - 1965
Folder 19: Correspondence, 1937 - 1955
Folder 20: Correspondence, 1956 - 1962

Box 11: Correspondence and Personal Papers, 1930 - 1964

Folder 1: Correspondence, 1951 - 1958
Item 1: Paulus' forste Brev til Timoteus, 1906

Box 12: Oversized, Bible, Hymnal and Altar Book of J. Wilhelm Ylvisaker, undated

Series 2: Administrative Papers, 1865 - 1966

Box 1: Administrative Files, 1930 - 1964

Folder 1: Articles of Incorporation, 1930 - 1958
Folder 2: Articles of Incorporation, Undated
Folder 3: Salary Contracts, 1956 - 1957
Folder 4: Salary Contracts, 1958 - 1959
Folder 5: Salary Contracts, 1959 - 1960
Folder 6: Salary Contracts, 1960 - 1961
Folder 7: Salary Contracts, 1960 - 1961
Folder 8: Salary Contracts, 1961 - 1962
Folder 9: Salary Contracts, 1962 - 1963
Folder 10: Salary Contracts, 1963 - 1964

Box 2: Administrative Files, 1865 - 1966

Folder 1: Salary Orders, 1959 - 1960
Folder 2: Salary Orders, 1961 - 1962
Folder 3: Salary Orders, 1962 - 1963
Folder 4: Appraisals of Grounds and Buildings, 1932
Folder 5: Luther College Buildings and Contractors, 1865 - 1962
Folder 6: Field House Articles, 1962 - 1964
Folder 7: Centennial Union Preliminary Plans, 1959 - 1961
Folder 8: Centennial Union Preliminary Plans, 1961 - 1966
Folder 9: Olin Grant, 1953 - 1962
Folder 10: Building Funds, 1944
Folder 11: Current Funds, 1944
Folder 12: General Endowment, 1944
Folder 13: Restricted Funds, 1944
Folder 14: Housing and Home Finance Agency, 1954 - 1957
Folder 15: Housing and Home Finance Agency, 1961 - 1964

Box 3: Subject Files, 1871-1964

Folder 1: Luther College Constitution and Amendments, 1871-1964

Series 3: Special Events, 1925 - 1963

Box 1: Luther Centennial Celebration, 1955 - 1961

Folder 1: Centennial Academic Convocation, 1961
Folder 2: Centennial Committee Minutes, 1955 - 1961
Folder 3: Centennial Committee, 1956 - 1961
Folder 4: Centennial Correspondence, 1956 - 1959
Folder 5: Centennial Correspondence, 1956 - 1957
Folder 6: Centennial Fundraising Materials, 1956 - 1957
Folder 7: Centennial Lectures, 1961
Folder 8: Centennial News Clips, 1961
Folder 9: Centennial Planning Materials, 1956 - 1961
Folder 10: Centennial Programs and Invitations, 1961

Box 2: Luther Centennial Celebration, 1936 - 1962

Folder 1: Centennial Publications, 1961
Folder 2: Centennial Suggested Speakers, 1957 - 1961
Folder 3: West Side Congregation Proposal, 1955
Folder 4: Luther College Press, 1962
Folder 5: Chapel Schedules, 1936 - 1952
Folder 6: Photos of Centennial Celebration, 1961

Box 3: Luther Special Events, 1925 - 1963

Folder 1: Banquet Programs, 1925 - 1961
Folder 2: Campus Players Programs, 1936 - 1962
Folder 3: Fine Arts Festivals Brochures and Articles, 1957 - 1963
Folder 4: Conferences - Programs, 1928 - 1956
Folder 5: Tri-State Educational Conference Programs, 1951 - 1958
Folder 6: Norwegian Conference Retreat of 1957, 1956 - 1958
Folder 7: Parish Workers Conference, 1950 - 1955
Folder 8: South Central District Convention of Church, 1959
Folder 9: Church School Workers Institute, 1951 - 1958
Folder 10: Distinguished Service Awards, 1961
Folder 11: Remmen Art Collection, 1941
Folder 12: Dedication of Main Building, 1952
Folder 13: Carillon Dedication, 1961
Folder 14: Correspondence for Martin Luther Lectures, 1957 - 1960

Series 4: Lutheran Organizations, 1928 - 1962

Box 1: Lutheran Organizations, 1928 - 1960

Folder 1: Board of Christian Education, 1946
Folder 2: Board of Christian Education, 1950 - 1956
Folder 3: Board of Christian Education, 1957
Folder 4: Board of Christian Education, 1958
Folder 5: Board of Christian Education, 1959
Folder 6: Board of Christian Education, 1959 - 1960
Folder 7: Christian Education Appeal, 1948 - 1950
Folder 8: Evangelical Lutheran Church Conference, 1928 - 1952
Folder 9: Women's Missionary Federation, 1957 - 1962
Folder 10: Evangelical Lutheran Church Centennial, 1952 - 1953
Folder 11: Christian Education Appeal, 1948 - 1950