Fargo-Moorhead Winter Club Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2114

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Fargo-Moorhead Winter Club Photograph Collection consists of thirty-nine black and white photographic images of ice skaters which appear to have been taken in the 1950s. These images were found within the Fargo-Moorhead Winter Club Records Collection (Mss 368). They have been organized into five subject files. The Backstage File consists of four images taken of skaters getting ready to skate. Three of these prints are of skaters having costumes made for them. One of the prints from this series is of the Foster family: Sydney, George, Irene, Chuck, and Linda, all of whom were figure skaters, lacing up skates. This collection contains twenty-one images of costumed skaters in action on the ice. These have been separated into two files: Skaters on ice, Singles and Skaters on ice, Pairs, based upon subject matter. Most of the prints in these series are 8 x 10 in. prints, and were taken by Dan E. Olson Realistic Photography of Fargo. Some of the skaters pictured include Sydney Foster, and Maxi & Ernst Baier. Some of them appear to have been cropped for use in a publication. The Portraits File consists of thirteen posed portraits of costumed skaters. Ten of these are group portraits and one of the images is of a group of small children. Some of the skaters depicted are Mary Borland, Archie Vraa, Virginia Frimanslund, Gloria Flynn, Jack and Jerry Woodstrom and Eileen Shrank. The Lite Wate Record Player File contains one image of a record player that was used at ice skating rinks in the 1950s. It was attached to an advertisement for this record player, which is also contained within the folder for this series.

Dates

Majority of material found within 1950s

Creator

Fargo-Moorhead Winter Club. (Organization)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection is held by the Institute.

History

The Fargo Winter Club was incorporated on July 13, 1938 as a winter sports club for the Fargo-Moorhead area “to promote public interest in ice sports and athletics, including curling, figure skating, and skating of all kinds” and Dr. George C. Foster was elected the first president. The focus of the club was figure skating and members skated at Fargo Arena, an indoor facility built by the WPA in 1938 which stood in downtown Fargo’s Island Park. The club had a membership of fifteen for its first season, but grew to 175 members by 1956. The first competition for the Winter Club was held in 1940 and the club held annual events in conjunction with Fargo’s annual Jack Frost Carnival during the 1940s. In the mid-1940s, the Winter Club added “Moorhead” to its official title to reflect that city’s contributions to the organization. The Fargo-Moorhead Winter Club produced many skaters that competed successfully at Olympic, world National and regional levels, including Sidney Foster, Chuck Foster, Terryl Johnson. Jack and Jerry Woodstrom, Joan Watkins, Dick Vraa, Paul Allen and others. The club also hired renowned professional trainers such as Vera Batchelor of England, Austrian Olympian Hedy Stenuf and Jack Jost. Earlier trainers included Norma and Wally Salene. In 1962 a second skating organization, the Red River Valley Figure Skating Club, was formed. It was able to secure and control the ice time of the City’s then only indoor rink and the former club, FargoMoorhead Winter Club, ceased to be an organization in 1964. The Red River Valley Figure Skating Club continues to the present day, once again incorporating the goals and ideals of the original club in producing Olympic contenders such as mark Ladwig, formerly of Moorhead, Minn.