Fred G. Aandahl Family Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 461

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Fred G. Aandahl Family Photograph Collection includes a variety of images taken of Fred and Luella Aandahl, their daughters, as well as of his parents and the extended Aandahl family. The original prints, both those donated and copied, came from daughter Louise Stockman. Other than the portraits, all were taken on the Aandahl farm near Litchville, N.D. The collection has been organized into four series: Family portraits, Portraits, Campaign snapshots, and Aandahl children. The Family Portraits Series includes copy photographic prints of the Fred G. Aandahl family, Mr. and Mrs. S. J. (Sam) Aandahl and sons standing in front of their farm home, and a studio portrait of the S. J. (Sam) Aandahl family. The Portrait Series contains two formal studio portraits of Fred G. Aandahl, one taken in 1948 and the other in 1958. Both are original prints. The 1944 Campaign Snapshots Series was taken for an article published in the Fargo Forum newspaper (June 4, 1944) regarding Aandahl’s campaign for North Dakota governor. They show various scenes of the family in their home, Luella Aandahl at her electric stove, the daughters by the piano, and Fred in various outdoor scenes, including on a tractor and with farm livestock. All the images were taken by a Fargo Forum photographer. The Aandahl Children Series images were acquired in 2003 in connection with the donation of daughter Margaret Aandahl Moran’s manuscript Thistle Houses: A Series of Autobiographical Episodes (Small Collection 783). The series includes copy photographic prints of Margaret Aandahl as a small child and teenager, and various views of all three sisters taken out-of-doors. Some illustrate activities about which Mrs. Moran wrote in her manuscript. All the images were taken by their father, Fred Aandahl.

Dates

1910s-1958

Creator

Aandahl, Fred George, 1897-1966. (Person)

Access

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

Copyrights

The Institute for Regional Studies does not own copyright.

Biography

Fred G. Aandahl was born on April 9, 1897 on his parents’ farm in Svea Township of Barnes County, near Litchville, N.D., a farm that later would become his own. He was the son of S. J. (Sam) and Mamie Lawry Aandahl. Fred graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1921, earning a BA degree with a major in law. He was principal of the Svea Township Consolidated School (1924-27) and superintendent of the Litchville Public Schools (1924-27). Fred retired from school administration in 1927 to become full-time owner and operator of the farm in Svea Township. In 1926, Fred married Luella Brekke, an elementary teacher in the Litchville schools. Fred and Luella became the parents of three daughters, Louise, Margaret and Marilyn, and the family lived on the Svea farm until 1945. Fred served in the North Dakota Senate for three legislative sessions: 1931, 1939 and 1941. He was elected governor of North Dakota in 1944 and was re-elected as governor in 1946 and in 1948. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1950. He was appointed Assistant Secretary for Water and Power Development in the United States Department of Interior in 1953, a position he held until 1961. After residing in Washington, DC, for twelve years, in 1963 Fred and Luella returned to their North Dakota home. Fred G. Aandahl died in Fargo, N.D. on April 7, 1966. Luella Aandahl died in Fargo on January 29, 1993.