Iver Udgaard Photographic Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2112

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Iver Udgaard Photograph Collection consists of portraits of acquaintances of Mr. Udgaard and unknown persons, several exterior shots, and activities that took place at various schools. They span from the 1890s to the 1950s, with most of the images dating from approximately 1900. The images that are identified were taken in various small towns in North Dakota. Some of the photographers represented in this collection are C.L. Judd, G.D. Francis, Aaron Nelson, and H.J. Hanson, and most of the studios were located in North Dakota. The collection has been organized into four series: Adults, Children, Exterior, and Schools. The photographs were received as part of his papers, which are organized as Mss 349. The Adults Series consists of eleven portraits of unknown individuals and adult acquaintances of Iver Udgaard. The majority of these are cabinet cards from the 1890s to 1900s, although there are two prints from the 1920s or 1930s and photographic postcard from the 1900s. Also included within this series are two photographs of Iver Udgaard. Most of the subjects are identified on the reverse of the photographs. The Children Series consists of ten portraits of children. Most of these date from the 1890s to the 1910s; two of the images are dated 1949. There are five cabinet cards and five gelatin silver prints. Most of the subjects are identified on the reverse of the photographs; and none of these are Udgaard’s children. The Exterior Series consists of four prints of images taken outdoors. There are two images of unknown homes, one of an unknown church, and one image of Iver Udgaard’s horse teams hauling grain. This series dates from the 1900s to 1948. The Schools Series consists of fourteen gelatin silver prints and one photographic postcard of images of activities and students from various schools. These images include children dancing around a May Pole in Cooperstown, group portraits of students from schools in Kenora, Romness Township, and an unknown school, two images from student plays, and one image of the 1919 Cooperstown High School Basketball team. These images date from the 1900s to the 1940s.

Dates

1890s-1950s

Creator

Udgaard, Iver, 1863-1935. (Person)

Access

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

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection are held by the creators or are in the public domain.

Biography

Iver Udgaard was born on October 10, 1863 in Lesje, Norway. He immigrated to the United States at the age of nineteen and lived in Minnesota for a year before moving to Mardell, North Dakota, located east of Cooperstown in Griggs County. He worked as a mail carrier during the pioneer era of the area, working a route in North Dakota between the towns of Tower City and Lee. He then moved to Cooperstown and worked as a salesman and bookkeeper for Knud Thompson, a machine shop operator. From 1887 until 1890, Udgaard was employed by Odegaard & Thompson as a banker and in 1894 he was elected treasurer of Griggs County, a position he held for two years. After briefly relocating to Centralia, Washington, Udgaard returned to the Cooperstown area to farm and did so from the period of 1897-1900. He was then employed as a cashier for the First National Bank of Cooperstown until 1910, when he returned to farming, the career he maintained until the end of his life. Mr. Udgaard was an active Mason. In 1902, Udgaard married Gena Helling (1879-1966), of Cooperstown, and this union produced two children, Mildred (Udgaard) Johnson (1903-1985) and Edwin Udgaard (1904-1968). Iver Udgaard died on November 17, 1935 after a period of illness that resulted from a stroke the previous year.