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Arlene Christianson Pickard Correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: Mss 392

Scope and Contents

This collection primarily consists of letters sent by Arlene to her parents Orville And Gertrude Christianson while attending school. The collection entails letters sent from her years at Northwest School of Agriculture, undergraduate years at North Dakota State University, and the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The collection also has a small number of official documents from NDSU detailing information about Pickard’s enrolment there.

Dates

  • 1952-1962

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSU Archives.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection is held by the NDSU Archives.

Biography

Arlene Christianson was born in 1938 in Pennington County, MN, to Orville and Gertrude Christianson. She spent her youth in Goodridge, MN. She attended High School at the University of Minnesota’s Northwest School of Agriculture in Crookston, MN. After high school she attended North Dakota State University from 1956 to 1960. At NDSU she majored in home economics and minored in communications, science and education. She was involved in Tryota, the Lutheran Student Association, the Associated Women Students (president her senior year), The Spectrum staff (feature editor her senior year), Co-Chair of Sharivar (senior year), Phi Upsilon Omicron, Kappa Delta Pi, and was a volunteer Counselor in Ceres Hall (sophomore year). Along with her academic activities, she worked in the Student Union, for the home economics food and nutrition program, and the communications department. After graduating from NDSU, Arlene earned a master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Iowa in 1962. She then worked for Archer Daniels Midland in Minneapolis, and then headed the Armour Food Company’s Consumer Service Department in Chicago and then Phoenix, AZ in the 1970s. Arlene belonged to many professional organizations and contributed to many new industry standards. She was a member of the Home Economists in Business, which was a section of the American Home Economics Association, from 1966 through the 1970s. She served as national chairman for this group from 1978 to 1979. She was originally a member in the Chicago group, founded the Phoenix, AZ group, and was also a member of the Bay Area California group and groups in Oregon and Washington. Arlene was also a member of the American Meat Institute (committee chair 1972-1974), Soap and Detergent Association, and National Turkey Federation. As a member of these groups, Arlene contributed to drawing up guidelines for freshness dating and nutritional labeling for food, and labeling standards for fabric use and care. In Phoenix Arlene met Stanley Pickard, and they married in Vancouver, WA in 1976. They have spent most of their marriage in the Portland, OR area. Other jobs that Arlene has held include working for newspapers, public relations firms, senior nutrition programs and various communications projects. She managed and edited “The Oregon Episcopal Church News” from 1995 till her retirement in 2004. This publication earned sixteen national awards during her tenure. She was also a member of Episcopal Communicators. She currently resides in Vancouver, WA.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet (1/4 linear foot)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

This collection primarily consists of letters sent by Arlene to her parents Orville And Gertrude Christianson while attending school. The collection entails letters sent from her years at Northwest School of Agriculture, undergraduate years at North Dakota State University, and the University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The collection also has a small number of official documents from NDSU detailing information about Pickard’s enrollment there.

Provenance

Donated by Arlene Chrisitanson Pickard in 2015.

Property rights

The NDSU Archives owns the property rights to this collection.
Title
Finding Aid to the Arlene Christianson Pickard Correspondence
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository

Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States