Henri P. Fugl Papers
Collection
Identifier: Mss 388
Scope and Contents
The Henri P Fugl Papers consists of Henri’s diaries and papers. The majority of the collection is comprised of diaries written by Henri and papers the include meeting minutes from the Cleveland School District school board, a membership drive for electrical service for Isley township, correspondence with servicemen during World War II and copies of letters to the editor printed in various newspapers.
The collection is divided into five series:
Diaries, 1937-1975: This series contains the five diaries, written in English, along with two addendum dairies, filled with Fugl’s daily observations about farm life, weather, current events and a trip back to Denmark. School Board, 1937-1940: This series contains meeting minutes from the Cleveland Community School board, on which Fugl served as Clerk.
Rural Electric Association, 1948-1949: This series contains papers from the membership drive and right of easement for Isley township to join the Cass County Electrical Cooperative.
Correspondence, 1923-1964: This series contains various correspondence which includes copies of letters to the editors of various area newspapers, some written by Fugl, and letters written to area servicemen during World War II.
Ephemera, 1923 which consists of an auction poster.
Dates
- 1923-1975
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSU Archives.
Copyrights
Copyrights to this collection remain with the NDSU Archives.
Biography
Henri P. Fugl was born in Vardinborg, Denmark, in April 1881. He attended the university in Bingen A. Rhein, Germany, where he was studied in the field of mechanical engineering. In 1904, he immigrated to the United States, arriving in New York where he soon found employment with a patent attorney. Accounts of free land in the Dakotas, as reported in an Iowa-based Danish newspaper, soon lured him west. However, the snows of North Dakota drove him even further west, all the way to California. He landed in a small town outside of San Francisco where he found work in fruit farming. In 1906, when the earthquake rocked the area, Henri was one of those shaken from his bed. Henri left the San Francisco area, and traveled to Iowa and then Montana. In Montana, he and his brother Eigil homesteaded a farm.
Eventually, Henri and his brother Eigil returned to North Dakota and settled in Verona, in LaMoure County, where they farmed.
In 1909 during a trip back to Denmark, Henri met and married Elna Gebauer. He brought his bride back to North Dakota where they continued to farm and had a family of three daughters: Ivy Elise (1911-2002), Ruth Gudrun (19136-1980), and Alice Hedvig (1915-1999). Elna died in 1918 and Henri spent the next few years working in Fargo, Minneapolis and Canada before returning to his farm in Isley township in 1923. In 1924 Henri married again, to Lydia Palmvig, who had emigrated to the U.S. from Denmark. They had two children: Esther Henriette (1925) and Allen Carsten (1927).
Henri practiced soil conservation from the beginning of his farming career, measures which included the planting of thousands of trees; in addition, Henri was an expert gardener. Besides farming, Henri was an inveterate writer, making daily entries into his diaries, writing letters to newspaper editors and wartime correspondence with area servicemen. Henri was active in his community, spearheading the drive to get electrical service to Isley township where he lived; and also served, for 25 years, on the school board for School District No. 15, the Cleveland Community School.
Henri died February 6, 1979; his wife Lydia died June 9, 1985. Both are buried in Lisbon Cemetery.
Extent
1 Linear Feet (1 linear foot)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Henri P Fugl Papers consists of Henri’s diaries and papers. The majority of the collection is comprised of diaries written by Henri and papers the include meeting minutes from the Cleveland School District school board, a membership drive for electrical service for Isley township, correspondence with servicemen during World War II and copies of letters to the editor printed in various newspapers.
Provenance
Donated by Susan Estee in 2015. (ACC 2015-030irs)
Separation Record
The following materials have been separated from the collection: a poster advertising a Wolf Hunt annotated with “posted 1908 held at Englevale ND.” The poster has been moved to the North Dakota Ephemera Collection, MSS 1598, folder SP.H86.
Property rights
The NDSU Archives owns the property rights to this collection.
- Title
- Finding Aid to the Henri P. Fugl Papers
- 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
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu