Hjalmar Nygaard Photograph Collection
Collection
Identifier: Photo 2117
Scope and Contents
The Hjalmar Nygaard Photograph Collection documents his time in the U.S. Congress from 1961 to his death on July 18, 1963. The collection is comprised mostly of professional photographs of Nygaard performing his duties as a congressman, working with colleagues, constituents, and the Republican Party. The collection has been organized into four series: 1961, 1962, 1963 and Subject files.
The collection has been organized chronologically starting with the 1961 Series. This series starts off with an image of Hjalmar Nygaard being sworn in by Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn. There is an image of the freshman class of the 87th U.S. Congress standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The Red River Valley Potato Growers file shows a group of people standing around sacks of potatoes outside of the Department of Agriculture office. A Boy Scout, Dennis Ford Gwinn presenting a pin to Rep. Nygaard, is visible in another folder. The National Prayer Breakfast file has Nygaard with President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon Johnson and the Rev. Billy Graham. Another file features Nygaard and U.S. Rep. Don Short, visiting North Dakota midshipman on the U.S.S. Wasp. In one of these images, Nygaard is being transported to the ship on a zip line. Rep. Nygaard and his wife, Clara are photographed at a luncheon for the World’s Fair Corporation in another file. An image of North Dakota and South Dakota congressmen smoking a peace pipe with Lawrence Welk, can be found in the Dakota Territory Centennial Observance folder. The Republican Testimonial Dinner file has Mark Andrews, Hjalmar Nygaard, and others with Mrs. J. C. McGurren, the sister of Sen. William Langer. Another folder shows Mrs. Nygaard and Rep. Don Short greeting Miss North Dakota, Diane Ulvedal at an airport on her way to Atlantic City for the Miss America Pageant. The F.F.A. National Officers Luncheon folder has Sen. Milton Young, and Rep. Nygaard standing with Darryl Estvold, the National Vice President of F.F.A. who was from Mayville, N.D.
The 1962 Series starts off with a folder showing Harry Payne pinning a Boy Scout badge onto Rep. Nygaard’s lapel. Miss Lane Gunner, the Cherry Blossom Princess from Fargo, is photographed with Rep. Nygaard in another folder. There are some formal publicity shots, likely taken for the 1962 campaign, of Rep. Don Short and Rep. Nygaard with Mark Andrews standing on the U.S. Capitol steps, as well as some Polaroids of Mark Andrews in Rep. Nygaard’s office. There are also two nice images of Hjalmar Nygaard with Sen. Milton Young in his office. Congressmen Nygaard, John R. Saylor and Odin Langen standing with baskets of potatoes, are in the Red River Valley Potato Growers file. The final file in this series, show Hjalmar Nygaard with Frank Wenstrom and Mark Andrews, likely campaigning at a nursing home in the 1962 election.
The 1963 Series contains images of the Northeast Poultry Producer Council princess, handing cartons of eggs to legislators in front of the U.S. Capitol. There is also a set of images showing Rep. Nygaard with a group touring the NASA Saturn rocket launch pad. A photograph of Rep. and Mrs. Nygaard dressed in formalwear, attending a White House reception can be found in another file. There is also a file with Rep. Nygaard placing an Indian headdress on the head of Charmane Young, the 1963 North Dakota Cherry Blossom Princess. In another file is a group photograph of Rep. Nygaard with four North Dakota midshipmen, at the U. S. Naval Academy. The Syttende Mai at Norwegian Society of Washington, D.C. contains two identical photographs of Rep. and Mrs. Nygaard with other dignitaries. One is autographed by Harald von der Fehr, the organizations president, and the other is unmarked. North Dakota’s 1963 Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow award winner, Sandra Hertsgaard of Cavalier, is posed with Rep. Nygaard in another file. In the Grand Forks Air Force Base file, Rep. Nygaard is photographed both seated in, and standing beside, an F-101B Voodoo Interceptor aircraft during a visit to the base. This series also contains photographs of Rep. Nygaard handing out diplomas at the Gallaudet College commencement to two native North Dakotans; Otto Whetter and Vernon Joseph Johnson. There is a nice photograph of Nygaard having breakfast with Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Congress Hotel in Washington, D.C., and a picture of Rep. Nygaard meeting with Mrs. George Hariman, of Grand Forks, who was in Washington for the White House Conference on Civil Rights. The Death and Funeral folder contains five images related to Nygaards untimely death. Two show images of flags flying at half-staff at the U.S. Capitol and around the Washington Monument. The tree remaining images in the folder are from the funeral and burial.
The Subject Files Series contains photographs that lacked sufficient identification to organize them under any date series. They are organized alphabetically by subject. The first folder entitled Eisenhower at Gettysburg, Penn., features two identical images of Rep. Nygaard shaking Dwight D. Eisenhower’s hand. One is autographed and the other is unmarked. Also in this same folder are a series of smaller snapshot showing Eisenhower standing near a monument at the Gettysburg battlefield talking to reporters. This series also contains images of Nygaard with prominent Republican political figures, Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon and Barry Goldwater. These images may have been taken during the 1960 campaign season. An undated picture of the North Dakota congressional delegation and Roger Melroe standing next to a Bobcat loader in front of the U.S. Capitol can be found in this series. Another folder contains a photograph of Rep. Nygaard standing on the U.S. Capitol steps with his father Carl J. Nygaard. It has an autograph the states “To A grand Dad, Hjalmar C. Nygaard, M.C.” There is a folder of formal studio headshot photographs of Hjalmar Nygaard taken by the studios, “Harris & Ewing”, and “Miller of Washington”. There is also an undated series of photographs showing U.S. congressmen visiting the Strategic Air Command’s Underground Command Post. The final folder in this series contains two images of unidentified constituents with Nygaard in Washington, D.C.
The collection has been organized chronologically starting with the 1961 Series. This series starts off with an image of Hjalmar Nygaard being sworn in by Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn. There is an image of the freshman class of the 87th U.S. Congress standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The Red River Valley Potato Growers file shows a group of people standing around sacks of potatoes outside of the Department of Agriculture office. A Boy Scout, Dennis Ford Gwinn presenting a pin to Rep. Nygaard, is visible in another folder. The National Prayer Breakfast file has Nygaard with President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon Johnson and the Rev. Billy Graham. Another file features Nygaard and U.S. Rep. Don Short, visiting North Dakota midshipman on the U.S.S. Wasp. In one of these images, Nygaard is being transported to the ship on a zip line. Rep. Nygaard and his wife, Clara are photographed at a luncheon for the World’s Fair Corporation in another file. An image of North Dakota and South Dakota congressmen smoking a peace pipe with Lawrence Welk, can be found in the Dakota Territory Centennial Observance folder. The Republican Testimonial Dinner file has Mark Andrews, Hjalmar Nygaard, and others with Mrs. J. C. McGurren, the sister of Sen. William Langer. Another folder shows Mrs. Nygaard and Rep. Don Short greeting Miss North Dakota, Diane Ulvedal at an airport on her way to Atlantic City for the Miss America Pageant. The F.F.A. National Officers Luncheon folder has Sen. Milton Young, and Rep. Nygaard standing with Darryl Estvold, the National Vice President of F.F.A. who was from Mayville, N.D.
The 1962 Series starts off with a folder showing Harry Payne pinning a Boy Scout badge onto Rep. Nygaard’s lapel. Miss Lane Gunner, the Cherry Blossom Princess from Fargo, is photographed with Rep. Nygaard in another folder. There are some formal publicity shots, likely taken for the 1962 campaign, of Rep. Don Short and Rep. Nygaard with Mark Andrews standing on the U.S. Capitol steps, as well as some Polaroids of Mark Andrews in Rep. Nygaard’s office. There are also two nice images of Hjalmar Nygaard with Sen. Milton Young in his office. Congressmen Nygaard, John R. Saylor and Odin Langen standing with baskets of potatoes, are in the Red River Valley Potato Growers file. The final file in this series, show Hjalmar Nygaard with Frank Wenstrom and Mark Andrews, likely campaigning at a nursing home in the 1962 election.
The 1963 Series contains images of the Northeast Poultry Producer Council princess, handing cartons of eggs to legislators in front of the U.S. Capitol. There is also a set of images showing Rep. Nygaard with a group touring the NASA Saturn rocket launch pad. A photograph of Rep. and Mrs. Nygaard dressed in formalwear, attending a White House reception can be found in another file. There is also a file with Rep. Nygaard placing an Indian headdress on the head of Charmane Young, the 1963 North Dakota Cherry Blossom Princess. In another file is a group photograph of Rep. Nygaard with four North Dakota midshipmen, at the U. S. Naval Academy. The Syttende Mai at Norwegian Society of Washington, D.C. contains two identical photographs of Rep. and Mrs. Nygaard with other dignitaries. One is autographed by Harald von der Fehr, the organizations president, and the other is unmarked. North Dakota’s 1963 Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow award winner, Sandra Hertsgaard of Cavalier, is posed with Rep. Nygaard in another file. In the Grand Forks Air Force Base file, Rep. Nygaard is photographed both seated in, and standing beside, an F-101B Voodoo Interceptor aircraft during a visit to the base. This series also contains photographs of Rep. Nygaard handing out diplomas at the Gallaudet College commencement to two native North Dakotans; Otto Whetter and Vernon Joseph Johnson. There is a nice photograph of Nygaard having breakfast with Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Congress Hotel in Washington, D.C., and a picture of Rep. Nygaard meeting with Mrs. George Hariman, of Grand Forks, who was in Washington for the White House Conference on Civil Rights. The Death and Funeral folder contains five images related to Nygaards untimely death. Two show images of flags flying at half-staff at the U.S. Capitol and around the Washington Monument. The tree remaining images in the folder are from the funeral and burial.
The Subject Files Series contains photographs that lacked sufficient identification to organize them under any date series. They are organized alphabetically by subject. The first folder entitled Eisenhower at Gettysburg, Penn., features two identical images of Rep. Nygaard shaking Dwight D. Eisenhower’s hand. One is autographed and the other is unmarked. Also in this same folder are a series of smaller snapshot showing Eisenhower standing near a monument at the Gettysburg battlefield talking to reporters. This series also contains images of Nygaard with prominent Republican political figures, Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon and Barry Goldwater. These images may have been taken during the 1960 campaign season. An undated picture of the North Dakota congressional delegation and Roger Melroe standing next to a Bobcat loader in front of the U.S. Capitol can be found in this series. Another folder contains a photograph of Rep. Nygaard standing on the U.S. Capitol steps with his father Carl J. Nygaard. It has an autograph the states “To A grand Dad, Hjalmar C. Nygaard, M.C.” There is a folder of formal studio headshot photographs of Hjalmar Nygaard taken by the studios, “Harris & Ewing”, and “Miller of Washington”. There is also an undated series of photographs showing U.S. congressmen visiting the Strategic Air Command’s Underground Command Post. The final folder in this series contains two images of unidentified constituents with Nygaard in Washington, D.C.
Dates
- 1960-1963
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyrights to this collection remain with the original creators.
Biography
Hjalmar Nygaard was born on March 24, 1906, on a farm near Sharon, N.D., in Steele County. He was educated in the public schools at Sharon and, upon graduation, attended Mayville State Teachers College and the University of North Dakota. He taught at rural schools in Emmons and Steele counties, and later served as a member of the Sharon School Board, and also as the town's mayor.
On July 6, 1933, Hjalmar married Clara “Tommy” Thompson. She was born July 8, 1909 at Hatton, N.D. Clara and Hjalmar had one daughter, Ilene (Mrs. John D. Larson) of Bismarck N.D. Hjalmar worked in the grocery business from 1936 to 1944, and then took up a hardware business at Enderlin, N.D. with his brother-in-law. In 1948 he was elected to the State House of Representatives, and served in the 1949,
1951, 1953, 1955, 1957, and 1959 sessions. He was majority leader in 1955 and 1957 and became speaker in 1959.
In 1960 Hjalmar was elected Congressman-at-large to the U.S. House of Representatives, and was reelected as Representative of North Dakota's First (Eastern) Congressional District in 1962. While in Washington, he served as a member of the National Monument Commission. In addition, he was also a member of the House's Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, and he used this position to work for the Garrison Diversion and Irrigation Project.
Hjalmar was the Republican Representative of North Dakota from 1961 to 1963, serving in the 87th and 88th Congresses until his sudden death, a victim of a heart attack, on July 18, 1963. During his lifetime, Hjalmar was a member of the Kiwanis, and also served on the Board of Directors of the North Dakota Lutheran Welfare Society. Hjalmar is buried at the city cemetery in Enderlin. Clara Nygaard died June 25, 1985.
Extent
116 Photographic Prints (116 photographic prints)
Language of Materials
English
Provenance
Donated by the Ilene A. Larson, 2011 (Acc. 2971).
Property rights
The Institute for Regional Studies owns the property rights to this collection.
- Title
- Finding Aid to the Hjalmar Nygaard Photograph Collection
- 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