Published On: June 6, 2019
A recent treasure trove of courtship letters written in 1940, between couple Art and Sally (Eide) Knold, have been donated to the NDSU Archives by their family. The letters were spun into a three volume set of books, entitled Hotel Fargoan. The books have also been added to the Institute for Regional Studies Archives book collection. The following book description comes from Amazon:
Inspired by her parent’s courtship letters, Eileen Torgersen–Smith presents a heart warming account of a romance that took place over the course of 1940, a year that had great historical significance for the world. During 1940 American sentiment shifted from one of isolationism to that of support for the war effort to fight Nazi Germany. It was the year that President Franklin Roosevelt won an historic third term. During the campaign both he and Republican candidate Wendell Willkie promised that no American boys would be sent to fight in Europe. Meanwhile, the first peace–time conscription law was enacted and Congress authorized a huge defense budget, setting the stage for the armament industry to gear up for massive production. Despite the horrible backdrop of a looming World War Two, the wonderfully sweet romance between Art and Sally unfolds. Art is a traveling salesman in northeastern North Dakota. Sally is an elementary school teacher in Fargo, where she resides in an apartment at Hotel Fargoan. How will their lives be affected by the war? HOTEL FARGOAN is told entirely through letters and spans three volumes including: Book One – A Romance Begins; Book Two – Summer On The Farm; and Book Three – A Single White Orchid.”