Name Aagot Raaen Role Author | Books Grass of the earth | |
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Died January 7, 1957, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, United States | ||
Aagot Raaen (December 3, 1873 - January 7, 1957) was an American author and educator.
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Background
Aagot Raaen was one of five children born to Thomas T. Raaen (1827-1903) and Ragnhild (Rodningen) Raaen 1839-1923), who were both immigrants from Norway. In June 1874, the family had moved to Dakota Territory settling near Hatton, North Dakota. Thomas Raaen homesteaded 160 acres of land in Newburgh Township (now located in Steele County, North Dakota). Aagot Raaen put herself through school and college. In 1903, Raaen graduated from the Mayville State Normal School, now Mayville State University. In 1913, she graduated from the University of Minnesota. She would later do graduate work at universities in Berlin and Hawaii.
Educator
Raaen taught at rural schools in North Dakota as well as at Oak Grove Lutheran School in Fargo, North Dakota. From 1917 to 1922, Aagot was the Superintendent of Schools in Steele County, North Dakota. In 1922, she began teaching at a number of post-secondary institutions in Hawaii.
Author
Raaen authored several historical articles and books including the 1950 autobiographic work Grass of the Earth: Immigrant Life in the Dakota country. Through a description of the life of her family during their homesteading days, Raaen detailed pioneer life on the prairie. She also authored numerous short essays and biographies of pioneer families.
Selected works
Papers
The papers of Aagot Raaen are contained within the North Dakota State University Institute for Regional Studies: