O. H. Thormodsgard Papers, 1912-1973

O. H. Thormodsgard Papers

Overview

Abstract

Scope and Contents

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

Box 1

Box 2

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Collection Overview

Title: O. H. Thormodsgard Papers, 1912-1973

ID: OGLMC189

Primary Creator: Thormodsgard, Olaf H. (1891-1973)

Extent: 3.0 Linear Feet

Subjects: University of North Dakota - Faculty, University of North Dakota - Law School

Languages: English

Abstract

1891-1975; Dean of the UND Law School, 1933-1962

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The O. H. Thormodsgard Papers consist primarily of essays, articles, and lectures by Dean Thormodsgard. However, it also includes a large quantity of personal and professional correspondence, academic theses, and various diplomas and certificates, as well as committee reports. Unfortunately, Thormodsgard often did not sign and/or date the documents he kept, so many documents have been preserved as part of this collection on the assumption that they were written by him, but without conclusive proof.

In addition to documents, this collection also contains a World War I-era blue star banner. A blue star banner consists of a white field edged in red with one or more blue five-pointed stars centered on the white field. In the United States, it is traditionally displayed by families, communities, and organizations with members currently serving in the armed forces, and the number of stars corresponds to the number of members serving. This particular banner has the number "103" superimposed on the star, suggesting that 103 men from that organization or community were serving at the time the banner was made. It is unknown which community or organization this banner represented. Thormodsgard was teaching high school in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, at the time WWI broke out, suggesting the banner may have originated in that community. Alternatively, the banner may have also represented individuals affiliated with the University of North Dakota or the UND Law School who were serving in uniform, and later found its way into Thormodsgard's possession when he became dean of the law school.

Collection Historical Note

Olaf H. Thormodsgard is best remembered as the long-time dean of the University of North Dakota Law School. He was born September 25, 1891, in Carrington, North Dakota. He attended elementary school in Mount Vernon, South Dakota, and received his high school diploma from Spokane Academy, Spokane, Washington. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Spokane College in 1913. He subsequently earned a Master of Arts from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, in 1916, and taught high school in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Prior to attending law school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served with the 91st Division in France from 1918 to 1919, earning the medaille d'honneur des epidemies from the Republic of France. Thormodsgard received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago in 1923. Following the completion of his J.D., he was awarded a teacher's fellowship by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to conduct advanced graduate work in international and constitutional law at Harvard Law School, finishing his course of study in 1925. His thirty-six year career at the University of North Dakota began in 1926 when he joined the faculty as an associate professor of law. On June 9, 1928, he married Marie Bentegeat, a native of Bordeaux, France, who came to North Dakota as an international exchange student, and subsequently stayed on as a language instructor at UND. In 1929, Thormodsgard became a full professor and, in March 1933, he became dean of the law school - a post he would continue to hold until his retirement in 1962.

Over the course of his long and varied career, Thormodsgard served on numerous bodies including the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, the North Dakota Judicial Council, and the State Bar Association Executive Committee. During World War II, he was a member of both the National War Labor Board and the Office of Price Administration. Other organizations with which he was affiliated included the Grand Forks County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Law Institute, American Legion Post No. 6 in Grand Forks, the Order of the Coif law honor society, Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, and the Tau Kappa Epsilon men's social fraternity. A 33rd degree mason, Thormodsgard also served as Illustrious Potentate of the Kem Temple of the Shrine in Grand Forks. In addition, he was a founding member of the Fellows of the University of North Dakota, Inc., and a one-time president of the United Lutheran Church Council.

In 1962, Thormodsgard retired from UND and joined his wife in her native France. He remained there for the remainder of his life, dying in July 1975 at age eighty-three in Bordeaux. In recognition of his work on behalf of the University of North Dakota Law School, the University named the Thormodsgard Law Library (est. 1972) in his honor.

Subject/Index Terms

University of North Dakota - Faculty
University of North Dakota - Law School

Administrative Information

Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

Accruals: Additional materials were donated by Rita Reusch of the University of North Dakota's Thormodsgard Law Library on December 9, 1981 (82-982).

Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.

Acquisition Method: Donation; the original acquisition records are unavailable.

Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). O. H. Thormodsgard Papers. OGLMC 189, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid added to Archon in April 2015.

Box and Folder Listing

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Box 1

Folder 1: Bound Speeches

Item 1: "The Problem of Criminal Justice"
Item 2: "Neutrality"
Item 3: "Philosophy of Property"
Item 4: "Post War Peace Plans"
Item 5: "Representative Government"
Item 6: "Statehood - North Dakota"
Item 7: "Trends in Constitutional Law"
Item 8: "Turtle Mountain Community School"
Item 9: "War and Conquest - International Law Concepts"

Folder 2: Bound Speeches

Item 1: "The Beauty of The English Bible"
Item 2: "Albert Pike - As A Lawyer"
Item 3: "Memorial Service"
Item 4: "Talk To Boy Scouts of Grand Forks"
Item 5: "The Church and the Law"
Item 6: "Florence Nightingale Traditions"
Item 7: "The Pathways of Perfection"
Item 8: "Masonry in Relation to Law and Morals"
Item 9: "Prayer"
Item 10: "Joys of Christmas"

Folder 3: Bound Speeches

Item 1: "The American Association of University Professors"
Item 2: "Basic Principles of Education"
Item 3: "Law and Human Society"
Item 4: "Preface"
Item 5: "Risks as a Business Factor"

Folder 4: Bound Speeches

Item 1: "Background of International Law"
Item 2: "Memorial Address"
Item 3: "Memorial Day - 1942"
Item 4: "Memorial Address at Larimore"
Item 5: "Our American Heritage"
Item 6: "War - An International Law Concept"
Item 7: "War and The American Legion"
Item 8: "War and Neutrality"
Item 9: "World Peace in History"

Folder 5: Miscellaneous Biographical Information

Folder 6: "A Tribute Honoring O. H. Thormodsgard", January 1971

Folder 7: Retirement Banquet Program, May 26, 1962

Folder 8: Assorted UND Reports and Correspondence, 1933-1949

Folder 9: UND Law Library

Folder 10: UND Law School Curriculum, February 18, 1947

Folder 11: Legal Aid

Folder 12: Estate of J. F. T. O'Connor, 1946-1950

Folder 13: Miscellaneous Correspondence and Memoranda, 1924-1968

Folder 14: Miscellaneous Correspondence and Memoranda, undated

Folder 15: List of Unpublished Writings

Folder 16: "The Farmer's Co-operative Movement", MA Thesis, St. Olaf College, 1916

Folder 17: "Crime - It's Causes and Remedies", Thesis

Folder 18: Dacotah Annual articles

Folder 19: Dakota Student articles

Folder 20: Articles for "Law School News"

Folder 21: Autobiographical Speech (possible farewell address)

Folder 22: "The Church and the Law"

Folder 23: Honorary Citations

Folder 24: "Collective Security"

Folder 25: "The Constitution of the United States"

Folder 26: "Constitutional Liberties" (Lecture for New Citizens), May 3, 1962

Folder 27: "Counsel for the Defense"

Folder 28: "History of Roman Law", July 6, 1955

Folder 29: "Homesteads"

Folder 30: "Implied Powers and Implied Limitations in Constitutional Law"

Folder 31: "Interrelation of Law and Economics"

Folder 32: "Joys of Christmas" (written at Spokane College), 1912-1913

Folder 33: "Law and Power"

Folder 34: "Law as a Vocation"

Folder 35: Lecture on American Government for New Citizens

Folder 36: "Legal Condition of Women" and "Married Women's Property Rights in North Dakota"

Folder 37: "Leif Erickson"

Folder 38: Letter to Friends of UND after Pearl Harbor, 1941

Folder 39: Determination of Standards of Qualifications for Admission to the Practice of Law, December 15, 1960

Folder 40: "Our American Heritage", Freemason Reunion, Duluth, Minnesota, April 10, 1952

Folder 41: Common Law Marriage

Folder 42: "The Pathways of Perfection", 1938

Folder 43: "Philosophy of Property", Fortnightly Club

Folder 44: "Protestantism", Manuscript

Folder 45: Retirement Annuities for Teachers and Employees of State Educational Institutions, correspondence to Fred Traynor

Folder 46: "Selection of Jury Panel in North Dakota"

Folder 47: "Statehood - North Dakota", ca. 1939

Folder 48: "Statelessness - Of Women and Minors", October 1937

Folder 49: "The Study of Law", Manuscript

Folder 50: "Tenancy by Entirety"

Folder 51: "Preface"

Folder 52: "The Treaty Power", September 3, 1955

Folder 53: The Philosophy of Law as Related to Property, March 31, 1955

Folder 54: "Trends in Legal Education"

Folder 55: "Background of International Law" and "War - An International Law Concept"

Folder 56: "Why Make a Will"

Folder 57: "World Peace in History"

Folder 58: Writings on Ethics and the Legal Profession

Folder 59: Book Reviews

Folder 60: American Bar Association Committee on Legal Education Reports, ca. 1935-1961

Folder 61: American Association of University Professors

Folder 62: "National Conference on Uniform State Laws"

Folder 63: Order of the Coif

Folder 64: Report on the First National Conference of Law Review Editors, 1949

Folder 65: UND Law Alumni Association

Folder 66: Memorial Addresses

Folder 67: American Legion Speeches

Includes an annual report (1936-37) for Grand Forks Post No. 6 by C.D. Locklin.

Folder 68: Newsletters and Newspaper Clippings

Folder 69: Legal Opinions

Folder 70: Domicile: Questions of Legal Residence

Folder 71: Fergus Falls High School Debate Programs, 1916-17 and 1917-18

Folder 72: Miscellaneous

Folder 73: Photograph of Grand Forks men, 1960

189-1: Seated from left - Robert A. Ogilvie, Henry Haugen, Philip R. Bangs, Olaf H. Thormodsgard, Gordon K. Loft, Walter E. Kaloupek, William G. Micklin

Standing from left - L. Burt Hiler, Laurence Linfoot, J. Walter Hawkins, Dave Robinson, Charles B. Ayars, Floyd L. Castle, Lee H. Everett, Oscar C. Nygaard

Folder 74: Membership Certificates

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