From the Autobiography of Ole G. Felland Edited by Jeff M. Sauve Ole G. Felland, An Introduction Professor Ole Gunderson Felland was born October 10, 1853, in Koshkonong, Dane County, Wisconsin. His parents, Gunder G. and Tone Felland, married in 1844 and emigrated from Norway with one child and seven other family members in 1846 on a vessel named The George Washington. They arrived by oxen in Koshkonong on August 11, 1846.1 Ole Felland was the fifth of nine children born to the couple. In the book, American Lutheran Biographies published in 1890, Felland contributed a sketch of his early life (referring to himself in the third person): The parents took great pains to give their children a good education, and Ole attended both the parochial school and the common school, whenever they could be reached. Being of a puny size, he was not much of an account on the farm, and as he evinced desire and aptitude for learning, his parents sent him, at age 14 years of age, to Decorah, Iowa, to attend Luther College.2 Felland dedicated his life to the pursuit of knowledge and affirmation of faith. After graduating from Luther College in 1874, Felland continued at Northwestern University, Watertown, Wisconsin, where he received his master of arts degree in 1876. In 1879 he completed his theology degree at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, and accepted a call at Kasson and later Hayfield, Minnesota. In 1881, the fledgling St. Olaf ’s School, now St. Olaf College, called Felland to serve as an instructor. During that time, Felland married Thea Midboe in 1883. Six children were born to this union. Together, the couple served as the resident heads for Ladies’ Hall until their home, affectionately called “Heimro” meaning “house of peace,” was built in 1901. Unfortunately, their time of bliss was shortened when Thea became ill in 1905 and passed away. As an earlier pioneer of the school, Felland influenced an entire generation of students, teaching chiefly the classical languages. To his credit, Felland developed the college library from a scant 700 volumes to a collection of more than 26,000 volumes 35 years later. In addition to his contributions as a teacher and librarian, Felland enjoyed several hobbies, including gardening and photography. His photography collection, widely used today, comprises nearly 2,000 images that document nearly 40 years of the college’s development along with that of Dane County and local environs. Vol. 8, No. 2 2010
O.G. Felland, 1906. Courtesy of St. Olaf College Archives. Retiring in 1928, Felland spent the winter months living with his two daughters who resided in New York City. Shortly before his retirement and concluding eight years later in 1935, Felland devoted his energies to writing an autobiography. The manuscript, long held in the St. Olaf College Archives, has remained up to this point unpublished and rarely referenced. The following passages illustrate a man who was described at the time of his funeral in 1938 as “. . . a gentleman of the old school, cultured, dignified, broadminded, and tolerant, but also affable, friendly, and interested in the welfare of all young men and women who through the long years came under his influence.”3 17