Accidental Family History of the Day: It happened when my cousin sent me an image of a document she found behind a photo- a certificate from 1907 acknowledging that grandmother Alma Onstad completed a Summer Training School, issued by the State of Minnesota, Department of Public Instruction. Alma would have been 17, and old enough to teach rural school. As if that wasn’t enough, what caught my attention was the authorizing signature of Georgina Lommen, County Superintendent.
Georgina Louise Lommen was born 28 Oct 1877 in Caledonia MN to John P and Sara Quarve Lommen, eldest of 7 siblings and second cousin to Alma. I recognized her name as one of the authors, in the 1960s, of The Lommen Family History book which provided such an incredible base of information for our generation. I did some Googling about Georgina and learned a bit about her remarkable life:
- She attended Winona Normal School, taught in Houston County rural schools, and became the Superintendent of Schools. It was during this time that she signed Alma’s certificate.
- She worked for the Minnesota Department of Rural Education, then attended the University of Minnesota where she organized the rural teacher training program.
- She was a Phi Beta Kappa and received her Bachelor of Science degree at the U of M.
- She received a scholarship to Columbia Teacher’s College in New York, where she received her Master’s Degree in Supervision of Education with a minor in Deanship of Student Affairs.
- In the summer of 1921, she took a grand tour of Europe, leaving Montreal for London and on to the continent, returning via New York in August 1921. Per the ship manifest for her arrival in NY, she had stayed at 32 Russell Sq in London, which Google Maps puts in the center of the University of London and not far from the British Museum. See her passport application!
- She returned as an instructor at the Teacher’s College at the U of M; in 1923 she moved to Moorhead, MN where she was head of the laboratory school at Moorhead State. She lectured in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul and throughout the state.
- She pioneered an elementary education school curriculum, and was featured in articles on childhood education (notably an article on “Books in the Home”).
- She attended the World Conference of Teachers in Geneva, Switzerland as an official delegate from Minnesota in 1929; in 1932 she attended the same conference in Colorado.
- In 1951 she was selected by the faculty of the College of Education ad the U of M as one of 15 graduates to receive the university’s Distinguished Achievement Award.
- The Teacher Training building at Moorhead State is named Lommen Hall in her honor.
She died 20 Dec 1975 at age 98 (which means she was in her mid-80s when the Lommen Book was compiled and distributed to the family).
What a story! A long life, well lived.