P1379 BERTHA NELSON: An Inventory of Her Diary at the Minnesota Historical Society Finding aid prepared by Monica Manny Ralston Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul MN.

Manuscripts Collection

 Finding aid encoded by Monica Manny Ralston March 2000Finding aid written inEnglish August 2008Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to Version 2002 by Monica Manny Ralston, Daniel Sher, and Joyce Chapman. OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Minnesota Historical Society Nelson, Bertha, 1909-1995. Bertha Nelson diary. 1986. Diary kept by a retired teacher reflecting her daily life, social activities, and volunteer work. 1 folder, containing 1 volume. P1379 BIOGRAPHY OF BERTHA NELSON

Bertha Nelson was born September 12, 1909 in Eagle Bend, Minnesota, one of four children born to Anna and Elieck Johnson. She attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and earned her master's degree from the University of Minnesota. A math teacher, Nelson taught in South Dakota before moving to Lakeville, Minnesota in 1947 where she taught and established an education counseling program at the Lakeville High School. She married Gregg Nelson whom she later divorced. Bertha Nelson bore two sons, Blair and Ron, and a daughter, Leslie. She died in Burnsville on August 10, 1995.

 SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE PAPERS

Bound diary documenting the daily life of a 77 year old retired high school math teacher and guidance counselor from Lakeville, Minnesota. Topics include weather; family matters; lesiure activities including friendships, outings, and bridge club meetings; a trip through the Panama Canal; the death of her former husband; being named as citizen of the year; and her many church and social activities, particularly her participation as a member or volunteer of a number of organizations including St. John's Lutheran Church, Delta Kappa Gamma, the Lioness Club, Sanford Hospital, the Eureka Sunshine Society, and DARTS. Many of the entries describe her visits with other senior citizens as a volunteer peer counselor or her telelphone calls for the Red Cross Bloodmobile. Two newspaper clippings regarding her selection as Lakeville citizen of the year are also included.

 CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics: Aged volunteers -- Minnesota -- Dakota County. Aged -- Minnesota -- Dakota County. Women -- Minnesota -- Lakeville -- Societies and clubs. Volunteer workers in community health services -- Minnesota -- Lakeville. Social work with the aged -- Minnesota -- Dakota County. Peer counseling -- Minnesota -- Dakota County. Organizations: DARTS (Program). Eureka Sunshine Society (Minn.). Lakeville Lioness Club (Lakeville, Minn.). Places: Lakeville (Minn.). Document Types: Diaries. Occupations: Retired teachers. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Prefered Citation:

[Indicate the cited item or diary entry here]. Bertha Nelson Diary. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples

 Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,347

 Processng Information:

Processed by: Monica Manny Ralston, March 2000

Catalog ID number: 09-00321697