Margaret Nordlie (1912-1989)

Margaret Nordlie came to Concordia first as a student and then returned to teach classes in library science and work in the library under head librarian Anna Jordahl. In collaboration with Jordahl, Nordlie facilitated the growth of library collections as well as the beginnings of the Concordia College Archives.

Nordlie was born on November 17, 1912 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, to Arthur T.  and Tina Nordlie. [1] She grew up on a farm and graduated from Rice Lake High School in 1930. She then continued her education at Concordia. [2] Her family had prior connections to the college; her sister attended Concordia at the time (graduating in 1932), and her uncle, Herman T. Nordlie, had been teaching at the college since 1917.  While attending Concordia, Margaret Nordlie worked at her uncle’s home for room and board and in return he paid her tuition. [3] 

Nordlie participated in numerous activities as a student at Concordia. She worked with the school newspaper, the Concordian, advancing from copy reader to the paper’s editor-in-chief. [4] She was also a member of a literary society on campus, Alpha Kappa Chi. Nordlie graduated from Concordia in 1934 with a bachelor’s degree in Latin.

After Concordia she pursued a master’s degree in comparative literature at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and finished in just one year. [5] Nordlie then began employment as a high school teacher in Killdeer, North Dakota. Her main area of focus was English, but she also taught art, typing and physical education. After a year of high school teaching, she worked as an instructor at the college level. Nordlie taught English at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa for six years before pursuing a library science degree. [6]

Nordlie received a bachelor’s degree in library science from the University of Michigan in 1943, followed by employment at a public library in Royal Oake, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. [7] By request of Concordia’s head librarian, Anna Jordahl, Nordlie was offered a position at Concordia’s library in 1945. [8] Nordlie promptly accepted and moved to Moorhead to teach library science courses and serve as assistant librarian. [9] Other than a four year leave of absence during which she served as a missionary teacher at Zulu Lutheran High School in South Africa, Nordlie maintained her Concordia position until her retirement in 1977. [10] During her career she worked alongside librarian Anna Jordahl to help expand the library’s collections.  When she had started in 1945 there were only 32,000 books in the library, at her departure in 1977 there were over 225,000 books, most of which she had cataloged. [11] Nordlie’s responsibilities also included cataloging archival materials. [12] After her retirement from the college in 1977, Nordlie decided to work as a librarian at a seminary school in Hong Kong. [13]

In preparation for Concordia’s centennial anniversary in 1991, Nordlie was asked to return to Concordia in 1980 as a part-time archivist. Several of Concordia’s sister institutions had already established archives. Gustavus Adolphus College appointed their first archivist in 1945 to sort and organize historical materials relevant to the College.  In 1972 archival space was established in the Gustavus library.  Much like the motives behind the organization of Concordia’s archival collection, the archives at St. Olaf College were instituted in 1969 to prepare documents and artifacts for the 100th anniversary of the founding of St. Olaf in 1972. [14]

Desiring to follow best practices in her archival work, Nordlie observed the methods and procedures of many Midwestern private college archives such as those at St. Olaf and Luther and also enrolled in an archival theory and practice course at North Dakota State University. [15] Nordlie worked for several years organizing and cataloguing  what had been saved over the years along with new acquisitions. She resigned as college archivist in the spring of 1985. [16] Margaret Nordlie passed away in 1989 at the age of seventy-seven and was laid to rest in Stoughton, Wisconsin. [17]

Authors: Anthony DeLeon and Layne Cole

Footnotes
[1] Margaret Nordlie, interview by J. L. Rendahl, April 26, 1985, Oral Histories Collection, Concordia College Archives.
[2] Margaret Nordlie, interview by Lynn Prom, May 24, 1985, Oral Histories Collection, Concordia College Archives.
[3] Margaret Nordlie, interview by J. L. Rendahl and Concordia College, Concordia College Record (Moorhead, Minnesota: Concordia College, 1933), 103.
[4] “The Concordian [Staff Listing],” Concordian, Oct. 30, 1931, 2; “The Concordian [Staff Listing],” Concordian, Oct. 7, 1932, 2.  
[5] "Louise Nettleton Tribute,” April 13, 1989. Biography Files Collection. Concordia College Archives.
[6] Margaret Nordlie, interview by Lynn Prom.
[7] “Louise Nettleton Tribute.”
[8] “Speech given by Anna Jordahl at the Librarian Recognition Dinner,” Apr. 29, 1977, Nordlie, Margaret, Biography Files Collection, Concordia College Archives.
[9] Margaret Nordlie, interview by Lynn Prom.
[10] “Faculty Information Record,” Nordlie, Margaret, Biography Files Collections, Concordia College Archives.
[11] Margaret Nordlie, interview by J. L. Rendahl.
[12] Edith Thorstensson, “The Development of Archives at Five Colleges Founded by Scandinavians in Minnesota,” June 3, 1985, Record Group 11; Library, Series  10; Library Branches, Subseries 1; Archives, Box 25, FF 2, Concordia College Archives, 51-52.
[13] Margaret Nordlie, interview by J. L. Rendahl.
[14] Edith Thorstensson, “The Development of Archives,” 34, 35, 47.
[15] Edith Thorstensson, “The Development of Archives,” 52-53.
[16] President Paul J. Dovre to Miss Margaret Nordlie, 22 April 1985, Nordlie, Margaret, Biography Files Collection, Concordia College Archives. 
[17] “Margaret Nordlie Funeral Program,” 14 April 1989, Nordlie, Margaret, Biography Files Collection, Concordia College Archives.