Browse Entries

Literary societies were once a common feature at Concordia.  Alpha Kappa Chi (AKX) was the first all-female literary society at the college.  Even as its focus shifted from literary pursuits to social events to charitable activities, AKX provided a way for Concordia women to engage with their campus and their community for over eighty years.  Phi Kappa Chi (PKX) was another major women’s society at Concordia College from 1946 to 1969.  Although PKX was relatively short-lived, it provides an interesting look at some of the factors that influenced the rise and fall of women’s (and men’s) societies at Concordia.

In 1888, Joachim Murie and Marie Frimanslund moved from Yavick, Norway to Moorhead, Minnesota and married soon thereafter. Together with Marie’s brother, Henrick, they purchased a homestead. Their first child, Olaus, was born on March 1, 1889. Marie gave birth to five more children, including Martin (1891) and Adolph (1899). In 1895, Joachim died at the age of thirty-seven likely due to tuberculosis. In April of 1899, Marie married Ed Winstrom, a Swedish bartender in Moorhead. Unfortunately, Ed died from tuberculosis two months into their marriage, but Adolph was already conceived.  He was born September 6, 1899.  In 1909, the family also adopted a girl named Clara. Olaus and Adolph both developed an interest in nature as boys. To help with family finances, they cut grass for their neighbors, worked for local gardeners, and hunted and fished alongside the Red River. Olaus and Adolph both attribute this time of camping, hunting, fishing, and canoe-making to stimulating their fascination with the natural world.

Women’s athletics thrive at Concordia, but the varsity programs currently known and loved did not have their beginning until 1972 and have undergone some dramatic changes in management over the decades, from the Women’s Athletic Association (WAA) and the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Women have fought for the chance to have their talents shine on the court, on the field, in the pool, and more, and while this trend towards gender equality is still ongoing, women’s athletics have nonetheless gained great strides.

Florence Kruger served as the head of the Home Economics program for much of her thirty-year career at Concordia College. In those thirty years, she made a name for herself, as well as making a lasting impact on the lives of the students that graduated from the program.