Lorence M. Woodside papers, 1888-1953

Lorence M. Woodside papers, 1888-1953

P1362

1888-1953

This extensive collection covers all aspects of Woodside's impressive career as educator, public speaker, author, translator, civic leader, and gardener. Born in Hamilton County, Iowa, the daughter of Norwegian emigrant parents, Sivert and Mesine Munson, she graduated from Highland Park Normal College at Des Moines in 1893. There were later studies at the University of Chicago and at Boston University. She was instructor in elocution at Buena Vista College, Storm Lake, Iowa, and the director of Physical Culture for the Iowa WCTU for a brief time.

From 1901 to 1927 she was employed by the Redpath Lyceum, Eastern Lyceum, and the Chautauqua system as reader and occasionally as manager. In 1909 she married Alonzo Woodside, a veteran of the Spanish-American War who also served in World War I. He later served as a superintendent in the inquiry section of the Boston Post Office. Lorence Woodside's interest led beyond a career in public speaking. She developed a cut-flower dahlia named the "Mrs. Woodhouse." Much of her energy was given to community service. She held offices in the Massachusetts Food Administration, 1918; the Advisory Council of Women at Massachusetts State College, Amherst, 1926-1953; Boston Rental Housing, 1951-1952; and many local organizations. Her trips to Norway in 1906, 1913, and 1926, the last as an Honorary Fellow of the American-Scandinavian Foundation, brought her into contact with Norwegian writers. Her major achievements in this regard were the translation of Sverre Brandt's "Sonja's search for the Christmas Star", produced by the New York Junior Players, December 1929, and the translation of Barbara Ring's "Peik", published by Little Brown in Boston, 1932.

2.0 cubic feet (5 archives boxes)

English

Norwegian

Clippings

Correspondence

Manuscripts