St. Olaf College

Description

St. Olaf College is a coeducational, residential, four-year, private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American immigrant pastors and farmers, led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and the Patron Saint Olaf II of Norway and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

History

A group of pioneer pastors, farmers and businessmen in Rice, Dakota and Goodhue counties, under the leadership of the Rev. Bernt Julius Muus, the Rev. N.A. Quammen, and Harald Thorson, laid the groundwork for the college’s founding in 1874. The purpose of the school, then as now, was to offer a program of liberal studies to students preparing for careers in business, politics, the clergy, and other professions.

In choosing a name for the institution, the founders responded to strong Norwegian national and religious symbolism celebrating the splendor of the Nordic middle ages. They named the school for Olav II Haraldsson (spelled “Olaf” in the 19th century), king of Norway from 1016 until 1030. His martyrdom on July 29, 1030, at the Battle of Stiklestad, close to Pastor Muus’s own place of birth, made him Norway’s patron saint and eternal king and secured a national monarchy and the position of the Christian church in that country.

St. Olaf’s School was operated as an academy until 1886, when a college department was added. The name was changed to St. Olaf College in 1889, and the first college class graduated in 1890. Affiliated with the Lutheran Church throughout its history, St. Olaf remains a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.