Karl Emil Nygard, also known as Emil C. Nygard and under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Ada M. Oredigger (August 25, 1906 – April 26, 1984), was an American

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician who became the first Communist mayor in the United States when he was elected president of the village council of Crosby, Minnesota, in 1932.

Political life

The son of Swedish-speaking immigrants from Finland, Nygard was born in Iron Belt, Wisconsin, and grew up in Crosby, Minnesota. He ran for mayor in 1930 and 1931 but lost by 250 and 48 votes, respectively. In the November 1932 general election, he ran unsuccessfully for state railroad and warehouse commissioner, polling 9,458 votes statewide. In the December 6, 1932, village election, he won the mayoralty on the Workers Ticket with 529 votes, against 359 for incumbent F. H. Kraus and 301 for Ernest B. Erickson; he was inaugurated on January 3, 1933. Saying that he was "under the strict discipline of the Communist party", Nygard incorporated the Workers Advisory Committee into the municipal government by allowing it to pass bills before they went before the village council. On a controversial trip to New York City in 1933, he was accused of exaggerating his influence to Communist audiences and boasted of his challenges to the authority of Crosby police and businessmen. One of his acts in office was to declare May Day an official holiday. Nygard was defeated for reelection in December 1933 and made his last run in 1934.

Personal life

Nygard married Helen Koski, a Mennonite, in 1936 and they raised their family in

Becker County Becker County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,183. Its county seat is Detroit Lakes. Part of the White Earth Indian Reservation extends into the county. The county was created in 18 ...

. Though he distanced himself from the Communist Party, he reportedly remained committed to Marxism for the rest of his life. Nygard died in 1984.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nygard, Karl Emil 1906 births 1984 deaths People from Becker County, Minnesota People from Crosby, Minnesota American people of Finnish descent American people of Swedish descent Members of the Communist Party USA American Marxists Mayors of places in Minnesota 20th-century American politicians Communist Party USA politicians