Dr. Emory Kempton Lindquist (Feb. 29, 1908 – Jan. 27, 1992) was the president of Bethany College (1943–1953) in Lindsborg, Kansas and Wichita State University in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

(1963–1968). He also served as a professor and authored many articles and books, especially regarding Swedish-American history.

Early life

Emory K. Lindquist was born in Lindsborg, Kansas. He was the son of Harry Theodore Lindquist (1879–1938) and Augusta Amelia Peterson Lindquist (1885–1973) and was the grandson of Swedish immigrants. He graduated from Bethany College in 1930 and won a prestigious

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in England where he received another bachelor's degree and a master's degree from

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

and then returned to Bethany to teach in 1933. Lindquist received his Ph.D. from the

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in 1941. In 1942 Lindquist married Irma Winifred Eleanor (Lann) Lindquist (1909–2007), an alumna of Bethany and a nurse, whom he met at a college reunion.

Career

Lindquist served as President of Bethany College from 1943 to 1953. From 1953 to 1978 he served as professor at Wichita State University. During this period he also served as a Dean and then President of Wichita State University from 1963 to 1968. While president, Lindquist was a member of the

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

board and added African American staff and faculty to the university. Lindquist continued writing into his retirement and died in 1992 and was buried in the Smoky Hill Cemetery.

Honors

*Knighted by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and received the

Order of the North Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

in 1976 *Carl Sandburg Medal from the Swedish-American Historical Society in 1987 *Great Swedish Heritage Award from the Swedish Council of America in 1990 *Lindquist Hall in the Wallerstedt Library at Bethany College, and the Emory Lindquist Honors Program at Wichita State are named in Lindquist's honor.

Selected works

*''Smoky Valley People: A History of Lindsborg, Kansas'' (1953) *''The Protestant church in Kansas: an annotated bibliography'' (1956) *''Vision for a valley: Olof Olsson and the early history of Lindsborg'' (1970) *''An immigrant's American odyssey: a biography of Ernst Skarstedt'' (1970) *''An immigrant's two worlds: a biography of Hjalmar Edgren'' (1972) *''Bethany in Kansas: the history of a college'' (1975) *''Hagbard Brase: beloved music master'' (1985) *''Birger Sandzén, An Illustrated Biography (1993)

References

External links