Fred Hultstrand (September 13, 1888 – June 28, 1968) was a professional

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

whose work helped document life in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

in the early 20th century.

Background

Hultstrand was born on a farm in Fairdale, North Dakota. He was the third of six children born to

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

immigrants. He attended school in Osnabrock, North Dakota. In 1905, Hultstrand witnessed his neighbor developing negatives in the basement of his home and was fascinated. In 1909, he paid to be an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

with John McCarthy, a photographer in

Milton, North Dakota Milton is a city in Cavalier County, North Dakota, Cavalier County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 39 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Milton was founded in 1887. Geography According to the United States Census Bur ...

. He went to

Wallace, Idaho Wallace, Idaho is a city in and the county seat of Shoshone County, Idaho, in the Silver Valley mining district of the Idaho Panhandle. Founded in 1884, Wallace sits alongside the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River (and Interstate 90), appro ...

, to photograph

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

mines. The next year, he went to study his art at the

Illinois College of Photography The Illinois College of Photography and Bissell College of Photo Engraving was a college in Effingham, Illinois opened in 1893 and closed in 1931, with a focus on practical, vocational photographic training. The college was founded by photographe ...

in Effingham. After studying there for two years, he continued his studies at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. He made his way back to North Dakota, where he spent the rest of his life.

Career

On November 14, 1917, Hultstrand married Eva Baker, an immigrant from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

with whom he had two children. He purchased the photography

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

in which he worked for the rest of his days in

Park River, North Dakota Park River is a city in Walsh County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 1,424 at the 2020 census. Park River was founded in 1884. In 1903, a Park River blacksmith named Samuel Holland built a motor car called the Holland Special. H ...

. There, he offered portrait photographs, as well as film development and framing services. He also worked on photographs that documented rural farm life in North Dakota in that era. In 1937 Hultstrand served as president of the North Dakota Photographers' Association. In 1962, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

used one of the photographs that Hultstrand had collected as a basis for a stamp that commemorated the 100th anniversary of the

Homestead Act The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of th ...

. It featured the John and Margret Bakken family standing outside of their

sod Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

house near the town of

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

. The government of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

issued a stamp (''Utvandringen til Amerika: Norge'') celebrating the 150th anniversary of Norwegian emigration to the United States, using the same photograph. Hultstrand died at age seventy-nine in 1968.

References

Other sources

*The Library of Congress
The Northern Great Plains: Fred Hultstrand, Biography.
Accessed on June 18, 2005. *North Dakota State University

Accessed on June 18, 2005.

External links

Hultstrand collection from the Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hultstrand, Fred 20th-century American photographers 1888 births 1968 deaths People from Walsh County, North Dakota American people of Swedish descent Artists from North Dakota School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni