Hilda Neihardt (1916–2004) was one of her father
John G. Neihardt's "comrades in adventure," and at the age of 15 accompanied him as "official observer" to meetings with
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk (December 1, 1863 – August 19, 1950), was a ''wičháša wakȟáŋ'' ("medicine man, holy man") and ''heyoka'' of the Oglala Lakota people. He was a second cousin of the war leader Crazy Horse and f ...
, the
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
*Lakota, Iowa
*Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
*Lakota ...
holy man whose life stories were the basis for her father's book, ''
Black Elk Speaks
''Black Elk Speaks'' is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man. Black Elk spoke in Lakota and Black Elk's son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the tal ...
'' and for her own later works.
She was born in
Bancroft, Nebraska
Bancroft is a village in Cuming County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 495 at the 2010 census.
John Neihardt, who later became Nebraska's poet laureate, lived in Bancroft for twenty years and wrote many of his works there. His stud ...
, on December 6, 1916, to her writer father and sculptor mother, Mona Martinsen. In 1920 her extended family moved to
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postma ...
, in the
Ozark Mountains
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...
, then to
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...
and on to
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
as her father's work changed.
Hilda Neihardt attended
Southwest Missouri State Teachers' College in Springfield, Missouri, and
Wayne State College
Wayne State College is a public college in Wayne, Nebraska. It is part of the Nebraska State College System and enrolls 4,202 students. The college opened as a public normal school in 1910 after the state purchased the private Nebraska Normal Co ...
in Wayne, Nebraska and received her undergraduate degree from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
.
After graduation, she worked for the Swiss Consulate in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
. In 1944, she left the Consulate to join the WAVES. While in the service, she sang with the Ray Charles Orchestra on the "Waves on Parade" radio program broadcast from Hunter College in New York City. At her request she transferred to Pasco, Washington, where she served as a control tower operator.
She married Albert J. Petri on April 4, 1944. They had three children: Gail Evelyn, born in 1946; Robin Neihardt, born in 1948; and Coralie Joyce, born in 1952. (Her son, Robin, took the Neihardt surname and used Petri as his middle name.)
In 1960, she entered the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
Law School
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
in
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...
, graduating with a JD degree in 1963. She was the first woman to practice law in
Mid-Missouri
Mid-Missouri is a loosely-defined region comprising the central area of the U.S. state of Missouri. The region's largest city is Columbia (population 121,717); the Missouri state capital, Jefferson City, and the University of Missouri are also l ...
. During her years in Columbia, Neihardt was instrumental in obtaining the land and doing the legal work for the creation of the
Rock Bridge State Park.
After retiring from her law practice, Neihardt became very active in promoting her father's works. She wrote ''The End of the Dream and other Stories and ''The Giving Earth'' as compilations that are representative of all Neihardt's writings. She authored "Black Elk Speaks and Flaming Rainbow" her personal memoirs of Black Elk and John Neihardt, and edited ''Black Elk Lives: Conversations with the Black Elk Family'' with Lori Utecht. Her last book, ''The Broidered Garment: The Love Story of Mona Martinsen and John G. Neihardt'', was about her parents.
Neihardt received the first ''Word Sender Award'' from the John G. Neihardt Foundation in 1999. Her book, ''Black Elk Lives,'' was the non-fiction winner of the 2001
Nebraska Book Awards Program sponsored by The
Nebraska Center for the Book. A special ceremony awarding her an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Wayne State College was held in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 23, 2004.
Neihardt died December 27, 2004, at the home of her daughter in Coatesville, Indiana. She was 88.
References
*Hilda Neihardt, ''The Broidered Garment: The Love Story of Mona Martinsen and John G. Neihardt'' (2006).
*Hilda Neihardt; R.Todd Wise, Black Elk and John Neihardt, in ''Black Elk Reader'', Syracuse University Press (2000).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neihardt, Hilda
1916 births
2004 deaths
20th-century American lawyers
People from Cuming County, Nebraska
University of Missouri alumni
Missouri State University alumni
Writers from Columbia, Missouri
Nebraska lawyers
Missouri lawyers
20th-century American women lawyers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women