Karlton Jerome Rosholt (January 20, 1923 – April 4, 2008) was an American journalist and author.

Background

Rosholt was born in 1923 in

Glasgow, Montana Glasgow is a city in and the county seat of Valley County, Montana, United States, the population was 3,202 at the 2020 census. Despite being just the 23rd most populous city in Montana, Glasgow is the most populous city for over , thus maki ...

. His parents were Carl Lauritz Rosholt (1881–1952) and Ida Emilia Solem (1893–1926). He has one younger brother, Norman Tegnear Rosholt. Rosholt attended Luther College, but was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. During the war, he served with the 95th Infantry Division. After the war, he was graduated from Luther with a degree in mathematics in 1948. During college, Rosholt twice won national forensic championships in extemporaneous speech, both times winning the college division and then representing the college division in the university division and winning it. Luther College later honored him with the first Oliver Eittreim Award for Excellence in Broadcast Media (1977) and a Distinguished Service Award (1998).

Career

As a journalist in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and St. Paul, Minnesota, Rosholt was the head writer for the radio personality Cedric Adams at WCCO. He also worked for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

in Minneapolis. In 1957, following the launch of Sputnik by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, Rosholt was the first American journalist to report that the successful launch signified a new age of space exploration, not just a defeat of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the race to be first to enter space. For this report, Rosholt was awarded the Distinguished Journalist Award by Sigma Delta Chi (now known as the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award.) From 1960 to 1962, Rosholt represented Lutheran Film Associates in the distribution of the motion picture ''

Question 7 ''Question 7'' is a 1961 American-West German film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Michael Gwynn, Margaret Jahnen and Christian de Bresson. It won the National Board of Review Award for Best Film. It was also entered into the 11th Berl ...

''. In 1962, Rosholt started working for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

at WRCV-TV. In 1964, he represented

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

for the News Election Service, supervising the collection of votes for NES in three states. In 1966, he transferred to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, writing for WNBC radio. Following his reports on the August 1967 riots in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Huntley-Brinkley Report. During the final years of the Huntley-Brinkley Report and during the period of time that

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkl ...

was anchor of the

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

, Rosholt was a field producer, notably covering the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

, which won

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in every category of television news coverage. He also covered the U.S. - U.S.S.R. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (

SALT Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

), the

Sadat Sadat ( ar, سادات) is a suffix, which is given to families believed to be descendants of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. In Iran, after the revolution, it is mandatory to mention "Seyed" or "Sadat" in the names of or whose descent from Muham ...

-Begin Peace Talks, the

William Calley William Laws Calley Jr. (born June 8, 1943) is a former American army officer and war criminal convicted by court-martial for the premeditated killings of 200 to 400 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the Mỹ Lai massacre on March 16, 1968, d ...

trial, several

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

demonstrations, anti-

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

protests and national political conventions from 1964 to 1988. In 1972, when

John Chancellor John William Chancellor (July 14, 1927 – July 12, 1996) was an American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News. He is considered a pioneer in TV news. He served as anchor of the ''NBC Nightly News'' from 1970 to 1982 and continu ...

took over as anchor of the

, Chancellor selected Rosholt as his personal producer and head editor. They worked together until Chancellor was replaced by

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

. Transferring to NBC News Computers, Rosholt finished his career rising to the level of director and retiring in 1988.

Vesterheim Museum

In 1996, Rosholt was asked by Darell Henning, curator of

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa is the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, with over 33,000 artifacts, 12 historic buildings, and a library and archives. This treasure showcases one of the most extensive co ...

, to compile a database of Norwegian immigrants who fought in the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states t ...

. In 2003, Vesterheim opened an exhibit on

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

soldiers. Accompanying the exhibit was the database and a book, also written by Rosholt, titled ''Ole Goes to War: Men from Norway Who Fought in America's Civil War''. The book contained stories and pictures Rosholt had found during his research.Decorah (Iowa) Journal
/ref> In September 2006, Rosholt was awarded the St Olav's medal by King

Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the li ...

"in recognition of isgreat services to Norway, in particular isactive involvement with the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum on its Civil War project." The medal was presented on October 21 in

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is a city in and the county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of State Highway 9 and U.S. Route 52, and is the largest commun ...

, by Norwegian Consul General Rolf Hansen.

Personal life

Rosholt married Carolyn Janelle Hanson (1926–1993) on August 28, 1947, in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated ...

. They had three sons. Descendants of Jacob Tollefson Rosholt and Johanne Kristine Jacobsdatter of Lardal, Vestfold, Norway.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosholt, Jerry 1923 births 2008 deaths American male journalists American Lutherans United States Army personnel of World War II American reporters and correspondents NBC News people Writers from Montana American people of Norwegian descent Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Luther College (Iowa) alumni People from Glasgow, Montana Journalists from Montana 20th-century Lutherans 20th-century American journalists