Randolph E. Haugan (July 31, 1902 - February 18, 1985) was an American writer, editor, and publisher.
Background
Randolph Edgar Haugan was born in
Martell,
Pierce County, Wisconsin to immigrant parents from Norway. He was the youngest child of Torgeir Halvorson Haugan (1864–1915) and Hilda Dorothea Josephine (Ehrhardt) Haugan. His father was a
Lutheran minister from Haugan near Brunkeberg in the
Kviteseid municipality of
Telemark County,
Norway, who had immigrated to the United States in 1883. Haugan was a graduate of
St. Olaf College
St. Olaf College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 by a group of Norwegian-American pastors and farmers led by Pastor Bernt Julius Muus. The college is named after the King and the Patron Saint Olaf ...
(B. A. 1924).
Career
From 1928 to 1970, Haugan held the position of general manager for
Augsburg Publishing House. He was author and editor of Lutheran church publications, including summaries of the beliefs and practices and information relating to the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxim ...
.
Haugan was knighted by King
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII (; born Prince Carl of Denmark; 3 August 187221 September 1957) was the King of Norway from November 1905 until his death in September 1957.
Originally a Danish prince, he was born in Copenhagen as the son of the future Frederick V ...
during
World War II for his service to American Relief for Norway, Inc. for which he was
Minnesota state director. Haugan was also a charter member of the Ampersander Society of
Minneapolis and a contributing member of the
Norwegian-American Historical Association. He served as chairman of the St. Olaf College Board of Trustees.
Haugan is most frequently associated with ''Christmas: An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art'', a series he initiated in 1931 and edited throughout the remainder of his career. This
English language edition succeeded ''Jul i Vesterheimen'', a
Norwegian language Christmas annual previously published by Augsburg Publishing.
[Øverland, Orm. ''The Western Home, a Literary History of Norwegian America'' Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1996. p. 202.]
Selected works
*''The 1924-25 Viking Yearbook (Fiftieth Anniversary)''. (Northfield, Minnesota: St. Olaf College, 1925.
*''My Christian Faith''. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing, 1937.
*''Forward March of Faith: The Story of A Church''. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing, 1943.
References
Further reading
*Risley, Kristin Ann. ''Vikings of the Midwest: Place, Culture, and Ethnicity in Norwegian-American Literature, 1870-1940''. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2003.
*Rygg, Andreas Nilsen. ''American Relief for Norway: A Survey of American Relief Work for Norway during and after the Second World War''. Chicago: Arnesen Press, 1947.
External links
St. Olaf College alumni awards
* ttp://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00526.xml Minnesota Historical Society - The Ampersand Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haugan, Randolph Edgar
American people of Norwegian descent
St. Olaf College alumni
1902 births
1985 deaths
People from Pierce County, Wisconsin
Writers from Wisconsin
American Lutherans
Lutheran writers
Writers from Minneapolis
20th-century Lutherans