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 Pierce County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,212. Its county seat is Ellsworth. Pierce County is part of the Minneapolis– St. Paul– Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...

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 Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

minister from Haugan near Brunkeberg in the

Kviteseid Kviteseid is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Upper Telemark and Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kviteseid. The parish ...

municipality of

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

County,

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 the ...

, who had immigrated to the United States in 1883. Haugan was a graduate of St. Olaf College (B. A. 1924).

Career

From 1928 to 1970, Haugan held the position of general manager for

Augsburg Publishing House 1517 Media, formerly Augsburg Fortress Press, is the official publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), also publishing for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) as ''Augsburg Fortress Canada''. Headquar ...

. 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. Haugan was knighted by King Haakon VII of Norway during

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 ...

for his service to American Relief for Norway, Inc. for which he was

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

state director. Haugan was also a charter member of the Ampersander Society of

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 a contributing member of the

Norwegian-American Historical Association Norwegian-American Historical Association is a non-profit, member-supported organization dedicated to locating, collecting, preserving and interpreting the Norwegian-American experience. It publishes scholarly books and maintains a historical arc ...

. 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 English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

edition succeeded ''Jul i Vesterheimen'', a

Norwegian language Norwegian ( no, norsk, links=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regio ...

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

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

Background

Career

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links