FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kathy Davison
November 3, 2011
(701) 328-4725
BISMARCK – Drs. David B. Danbom and Karen R. Danbom have been chosen as the winners of the 2011 Editor’s Award, sponsored by the state’s history agency, the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The award goes to the Danboms for their article “Survival through Adaptation: The Fargo Nursery School, 1933-1965,” which appeared in Volume 76 Nos. 3 & 4 of North Dakota History.
North Dakota History is the quarterly journal published since 1926 by the state’s history agency, the State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND).
The Editor's Award is given annually to the full-length article published in North Dakota History in the preceding year that best exemplifies the highest standards of research, writing, and scholarship.
The Danboms’ article tells the story of the Fargo Nursery Schools, authorized in 1933 as a program of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. The Fargo Nursery School was one of 13 such facilities in North Dakota and 3,000 nationwide to quickly support early childhood education for families on relief. These preschools were designed to provide employment for unemployed teachers, give quality educational, nutritional, and health care to young children of relief families, and offer advice on child care to poor parents. Over time the mission of the nursery school changed to suit the requirements of available funding. As Works Progress Administration funds disappeared, the nursery school’s mission shifted from providing relief services to acting as a full-time day care center for defense workers’ children during World War II. After the war, when federal monies dwindled and finally ceased in early 1946, many of Fargo’s public and charitable entities still supported the Nursery School. The Fargo Nursery School had to adapt again to changing circumstances. Beginning in 1946, fees paid by parents made up the bulk of the budget, and the school transformed into a general child care center for working families. Many preschool families now reported two incomes, some substantial. This caused agencies to question their support for the school, and charitable contributions diminished. Redevelopment plans in 1962, which, called for razing a number of buildings on Front Street including the one housing the Fargo Nursery School, proved the beginning of the end for the preschool. The Fargo Nursery School closed in August 1965 after 32 years of service to the community.
Dr. David Danbom recently retired as Professor Emeritus of history at North Dakota State University in Fargo. He has published extensively on the history of North Dakota and on agricultural and rural history. His most recent book is Going It Alone: Fargo Grapples with the Great Depression (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005). Dr. Karen Danbom is Professor Emerita of Early Childhood Education at Minnesota State University Moorhead. She has served for many years with the North Dakota Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
This is the fourth Editor’s Award for David Danbom, who also won in 1990, 2000, and 2004. He serves on the editorial advisory board for North Dakota History.
The Editor’s Award was presented during the 23rd Annual Governor’s Conference on North Dakota History October 28-29 at the Bismarck Civic Center.
The Editor’s Award has been given annually since 1988. Past winners are Dr. Fred Schneider, Claudia M. Pratt, Dr. W. Raymond Wood, Dr. John Hoganson, Dr. Terry L. Shoptaugh (two times), Dr. Anne Kelsch, Dr. David B. Danbom (four times), Dr. Gregory Camp, co-authors Paulette F. Molin and Mary Lou Hultgren, Dr. Elaine Lindgren, Dr. Charles M. Barber, Dr. Barbara Handy-Marchello, Dr. Gordon Iseminger, Dr. William Lass, Bill Snyder, Dolly Holiday Clark and Dr. Paula Nelson, Erling Sannes, Frank Vyzralek, Dr. William Pratt, and Dr. James Vivian.
For more information about North Dakota History and the State Historical Society of North Dakota, call (701) 328-2666 or visit the agency's web site at www.history.nd.gov.
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