Helen Svensson Fletre
Helen Svensson Fletre (March 16, 1909 – March 15, 1987) was a Swedish-born, American author and journalist.
Background
Helen Svensson was a native of
Career
She became a prominent member of the
Her mother had been an early
She had written hundreds of articles in Vinland, the Chicago-based Norwegian-American newspaper. As a staff writer for the newspaper Vinland, she contributed numerous articles to that paper. Helen Fletre served as a journalist for the Vinland until it ceased publication with the death of owner-editor Bertram Jensenius in 1976.[3]
She was a familiar figure at symposiums and conferences where she presented papers dealing with Norwegian-American cultural life in Chicago. She was frequently consulted in anything related to Norwegian-Americans in Chicago. In 1976, King Olav bestowed the St. Olav's Medal on her for her sesquicentennial work and for her many years of service to Norway.
In 1984, she read a paper at a Norwegian-American seminar in Norway and also was editor of Bridges to Norway: 1934-1984. She also went to Voss, Norway for the revealing/dedication of "Merksmannen" (a statue by Lars Fletre). During her later years, she was helpful in collecting information for A Century of Urban Life by Odd S. Lovoll and published by the Norwegian-American Historical Association in 1988.
She died (heart attack) at her home one day before her 78th birthday in 1987.
Selected works
- Det literære samfund (The Literary Society of Chicago. Oslo: 1986) [1]
- Obituary (Chicago Tribune: 1987) [2]
Obituary
Chicago Tribune [3]
References
- ^ The Artist Lars Fletre (Vossingen Final Issue. May, 1950. Madison Wisconsin. page 31)
- ^ Helen Fletre, 77, leader in Norse community here (Chicago Sun-Times. March 27, 1987)
- ^ "From the Archives (Forrest Brown, Norwegian-American Historical Association (Volume 33: Page 341)". Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2010.