"The Other Swedes"
~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers ~
Dr. Leon George Lungstrom
1915-2000
"Master Teacher" "Master Learner"
* * *
A Scientist, Historian, Researcher, Author, European traveler
A Quiet, Determined, Humble, Happy, and Kind Swede
An Augustana Lutheran Christian
A Bethany College Biology Professor, 1952-1981
A teacher of conversational Swedish
An artist and art student of Professor Birger Sandzén
The leading taxidermist of the Bethany College Museum Natural History Collection
[As a student and as a professor he may have mounted 200 animals in the very large taxidermy collection*]
The last Bethany College Museum Curator [acting*] after Dr. Emil O. Deere in 1966
He furthered the goals and left a legacy of Dr. Deere who built the foundation of a growing Science Department*
The recorder and author of Bethany College foundational science and mathematics history:
1990 "History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas"
1915-2000
"Master Teacher" "Master Learner"
* * *
A Scientist, Historian, Researcher, Author, European traveler
A Quiet, Determined, Humble, Happy, and Kind Swede
An Augustana Lutheran Christian
A Bethany College Biology Professor, 1952-1981
A teacher of conversational Swedish
An artist and art student of Professor Birger Sandzén
The leading taxidermist of the Bethany College Museum Natural History Collection
[As a student and as a professor he may have mounted 200 animals in the very large taxidermy collection*]
The last Bethany College Museum Curator [acting*] after Dr. Emil O. Deere in 1966
He furthered the goals and left a legacy of Dr. Deere who built the foundation of a growing Science Department*
The recorder and author of Bethany College foundational science and mathematics history:
1990 "History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas"
Dr. Lungstrom retired at the end of the 1980-1981 school year, ending 30 years of association with the Bethany College faculty. In his book, he had referred to himself as a "workaholic." In a way this may have been confirmed by his wife Linda Lungstrom, also a professor at Bethany in the field of Music and a professional musician, who summed up his life with this grave marker engraving:
"HUSBAND" "FATHER
"MASTER LEARNER" "MASTER TEACHER"
* * *
"MASTER LEARNER" "MASTER TEACHER"
* * *
The Learner That He Was
- his appreciation for his professors -
- his appreciation for his professors -
As a learner who needed more discipline in high school in Lindsborg, it looked at first that he might not make the grade to enter Bethany. From his 1990 "History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas" on pages 234-235, the story reveals that through the kindness of Dean Deere and President Ernst Pihlblad, they "gave him a chance" to attend Bethany as described below:
" . . . He was encouraged by his sister to try to enter college, but the finances necessary for this still seemed out of reach. One day in 1935 Professor Deere [who was also the College Dean] drove out to the Lungstrom farm to talk with Leon about attending Bethany. One problem existed -- his high school grades were not as good as they should have been and the president of the college, because of this, question whether they should give him financial assistance. Finally the president, Dr. Pihlblad, agreed with Professor Deere, "At least let's give him a chance." Leon Lungstrom began his studies at Bethany College in 1936 and was given the opportunity for N. Y. A. (National Youth Administration) student employment administered through the college. He immediately established a good academic record and maintained this record throughout his years. As a college student he worked summer months digging sewer ditches, running combines in harvest and doing construction work on the highway as well as other jobs to help pay for his college education. While an undergraduate student, he joined the Pi Sigma Chi fraternity and was initiated by two honorary fraternities, Lambda Sigma and Theta Chi Delta. He also became a member of the [Bethany] Linnean Society. During the senior year he was one of the students selected for Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities."
From this point on Leon was on his way of becoming a "Master Learner" and a "Master Teacher."
He received the Bethany College Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry in 1940, the Kansas State University Master of Science Degree in Zoology and Parasitology in 1946, and the Ph.D. in Medical Entomology in 1950. His postgraduate studies continued at California's Stanford University for an eleven-month period from 1959 to 1960, then in 1962 he was found at Arizona State University studying desert biology and in 1965 at Oklahoma University studying radioisotopes and reactor technology, and finally in 1970 at New Orlean's Tulane University's School of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. He also spent the three-summer months of 1952 traveling throughout Western Europe, including Sweden. No doubt, he took many photographs and may have kept a journal on what he absorbed of these different cultures throughout these travels. Many of these learning experiences he integraded into his classes for a more enriching lecture series for his students.
" . . . He was encouraged by his sister to try to enter college, but the finances necessary for this still seemed out of reach. One day in 1935 Professor Deere [who was also the College Dean] drove out to the Lungstrom farm to talk with Leon about attending Bethany. One problem existed -- his high school grades were not as good as they should have been and the president of the college, because of this, question whether they should give him financial assistance. Finally the president, Dr. Pihlblad, agreed with Professor Deere, "At least let's give him a chance." Leon Lungstrom began his studies at Bethany College in 1936 and was given the opportunity for N. Y. A. (National Youth Administration) student employment administered through the college. He immediately established a good academic record and maintained this record throughout his years. As a college student he worked summer months digging sewer ditches, running combines in harvest and doing construction work on the highway as well as other jobs to help pay for his college education. While an undergraduate student, he joined the Pi Sigma Chi fraternity and was initiated by two honorary fraternities, Lambda Sigma and Theta Chi Delta. He also became a member of the [Bethany] Linnean Society. During the senior year he was one of the students selected for Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities."
From this point on Leon was on his way of becoming a "Master Learner" and a "Master Teacher."
He received the Bethany College Bachelor of Science Degree with a major in Biology and a minor in Chemistry in 1940, the Kansas State University Master of Science Degree in Zoology and Parasitology in 1946, and the Ph.D. in Medical Entomology in 1950. His postgraduate studies continued at California's Stanford University for an eleven-month period from 1959 to 1960, then in 1962 he was found at Arizona State University studying desert biology and in 1965 at Oklahoma University studying radioisotopes and reactor technology, and finally in 1970 at New Orlean's Tulane University's School of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. He also spent the three-summer months of 1952 traveling throughout Western Europe, including Sweden. No doubt, he took many photographs and may have kept a journal on what he absorbed of these different cultures throughout these travels. Many of these learning experiences he integraded into his classes for a more enriching lecture series for his students.
His Smoky Valley Art
as a student of
Professor Artist Birger Sandzén
who financially made a way for
Leon to attend an out-of-state group painting class.
On page 236, second paragraph, of his book, Dr. Lungstrom writes:
". . . At one time while a student of professor Sandzén in a painting class, Lungstrom did not have the necessary funds to participate with the class in an out-of-state class tour. Upon learning about this difficulty, the professor gave Lungstrom money for the trip. One wonders how often this grand old gentleman helped students in need . . ."
[Lungstrom owes a debt of gratitude to another grand gentleman, professor E. O. Deere, and this debt cannot ever be repaid." To be inserted somewhere else.]
". . . At one time while a student of professor Sandzén in a painting class, Lungstrom did not have the necessary funds to participate with the class in an out-of-state class tour. Upon learning about this difficulty, the professor gave Lungstrom money for the trip. One wonders how often this grand old gentleman helped students in need . . ."
[Lungstrom owes a debt of gratitude to another grand gentleman, professor E. O. Deere, and this debt cannot ever be repaid." To be inserted somewhere else.]
The Teacher That He Was
The courses he taught were
General Biology, General Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology, Bacteriology, Parasitology, Entomology, Immunology, Human Physiology and Anatomy, Cell Biology, Comparative Anatomy, Embryology, Histology, Geology, Taxidermy. During Interterm at times, it was courses in: Collecting Aquatic Invertebrate and helping to teach (noncredit) Conversational Swedish.
The societies he joined while teaching at Bethany College were
Society of American Bacteriologist, the Association of Economic Etymologists, the American Association of Parasitologists, Gamma Sigma Delta, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Kansas Entomological Society.
General Biology, General Zoology, Invertebrate Zoology, Bacteriology, Parasitology, Entomology, Immunology, Human Physiology and Anatomy, Cell Biology, Comparative Anatomy, Embryology, Histology, Geology, Taxidermy. During Interterm at times, it was courses in: Collecting Aquatic Invertebrate and helping to teach (noncredit) Conversational Swedish.
The societies he joined while teaching at Bethany College were
Society of American Bacteriologist, the Association of Economic Etymologists, the American Association of Parasitologists, Gamma Sigma Delta, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Kansas Entomological Society.
In His Retirement Years
He was granted
Emeritus Professor of Biology status; and granted Emeritus Membership in the Kansas Academy of Science, the American Mosquito Control Association, and Sigma Chi Research Society. He was a Kansas Academy of Science member and publishing contributor of three articles on the Bethany College Swedish scientists: Dr. Udden, Dr. Welin and Dr. Deere.
Emeritus Professor of Biology status; and granted Emeritus Membership in the Kansas Academy of Science, the American Mosquito Control Association, and Sigma Chi Research Society. He was a Kansas Academy of Science member and publishing contributor of three articles on the Bethany College Swedish scientists: Dr. Udden, Dr. Welin and Dr. Deere.
Beyond Bethany College
His contributions in his field of study as a biologist
He served in the Army from 1942-1946 specializing as a Fitzsimons Army Medical Corp instructor, Aurora, Colorado.
In Atlanta, Georgia, he studied the mosquito problems for work in the Malaria Control in War Areas program.
In Kansas, he reported on the mosquito problem for the State Board of Health.
For the U. S. Public Health Service Center for Disease Control (C.D.C), he was a medical entomologist researcher.
The recognition he received
He received the Mildred Riddle McKeon Distinguished Professorship in Science in 1979, was listed in the Who's Who of American Men of Science and the North American Entomologists and Acrologists published by the Entomological Society of America. Much of his mosquito data was presented in Mosquito Records from the Missouri River Basin States, which is published by the Survey Section Office of the U.S.P.H.S [The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service] Midwestern Communicable Disease Center, Kansas City, April 1951. [He published three articles on mosquito research.]
He served in the Army from 1942-1946 specializing as a Fitzsimons Army Medical Corp instructor, Aurora, Colorado.
In Atlanta, Georgia, he studied the mosquito problems for work in the Malaria Control in War Areas program.
In Kansas, he reported on the mosquito problem for the State Board of Health.
For the U. S. Public Health Service Center for Disease Control (C.D.C), he was a medical entomologist researcher.
The recognition he received
He received the Mildred Riddle McKeon Distinguished Professorship in Science in 1979, was listed in the Who's Who of American Men of Science and the North American Entomologists and Acrologists published by the Entomological Society of America. Much of his mosquito data was presented in Mosquito Records from the Missouri River Basin States, which is published by the Survey Section Office of the U.S.P.H.S [The Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service] Midwestern Communicable Disease Center, Kansas City, April 1951. [He published three articles on mosquito research.]
The recognition Dr. Lungstrom did not receive
The recognition Dr. Lungstrom did not receive
This is for Dr. Lungstrom's significant work concerning the Bethany College Museum and its Natural History Collection, part of which contained a sizeable taxidermy collection of which he and Dr. Deere were responsible for collecting from Smoky Valley contributors, and then researching, labeling and mounting.
Today few people, other than his family and their contemporaries and the directors of the former McPherson County Old Mill Museum, know of the role he played at the Bethany College Museum with the natural history collections. For decades, he was the Museum's main taxidermist. Before college, he enrolled in the Northwestern School of Taxidermy correspondence course in 1934, the skills of which he most certainly brought to his museum work at Bethany. To that he took the taxidermy courses being offered at Bethany, while learning the art of taxidermy on-the-job from taxidermist Professor Deere and Cornelius Larson.
Yet in the summer of 1977, it is recorded in his book that in Denver, Colorado he attended a seminar in advanced taxidermy techniques, which would most likely mean that he was using this information to care for the taxidermy collection of the College that was moved to the 1962 established McPherson County Old Mill Museum in 1966, of which he had played a major role. This continued with the taxidermy collection at this new museum of which his last two positions held there were that of a co-director from 1980 to 1984, and then becoming a board member until the later 1980s, when he began researching for the writing of his 397 page book, History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas. This, he finished in 1990.
Dr. Lungstrom's specialty as a taxidermist was quite significant throughout the life of the Bethany College Natural History Museum and at the McPherson County Old Mill Museum. Some of the latest and largest animals in the collection were mounted by him such as the carriage horse, the family of three (3) bison, the bobcat, the smaller three pelicans, which he writes about. These were part of the collection.
The very sad history of this taxidermy collection was that after Dr. Lungstrom was no longer involved, the taxidermy collection as well as the fossil collection, although still exhibited in the front room of the Museum, would no longer have a college representative there to help care for it, promote it as a tourist attraction and an educational tool for the public, the Smoky Valley schools and the college. The reason may have been that those in charge of the Museum then, just had no clue on how to do this and were very reluctant to reach out to other science professors at Bethany for help. For whatever reason, this neglect continued for at least thirty (30) plus years later, until the new owner of the Museum, which changed its name to "Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum," in November of 2021, just had this permanent exhibit finally removed quietly to an undisclosed storage location, for an unsure future. This was because this permanent exhibit had simply become a "white elephant" due to neglect of the staff. All along, if a couple of science college professors had taken an interest to become involved a little to collaborate with the museum staff, this exhibit could have become a fabulous one, with inviting field trips for students of all ages to enjoy, and, even, with adding some classes or workshops concerning the taxidermy collections.
It is true that during the time of the college museum's collections move to the McPherson County Old Mill Museum in the summer of 1966 that the college was going through a very trying time financially with other pressing challenges. This continued on for many years. So many years, that maybe they just could not have dealt with helping the Museum with its natural history taxidermy collection. As a result, the "natural history" collection, such an important collection for any college to own, was just simply forgotten, to the point that today new administration members and students are surprised to learn that there was a Bethany College Museum on their campus. To "any" natural history museum director and curator in the world, such as for example the Smithsonian's National Natural History Musuem, would consider the neglect of this college natural history collection indeed a true tragedy.
So will the life's work of Dr. Deere's 58 years to build the College Museum Natural History Collections be just forgotten as well and that of the other preceding Swedish curators, founder J. A. Udden, J. Westlund, J. E. Welin, who made valuable contributions along with Dr. Leon Lungstrom's?
For now, though, the only real "footprint" that the Bethany College Museum ever existed is found in Dr. Lungstrom's 1990 book History of Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas. One can find a mere mention of it in some of the Smoky Valley writers' work; and, then, now, there are several sections on it in SWEDES. The College has two (2) copies of Dr. Lungstrom's book in the archives.
In conclusion, Dr. Leon George Lungstrom was never recognized for his professional college work regarding the natural history collections especially in the field of his skill as a taxidermist and then especially with his role in moving the College collections to the McPherson County Old Mill Museum, with his work there, as well as for the book he wrote to preserve and promote college history: History of Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas.
It is my hope that sometime in the not so far future, Dr. Lungstrom will be recognized appropriately by his dear alma mater, Bethany College, posthumously, for the countless hours that he devoted to her, for his book, as well as by the new Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum, for his countless hours of commitment there while still working at Bethany College, and then in retirement when this museum was known as the McPherson County Old Mill Museum.
Today few people, other than his family and their contemporaries and the directors of the former McPherson County Old Mill Museum, know of the role he played at the Bethany College Museum with the natural history collections. For decades, he was the Museum's main taxidermist. Before college, he enrolled in the Northwestern School of Taxidermy correspondence course in 1934, the skills of which he most certainly brought to his museum work at Bethany. To that he took the taxidermy courses being offered at Bethany, while learning the art of taxidermy on-the-job from taxidermist Professor Deere and Cornelius Larson.
Yet in the summer of 1977, it is recorded in his book that in Denver, Colorado he attended a seminar in advanced taxidermy techniques, which would most likely mean that he was using this information to care for the taxidermy collection of the College that was moved to the 1962 established McPherson County Old Mill Museum in 1966, of which he had played a major role. This continued with the taxidermy collection at this new museum of which his last two positions held there were that of a co-director from 1980 to 1984, and then becoming a board member until the later 1980s, when he began researching for the writing of his 397 page book, History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas. This, he finished in 1990.
Dr. Lungstrom's specialty as a taxidermist was quite significant throughout the life of the Bethany College Natural History Museum and at the McPherson County Old Mill Museum. Some of the latest and largest animals in the collection were mounted by him such as the carriage horse, the family of three (3) bison, the bobcat, the smaller three pelicans, which he writes about. These were part of the collection.
The very sad history of this taxidermy collection was that after Dr. Lungstrom was no longer involved, the taxidermy collection as well as the fossil collection, although still exhibited in the front room of the Museum, would no longer have a college representative there to help care for it, promote it as a tourist attraction and an educational tool for the public, the Smoky Valley schools and the college. The reason may have been that those in charge of the Museum then, just had no clue on how to do this and were very reluctant to reach out to other science professors at Bethany for help. For whatever reason, this neglect continued for at least thirty (30) plus years later, until the new owner of the Museum, which changed its name to "Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum," in November of 2021, just had this permanent exhibit finally removed quietly to an undisclosed storage location, for an unsure future. This was because this permanent exhibit had simply become a "white elephant" due to neglect of the staff. All along, if a couple of science college professors had taken an interest to become involved a little to collaborate with the museum staff, this exhibit could have become a fabulous one, with inviting field trips for students of all ages to enjoy, and, even, with adding some classes or workshops concerning the taxidermy collections.
It is true that during the time of the college museum's collections move to the McPherson County Old Mill Museum in the summer of 1966 that the college was going through a very trying time financially with other pressing challenges. This continued on for many years. So many years, that maybe they just could not have dealt with helping the Museum with its natural history taxidermy collection. As a result, the "natural history" collection, such an important collection for any college to own, was just simply forgotten, to the point that today new administration members and students are surprised to learn that there was a Bethany College Museum on their campus. To "any" natural history museum director and curator in the world, such as for example the Smithsonian's National Natural History Musuem, would consider the neglect of this college natural history collection indeed a true tragedy.
So will the life's work of Dr. Deere's 58 years to build the College Museum Natural History Collections be just forgotten as well and that of the other preceding Swedish curators, founder J. A. Udden, J. Westlund, J. E. Welin, who made valuable contributions along with Dr. Leon Lungstrom's?
For now, though, the only real "footprint" that the Bethany College Museum ever existed is found in Dr. Lungstrom's 1990 book History of Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas. One can find a mere mention of it in some of the Smoky Valley writers' work; and, then, now, there are several sections on it in SWEDES. The College has two (2) copies of Dr. Lungstrom's book in the archives.
In conclusion, Dr. Leon George Lungstrom was never recognized for his professional college work regarding the natural history collections especially in the field of his skill as a taxidermist and then especially with his role in moving the College collections to the McPherson County Old Mill Museum, with his work there, as well as for the book he wrote to preserve and promote college history: History of Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas.
It is my hope that sometime in the not so far future, Dr. Lungstrom will be recognized appropriately by his dear alma mater, Bethany College, posthumously, for the countless hours that he devoted to her, for his book, as well as by the new Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum, for his countless hours of commitment there while still working at Bethany College, and then in retirement when this museum was known as the McPherson County Old Mill Museum.
--------------
In 1998, I visited the McPherson County Old Mill Museum's front room where most of the fossil and mounts from the 1966 move from the College were located in a permanent exhibit until 2021. Below is a slide show of the photographs I took that show "the way these College exhibits were," of which Dr. Deere maintained at the College, and Dr. Lungstrom cared for during the move and after it for some time at the McPherson County Old Mill Museum.
*This is "a guess" from reading the October 15, 1971, Lindsborg News-Record, "Old Mill Prepares for Festival," second paragraph.
PHOTOS to come . . .
*This is "a guess" from reading the October 15, 1971, Lindsborg News-Record, "Old Mill Prepares for Festival," second paragraph.
PHOTOS to come . . .
Go HERE to Dr. Leon Lungstrom ~ Husband, Father, Citizen and Friend ~ His Värmland Swedish Ancestry.
* * *
" Let Us Remember Them "
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
" Let Us Remember Them "
* * *
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © since October 8, 2015 to Current Year
as indicated on main menu sections of
www.swedesthewaytheywere.org. All rights reserved.
