C. Arnold and Blanche Serenius papers

Carl Arnold Serenius was born 27 September 1902. He graduated from High School at Osceola, Nebraska. He and his younger brother, Vernon Serenius, entered Augustana College in 1922 and earned their B. A. degrees in Education in 1926. While at Augustana, Arnold was very active in the Augustana Male Quartet, the Wennerberg Chorus, and football. Serenius married Blanche Williams, also a 1926 Augustana College graduate, in 1932. Blanche was born 20 June 1905 in Moline, Illinois. She was educated in the Rock Island public school system and attended Augustana College, where she received her B. A. in Education. Blanche taught at several elementary and high schools in the greater Rock Island area.

After graduating from Augustana, Arnold obtained a State of Illinois High School Teacher's Certificate. He was superintendent at Lanyon Consolidated School before he entered graduate school in Iowa. Serenius earned a doctorate from the College of Education at the State University of Iowa (Iowa City) in August 1931. His dissertation was titled: An Analytical and Empirical Study of Certain Techniques Employed in Vocabulary Testing. He was offered a position in the Education department at Valparaiso University the following September. In 1934, Arnold left Valparaiso to accept a position as registrar and alumni secretary at Augustana College. He was appointed as Assistant to the President in charge of Alumni and Public Relations in 1938 and he later became the Director of Alumni and Public Relations. He was assigned various other duties while employed at Augustana, including professor, choir manager, and Director of the World War II Army Air Cadet Program, until his resignation in 1947. Arnold was also involved in national and regional professional organizations relating to his work at Augustana, including serving as President of the Illinois Association of Collegiate Registrars and President of the College Admission Counselors organization.

After his departure from Augustana College, Arnold held a position in human resources at the Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric Company. In 1973, he and his wife, Blanche, moved to Alexandria, Minnesota, where they lived until his death on 13 May 1984.

After Arnold's death, Blanche returned to Rock Island, Illinois. She was actively involved in several religious, civic, and political organizations. Notably, she was the class representative for the Augustana College Class of 1926 starting in 1985. She also was involved with the Rock Island County Historical Society, the Augustana Endowment Society, the American Scandinavian Society, the Augustana Historical Society, the Rock Island YWCA, and the Woman's Club of Rock Island. She was city chair-woman of the Republican Party for eight years and sang in the Handel Oratorio Society for 30 years. Blanche passed away 31 March 2004.