Margaret Olmsted papers

Margaret Olmsted was born on 7 February 1894 in Orange City, Iowa. Her parents were Robert Ward Olmsted and Jennie Ernst Fahnestock Olmsted. She attended Rock Island High School, Rock Island, Illinois, and graduated in 1911. Margaret then attended Augustana College from 1911 until 1915 and was voted president of her class. She was also the valedictorian of her graduating class (Conrad Bergendoff, later president of Augustana College, was the salutatorian). She earned a Masters of Arts degree from the University of Illinois in 1916, and took graduate classes at the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago. After finishing her studies, she taught English and History for three years at high schools in Viola, Illinois (1916-1917) and East Moline, Illinois (1917-1919).

Margaret Olmsted joined the Augustana faculty in 1921. She was among one of the earliest female professors at the school. In 1937, she was named Associate Professor of Latin and Mathematics. She was known for her love of teaching, and often stressed the importance of studying foreign languages. After 46 years of teaching, she retired in 1967. That same year, she was named Professor Emeritus of Classics. Her connection to Augustana continued when she was named to the Augustana Alumni Association Board of Directors in the 1970s.

She was a member of several professional associations, such as the Rock Island-Moline Branch of the American Association of University Women, the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, the Delta Kappa Gamma Society (an honorary society for women educators), the Mathematical Association of America, and Phi Beta Kappa. Olmsted was also an active member of the Rock Island League of Women Voters. Along with her father, Robert W. Olmsted, she was a devoted member of Broadway Presbyterian Church.

For most of her life, Margaret lived in Rock Island, Illinois, together with her father and sister Jeannette at 330 19th Street in her later years. She passed away 26 October 1994 in Rock Island at the age of 100.

Margaret had three younger siblings: Elizabeth (Mrs. Eugene Youngert), Robert E., and Jeannette. All four attended Augustana College under the encouragement of their father, and the three sisters completed their undergraduate degrees there. As adults, Elizabeth married Eugene Youngert and moved with him to Rhode Island. Robert E. Olmsted was the General Agent for Rock Island of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company of Newark, New Jersey. Jeannette Olmsted was employed by the Royal Neighbors of America, also in Rock Island.

Robert Ward Olmsted, Margaret’s father, was a successful lawyer in Iowa and Illinois. He was born 6 May 1868 on a farm in Edgington Township, Rock Island County. His parents were Robert Bruce Olmsted, who was descended from the original Puritan settlers of Hartford, Connecticut, and Mary Matilda Linn Olmsted. He attended Iowa State College from 1887 to 1890 and received his B.S. upon graduating. He married Jennie Ernst Fahnestock 25 August 1892. Jennie died in 1911, and Olmsted remarried on 3 August 1928 to Mary E. Sala, who died in 1931.