Arnold Johnston papers

Arnold V. Johnston, the son of Augustana Synod president Rev. Dr. L. A. Johnston, attended Augustana College in the first years of the 20th century. He was a member of the Webster Debating Club, the Debating League, and the Observer staff. In December 1910, Johnston contracted typhoid fever and had to drop out of school for several months. However, he was able to recover and graduate in time as a member of the class of 1911. Johnston was voted valedictorian by the Augustana faculty. After graduation, Johnston became a salesman for the Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Company. Later that same year he was offered the post of telegraph editor at the Moline Daily Dispatch. He held that position until 1913. Johnston then earned his master’s and doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1915 and 1916 respectively. He joined the faculty at Upsala College as a professor of history and economics. Johnston left that job in 1918 to become a statistician and economist for the War Industries Board. In 1919, Johnston became a professor of economics at Ohio Wesleyan University. One year later he moved to Pennsylvania to teach economics and political science at Pennsylvania College. Materials in this collection include a photocopy of Johnston’s 1911 valedictory speech from the Augustana Observer and a scrapbook of news clippings and programs.