Augustana College Office of Development collection on Arthur Larson

Arthur “Brownie” Larson was born in Rockford, Illinois. He enrolled in the Augustana Preparatory Academy in 1914 and took a brief break to serve in the Navy during World War I. He returned to Rock Island and attended Augustana College from 1918 to 1922. Larson was a member of the Phrenokosmian Society, the Foreign Missionary Society, the Rockety-I staff, and the Lyceum Board. He served as the vice-president of his class in 1919 and 1920, a Student Council representative in 1920 and 1921, and chairman of the Senior Banquet Committee. Larson was an early member of the Omicron Sigma Omicron (OZO) fraternity and played on the varsity football team from 1919 to 1922. He graduated in 1922 with a Bachelor’s Degree in history. Larson married Mae Johnson (Augustana College class of 1923), and they had one daughter, Carol. Larson worked for one year in a school in Manluis, Illinois, before moving back to Rockford. He taught history for fifty-one years and served as the head of the Social Studies Department of the Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School for thirty-seven years. He served as president of the Rockford Federation of Teachers and as the vice-president of the Rockford Teacher’s Credit Union. In 1974, Larson received an Outstanding Service Award from the Augustana College Alumni Association for his work as the 1922 class representative and as a member of the Alumni Board of Directors.