Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter)

This 1976 Des Moines Register column by Chuck Offenburger describes the 37-years-ago Rolfe, Iowa, take-a-picture-of-(almost)-every-Rolfe-resident project. Obviously I’m extra fond of the project since my mom was the “Marion the Librarian” quoted in the article. ( Click on the article to enlarge it/the text.)

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This post is similar to the Part II and III posts. This post includes even more clippings from around the country.

Clippings about what? About Rolfe’s 1976 photograph-everybody-in-town project. (Who woulda thunk the Christian Science Monitor would have picked up the story?!)

Bittersweet is the adjective here. Bitter (or wistfully reminiscent): so many of those 1976 Rolfe residents have since passed away. Sweet: the photos are at the library and help us refresh our memories and honor those 1976 residents of Rolfe.

If you haven’t looked at Part I, Part II and Part III, I hope you will. Part I tells about the overall 1976 project. Part II, and Part III (as well as this post) include clippings and notes from around the country about the 1976 project. News of the project spread like wildfire across the United States once the Associated Press picked up the story.

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To Read these FUN Clippings …

1) Click on any thumbnail below [or in Part II and Part III] to enlarge it and to see the images in slide show view.

2) To enlarge further, once in slide show view, click on “View Full Size” at the lower right of your screen. (If nothing happens when you click on “View Full Size,” you might need to scroll down a little on your monitor so that “View Full Size” is two or three inches above the bottom of your monitor.)

3) To enlarge even more, hover the mouse over the image to see a “+” sign. When you see that plus sign, click on the image and it will magnify even further.

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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

In the January 30 post I included an explanation about the Rolfe Public Library’s 1976 project where over 1,000 photos were taken of Rolfe-area residents. That project was featured in a  1976 Des Moines Register column by Chuck Offenburger. The AP wire picked up Chuck’s article. The result was … drum roll … national recognition for the little town of Rolfe’s photo project.

Those articles, clippings and notes from around the United States are below and in the next two posts. They are so FUN to read!

To Read the Those Clippings …

Click on any thumbnail below to enlarge it and to see the images in slide show view.

To enlarge further, once in slide show view, click on “View Full Size” at the lower right of your screen. (If nothing happens when you click on “View Full Size,” you might need to scroll down a little on your monitor so that “View Full Size” is two or three inches above the bottom of your monitor.)

To enlarge even more, hover the mouse over the image to see a “+” sign. When you see that plus sign, click on the image and it will magnify even further.

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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

SHORTER STORY: This blog post refers to photo albums from 1976 that are permanently located at the Rolfe Public Library. In those albums are photos of approximately 1,100 Rolfe-area residents who were photographed in 1976.

If you don’t want to read the “Longer Story,” just click here to view the 1976 Des Moines Register article* that tells about the photo project and acclaimed national attention. And … check back to read how a variety of newspapers across the country reacted.

More importantly, please stop by the library and look at these 1976 Rolfe albums. Also feel free to peruse similar albums of photos taken decades earlier by Rolfe’s Charles (Charlie) Webb.

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LONGER STORY: In 1976, during the bicentennial of our United States, Mother (Marion Gunderson) photographed** approximately 1,100 residents living in or near the community of Rolfe, Iowa. The article below speaks for itself. Except … what it does not indicate are two things I consider to be important.

Mother and Daddy (Marion and Deane Gunderson) in 1976, the year of the bicentennial and Rolfe photo project. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

1) Mother was modest. She avoided calling attention to herself unless it would help further a good cause, for example having to do with community or patriotism. Her agreeing to the interview for this newspaper article (below) and other interviews was one such case. (Another exception was providing her watercolors via exhibits and offering them as gifts, etc., for others to learn from and enjoy.)

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2) This article (below) does not reflect the vastness of publicity the 1976 Rolfe project received from media around the nation. Over the next several days, I’ll include some of those newspaper clippings. You just HAVE to check back to see those clippings. They ooze of warm fuzzies re: Rolfe.

What happened was this: The article (below) was put out on the AP teletype wire. It was then picked up by newspapers ranging from New York to California, Minnesota to Mississippi, and beyond. Not only that, it was picked up by radio and television stations, for example, a TV station in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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…… Please check back each day or every-other day for some of the compliment-filled articles and notes mailed from around the country to the Rolfe Public Library. They are overflowing with enthusiasm for the story from “our” little town of Rolfe, Iowa. Until tomorrow ……

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From the November 4, 1976, Des Moines Register. That year Mother was the age I am now. (Click on photo once to magnify text.)

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*The article was written by Chuck Offenburger. Dan Offenburger, Chuck’s brother, taught and coached at Rolfe.

**Some photos were contributed by other people.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)