First opened in November 1894 as a finishing school, the Lutheran Ladies’ Seminary in Red Wing, Minnesota became a full fledged college offering a Bachelor of Art Degree. The seminary had a renowned Conservatory of Music that was well known throughout the midwest. The ladies who attended gave the institution a nickname “prestefru fabrikk” – meaning the pastor’s wife factory. 

On June 8, 1920, there was a fire that destroyed the schools. Efforts to rebuild were discussed but nothing came to fruition. The last president of the seminary, Pastor Thoralf Hoff, was a leading figure in bringing coeducation to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. The Conservatory’s music director, Carl Youngdahl, moved to Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and built a well known program there. 

Scope and Content: 

Catalogs, journals, pictures, and reports of a Red Wing, Minnesota, school that ran from 1894 to 1920.

• Formal portrait of ladies from Red Wing Lutheran Ladies' Seminary, Red Wing, Minnesota, 1898
• Exterior of the Red Wing Lutheran Ladies' Seminary, Red Wing, Minnesota, 1898
• Interior of Red Wing Lutheran Ladies' Seminary, Red Wing, Minnesota, 1910
• Interior of concert hall at Red Wing Lutheran Ladies' Seminary, Red Wing, Minnesota, 1910