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

• Lutheran Normal School Journals (The Mirror, 1900-1905); Jordahl, Sivert A. "Memorial History: Lutheran Normal School, 1889-1918" (Another copy in library collection).
• Lutheran Normal School Correspondence, Programs, and Reports. Includes: Lists of students and teachers of the school. 1902-1931
• Lutheran Normal School Clippings. 1890-1902
• Lutheran Normal School Journals (The Mirror, 1906-1918)
• Lutheran Normal School Catalogues. 1892-1918

• Select photographs are available online here.

• Two campus buildings at the Lutheran Normal School, Madison, Minnesota, 1918
• Ladies of the Lutheran Normal School, Madison, Minnesota, 1909