Maude Klinefelter
Title
Maude Klinefelter
Biographical Text
In 1918, Samuel T. May hired Anna Maude Klinefelter as secretary, treasurer and registrar of the fledgling normal school. He probably did not realize at the time that he had changed the course of the institution's history with that move.
Speaking later of her arrival, she said: On a gloomy chilly Sunday afternoon of September 29, 1918, as soon as the Northern Pacific train pulled into the station in Dickinson, a rather frightened [and petite—she was barely five feet tall] young person stepped off and looked for the president of the newly established Normal School who was already in the business of getting rooms in the second and third floors of the Dickinson Elks Building ready for the first enrollment day of the State Normal School.
From the day she first arrived in Dickinson, Miss Klinefelter devoted her energies to the institution now known as Dickinson State University. A part of that devotion took the form of being the unofficial historian. She maintained a large scrapbook, with pages that are about two and a half feet by three feet each. Eighty pages are covered with material which she collected and saved, beginning with the agitation to establish a school of higher education in Dickinson, and going through most of 1939.
Maude Klinefelter was born on a farm near Hawarden, Iowa, and secured her elementary education in a rural school. She graduated from high school in Hawarden, and later attended Madison State Teachers College in Madison, South Dakota. She taught in rural schools in South Dakota for several years. While she attended school in Hawarden, she worked for Samuel T. May, who was Superintendent of schools in that city. Dr. May, after being appointed President of the newly founded Dickinson Normal School, asked Miss Klinefelter to come to Dickinson and work at the new institution.
Miss Klinefelter was devoted to Dr. May and his work, and for years following the president's death, she and a group of students annually paid tribute to the founding president, going to the cemetery on his birthday and placing a wreath on his headstone. Miss Klinefelter served the college as secretary-treasurer and occasionally as registrar until 1954, then remained on the staff as Director of Correspondence for another five years.
She kept all the records, wrote and signed all the checks for payrolls, supplies and all the buildings built on campus during her tenure, helped prepare all the budgets, acted as banker for many students, and did numerous other jobs, including handling all of the president's correspondence and keeping all the official records of the college. "Her insistence on saving the tax payers' money sometimes irritated many members of the faculty. When one of the professors asked her for another red pencil, she said 'Bring back the remainder of the one I gave you last week.''
Her service in the annals of higher education in North Dakota is notable for its longevity. She served under four presidents: May, Kjerstad, Pippin, and Scott, and despite her small stature was a force to be reckoned with on campus. Comments were sometimes made that she wielded too much influence on the presidents, but no one denied her devotion to the institution.
Her greatest joy was her succession of little Ford cars, each of which she called "Tony." Her salary was only $70 a month the first year of the college's operation, and climbed slowly after that, but her dedication never faltered during her long tenure.
The vaults at the University are filled with papers covered with her handwriting. Dr. May wrote his letters in longhand and gave them to Miss Klinefelter to type. (Dr. Kjerstad noted this when he asked her to take dictation from him, and she rather frostily replied that she had not done that for Dr. May, and probably couldn't do it for Dr. Kjerstad.") Many times, however. Dr. May simply indicated the response he expected to be made to a letter, and Miss Klinefelter wrote it in longhand and submitted it for Dr. May's approval, then kept that rather than a carbon copy.
She was also a favorite of the students on campus. Her scrapbook bears testimony to that through the many invitations and programs with her name on them which chronicled student activities. In his book, The History of Dickinson State, Dr. Belsheim remarks that It will never be known how many students she helped with their financial problems. It is said that if, on registration day, a student didn't have the money to pay his fees in advance, that she would take what he had and trust him to bring in the remainder whenever he could, even though it would be only a dollar or two at a time. If she felt that the situation warranted it, she would not hesitate to call a student in and give him a lesson on propriety, on study habits or whatever else she felt he needed counseling about.
Miss Klinefelter had taken time from her job to enroll in course work, and in 1921 she received her diploma from Dickinson State. She was then instrumental in establishing the Alumni Association and was the predominant figure in that group until she retired. To honor her years of service, South Hall, which she had watched being built, was renamed "Klinefelter Hall." It served as a dormitory for many years, then fell into disuse, and in the 1990s was remodeled and refurbished and now serves as a superb space for three departments: Teacher Education, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Nursing. The hall is filled with class rooms, faculty offices, conference rooms, and the University Art Gallery.
When Maude Klinefelter died in 1961, it was found that she had been frugal with the salary she had earned all those years. Her will provided that half of her estate of about $50,000 go to the college and the other half to the Congregational Church, which had been an important part of her life in Dickinson. The funds went into the Foundation, and the earnings from that money have provided scholarships for deserving students. Undoubtedly it would meet with her approval that she still helps students attend the "College on the Hill," and that many of them wander the halls of Klinefelter Hall.
Speaking later of her arrival, she said: On a gloomy chilly Sunday afternoon of September 29, 1918, as soon as the Northern Pacific train pulled into the station in Dickinson, a rather frightened [and petite—she was barely five feet tall] young person stepped off and looked for the president of the newly established Normal School who was already in the business of getting rooms in the second and third floors of the Dickinson Elks Building ready for the first enrollment day of the State Normal School.
From the day she first arrived in Dickinson, Miss Klinefelter devoted her energies to the institution now known as Dickinson State University. A part of that devotion took the form of being the unofficial historian. She maintained a large scrapbook, with pages that are about two and a half feet by three feet each. Eighty pages are covered with material which she collected and saved, beginning with the agitation to establish a school of higher education in Dickinson, and going through most of 1939.
Maude Klinefelter was born on a farm near Hawarden, Iowa, and secured her elementary education in a rural school. She graduated from high school in Hawarden, and later attended Madison State Teachers College in Madison, South Dakota. She taught in rural schools in South Dakota for several years. While she attended school in Hawarden, she worked for Samuel T. May, who was Superintendent of schools in that city. Dr. May, after being appointed President of the newly founded Dickinson Normal School, asked Miss Klinefelter to come to Dickinson and work at the new institution.
Miss Klinefelter was devoted to Dr. May and his work, and for years following the president's death, she and a group of students annually paid tribute to the founding president, going to the cemetery on his birthday and placing a wreath on his headstone. Miss Klinefelter served the college as secretary-treasurer and occasionally as registrar until 1954, then remained on the staff as Director of Correspondence for another five years.
She kept all the records, wrote and signed all the checks for payrolls, supplies and all the buildings built on campus during her tenure, helped prepare all the budgets, acted as banker for many students, and did numerous other jobs, including handling all of the president's correspondence and keeping all the official records of the college. "Her insistence on saving the tax payers' money sometimes irritated many members of the faculty. When one of the professors asked her for another red pencil, she said 'Bring back the remainder of the one I gave you last week.''
Her service in the annals of higher education in North Dakota is notable for its longevity. She served under four presidents: May, Kjerstad, Pippin, and Scott, and despite her small stature was a force to be reckoned with on campus. Comments were sometimes made that she wielded too much influence on the presidents, but no one denied her devotion to the institution.
Her greatest joy was her succession of little Ford cars, each of which she called "Tony." Her salary was only $70 a month the first year of the college's operation, and climbed slowly after that, but her dedication never faltered during her long tenure.
The vaults at the University are filled with papers covered with her handwriting. Dr. May wrote his letters in longhand and gave them to Miss Klinefelter to type. (Dr. Kjerstad noted this when he asked her to take dictation from him, and she rather frostily replied that she had not done that for Dr. May, and probably couldn't do it for Dr. Kjerstad.") Many times, however. Dr. May simply indicated the response he expected to be made to a letter, and Miss Klinefelter wrote it in longhand and submitted it for Dr. May's approval, then kept that rather than a carbon copy.
She was also a favorite of the students on campus. Her scrapbook bears testimony to that through the many invitations and programs with her name on them which chronicled student activities. In his book, The History of Dickinson State, Dr. Belsheim remarks that It will never be known how many students she helped with their financial problems. It is said that if, on registration day, a student didn't have the money to pay his fees in advance, that she would take what he had and trust him to bring in the remainder whenever he could, even though it would be only a dollar or two at a time. If she felt that the situation warranted it, she would not hesitate to call a student in and give him a lesson on propriety, on study habits or whatever else she felt he needed counseling about.
Miss Klinefelter had taken time from her job to enroll in course work, and in 1921 she received her diploma from Dickinson State. She was then instrumental in establishing the Alumni Association and was the predominant figure in that group until she retired. To honor her years of service, South Hall, which she had watched being built, was renamed "Klinefelter Hall." It served as a dormitory for many years, then fell into disuse, and in the 1990s was remodeled and refurbished and now serves as a superb space for three departments: Teacher Education, Mathematics and Computer Science, and Nursing. The hall is filled with class rooms, faculty offices, conference rooms, and the University Art Gallery.
When Maude Klinefelter died in 1961, it was found that she had been frugal with the salary she had earned all those years. Her will provided that half of her estate of about $50,000 go to the college and the other half to the Congregational Church, which had been an important part of her life in Dickinson. The funds went into the Foundation, and the earnings from that money have provided scholarships for deserving students. Undoubtedly it would meet with her approval that she still helps students attend the "College on the Hill," and that many of them wander the halls of Klinefelter Hall.
Collection
Citation
“Maude Klinefelter ,” Dickinson State University Archive, accessed April 27, 2024, https://www.dsuarchive.com/items/show/26.