IRENE KRUMPELMANN:

Krumpelmann was born Irene Lindahl in Duluth on April 9, 1908. She grew up in Duluth and Two Harbors (Minnesota), and Clear Lake (Wisconsin), attending college and receiving her teaching certification in Wisconsin. In 1933, after teaching and working at various summer jobs, she married Louis Lee, an undertaker whom she had met during summer work in Haywood, Wisconsin. They lived in St. Paul, where Lee had come to run the family mortuary business. He (and Irene) soon took back the family name, Iwanoski, which he had changed to Lee when he was in business in North Dakota. The Iwanoski funeral home, where the family also lived, was at 633 Wabasha Street. The Iwanoskis also bought and operated a boarding house next door at 10 Iglehart Avenue. Both buildings were purchased by the state of Minnesota (circa 1946) and later razed to make way for the Capitol Approach development. Louis Iwanoski died in January 1947 and Irene continued to live at 633 Wabasha Street for about a year, after which she moved to an apartment on Grand Avenue. The Iwanoskis had no children, although for several years they cared for Irene's niece and nephew, Robert and Virginia Wright.

During the late 1940s and 1950s, Irene Iwanoski was a partner with her brother-in-law, Niles Giannaccini, in a concrete block manufacturing business in St. Paul. Irene Iwanoski married Willis Krumpelmann in 1956. After a divorce in 1963, Irene Krumpelmann attended the University of Minnesota to renew her teaching career. During the years 1965-1966, she served in Liberia with the Peace Corps teaching English, arithmetic, and science. Upon returning to St. Paul, Irene Krumpelmann began teaching the 5th grade class at Maxfield school but was then transferred to Roosevelt school where she taught a 4th grade class. Krupelmann retired from teaching after the 1976-1977 school year.

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The primary focus of the collection is on Krumpelmann's family and friends, and their activities, with intervening discussions about local and world events and politics. Many anecdotes and copies of newspaper editorials illustrate her values of discipline, saving, and delayed gratification.

The reminiscences are arranged as eighteen "chapters," each approximately five to fifty pages, covering Krumpelmann's life through about 1962, with a single chapter covering her service in the Peace Corps in Liberia (1965-1966) and a return trip to Liberia in 1973.

In the reminiscences, she discusses her childhood in Duluth and Two Harbors (Minnesota), and Clear Lake (Wisconsin); her college education at River Falls State Normal School (1924-1926); her teacher training and teaching at Clayton, Wisconsin (1926-1928) and Frederic, Wisconsin (1929-1931); a year in Seattle, Washington (1928-1929) visiting relatives and working at odd jobs including four months at Children's Orthopedic Hospital; Sigrid Kjølstad (Krumpelmann's mother) and her family in Norway and the United States; Per August and Caroline Lindahl (Krumpelmann's paternal grandparents) who came from Sweden and Farmed in Clear Lake; Edward Lindahl (her father) who worked in meat markets in Superior (Wisconsin), Duluth, and Two Harbors, and then farmed in Clear Lake; her brothers and sisters, particularly those who were younger and who lived with her from time to time; dances, movies, theater, dating, and other social activities; occasional visits to St. Paul (1920s); substitute teaching in St. Paul (late 1940s and early 1950s); St. Paul's Evangelical and Reformed Church (later St. Paul's United Church of Christ) in St. Paul where she sang in the choir and taught Sunday school; and trips to Washington, D.C., New York, Hawaii, New Orleans, Florida, Cuba, and Europe (1950s).

The reminiscences also include many brief excerpts transcribed from letters written by Irene's brother, Milton (Mickey), while serving in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. Additionally, photographs, letters, editorials, clippings, and other ephemera were affixed to many pages of the original reminiscences. The quality of their reproduction in the collection varies considerably.

Her lengthy annual Christmas letters continue where her reminiscences ended.

The letters from Monrovia, Liberia were written monthly during Krumpelmann's Peace Corps service and describe her teaching experiences, her students, her observations about Liberia, and her travels in Africa.

The correspondence and miscellaneous related papers include copies of Krumpelmann's letters to editors, replies to her letters from legislators, photographs, events programs, and other ephemera that Krumpelmann saved as personal memorabilila.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Prefered Citation:

[Indicate the cited item here]. Irene Krumpelmann Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,279; 15,320

Processing Information:

Processed by: Marion Matters, April 1990; Monica Manny Ralston, February 2000.

Catalog ID number: 990017132260104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Ballroom dancing -- Wisconsin.

Ballroom dancing -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Cement industries -- Minnesota.

Church music -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Country life -- Wisconsin.

Dating (Social customs).

Emigration and immigration -- Norway.

Farm life -- Wisconsin.

Funeral homes -- Minnesota.

Giannaccini family.

Hotels -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Iwanoski family.

Kjolstad family.

Lindahl family.

Motion pictures -- Social aspects -- Wisconsin.

Motion pictures -- Social aspects -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Norwegians -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Savings and thrift.

Polish Americans -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Schools -- Liberia -- Monrovia.

Schools -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Schools -- Wisconsin -- Clear Lake.

Schools -- Wisconsin -- Frederic.

Summer employment -- Wisconsin.

Theater -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives.

Persons:

Krumpelmann, Willis.

Wright, Robert, 1937- -- Childhood and youth.

Wright, Virginia, 1938- -- Childhood and youth.

Organizations:

Children's Orthopedic Hospital (Seattle, Wash.).

Peace Corps (U.S.) -- Liberia.

River Falls State Normal School (Wis.).

St. Paul's Evangelical and Reformed Church (Saint Paul, Minn.).

St. Paul's United Church of Christ (Saint Paul, Minn.).

United States. Navy.

Places:

Clayton (Wis.).

Clear Lake (Wis.).

Cuba -- Description and travel -- 1951-1980.

Europe -- Description and travel -- 1945-1970.

Florida -- Description and travel -- 1951-1980.

Frederic (Wis.) -- Social conditions.

Hawaii -- Description and travel -- 1951-1980.

Hayward (Wis.) -- Social conditions.

Liberia -- Description and travel.

New Orleans (La.) -- Description and travel.

Superior (Wis.) -- Social conditions.

Washington (D.C.) -- Description and travel.

Capitol Approach (Saint Paul, Minn.).

Duluth (Minn.) -- Social conditions.

Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Description and travel.

Two Harbors (Minn.).

Occupations:

Substitute teachers

Sunday school teachers

Teachers--Minnesota--St. Paul.

Teachers--Wisconsin--Clear Lake.

Teachers--Wisconsin--Clayton.

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