THEODORE J. SIELAFF:

Theodore J. ("Ted") Sielaff was born in Livingston, Montana on December 11, 1920. He was the younger of two sons born to Otto Richard Sielaff (1887-1965) and Nellie Victoria (Anderson) Sielaff (1884-1974). Otto Sielaff was a traveling salesman for G. Sommers & Co., a St. Paul-based wholesaling and general merchandising company. In 1920 he operated the Sielaff Variety Store in Livingston. The elder Sielaff closed the variety store in 1926 and moved the family first to Glendive and later to Billings, Montana. They moved to Minneapolis in 1933 in order that Theodore's brother Richard Otto (1915-1999) could attend the University of Minnesota. Otto Sielaff was able to get a Twin Cities-area sales territory from G. Sommers & Co.

Ted Sielaff graduated from John Marshall High School, Minneapolis in 1938, and went on to study at the University of Minnesota. Around 1940 Otto Sielaff quit G. Sommers & Co. and started his own small wholesale dry goods business which he operated out of the family garage.

Ted Sielaff registered as a conscientious objector during World War II. He earned a BS degree (1942), an MA degree (1944), and a Ph.D. degree (1951) from the University of Minnesota. He spent his teaching career at Macalester College (1943-1954) and at San Jose State College (1954-1990). He also taught at the East China Petroleum Institute at Dongying (five weeks in 1983), Wuxi Textile Management University (Wuxi; four weeks in 1987), and at Högskolan i Växjö (Växjö, Sweden; three months in 1991 and three months in 1992). Sielaff was president and owner of the Lansford Publishing Company, a publisher of educational materials sold to colleges, universities, and businesses throughout the world (1962-1982).

Virginia ("Ginny") Finsand was born at Erskine, Minnesota October 25, 1921. She was the daughter of Conrad and Emma (Nyquist) Finsand. The family moved to Fargo, North Dakota, in 1926, where she attended Central High School. She attended Colorado State College of Education, Greeley, Colorado for one year, and then transferred to St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota graduating in 1943 with a BA degree, double-majoring in history and art. She taught junior high school in Luverne, Minnesota for two years (1943-1945), and then moved to Minneapolis where she became secretary to Central Lutheran Church senior pastor Elmer S. Hjortland.

Ted Sielaff and Ginny Finsand were married on November 26, 1948. The couple had three sons: John Theodore (b.1950), James Robert (b.1953), and Jeffrey Thomas (b.1956).

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The collection includes correspondence and miscellaneous papers, diplomas, Sielaff's master's thesis, church bulletins and newsletters, personal income tax returns, and household accounts. There is information about Sielaff's high school and university years; his teaching career, including salary figures and information about his search for a job in California; material relating to three Lutheran churches in the Twin Cities with which Theodore and Virginia were associated; and papers concerning the house they owned in Saint Paul's Highland Park neighborhood.

Genealogical and family history files include information about Theodore and Virginia Sielaff and their children; their parents and various ancestors; and Theodore's brother Richard Otto Sielaff, who for many years was a professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Of particular interest are autobiographical narratives compiled by Theodore and Virginia Sielaff. Theodore's narrative includes information about his father's years as a traveling salesman with G. Sommers & Co. Most of the files include detailed explanatory notes written by Sielaff in 2000.

The bulk of the material dates from the years in which the Sielaffs lived in Minnesota. The earliest documents (1865) are actually photocopies of papers related to ancestor Swan Peterson's enlistment in the Union Army during the Civil War. The latest documents (2001) include a Christmas letter written by Sielaff.

The collection was foldered by Sielaff prior to its donation to the Minnesota Historical Society.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Theodore J. Sielaff and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 15,776.

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, December 2002.

Catalog ID number: 990017378380104294

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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:

Business education.

Dry goods -- Minnesota.

Economics -- Study and teaching.

Lutherans -- Minnesota.

Wholesale trade -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Hjortland, Elmer S., 1900-1994.

Sielaff, Ricard O.

Sielaff, Virginia Mae, 1921-.

Organizations:

Central Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, Minn.).

G. Sommers & Co. (Saint Paul, Minn.).

Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (Saint Paul, Minn.).

John Marshall High School (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Macalester College.

San Jose State College.

University of Minnesota.

Types of Documents:

Diplomas.

Genealogies.

Theses.

Occupations:

College teachers.

Titles:

Dry goods wholesaling in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth, with special reference to the effects of the war.

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