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Harold B. Swanson, professor of agricultural journalism at the University of Minnesota and member of the
staff for more than 45 years, retired December 31, 1984. In recognition of his long support to Agricultural Communicators
in Education (ACE), Dr. Swanson donated his personal collection of more than 1,200 documents to the Agricultural
Communications Documentation Center in 1985. His was the first large collection contributed to the Center. |
Professor Swanson joined the staff of the University in 1939 as a bulletin editor. Later he served as a news writer, as head of agricultural journalism and program director for communications for Minnesota Extension Service for 26 years; and as a communications specialist and teacher. He conducted summer sessions at the Colorado State University, the University of Wisconsin and Manitoba, along with several other regional and national workshops.
A native of Maple Lake, Minnesota, he received in B.A. in journalism and M.S. in agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota and his Ph.D. in extension administration from the University of Wisconsin.
Before coming to the University of Minnesota, he was an advertising manager and writer for the Plainview (Minnesota) News. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the United States, England and France, working in personnel and as an Army reporter.
Professor Swanson was involved in many professional organizations. On the national level, he was president of ACE and received the Professional ACE Award, highest recognition awarded by that organization. He was also vice-president of the board of Extension Journal Inc. and a board member of the National Project in Agricultural Communications (NPAC). He received the National Teacher Trainer Award and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Superior Service Award.
At the state level, he was president of the Minnesota Adult Education Association; Epsilon Sigma Phi, professional Extension society; Gamma Sigma Delta, scholastic honor society of agriculture; and the Twin Cities United States Department of Agriculture Club. He was vice president of the North Central Chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) and is a lifetime honorary member of the organization.
After retirement, he served for 15 years as honorary executive secretary of the North Central Chapter of NAMA. He was a member of the North Suburban St. Paul Kiwanis Club and the North Suburban Senior Council. He volunteered for several organizations, serving seniors and other groups. In 2001, the North Suburban Seniors Council named him Volunteer of the Year.
Professor Swanson is the author of more than 100 publications in the communications field; a book, Looking Forward to a Career - Agriculture; and a large number of journal and magazine articles. He has been editor of several professional journals and other periodicals.
He was married for 56 years to Linnea Swanson. They had three children and many grandchildren and great children. In 1999, at age 82, he married Dorothy Leirfallom. Both have shared becoming widowed after many years of extended care of their spouses at the same nursing home.
Users of the ACDC collection benefit from Professor Swanson's contributions in many subject areas. Among them:
- communications in agricultural development
- communications planning
- communications research methods
- diffusion and adoption of agricultural innovations
- mass media and education as related to agricultural and rural affairs
He devoted great care to gathering and processing materials from sources throughout the world, as well as to writing extensively in his field.
The Harold B. Swanson Collection includes these documents written and donated by Harold B. Swanson.
