{{Short description|Anne Helen Carlsen was a special educator}} {{Infobox person | name = Anne Carlsen | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | birth_name = Anne Helen Carlsen | birth_date = {{Birth-date|November 4, 1915}} | birth_place = Grantsburg, Wisconsin, U.S. | death_date = {{Death-date and age|December 2, 2002|November 4, 1915}} | death_place = Jamestown, North Dakota, U.S. | monuments = Bronze statue at Anne Carlsen Center in Jamestown, North Dakota | education = {{Ubl | Northern University of Colorado | University of Minnesota }} | occupation = {{Hlist | Educator | educational administrator | public speaker | author }} | years_active = 1938-1988 | employer = Crippled Children's School | known_for = Overcoming physical disability, education of persons with disabilities, national support for employment of persons with physical disabilities, international speaking }} '''Anne Helen Carlsen''' (November 4, 1915 – December 2, 2002) was an American special educator born without forearms or lower legs,<ref name="annecarlsen">{{cite web |title=About |url=https://annecarlsen.org/about/ |website=OUR HISTORY Inspired by our namesake, Dr. Anne Carlsen |publisher=The Anne Carlsen School |access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref> a disability rights advocate, private school superintendent, author, and namesake of a private school.
==Early years and early education== Carlsen was born in Grantsburg, Wisconsin on Nov. 4, 1915 without forearms or functioning lower legs. Her upper arms ended above the elbow levels. One leg ended above the knee and the other "was malformed, terminating in a club foot."<ref name="auto1">{{cite journal |editor1-last=McGuire |editor1-first=Russell R. |title=North Dakota Woman Ph.D. Wins 1958 President's Trophy |journal=Performance: The Story of the Handicapped |date=May 1959 |volume=IX |issue=11 |page=1,13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqhGAQAAIAAJ&q=Carlsen |access-date=2 January 2021 |publisher=The President's Committee on the Employment of the Physically Handicapped |location=Stanford University}}</ref> She was the daughter of Alfred and Maren (Nielsen) Carlsen.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome">{{cite web |title=Anne H Carlsen Obituary |url=https://www.eddyfuneralhome.com/obituary/2769627 |website=Eddy Funeral Home |access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref> Her mind was sharp so her parents and siblings (four brothers and an older sister) encouraged her learning and development at home. Carlsen's mother died when she was 4 years old, so Carlsen's father and older sister raised her.<ref name="auto1"/> She made friends and learned to swim and play baseball. Walking was accomplished with the help of a kiddie car. She adapted to fine motor tasks, including writing and feeding herself, by using her upper arms.<ref name="annecarlsenstore">{{cite web |title=Our Namesake |url=https://www.annecarlsenstore.com/about |website=Anne Carlsen School Store |publisher=Anne Carlsen School |access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref> She started her formal education at the age of 8 years and completed school through the 8th grade in Grantsburg at the age of 12 years (including the completion of two grade levels in one year). Her brothers would carry her to and from school or pull her on a sled when there was enough snow on the ground. While in high school, Carlsen received therapy and surgery to be able to walk.<ref name="annecarlsenstore"/> Contractures of her knees were straightened after which she was fitted with artificial legs and learned to walk while aided by crutches.<ref name="auto1"/> She attended high school in St. Paul Minnesota graduating from St. Paul Luther Academy at the age of 16 years. As an adult, she learned to drive a car.<ref name="annecarlsenstore"/>
College advisors tried to convince Carlsen that she would never be hired as a teacher, so she briefly attempted writing as a career before returning to her dream of being a teacher.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |last1=Anne Carlsen Center |title=Dr. Anne's Induction Ceremony: National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities |url=https://vimeo.com/34619322 |website=Vimeo |publisher=IAC |access-date=4 January 2021}}</ref> She graduated in 1934 from St. Paul-Luther Jr. College - St. Paul, Minnesota.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> Following graduation she attended the University of Minnesota, graduating cum laude in 1936, earning a degree in writing.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref name="auto2"/>
==Graduate degrees and career in education with significant awards and appointments==
"Despite her excellent references and transcript, Anne had difficulty getting a job as a writer during the Depression era<ref name="auto2"/> and encountered discrimination along the way".<ref name="annecarlsenstore"/> In 1938, Carlsen accepted a high school teaching position at the Good Samaritan School in Fargo, North Dakota, a Lutheran school for children with physical disabilities<ref name="nd">{{cite web |title=Dr. Anne H. Carlsen -- Educator |url=https://www.governor.nd.gov/theodore-roosevelt-rough-rider-award/dr-anne-h-carlsen |website=Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award |publisher=Governor of North Dakota |access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref> She moved back to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1940 to teach Junior High for one year at Gillette State Hospital.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> Also in 1940, the Good Samaritan Society split into two groups; the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society and Lutheran Hospitals and Homes.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us: History |url=https://www.good-sam.com/about/history |website=Good Samaritan Society |publisher=The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society |access-date=5 January 2021}}</ref> In 1941, Lutheran Hospitals and Homes Society purchased the Good Samaritan School in Fargo, ND, renamed it "Crippled Children's School," and moved it to Jamestown, North Dakota.<ref name="annecarlsenstore"/> That same year, Carlsen moved to Jamestown, ND to become principal of the Crippled Children's School.<ref name="nd"/> After the School moved to Jamestown, Carlsen continued her education, earning an M.A. in four summers from Northern University of Colorado in 1946. Then she earned a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1949.<ref name="nd"/> Dr. Carlsen's Ph.D. thesis was "A Comparative Study of the Response of Crippled and Non-Crippled Adolescents on Some Personality and Interests Tests."<ref name="auto1"/> She was a member of the honorary scholastic societies Phi Theta Kappa, Delta Phi Lambda and Psi Chi.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=ANNE CARLSEN SCANDINAVIAN-AMERICAN HALL OF FAME 1988 INDUCTEE |url=https://hostfest.com/2020/10/20/anne-carlsen/ |website=Norsk Hostfest |access-date=31 December 2020}}</ref> She returned to Jamestown and her position as the School's principal in 1950. She was also named its superintendent that year. Carlsen held the administrator position until her retirement in 1981. She also served the School as child guidance director from 1950 to 1981.<ref name="auto"/> On a leave of absence, she served as the Clinic Coordinator for Cerebral Palsied Children School in Southern California.<ref name="nd"/> After her retirement from the Crippled Children's School in 1981, Carlsen served as a consultant to the School and a mentor to its students until her death on December 2, 2002, in Jamestown, ND.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/>
Carlsen wrote several articles about people living with disabilities for regional and national publications.<ref name="auto"/> As Carlsen gained attention as a disabilities advocate, the Crippled Children's School in Jamestown, as it was known, also gained national attention.<ref name="nd"/><ref name="auto"/>
==National attention and recognition==
On May 7, 1958, in Washington, D.C., Carlsen was awarded the President's Trophy as Handicapped American of the Year, an award presented annually by the President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped.<ref name="auto1"/> The presentation was made by then Vice-President Richard M. Nixon.<ref name="annecarlsenstore"/><ref name="auto1"/> Carlsen was nominated for the award by the North Dakota Governor's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped.<ref name="auto1"/> The nomination was supported by the governors of North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois, Iowa, and Montana as well as numerous former students and scores of officials in the field of rehabilitation.<ref name="auto1"/> She was nominated for and received the award for "devoting her entire lifetime to the rehabilitation and education of severely handicapped children" and for developing "an international reputation for her amazing accomplishments."<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Olson |first1=Dawn |title=Disability in History-Anne Carlsen |url=https://www.independencecil.org/News/Disability-in-History-Anne-Carlsen |website=Latest News |publisher=Independence, Inc |access-date=4 January 2021}}</ref> She was described as an inspiration who helped students achieve independence.<ref name="auto1"/> On September 9, 1966, Carlsen received the State of North Dakota's most prestigious award, the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, from North Dakota Governor William Guy.<ref name="nd"/> In 1975, she was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> On October 26, 1985, Dr. Carlsen was inducted into the National Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities.<ref name="auto2"/> She was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame in 1988.<ref name="auto"/> In 1983, President Ronald Reagan appointed Dr. Anne Carlsen vice-chair of the President's Committee on Employing the Handicapped.<ref name="annecarlsen"/>
Carlsen received numerous other awards and served on numerous local, statewide, and national committees. She received three honorary degrees: Doctor of Humane Letters - University of North Dakota 1982, Doctor of Humane Letters - Wartburg College, Waverly, IA 1960, and Doctor of Laws - Jamestown College, Jamestown, ND 1959.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref name="auto"/>
The Crippled Children's School in Jamestown was renamed The Anne Carlsen Center in honor of Dr. Carlsen in 1980.<ref name="auto2"/> In 1985, the Center installed and dedicated a permanent bronze statue of Dr. Carlsen with a young child at the center's front entrance.<ref name="annecarlsenstore"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Bronze monument of Dr. Anne with student |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@46.9099449,-98.7176709,3a,15y,287.62h,85.74t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svI8YC8uExlF5kL9mEygxqQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 |website=Google Maps |access-date=9 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Jendro |first1=Zach |title=Anne Carlson Monument |url=http://heritagerenewal.org/stone/carlson.htm |website=Center for Heritage Renewal |access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref> In spite of all the accolades she received, in a 1981 interview, Dr. Carlsen said "her greatest satisfactions as an educator and mentor ... were the graduates of the Center."<ref name="annecarlsenstore"/>
==Notable written works== "Dr. Anne" – 1979 (Augsburg Publishing House)
==Local, state, and national boards service==
* N.D. Advisory Committee on Sheltered Workshops<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * National Advisory Council on Implementation of Recommendations of White House Conference on Handicapped Individual 1978, 1971–75<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * National Advisory Committee on Purchased of Products and Services of Blind & Severely Handicapped, 1971–82<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * N.D. State Advisory Committee on Rehabilitation Services, 1977<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * N.D. Delegate to White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals, 1971–78<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * N.D. State Advisory Committee on Developmental Disabilities, 1960–1964<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * National Advisory Committee on Vocational Rehabilitation, 1959–89<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped (Sub-Committees - Women's Committee - Physically Handicapped Committee), 1983–89<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref name="annecarlsen"/> * Vice-Chairman of President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Jamestown Mayor's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * American Assoc. of University Women (Chairman - Social Studies Committee 1952–56)<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * N.D. Psychological Assoc. (Secretary 1961–63, President 1964)<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Council for Exceptional Children<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * N.D. Council for Exceptional Children<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Nat. Rehabilitation Assoc.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * N.D. Rehabilitation Association (President, 1961), 1954–81<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * American Assoc. of University Women (Chairman - Social Studies Committee 1952–56)<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * N.D. Conference of Social Welfare (Member Executive Comm 1954–57 & 1960–61)<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * N.D. Mental Health Assoc.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * American Assoc. of University Women (Chairman - Social Studies Committee 1952–56)<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Zonta International (Secretary 1962–63; President 1970)<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * American Assoc. of University Women (Chairman - Social Studies Committee 1952–56)<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/>
==Awards==
* Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame Inductee 1988 <ref name="auto"/> * Nat. Hall of Fame for Persons with Disabilities, Columbus, OH 1985 <ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref name="auto2"/> * Good Shepherd Home Hall of Fame - Allentown PA 1985<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Endow-A-Dream Award - W. Clements & Jessie V. Stone Foundation 1981<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref name="annecarlsenstore"/> * Woman of Conscience for 1981 - Nat. Council of Women of the U.S.<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Greater N.D. Award for outstanding service to N.D. - Greater N.D. Assoc. 1980<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Courage Award for improving attitudes and providing services for the handicapped (while this word is unacceptable in 21st century parlance, and the word "disabled" is preferred, this is the correct title of the specific award given in 1980) - Courage Center, Golden Valley, MN 1980<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Service to Mankind - Sertoma International, ND - Manitoba District 1976<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Bicentennial Woman in History - N.D. Business and Professional Women 1976<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Citation for Outstanding Humanitarian Service - Red River Valley Synod, Lutheran Church in American 1975<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Golden Plate Award - American Academy of Achievement 1975<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service}}</ref> * Inducted into National Teachers Hall of Fame 1975<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref name="auto"/> * N.D. 50th Anniversary Rehabilitant - Division of Vocational Rehabilitation 1970<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Humanitarian Award - N.D. Council for Exceptional Children 1970<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award - State of N.D. 1966<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref name="nd"/><ref name="annecarlsenstore"/><ref name="auto"/> * Outstanding Citizen of the Year - Jamestown Chamber of Commerce 1967<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Minnesota Outstanding Achievement Award - University of Minnesota 1964<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * President's Trophy - Handicapped American of the Year 1958<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/><ref name="annecarlsenstore"/><ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/> * Wartburg College—The Graven Award for Outstanding Christian Lay Leadership 1991<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/> * Moorhead State University - L.B. Hartz - Professional Achievement Award 1991<ref name="eddyfuneralhome"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlsen, Anne}} Category:20th-century American educators Category:1915 births Category:2002 deaths Category:People from Grantsburg, Wisconsin Category:University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development alumni Category:Zonta International people Category:American people with disabilities Category:20th-century American women educators Category:Educators from Wisconsin Category:People from Jamestown, North Dakota Category:Educators from North Dakota