{{Short description|American educator and mayor}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Carl Axel Harstrom | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1863|12|20}}<ref name="mom">[https://books.google.com/books?id=Wcq4MPTDrEIC&pg=PA292 Men of Mark] {{PD-notice}}</ref> | birth_place = Västerås, Sweden<ref name="mom"/> | death_date = {{death date and age|1926|01|24|1863|12|20}}<ref name="obit">[http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2015/Peekskill%20NY%20Highland%20Democrat/Peekskill%20NY%20Highland%20Democrat%201926/Peekskill%20NY%20Highland%20Democrat%201926%20-%200447.pdf Obituary - Mrs. Lee Selden Harstrom]</ref> | death_place = Norwalk, Connecticut<ref name="obit"/> | office = Mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut | order = 16th | term_start = October 13, 1915<ref name="hd">[http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2015/Peekskill%20NY%20Highland%20Democrat/Peekskill%20NY%20Highland%20Democrat%201915/Peekskill%20NY%20Highland%20Democrat%201915%20-%200500.pdf The Highland Democrat]</ref> | term_end = 1917 | predecessor = Francis Irwin Burnell | successor = Jeremiah Donovan | party = Republican | alma_mater = Peekskill Military Academy (1880)<br/>Hobart College (A.B., 1886; M.A., 1889)<ref name="sh">[https://books.google.com/books?id=w94SAAAAIAAJ&dq=Carl+Axel+Harstrom&pg=PA16 The Shield]</ref><br/>Yale College (1899, PhD.)<ref name="mom"/> | occupation = educator | spouse = Lee Selden Partridge<ref name="mom"/>(d . August 27, 1926)<ref name="obit"/> | children = Frances (b. 1890), Carl Eric (b. 1892)<ref name="mom"/> }}
'''Carl Axel Harstrom''' (December 20, 1863 – January 24, 1926) was an American educator, and one-term Republican mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut, from 1915 to 1917.
== Early life and family == Harstrom was born in Västerås, Sweden.<ref name="mom"/> He was the son of Carl Gustaf and Amelia Adolphina Fosberg Harstrom.<ref name="mom"/><ref name="eoc">[http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/samuel-hart/encyclopedia-of-connecticut-biography-genealogical-memorial-representative-cit-tra/page-42-encyclopedia-of-connecticut-biography-genealogical-memorial-representative-cit-tra.shtml Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial; representative citizens; (Volume 11).]</ref> His father was a manufacturer in Sweden who brought his family to America in 1872, when Carl Axel was nine years of age.<ref name="mom"/> He attended the Peekskill Military Academy, and graduated in 1880.<ref name="mom"/> He taught school for two years before entering Hobart College.<ref name="mom"/> He graduated as valedictory orator<ref name="sh"/> and with magna cum laude honors.<ref name="mom"/> He earned an A.B in 1886, and an M.A. in 1889.<ref name="mom"/><ref name="eoc"/> He served as headmaster at the Peekskill Academy for three years, and principle of Vienland Preparatory School for four years.<ref name="mom"/> On June 20, 1888, Professor Harstrom married Lee Selden Partridge of Phelps, New York.<ref name="mom"/><ref name="eoc"/>
== Life in Norwalk == He moved to Norwalk in 1891 to take a position as headmaster of the Norwalk Military Academy.<ref name="mom"/> He started his own private preparatory school for boys in Norwalk in 1893.<ref name="mom"/>
While teaching and serving as headmaster, he also pursued his own education at Yale University in classical Philology from 1896 to 1899. He earned his PhD in 1899.<ref name="mom"/><ref name="eoc"/> He was a member of Theta Delta Chi, and served as its national president for five consecutive terms.<ref name="mom"/>
=== Political career === In Norwalk, he served as a member of the Board of Estimate.<ref name="eoc"/> In 1915, Harstrom was elected mayor of Norwalk and served a two-year term. During his term of office he reconstructed the financial system, with the result of making it more transparent to the public.<ref name="eoc"/> He is credited with introducing voting machines to Norwalk.<ref name="eoc"/> He is also credited for the many miles of hard pavement laid during his term.<ref name="eoc"/>
During the World War he was chairman of the local draft board.<ref name="eoc"/> He was a founding board member of the Norwalk Savings Bank and of the Fairfield County Savings Bank.<ref name="eoc"/>
== Associations == * Member, American Philological Association<ref name="mom"/><ref name="eoc"/> * Member, Phi Beta Kappa Society<ref name="mom"/><ref name="sh"/> * Member, Yale Club of New York City<ref name="mom"/><ref name="eoc"/> * Member, Norwalk Club<ref name="mom"/><ref name="eoc"/> * Member, Knob Outing Club of Norwalk<ref name="mom"/> * Vestryman, Grace Episcopal Church<ref name="mom"/><ref name="eoc"/> * President of the Grand Lodge, Theta Delta Chi<ref name="sh"/> * Member, Senior Warden, Master Mason (1917), Worshipful Master (1922), St. John's Lodge No. 6, Free and Accepted Masons<ref name="stj">[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1898&dat=19220209&id=9OggAAAAIBAJ&sjid=k20FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1906,4603265 The Norwalk Hour]</ref>
== Awards == * Valedictorian, Hobart College<ref name="sh"/> * Horace White Essay Prize<ref name="sh"/> * Junior Greek Prize<ref name="sh"/> * Senior Debate Prize<ref name="sh"/> * Phi Beta Kappa<ref name="sh"/>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{succession box|title=Mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut|before=Francis Irwin Burnell|after=Jeremiah Donovan|years=1915–1917}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harstrom, Carl Axel}} Category:1863 births Category:1926 deaths Category:American educators Category:American philologists Category:Connecticut Republicans Category:Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni Category:Mayors of Norwalk, Connecticut Category:People from Västerås Category:Yale University alumni Category:Swedish emigrants to the United States