Carl Axel Harstrom | |
---|---|
16th Mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut | |
In office October 13, 1915 – 1917 |
|
Preceded by | Francis Irwin Burnell |
Succeeded by | Jeremiah Donovan |
Personal details | |
Born |
Västerås, Sweden |
December 20, 1863
Died | January 24, 1926 Norwalk, Connecticut |
(aged 62)
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Lee Selden Partridge(d . August 27, 1926) |
Children | Frances (b. 1890), Carl Eric (b. 1892) |
Residence | Norwalk, Connecticut |
Alma mater |
Peekskill Military Academy (1880) Hobart College (A.B., 1886; M.A., 1889) Yale College (1899, PhD.) |
Occupation | educator |
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.
Harstrom was born in Västerås, Sweden. He was the son of Carl Gustaf and Amelia Adolphina Fosberg Harstrom. His father was a manufacturer in Sweden who brought his family to America in 1872, when Carl Axel was nine years of age. He attended the Peekskill Military Academy, and graduated in 1880. He taught school for two years before entering Hobart College. He graduated as valadictory orator and with magna cum laude honors. He earned an A.B in 1886, and an M.A. in 1889. He served as headmaster at the Peekskill Academy for three years, and principle of Vienland Preparatory School for four years. On June 20, 1888, Professor Harstrom married Lee Selden Partridge of Phelps, New York.
He moved to Norwalk in 1891 to take a position as headmaster of the Norwalk Military Academy. He started his own private preparatory school for boys in Norwalk in 1893.
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. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi, and served as its national president for five consecutive terms.
In Norwalk, he served as a member of the Board of Estimate. 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. He is credited with introducing voting machines to Norwalk. He is also credited for the many miles of hard pavement laid during his term.