Hazel Miner
| Hazel Dulcie Miner | |
|---|---|
Hazel Miner. Courtesy: Center (N.D.) Republican.
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| Born |
April 11, 1904 Sanger, Oliver County, North Dakota |
| Died | March 16, 1920 (aged 15) Center, Oliver County, North Dakota |
| Cause of death | Hypothermia resulting from exposure to cold |
| Resting place |
Center Community Cemetery, Center, Oliver County, North Dakota 47°06′42″N 101°18′37″W / 47.11170°N 101.31029°W (approximate) |
| Monuments |
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| Occupation | One-room school student |
| Known for | Died protecting siblings from the 1920 North Dakota blizzard |
| Parent(s) |
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Hazel Dulcie Miner (April 11, 1904 – March 16, 1920), a student at a rural Great Plains one-room school, died while protecting her 10-year-old brother, Emmet, and 8-year-old sister, Myrdith, from the spring blizzard of 1920 in Center, Oliver County, North Dakota.
After her death, she became a national American heroine. Her actions were celebrated in a folk ballad and were published in many newspaper and magazine articles in the subsequent decades.
Hazel was the 15-year-old daughter of William Albert Miner, a farmer, and his wife, the former Blanche Steele, both originally of Iowa. Hazel's sisters and brothers were Zelda, 21; Emmet, 10; Myrdith, 8; and Howard, 5. Hazel was an eighth grade student at a one-room school, the same attended by Emmet and Myrdith. The Oliver County register of deeds, whose daughter had played with Hazel, recalled, "Kind of a quiet girl she was," and described her as "sort of motherly, for one so young." Her father considered her highly dependable. Her obituary described her as "quiet and loving," with a "sunny, cheerful nature" and having a liking for children. Hazel had planned to start high school in Bismarck, North Dakota that fall.
On March 15, 1920, the first day of the blizzard, the school dismissed its students early to enable them to go home before the storm arrived. Many of the students, like the Miner children, were used to driving to and from school with a horse and buggy, but the school teacher had a rule that no child was permitted to drive home in bad weather without permission from a parent. William Miner, who was worried about the blizzard conditions, rode the two miles to the school on a saddle horse to escort his children home.
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Wikipedia