Theodore C. Blegen

Theodore Christian Blegen (16 July 1891 – 18 July 1969) was an American historian and author. Blegen was the author of numerous historic reference books, papers and articles written over a five decade period. His primary areas of focus were of the history of the state of Minnesota and of Norwegian-American immigration.

Theodore Christian Blegen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Anna Regine (1854-1925) and John H. Blegen (1851-1928), both of whom had emigrated from Lillehammer, Norway. His father was a professor at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and played a central role in the Norwegian Lutheran Church in America. He was the younger brother of noted archaeologist, Carl Blegen.

During World War II, he directed the National Historical Service, preparing materials for the U.S. Army's G.I. Roundtable. Blegen’s undergraduate studies at Augsburg College B.A. (1910) were followed by graduate work at the University of Minnesota M.A. (1915), Ph.D. (1925) that led to a doctorate in history. In 1928, he was a Guggenheim Fellow and studied in Norway.

Blegen did high-school teaching at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then served an apprenticeship at the Minnesota Historical Society in the arts of editing and meticulous research. He succeeded to the position of superintendent of the historical society. Blegen was a professor of history (1920–1927) at Hamline University in St. Paul, after which he moved to the University of Minnesota (1927–1939) where he was later dean of the graduate school (1940–1960).

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