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Borghild Dahl

Borghild Margrethe Dahl was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Norwegian immigrants Peder Mogens Dahl and Ingeborg Knudsdatter Haugseth from the Rendal area of Hedmark in the 1880s.

Despite severely impaired vision since birth, she attended college and received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Minnesota. Dahl earned an M.A. at Columbia University and was awarded a scholarship to study in Norway. In 1924 she became the first woman of a foreign country to be selected Norsk Akademiker at the University of Oslo. During the 1930s she taught Journalism and Norwegian at Augustana College and lectured widely before finally facing what seemed like a hopeless setback when she lost what little vision she had.

Then an operation in 1943 improved her eyesight dramatically and she set forth on a new career as a writer. Her 1944 autobiography “I Wanted to See” told the inspirational story of her struggles and successes. Dahl wrote another 15 books, many for children, based on her Norwegian heritage. In 1950, Dahl received the St. Olaf medal from the king of Norway for her work in promoting Norwegian-American relations. She received the Augustana College Sesquicentennial Award in 1975