21st Birthday Sit-In
"It was my 21st birthday," recalls alumna Beth Lewis '71. "May 7, 1970. I woke early to get on a bus with students from Carleton and St. Olaf and a few faculty, including Paul Wellstone..."
Dean Blayney and the Third Reich
How did Lindsey Thomas Blayney—Dean of Carleton College between 1926 and 1946—come to find himself in the company of Nazis in Heidelberg in 1936? Paul Petzschmann, lecturer and research associate in European Studies, has the story.
Thorstein Veblen, Class of 1880
Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929), class of 1880, was the founder of the "institutionalist" school of economics and is counted among Carleton's most famous alumni.
Masao "Frank" Shigemura '45
Frank Shigemura '45—an American son of Japanese immigrants—was "relocated" by the U.S. government from the University of Washington to Carleton in 1942.
Eleanor “Ele” Hansen
Eleanor “Ele” Hansen will forever be known as one of the true matriarchs of women’s athletics, not only at Carleton but also across the country.
Arrested with Paul Wellstone
"I was just eighteen years old in May 1970 when I got myself arrested with Paul Wellstone, then a twenty-six year old untenured professor of government at Carleton College." –Kai Bird ’73
William Carleton: The College Eponym
In March of 1871, William Carleton pledged $50,000 to endow Northfield College.
International Students
Take a look back at students who have attended Carleton from abroad through the last century.
The World War II Era
Altogether 1,502 Carleton men and women served in the armed forces during World War Two, and 55 men lost their lives.
President Howard Swearer
Howard R. Swearer assumed the presidency in 1970—amidst, for the first time, a truly gala inauguration (featuring the now traditional cascade of bubbles from the chapel balcony).
Carleton's First President
In 1870, Northfield College appointed its first president: James Woodward Strong, then the minister of the Congregational Church in Faribault.
Charles M. Goodsell: Founder
Charles M. Goodsell, a deacon of the Congregational Church, moved from Illinois to Northfield, Minnesota in 1859 intending to found there a "new Northwestern Oberlin...undenominational, but filled with the spirit."
A History of Carleton Presidents
From Strong (1870-1903) to Poskanzer (2010-present), meet the presidents who have provided leadership for Carleton's educational mission for 150 years.
