During this week in 1996, Roosevelt Elementary School in Fargo, North Dakota, celebrated its 75th anniversary. Among the honored guests was one of the school’s most beloved retired teachers: 91-year-old music instructor Martha Hook.
Mrs. Hook taught at Roosevelt from 1952 to 1969 and was best known for introducing ukuleles to the school orchestra in 1959. That year, the school inherited two ukuleles, and Mrs. Hook, enchanted by their sound, saw their potential. Affordable for families and excellent for teaching harmony, the small instrument quickly became a staple. Under her guidance, the Roosevelt Elementary School orchestra grew from just two ukulele players to an impressive 60, ranging from 3rd to 6th grade.
Mrs. Hook was born in Fargo in 1904, seventeen years before Roosevelt Elementary was built. As a young girl, she saw Theodore Roosevelt speak in Fargo in 1910. She pursued her passion for music at the Dakota Conservatory of Music and Moorhead State Teachers College, now Minnesota State University Moorhead. After teaching in Mahnomen, Minnesota, and Fargo, she married Aubrey Hook in 1928 and stepped away from teaching to raise a family. But in 1952, after her husband’s untimely passing at age 47, she returned to the classroom. Her dedication to music education earned her the Fargo Lions Club’s Teacher of the Year award in 1968.
Despite her many achievements, Mrs. Hook faced profound personal hardships. In June 1957, while visiting her son in California, her home was destroyed by an F5 tornado. Years later, in 1974, while on another visit to her son, the building that housed her antique store was lost to a fire—destroying most of her carefully collected wares. Undeterred, she continued running her antique store, Hook’s Home, for years in the deLendrecie’s building on Main Street.
In 1990, Mrs. Hook received a very welcome surprise. Among the important documents lost in the 1957 tornado was her son’s birth certificate. Unbeknownst to her, it had landed in the yard of Ruth Swanson in Moorhead. Unable to find the rightful owner, Ruth kept the document for over 30 years. While searching for a refrigerator warranty, Ruth rediscovered it—and mailed it to Mrs. Hook, who was overjoyed to see it again.
Martha Hook passed away in 1998 at age 94 and is still fondly remembered by her ukulele-strumming former students.
Dakota Datebook by Trista Raezer-Stursa
Sources:
- Author Unknown. “11 Culture-Oriented Businesses Lost, 2 Others Damaged,” The Fargo Forum, December 24, 1974, pg. 2.
- Author Unknown. “Martha Akeley Hook,” The Fargo Forum, November 20, 1998, pg. C4.
- Author Unknown. “Mrs. Hook Honored by Lions,” The Fargo Forum, May 20, 1968, pg. 7.
- Author Unknown. “Omaha Man to Wed Miss Martha Akeley,” The Fargo Forum, May 1, 1928, pg. 8.
- Edmonds, Nancy. “Fargo Teacher of the Year Draws out ‘Innate Music’,” The Fargo Forum, May 26, 1968, pg. C10.
- Gerboth, Betsy. “Return to Sender,” The Fargo Forum, June 20, 1990, pgs. A1, A20.
- Hamre, Susan. “Some Bearophiles aren’t Kidding,” The Fargo Forum, January 23, 1983, pg. B8.
- Knapp, Carol. “From Depo to Depot?,” The Fargo Forum, January 5, 1975, pg. B7.
- Lind, Bob. “75th Anniversary of Roosevelt Elementary,” The Fargo Forum, April 21, 1996, pg. B1.
- Lind, Bob. “Martha Hook Showed it’s Never too Late,” The Fargo Forum, November 30, 1998, pg. A6.
- Raihala, Ross. “”Another ‘Fargo’ Connection,” The Fargo Forum, March 10, 1996, pg. C7.
