6/25/2006:
Beatrice "Bea" Olson was born on this date in 1916. She grew up near Bellfield and married rancher Gilman Peterson. She was a teacher, rancher, journalist and mother of five daughters. She was active in agricultural affairs, and also in politics.
Peterson was voted North Dakota Woman of the Year by the ND Women’s Coalition in 1975, and was voted Democratic Women for all Decades honoree in 1980. She supported the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, was a delegate to the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women in 1980, and was a member of the National Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee from 1977 to 1981. She also served on the ND Medical Advisory Committee, the U.S. SALT II Advisory Committee, the State Advisory Committee for Civil Rights, the ND Criminal Justice Commission, and was a member and director of the ND State Mental Health Association.
Bea Peterson died on May 2, 2000, in Idaho.Source: Bea Peterson Papers: Biographical Sketch. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Written by Merry Helm
Source: Bea Peterson Papers: Biographical Sketch. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. <http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/library/Collections/og1154.html>
Beatrice "Bea" Olson was born on this date in 1916. She grew up near Bellfield and married rancher Gilman Peterson. She was a teacher, rancher, journalist and mother of five daughters. She was active in agricultural affairs, and also in politics.
Peterson was voted North Dakota Woman of the Year by the ND Women’s Coalition in 1975, and was voted Democratic Women for all Decades honoree in 1980. She supported the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, was a delegate to the World Conference of the United Nations Decade for Women in 1980, and was a member of the National Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee from 1977 to 1981. She also served on the ND Medical Advisory Committee, the U.S. SALT II Advisory Committee, the State Advisory Committee for Civil Rights, the ND Criminal Justice Commission, and was a member and director of the ND State Mental Health Association.
Bea Peterson died on May 2, 2000, in Idaho.Source: Bea Peterson Papers: Biographical Sketch. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Written by Merry Helm
Source: Bea Peterson Papers: Biographical Sketch. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. <http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/library/Collections/og1154.html>