4/6/2011:
Americans woke up this morning in 1917 to discover the country at war. Like other college campuses across the country, the State Normal School at Minot soon felt the war’s impact.
Enrollment numbers dropped as young men left for the battlefields of France, but those who remained played a crucial role in supporting the war effort. A Red Cross ancillary at the Minot school produced in one term alone over 740 articles of clothing and bandages; representing over 3,000 hours of voluntary labor. Various Christian organizations on campus, as well as the home economic classes, also produced garments for the soldiers.
Some faculty members and students played a more direct role in the war effort. The school’s president, Arthur Crane, was called to service by the U.S. Army Sanitary Corps at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C. There he developed methods to help soldiers readjust to civilian life.
The greatest sacrifices however were made by the men who left their civilian life in Minot to join the war overseas. Tragically, two Minot Normal School students paid the ultimate sacrifice. In July of 1918, private Henry Finn of Portal, North Dakota, was serving with the Medical Detachment, 4th Infantry, near Les Franquettes Farm in France. He ignored heavy machine gun fire and crossed an open field to administer emergency medical assistance to wounded men pinned down in ‘no man’s land.’ While rendering aid, he was killed by enemy fire. Henry Finn was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for “extraordinary heroism in action.” Several months later, student Fred Otis Cooper was wounded during the Battle of St. Mihiell and succumbed to his injuries while recovering in the United States.
To honor Finn and Cooper, the campus planted two memorial trees. Nearly a century later, the Cooper tree continues to adorn the campus of Minot State University. Sadly, the Finn tree, an American Elm, was removed in 2010 due to safety issues. While the original tree is gone, Minot State is working with a research specialist at NDSU to preserve the tree’s germplasm in order to fuse individual shoots onto seedling rootstock. Replanting of the new memorial tree is scheduled for this spring, where it will once again serve as a reminder of the sacrifices men and women of the Minot campus have offered to their community and country.
Dakota Datebook written by Christina Sunwall
Sources:
"Hall of Valor: Henry Finn." Retrieved March 10, 2011, from http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=11879.
Kluck, R. Historic tree poses a threat to campus safety. November 5, 2010 Campus Announcements. Minot, Minot State University
Timbrook, M. (2009). The Campus History Series: Minot State University, Arcadia Publishing.
Timbrook, M. and J. Wagner (Fall 2009). History of the University: The First Wartime Sacrifice. Connections. 19: 18.