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University of North Dakota

1982

Cornelia Gjesdal Knutson

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The Constituency Of Coya Knutson, 1954, Gretchen Urnes Beito Aug 1982

The Constituency Of Coya Knutson, 1954, Gretchen Urnes Beito

Theses and Dissertations

Women rarely seek political office and even more rarely achieve the office they seek. Only one woman has been elected to Congress from Minnesota or its adjacent states--Coya Knutson from the rural Ninth District in 1954 and 1956. While legal barriers to women's participation in politics have been abolished, personal and institutional barriers remain. How Coya Knutson overcame these obstacles--and the penalties she paid for doing so--is the subject of this paper.

Coya Gjesdal Knutson grew to maturity on a successful North Dakota farm, where she learned the value of hard work and perseverance. After completing four years at Concordia …