Niels Ebbesen Hansen Papers
Biography:
On January 4, 1866, Niels Ebbesen Hansen was born to Bodil Midtgaard and Andreas Hansen
on a farm near Ribe, Denmark. His mother died when he was an infant.
Andreas remarried, and with his second wife had two daughters, Helene and Kristine.
The Hansens left Denmark in 1872. They lived in New York and New Jersey for
three years before migrating to Des Moines, Iowa in 1876. His father worked
as a painter and is noted for his murals on the ceilings and walls of the new state house
building in Des Moines.
As a boy, Hansen attended schools in New York and New Jersey but completed his education in Iowa. In March 1883, Niels enrolled at Iowa State College. He graduated with a BS degree in Horticulture in 1887. In 1895, he received his master's degree from the same college.
After graduation from college, Hansen went into commercial horticulture work. He worked for a year in Atlantic, Iowa and three years in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1895, Hansen came to South Dakota and became head of the Horticultural Department of South Dakota State College.
During his career, Hansen made eight world trips as an agricultural explorer. He searched for new grasses, fruits and other plants throughout Europe and Asia, including Siberia. He brought these plants back to America to raise or cross-breed with American varieties to produce a stronger plant. He was the orginator or many new fruits, among them the Hansen Hybrid plums. He is credited with the discovery and introduction of hardy Cossack Alfalfa, crested wheat grass and brome grass. He developed larger apricots and plums by crossing native varieties with those he brought from Asia. He also developed pears without seeds and a rose to adorn farm yards. In 1949, a monument in recognition of Dr. Hansen and his contributions was erected on the campus of South Dakota State College.
Hansen was married twice. He married his first wife, Emma Elise Pammel on November 16, 1898. They had two children, Carl Andreas and Eva (Mrs. Dave Gilkerson). Emma died December 16, 1904. Three years later, he married Dora Sophie Pammel, his first wife's sister. The Dora died September 14, 1945.
Hansen was a member of the International Jury of Horticulture at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904, and a United States delegate to the First International Congress of Genetics in London, England in 1906. He served as secretary of the South Dakota Horticultural Society for many years. Hansen was frequently referred to as "The Burbank of the Plains". He had been on the State College staff for 55 years and held the title of Professor Emeritus. Hansen died at the Brookings Hospital on October 5, 1950, after a long illness.
Scope:
This collection consists of Articles, Collected Works, General Items,
Horticulture Department Ledgers, Manuscripts, Notebooks, and South Dakota Agricultural
Experiment Station Field Records.
The Articles are mainly bulletins and circulars which Hansen published as Horticulturist for the Agricultural Experiment Station. The General Items include biographies written about Hansen, one of which is written in Danish, and some creative works by Hansen, poems written for Hobo Day and a copy of The Yellow and Blue, the school song for which Hansen wrote the words. The Horticulture Department Ledgers are records of individuals who joined the South Dakota Horticultural Society and a list of the free premiums they received, usually packets of seeds and annual reports of the Society. Also included were miscellaneous items that were kept in the ledgers which were removed and placed in a separate folder for conservation purposes. The Notebooks include planting records and the field plot notations where alflafa, clover, grasses and grains were planted. The South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station field records are for the Agronomy Department and cover mostly the Brookings experiment station, although a few have notes for the Highmore experiment station.
This collection is arranged alphabetically and there are no restrictions.
Related Terms: Alfalfa--Varieties Bromegrasses--Research Crested Wheatgrass--Research Flowers--Varieties--South Dakota Fruit-culture--Research Fruit--Varieties--South Dakota Plant introduction--South Dakota Plant introduction--United States Plants--South Dakota Plants--United States South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station South Dakota Horticultural Society Trees--South Dakota
Related Materials Available in the Library: Annual Report of South Dakota Horitcultural Society Biennial Report : South Dakota Horticultural Society Early Records of the South Dakota Horticultural Society, 1864-1904 South Dakota State University Alumnus : Sept. 1949, Oct. 1950 To Plant the Prairies and the Plains by Mrs. H. J. Taylor
Prepared by: Crystal J. Gamradt Date: August 11, 1998
Archives/Special Collections H. M. Briggs Library Box 2115, South Dakota State University Brookings, SD 57007-1098 Phone: 605-688-4906 Fax: 605-688-6133 email: scotte@ur.sdstate.edu Archives/Special Collections Home
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