Ancher Nelsen

Ancher Nelsen
Ancher Nelsen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1959 – December 31, 1974
Preceded by	Joseph P. O'Hara
Succeeded by	Tom Hagedorn
34th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
In office January 5, 1953 – May 1, 1953
Governor	C. Elmer Anderson
Preceded by	C. Elmer Anderson
Succeeded by	Donald O. Wright
Member of the Minnesota Senate
In office 1935-1949
Personal details
Born	(1904-10-11)October 11, 1904 Buffalo Lake, Minnesota
Died	November 30, 1992(1992-11-30) (aged 88) Hutchinson, Minnesota
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ilo Zimmerman (1929), Elvern Krasean
Profession	farmer, politician

Ancher Nelsen (October 11, 1904 – November 30, 1992), was a politician who served as the 34th Lieutenant Governor of the state of Minnesota and an eight-term congressman.

Biography

He was born near Buffalo Lake, Minnesota to Danish parents. Nelsen attended elementary school in Brownton, Minnesota, and graduated from Brownton High School in 1923. In 1924 he began operation of his 280-acre diversified farm at Hutchinson, McLeod County. In 1929 he married Ilo Zimmerman of Brownton; they had three children.

He was a member of the Minnesota Senate, 1935–1949; delegate to the 1948 Republican National Convention and 1952 Republican National Convention. He was elected the 34th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota in 1952. He served less than one year (January 5, 1953- May 1, 1953). He resigned to become administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration Program, in Washington, D.C., 1953–1956; He was elected as a Republican to the US House of Representatives in 1958 and served in Congress; from January 3, 1959 – December 31, 1974 in the 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th, 90th, 91st, 92nd, and 93rd congresses.

In popular culture

In a declassified FBI Case File on The Beatles (File Number 145-0), Nelsen is shown to be one of presumably several U.S. Congressmen who received letters from their constituents regarding the "obscene" photograph on the cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1969 album "Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins". The letter's author (name redacted) describes the album cover as being "the most discolored and vulgar display of garbage" he or she had ever seen. A subsequent letter to Nelsen from the desk of J. Edgar Hoover dated March 10, 1969, however, states that the United States Department of Justice did not find the image to be in violation of the then current obscenity laws.

References

• United States Congress. "Ancher Nelsen (id: N000028)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Ancher Nelson Papers
• Minnesota Historical Society
• Minnesota Legislators Past and Present

External links

• Guide to Research papers of Ancher Nelsen
• A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Ancher Nelsen" is available for viewing at the Internet Archive
• FBI Case File on the Beatles containing letters to Ancher Nelsen found on Archive.org