Jump to content

Ancher Nelsen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Rich Farmbrough (talk | contribs) at 08:25, 11 August 2017 (Fix caps in section header and other minor fixes using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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 byJoseph P. O'Hara
Succeeded byTom Hagedorn
34th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
In office
January 5, 1953 – May 1, 1953
GovernorC. Elmer Anderson
Preceded byC. Elmer Anderson
Succeeded byDonald O. Wright
Member of the Minnesota Senate
In office
1935-1949
Personal details
Born(1904-10-11)October 11, 1904
Buffalo Lake, Minnesota
DiedNovember 30, 1992(1992-11-30) (aged 88)
Hutchinson, Minnesota
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Ilo Zimmerman (1929), Elvern Krasean
Professionfarmer, 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.[1]

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 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
Political offices
Preceded by Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
1953–1953
Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 2nd congressional district
1959–1974
Succeeded by