Phyllis Peterson: 52 Ancestors 2020 Prompt "Popular"

Phyllis Peterson: 1927-2019

Fairest Coed of Them All

            I found a marvelous newspaper photo of my paternal first cousin Phyllis Peterson when she was around 19 or 20 years of age proving that she was a very popular young woman when she was at college.

Phyllis makes the paper in 1947

            Until I saw this photo, I never knew Phyllis had attended St. Olaf College, the Northfield Minnesota school across town from my alma mater, Carleton College. In 1947, St. Olaf held a contest to select the six fairest young women on campus, and Phyllis was one of the women who were honored. The school newspaper published an amusing article on how the selections were made; a group of male students who were friends of the editor compiled a list of young lovelies, and then voted to pick the top six. Even though Phyllis was only a sophomore at that point, she had obviously made quite an impression.

St. Olaf paper article about the "fairest" honor

            I love the photo they used. The clothing from the era was wonderful—Phyllis wore a dark dress with decorations at the shoulder and hip, her shoulder-length hair was styled in artfully curled waves, she wore a delicate watch and had manicured fingernails. She was quite the fashionable young woman. The photo was taken in February of 1947, the spring of her sophomore year.

            Phyllis Ann Margaret Peterson was born November 3, 1927 to my uncle Philip Peterson and Mina Blackstad Peterson. The family lived in the St. James area of Watonwan County Minnesota, where Philip worked as a farmer and ran a trucking company.

Phyllis entered St. Olaf in 1945, and was mentioned in the campus newspaper several times. She was a good student, making the honor society as a freshman. She performed in a dorm Christmas program, and she was nominated as fair queen for the campus world fair in March 1946. One month later, Phyllis was elected as freshman class secretary; her future husband Luther Molberg was elected president. All of these activities and honors indicate she was popular with her classmates.

Phyllis elected secretary; future husband Luther is president

It appears Phyllis did not complete her St. Olaf degree. She married Luther in 1948, and their first child was born in August 1948, just 18 months after she was honored as one of the fairest co-eds at St. Olaf.

Phyllis and Luther Molbert on their wedding day in 1948: a beautiful couple

            According to her obituary, Phyllis modelled for the Eleanor Moore Agency in the Twin Cities for many years. She remained a beautiful woman all her life. She and Luther had two daughters, Andrea and Elizabeth, before they divorced. Phyllis married again to Norman Madson. She died March 26, 2019 at the age of 91.