Swen F. Parson, Biographical Data

SCOPE The records in this collection partially document the academic career of Swen Franklin Parson, a faculty member of Northern Illinois State Normal School in DeKalb from 1899 to 1939.  Records include correspondence, personal papers and memoirs, reports, programs, drafts for book, Arithmetic For Teachers, and publications.  Researchers using this collection may wish to use the Charles McMurry Faculty Papers in the University Archives for related materials. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Swen Franklin Parson was born near Jemshog in Blikinge, Sweden on January 27, 1861.  Parson came to this country in 1875 and soon after began teaching in country schools.  In 1882 Parson graduated with honors from Illinois State Normal School and remained in Normal for some time as principal of I.S.N.S. practice school.  In 1899 Swen Parson was appointed to serve as the first professor and Department Head of Mathematics at the Normal School in DeKalb. For more than 35 years Swen Parson was actively involved in educational circles on and off campus.  Mr. Parson’s special qualities of leadership elevated him to important assignments on campus as well as in the community.  He was Manager of the Normal School Athletic Fund, Head of the DeKalb Library Board, and member of the High School Board of Education and Parent-Teachers Association.  Professor Parson’s greatest contribution to his community was to secure the building of the Jacob Haish Memorial Library in DeKalb. By 1949 Mr. Parson’s notable career was recognized when he received the Distinguished Service Citation Award presented to him in Chicago.  Parson was further honored after his death in 1949 when his name was given to the new college library at Northern Illinois State Teacher’s College. In 1895 Swen Franklin Parson married Lulu Bradt of DeKalb.  They had two sons, Leonard and Charles, and one daughter, Eleanor (Mrs. R.M. Zulauf).