May Swenson

Kirstin Hotelling Zona (Illinois State University)
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The American poet May Swenson was born in Logan, Utah, to first-generation Swedish immigrants, Margaret (Hellberg) and Dan Arthur Swenson. Inspired by the Mormon missionaries who helped to save his father's family from financial destitution, Dan Swenson attended Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University) where, in 1912, he began a life-long career as a woodworker in the Department of Mechanical Arts. Resourceful and determined, Margaret Swenson worked hard as a young woman to make a comfortable home, canning her own fruits and vegetables, pressing her own cider, keeping bees for their wax and honey, and making most of her family's clothes. The eldest of ten children, May assisted her mother with these domestic duties while helping to raise her brothers and sisters. It is…

1437 words

Citation: Zona, Kirstin Hotelling. "May Swenson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 March 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4296, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4296 May Swenson 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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