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Ahlquist, Irving (audio interview #1 of 5)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of five interviews conducted in Ahlquist's office in the CSULB History Department. The audio quality of the interview is good. 11/17/1977
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- 2021-08-30
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- SUBJECT BIO - Irving Ahlquist was among the first professors at South Los Angeles Orange County State College when it opened in 1949 on its apartment house campus. Even after he retired from teaching, he continued supervising student teachers. In these five interviews, Ahlquist discusses his observations of and participation in struggles to organize the curriculum and faculty on the campus and to include both administrators and faculty in campus governance. He was among those who developed and implemented the history curriculum and the training of secondary school teachers. He also had a reputation for teaching excellent and was in demand as a speaker in the local community. These interviews were conducted as part of a project to document the history of California State University, Long Beach. TOPICS - family background; childhood; education; and decision to go to college and major in history;family background; education; graduate school; WWII and military service; marriage; doctoral studies and research; teaching; Iowa State Teachers College; and P; Victor Peterson;
- File: uhiahlquist1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:50)... Ahlquist's mother immigrated to New York from Sweden in 1906, which was the third wave of his family's immigration to the United States. She was educated in Sweden up to the seventh or eighth grade. She worked as a domestic servant in New York and then her father sent her to a Swedish community in Rockford, Illinois where she worked on a factory assembly line. Although she never formally studied English, she learned to read and speak very well. Despite living in the US and speaking English, Ahlquist believes his mother remained Swedish. (3:50-6:08)... Ahlquist's family was involved with the Free Church Movement in Rockford, Illinois. It started in Sweden as an alternative to the state-sponsored Lutheran Church. Ahlquist's grandfather graduated from a Free Church theological school in Sweden and became a lay minister. Ahlquist's mother grew up was religiously conservative home, but one whose religious tenets challenged the relationship between church and state. (6:08-9:50)... Ahlquist's father was born in Pennsylvania but his grandparents emigrated from Sweden. He left school in the sixth grade at the age of 12 and went to work in the coal mines with his father. Later Ahlquist's father moved to Jamestown, New York and worked as a butcher and then in a furniture factory. He eventually moved to Rockford, Illinois to continue working in the furniture industry. When he was laid off from a furniture factory, he joined the Rockford Police Department. Ahlquist recalls that as a young child, his mother took great pains to keep him and his older sister quiet so that his father could rest before working nights. Ahlquist's parents met through relatives and were married in 1915. (9:50-15:55)... His parents wanted to assimilate into American culture, so they didn't emphasize their Swedish heritage. They believed that education was the key to success and encouraged him to do well in school. They expected him to graduate from college and his high school studies were geared towards that. His sister graduated from high school in 1933 and decided to forego college so that he could go. She worked as a dental assistant and the money she made paid for his room at college, which cost $2.50 a week. During the summers, Ahlquist also worked to pay his college expenses. (15:55-20:17)... As a young boy he lived in a small, rural community with approximately 60,000 inhabitants. Family activities centered around school and church. His parents didn't allow him to attend dances. Although his family lived in a Swedish community and attended a Swedish church, his father was very proud to have been born in the United States and he did not permit Swedish to be spoken at home. Ahlquist thought of himself as an American, not a Swede. (20:17-26:06)... The student body at Ahlquist's the high school was approximately 4,000 and included students from many parts of the community. He felt enlightened being exposed to students from different ethnic and racial groups. The quality of teaching in both his junior and high schools was excellent. His teachers encouraged him to study and pursue a college education. (26:06-29:07)... Ahlquist lived in a very loving and supportive home. His parents sacrificed many ways so that Ahlquist could get a good education. His father took an active interest in Ahlquist's studies and often read his English and math textbooks. (29:07-33:41)... As a student, he was extremely competitive and a perfectionist. This, he believes, ultimately led to a stomach ulcer. He was interested in learning foreign languages while in school. His teachers expected him to attend college and prepared him both emotionally and academically. When he graduated from high school, he went on to Wheaton College in Chicago, a school he planned to go to since he was 13. (33:41-41:34)... As a teenager, Ahlquist was interested in Zoology and medicine. During the summers, when he was in junior high, Dr. Stanley Olson, a first-year medical student at Northeastern Medical School, volunteered as an advisor for the youth group Ahlquist joined at his church. Ahlquist met with Olson frequently and talked about becoming a physician. In his freshman of college, however, Ahlquist became frustrated with his Zoology professor's lack of enthusiasm for his subject. At the same time, he enrolled in History of the Americas taught by a woman who made the subject seem fascinating so he decided to change his major to history Dr. Olson was disappointed with Ahlquist's decision. After graduating with a bachelors degree from Wheaton College, Ahlquist won a scholarship from the University of Illinois, where he studied for a masters degree in history. His professors at Illinois encouraged him to continue his education and pursue a doctorate. End of tape File: uhiahlquist2.mp3 (0:00-5:29)... Ahlquist earned a scholarship from the University of Illinois to pursue a doctorate and he was required to sign a contract promising not to work while he was in school. The scholarship paid for his room and board. He joined the Honor Society and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. The Japanese attached Pearl Harbor while he was in graduate school and his draft board allowed him to finish his coursework and preliminary examinations before joining the military. While he was studying at the University of Illinois he became interested in the Civil War period. (5:29-10:43)... He was drafted into the Army as an infantryman and assigned to the 110th regiment. He wanted to become an officer and was saved from going overseas in 1943 when he was sent to officer's candidates school. When he finished that training, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and served until 1946. (10:43-16:51)... Ahlquist met his future wife when he was 11. She was a student at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago while he attended Wheaton College. They corresponded during college and while he was in the military. His wife sacrificed many of her own personal and professional interests for his career. When he left the service in 1946, he returned to the University of Illinois to finish his doctorate. While researching and writing his dissertation, he traveled widely including conducting research at both Harvard and Columbia. (16:51-21:27)... Ahlquist completed his remaining coursework and dissertation in 8 months. His studies took a toll on him physically and he developed an ulcer. He was disappointed that he got his doctorate at 28 rather than 24, which is what he had planned to do before he joined the military. (21:27-33:01)... In 1947, he took a job at Iowa State Teachers College where his salary was $4,200. He taught medieval, Latin American, and United States history. This work required many hours of preparation but he was successful. Housing was very difficult to find in the area and he and his wife and their young son lived in a quonset hut for 3 months. His wife and son moved back to Chicago to live with her parents because their living conditions were so poor. Eventually, Ahlquist tired of the housing problems and cold weather and began looking for a new position. A former professor told him that P. Victor Peterson was interviewing candidates to teach at a new college in California. Peterson interviewed him about a history position, but didn't offer him a job. (33:01-37:09)... Later Peterson offered Ahlquist a teaching position in Long Beach. When Ahlquist announced his resignation at Iowa State University, the chairman of the History Department wept and offered Ahlquist a raise if he'd stay. Ahlquist, however, declined this offer and left Iowa for California in 1949. End of tape
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