Celebrating Women’s History Month: Huldah Lucile Winsted
Minot State University is celebrating Women’s History Month throughout the month of March. MSU is recognizing the outstanding contributions women have made and continue to make at Minot State with stories gathered from the archive of our Alumni and Development Foundation magazine Connections. University Communications will highlight, and reprint it in its entirety, a story showcasing an individual who has made an impact at MSU, the greater Minot and Northwest North Dakota region, and on countless students’ lives.
This week, we go back to the beginning and a story on the origins of the red and green school colors, selected by Minot Normal School’s original faculty, first librarian, and first Dean of Women, Huldah Lucile Winsted.
The article appeared in the Winter 2007 edition of Connections and its author is unknown. Check out our online ARCHIVE of Connections for more stories and features.
THE STORY OF THE RED & GREEN SCHOOL COLORS
Huldah Lucile Winsted
Minot State owes much to Huldah Lucile Winsted and her varied interests.
Winsted, a member o the Minot Normal School’s original faculty in 1913, taught geography and served as Dean of Women for many years. Credited with being the school’s first librarian, she donated many personal volumes to the fledgling facility.
Legend has it that she looked out the window of Old Main one day and saw red geraniums blooming en masse amid green leaves. She chose the plant’s vivid hues as the school’s signature colors. The school’s student newspaper even became The Red and Green.
Winsted was a prolific poet and had many of her works published. She wrote “Birth of the Wild Rose” in 1927.
When God made North Dakota’s land,
And saw its hills and prairies bare,
He smiles, and lo! So fresh and fair,
The wild rose blossomed everywhere.
It’s petals made He from the beams
That tint the morn and evening sky;
And from the centre — from on high
He caught some sun beams passing by.
The pioneer educator was a founding member of the Federated Women’s Club in Minot. The club was active in community projects in its early years. A line from one of Winsted’s poems became the club’s motto — “Be a candle in the window if you cannot be a star in the sky.” The group later evolved into the Minot Art Club.
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Published: 03/03/23
