The Loneliest Liberal:Complicating her story

By James Knudsen

Spring has truly arrived: I have started cleaning my house. Note the use of the word “started.” I have indeed begun the process, but just as building high-speed rail through the middle of California is a “pro-cess,” so it is with getting my home into a condition that the authorities would consider fit for human habitation.
    In my defense, it must be noted that the stuff contained within the Knudsen home is not entirely mine – most of it, but not all. The number of individuals who have contributed to this empire is, by my count, eight – spanning four generations. And that’s where things get interesting.
    Two historians of the 20th Century spring to mind. Dr. Stephen Kotkin is working on the final installment of his biography of Joseph Stalin, and Dr. Robert Citino recently published a book detailing the German generals of World War Two and why they continued to fight a war that pretty much everyone agreed was lost as far as the Axis Powers were concerned. Both Kotkin and Citino benefited from access to material that was previously unknown or unavailable, and their insights into subjects long considered settled history remind us that history does not become simpler with time.

A week ago I had a very productive day. Patches of floor were becoming visible once again, clothes were being laundered, garbage bags filled, my eyes were on the prize. And then I looked under a bed. Imagine the problems that could be eliminated if bed frames were outlawed and mattresses just lay on the floor. But bed frames are legal, and under this particular bed was a rabbit hole in the form of a large, plastic storage container.

    It had...has several layers of memorabilia. The first layer is art produced by the late Aunt Margaret Knudsen. Aunt Margaret studied art at UCLA and for a time worked for an architectural firm founded by Victor Gruen, inventor of the shopping mall.
    The next layer is the one that stopped me in my tracks and has since prompted me to contact historical societies in Utah. These items of special interest belonged to my late grandmother, Florence Telford Knudsen. For those not familiar with Florence, you’re not alone. She was the better half of the Knudsen who tends to get all the press, deservedly so, Dr. Vern O. Knudsen. Everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame, and Florence was no exception.
    A yellowed newspaper clipping announced her imminent departure for a two-year mission with The Church of Latter Day Saints, Northern States Mission, headquartered in Chicago.

    An activity report, documenting the attendance of Sunday School Board members, attests to her involvement in her community at the age of eighteen. And drawings, from someone named John, suggest a beau prior to her meeting Vern.

    Letters from the Utah State Fair of 1914 document her attendance as a member of the Weber County contingent. She was one of the maids of honor to Miss Weber County. She was an organist in the church. A valentine says simply, “To Teacher.” She played many and varied roles: school board member, teacher, musician, State Fair Pinup Girl?

    Conventional wisdom presented Florence as the dutiful wife to her world-renowned husband, physicist Dr. Vern O. Knudsen, and as an intellectual light-weight by comparison. Although, to be fair, I imagine most people are intellectual light-weights next to a doctor of physics. People, like history, are rarely simple. With this new knowledge of these parts of Florence that I had no inkling of until a few days ago, I am reconsidering her. And I am rethinking what I had held to be the full picture of the woman I called Grandmere.

Copyright © 2019 by James Knudsen