The Path to Feeding the World: Norman Borlaug
Norman Borlaug is a historic figure in America known for his work in fighting hunger. Norman was a man of humble origins and deep longing for education. Norman Borlaug’s upbringing and fight for education would become the foundation of his future success.
Norman grew up on a family farm. He lived in the town of Cresco located in central Iowa. Norman’s great grandparents, Ole and Solveig Dӱbvig, where immigrants to the United States from Norway. His great grandparents where driven to immigrate to the US to start over after they lost their multigenerational family farm to the potato blight famine (The W and P 96). From Ellis Island, Ole and Solveig traveled west along the Mississippi river until they were chased away by Native Americans defending their territory. They changed direction and traveled by covered wagon to northern Iowa to a small town called Saude. …show more content…
Most citizens of Saude where Norwegian or Czech. Mann (2018) states “Relations between the enclaves were friendly but distant… Each community gathered on Sundays in its church – Lutheran for Norwegians, Roman Catholic for Bohemians.” The Borlaug’s chose Saude based of the community it fostered and not the soil quality. Soil conditions were week and led to crop diseases causing the entire town to fall into poverty which in turn shortened all citizens’ lifespans significantly. Because of this, the Norwegian community started drifting to the nearby town of Cresco. During this time, the Dӱbvig’s changed their last name to Borlaug which is the name of the town in which they farmed back in Norway with the hope that it would be easier for English speakers to
Norman Borlaug is a historic figure in America known for his work in fighting hunger. Norman was a man of humble origins and deep longing for education. Norman Borlaug’s upbringing and fight for education would become the foundation of his future success.
Norman grew up on a family farm. He lived in the town of Cresco located in central Iowa. Norman’s great grandparents, Ole and Solveig Dӱbvig, where immigrants to the United States from Norway. His great grandparents where driven to immigrate to the US to start over after they lost their multigenerational family farm to the potato blight famine (The W and P 96). From Ellis Island, Ole and Solveig traveled west along the Mississippi river until they were chased away by Native Americans defending their territory. They changed direction and traveled by covered wagon to northern Iowa to a small town called Saude. …show more content…
Most citizens of Saude where Norwegian or Czech. Mann (2018) states “Relations between the enclaves were friendly but distant… Each community gathered on Sundays in its church – Lutheran for Norwegians, Roman Catholic for Bohemians.” The Borlaug’s chose Saude based of the community it fostered and not the soil quality. Soil conditions were week and led to crop diseases causing the entire town to fall into poverty which in turn shortened all citizens’ lifespans significantly. Because of this, the Norwegian community started drifting to the nearby town of Cresco. During this time, the Dӱbvig’s changed their last name to Borlaug which is the name of the town in which they farmed back in Norway with the hope that it would be easier for English speakers to