Bio. of Marie Sorum ~ daughter of Hans M. and Ingred (Herem) Sorum
IOWA
ITS HISTORY AND TRADITION
VOLUME III
1804-1926
MARIE SORUM
In one of the most exacting of all callings, Miss Marie Sorum hasattained
distinction, being recognized as one of the ablest and most successful
educators in northwestern Iowa.She is a well educated, symmetricallydeveloped
woman, her work as an educator having brought her prominently to thenotice of
the public.Of scholarly tastes and studious habits, she keepsabreast of the
times in advanced educational methods and her achievements assuperintendent
of schools of Emmet county have given her an enviable reputationin
educational circles.Miss Sorum was born on a farm about four milesfrom Albert Lea, Minnesota, and is a daughter of Hans M. and Ingred (Herem) Sorum. Both of her parents were natives of Norway, where they were reared and married, and then came to the United States on their honeymoon. They located on a farm in Freeborn county, Minnesota, buying the place from the original settler, and the farm is still in the possession of the family, though both parents are now
deceased.
Marie Sorum received her elementary education in the public schools of
Albert Lea, and then entered the University of Minnesota, at Minneapolis.She is
now taking work from Chicago University toward her Master's degree.Her father
died when she was thirteen years of age and when seventeenyears old she
began teaching school.Her first school was at Rake, Iowa,where she remained
two years, followed by a year at Huntington, after which shetaught in the
public school of Esterville for seven years.In 1918 MissSorum was elected
county superintendent of schools, and so efficient andsatisfactory was her
administration of the office that she has been twicereelected, being the present
incumbent of the position.She has given ableand intelligent direction to
the educational affairs of the county, the standardof the schools of Emmet
county now being second to nine in the state.
One of her outstanding achievements has been the establishment as aregular
feature of the county educational system of the Boys and GirlsInstitute,
which is the first organization of its kind in the United States andwhich has
in every respect proven a distinctive success.The 1926 sessionsof the
institute were attended by from two thousand to three thousand people andis
regarded as the most successful meeting yet held.The severaldistinctive
features of the institute comprised addresses by noted educators, among whom was O. H. Benson, of Washington, D. C., the renowned Chautauqua lecturer and head of the Children's Foundation work in Washington. The exhibit of the best work done by the pupils of the various schools throughout the county was both interesting and of value as showing what is actually being accomplished in the schools. A music contest also proved a pleasing feature of the institute, as did the father and son and the mother and daughter meetings. Another interesting fact concerning the educational affairs of Emmet county is that this is the first county in the state of Iowa to include farm accounting in the regular course of study in the rural schools.
Miss Sorum has maintained an enthusiastic devotion to her work here andhas
not only gained the admiration and confidence of the people of this county
but has also won an enviable reputation among the successful educators of the
state.She has taken an active and effective interest in the generalwelfare
of the county and is now council of the tenth district for the AmericanRed
Cross Society, to which she was elected at the state convention held in Des
Moines, June 8, 1926.She is a member of the Women's Club of Esthervilleand
is a popular member of the various circles in which she moves.
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