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Knutson, Coya (1912‒1996)

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Photograph of Coya Knutson

Coya Knutson, ca. 1955.

Coya Knutson, a Norwegian American farmer from North Dakota, became Minnesota’s first congresswoman when she was elected in 1954. Though her political career was groundbreaking and packed with important legislation, it was cut short by her husband and political rivals.

Coya Gjesdal Knutson was born in 1912 on a farm near Edmore, North Dakota. The child of Norwegian immigrants, Coya spoke Norwegian at home and prized her family’s Lutheran faith. Farming was also a central part of Knutson’s early life—she drove a tractor by age eleven—and her parents’ involvement with a farmers’ activism group called the Nonpartisan League gave her an early look into the world of politics.

Knutson graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, in 1934 with degrees in English and music. After studying opera at Juilliard for a summer, she decided to return to North Dakota and become a teacher.

Back at home, a slow-moving romance developed between Coya and one of her father’s farmhands, Andy Knutson. The two married in 1940 and bought a hotel in Andy’s hometown of Oklee, Minnesota. Coya managed the hotel’s popular café on top of a full-time teaching career. Later, in 1948, the couple adopted their only son, Terry.

Between teaching positions, Knutson began to dip her toes into the world of politics. She got her start in 1942 when she took an outreach position with the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). She then joined the Red Lake County Welfare Board in 1948 and became the county’s Democratic Farmer-Labor (DFL) chairwoman the same year.

Knutson’s affinity for local politics led her to run for state representative. She won her district in both 1950 and 1952. Kuntson’s platform focused on strengthening the Fair Employment Practice Committee, which fights workplace discrimination, as well as increasing state aid for education. Knutson also sponsored a clean-air bill to limit public smoking and advocated for migrant workers, disabled children, and people struggling with mental illness.

Riding on the success of her two terms as state representative, Knutson focused her sights on a congressional campaign. The summer before the 1954 election, she travelled more than 25,000 miles to address more than 20,000 voters. She often woke at dawn to visit with farmers, and charmed crowds at county fairs and pickle festivals with her accordion and operatic singing voice. When she beat a six-term incumbent to win the election that November, she became Minnesota’s first-ever congresswoman.

Knutson authored sixty-one bills during her two congressional terms (1955–1958). As the first woman appointed to the Agricultural Commission, she learned about farming practices in the Dominican Republic and championed small farmers from her state. She channeled her passion for education into a school lunch assistance program and the first federal student loan bill. Knutson also helped grant one million dollars to the University of Minnesota to fund cystic fibrosis research and introduced bills to support Native Americans from her district.

Yet as Knutson gained momentum as a politician, her home life began to darken. Her husband, Andy, was an abusive alcoholic who resented his wife’s growing success and independence. A rift had also formed between Knutson and Democratic Party officials, who were angered by her support for rural-minded politicians over DFL-endorsed candidates.

Before long, a series of letters signed by Knutson’s husband was published in newspapers nationwide. The “Coya, Come Home” letters, as they were popularly known, publicly ordered Coya to end her political career and return home to Andy. They also wrongfully accused Knutson of having an affair with her campaign manager, Bill Kjeldahl. The letters are believed to have been written by Knutson’s Republican opponents and signed by her husband.

The ensuing national scandal effectively ended Knutson’s political career. She lost the 1958 election by just 1,390 votes to Odin Langen, whose campaign slogan was “A Big Man for a Man-Sized Job.” Though unable to find further success as a politician, Knutson continued to cultivate a successful career. She produced children’s television in New York for a year before moving back to Washington, DC, in 1960. She worked there for ten years in the Civil Defense Office. After retiring in 1972, Knutson moved to Bloomington, Minnesota to live with her son Terry. She died in 1996 at the age of eighty-four.

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Alburn, Miriam. “Oklee Teacher Can’t Believe It’s True.” Minneapolis Tribune, November 4, 1954.

Beito, Gretchen Urnes. Coya Come Home: A Congresswoman’s Journey. Los Angeles: Pomegranate Press, 1990.

“Coya Starts TV Career in New York.” Minneapolis Star, August 7, 1959.

Dornfeld, Steven. “Recognition is Key Word in Knutson-Sullivan Race.” Minneapolis Tribune, February 6, 1977.

Ehlers, Vernon J. Women in Congress, 1917–2006. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2006.

Haga, Chuck. “Coya Knutson Came Home.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 19, 1990.

King, Gilbert. “Friends in the House, Hostility at Home.” Smithsonian.com, December 29, 2011.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/friends-in-the-house-hostility-at-home-13467516/

McDonald, John C. “Prairie Village Chooses Up Sides to See If Coya Comes Home or Not.” Minneapolis Tribune, August 24, 1958.

“Portrait: Coya Knutson.” St. Paul—Minneapolis: Twin Cities Public Television, 1991.
http://www.mnvideovault.org/index.php?id=16209&select_index=0&popup=yes

“Remembering Coya Knutson.” Minnesota Public Radio, November 2, 2012.
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/11/02/coya_knutson_annette_atkins

Coya Knutson Papers, 1905–1999
Manuscript Collection, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00246.xml
Description: Files documenting Knutson’s life and political career.

Related Images

Photograph of Coya Knutson
Photograph of Coya Knutson
Photograph of Coya Knutson's accordion
Photograph of Coya Knutson's accordion
Photograph of Coya Knutson with campaign posters
Photograph of Coya Knutson with campaign posters
Photograph of Coya Knutson, 1954
Photograph of Coya Knutson, 1954
Photograph of Knutson and her mother
Photograph of Knutson and her mother
Photograph of Knutson and other members of the Agricultural Committee
Photograph of Knutson and other members of the Agricultural Committee
Photograph of Coya Knutson and a cow
Photograph of Coya Knutson and a cow
Photograph of a Knutson campaign button
Photograph of a Knutson campaign button
Photograph of Coya Knutson campaigning
Photograph of Coya Knutson campaigning
Photograph of Coya Knutson playing her accordion
Photograph of Coya Knutson playing her accordion
Coya Knutson and Concordia College Choir members posing in front of US Capitol Building
Coya Knutson and Concordia College Choir members posing in front of US Capitol Building
Photograph of Coya Knutson and other congresswomen
Photograph of Coya Knutson and other congresswomen
Knutson playing her accordion for a group of children in a park
Knutson playing her accordion for a group of children in a park
Photograph of Knutson and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, ca. 1965.
Photograph of Knutson and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, ca. 1965.

Turning Point

Knutson jump-starts her political career in 1950 when she wins a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Chronology

1912

Cornelia “Coya” Gjesdal is born on a farm near Edmore, North Dakota, on August 22, to parents Christian Gjesdal and Christine Anderson.

1934

Coya graduates from Concordia College with a double major in music and English.

1935

Without having ever visited a large city, Coya leaves for New York City to study briefly at the Julliard School.

1940

Coya marries Andy Knutson.

1942

Coya takes a job with the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, which helps her develop public speaking skills and connect with future voters.

1944

Knutson and her husband purchase a hotel, which they name Andy’s Hotel. Coya takes on management of its café.

1948

Coya and Andy adopt Terry, their only child.

1950

Knutson launches her first political campaign and wins the election in the fall, becoming a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

1954

Knutson is elected to the US House of Representatives, becoming Minnesota’s first congresswoman after soundly defeating the DFL-endorsed candidate in the primaries.

1958

Knutson’s husband and political rivals release a series of letters demanding that she end her political career and return home to her family. The letters ruin her chances of winning another term in Congress.

1960

Knutson moves to Washington, DC, and becomes a congressional liaison for the Civil Defense Office at the Pentagon.

1972

Knutson retires and moves back to Minnesota to live with her son.

1996

Knutson dies in Edina, Minnesota, on October 10, at the age of eighty-four.