ANNE CARLSEN

Creating a Life of Independence for Individuals with Disabilities

Born without forearms or lower legs, Anne Carlsen understood early the challenges of living with disability in a normal world. Her unstoppable determination and boundless spirit propelled her to become a beloved teacher, mentor, administrator and world-renowned advocate for individuals with disabilities.

Her life began on November 4, 1915, in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. It was a time when individuals with disabilities often remained at home, but Carlsen’s parents took an unusual approach and mainstreamed her into public school. Her parents, four brothers and older sister nurtured her and became her biggest advocates. Her father offered words of advice, “Anne, two arms and two legs missing aren’t as important as one head that’s present. The best way to make that head help is to get it educated.” Those words set the stage for a life-long love of education.

She started school at age eight and applying her keen mind graduated from 8th grade at age 12. A long hospitalization for surgery and therapy while in high school did little to undermine her education and she graduated from St. Paul Luther Academy at age 16. She went on to college, pursuing her desire to become a teacher, and graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 1936.

In 1938 she was offered a job at Fargo’s Good Samaritan School for Cripple Children, later named the Anne Carlsen Center honoring her life-long work. “I bought myself a new dress and hat and a Greyhound bus ticket and headed west to Fargo. I had never been to North Dakota. I was offered $25 a month, plus room and board. I thought I was at the peak of my career,” she said.

Carlsen’s career, however, had just begun. After acquiring her MA from the University of Colorado, and a doctorate in education from the University of Minnesota, Carlsen returned to Jamestown becoming the school’s principal, and quickly its administrator. She embraced and challenged her community in the interest of improving the quality of life for those in need of assistance. For thirty-one years she gave lead to continual growth and improvements vastly affecting the lives of countless individuals and families. She held the position until her retirement in 1981 and served as a consultant to the school and a mentor to its students until her death.

Carlsen’s awards and achievements were many, including the prestigious President’s Trophy as Handicapped American of the

Year presented to her by then-Vice President Richard Nixon. In a 1981 interview, she expressed her greatest satisfaction stating, “It’s gratifying to see those who’ve become successful by universal standards, as teachers, physicists, homemakers and in other professions. But others whose handicaps are so severe that they can’t be employed are successes, too. If they do the best they can and contribute whatever they’re able, they’re really doing as well or better in life than most non-handicapped people.”

Today, the Anne Carlsen Center proudly celebrates its 75th anniversary and honors what would have been Carlsen’s 100th birthday. Operating in eight cities across North Dakota, they carry on Carlsen’s spirit and vision offering a rich tradition of empowering individuals with disabilities including cerebral palsy, orthopedic vision and hearing impairments, autism, pervasive and other behavior disorders,and many other medical challenges. The center’s mission statement and guiding light states: The Anne Carlsen Center exists to make the world a more inclusive place where independence is a gift to all.

To learn more about the Anne Carlsen Center please visit www.annecarlsen.org.