Hannah Jensen Kempfer was a Norwegian-American schoolteacher, farmer, and politician. She was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1923 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1942, representing District 50 that covered Otter Tail County. Born on a ship in the North Sea, Kempfer was adopted by a Norwegian family that immigrated to the United States in 1885. Her family settled in Minnesota and squatted a piece of railroad land where she grew up in poverty. She became a teacher at a small rural schoolhouse. Kempfer was one of the four women first elected to the Minnesota legislature in 1922 after women's suffrage. As a legislator, she championed the rights of children and fought for the conservation of natural resources. She introduced legislation to protect the Showy Lady's slipper, Minnesota's state flower.
Hannah Kempfer
Johannah Josephine Jensen in Stavanger, Norway (circa 1883)
Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the U.S. state of Minnesota's legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper house, to craft and pass legislation, which is then subject to approval by the governor of Minnesota.
Minnesota House of Representatives