Coya Gjesdal KNUTSON, Congress, MN (1912-1996)
KNUTSON, Coya Gjesdal, a Representative from Minnesota; born Cornelia Genevive Gjesdal in Edmore, Ramsey County, N.Dak., August 22, 1912; attended the public schools of Edmore; Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., B.S., 1934; postgraduate work at State Teachers College in Moorhead and Julliard School of Music, New York City; taught high school in Penn, N.Dak., and Plummer and Oklee, Minn., 1941-1943; member of Red Lake County Welfare Board 1948-1950; delegate, Democratic National Conventions 1948, 1952, and 1956; served in the State house of representatives 1951-1954; member of the Youth Study Commission in 1953 and 1954; elected as a Democrat-Farmer-Labor to the Eighty-fourth and to the Eighty-fifth Congresses (January 3, 1955-January 3, 1959); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1958 to the Eighty-sixth Congress and for election in 1960 to the Eighty-seventh Congress; author of articles for farm magazines and interested in childrenâs television programs; liaison officer, Department of Defense in Office of Civil Defense, 1961-1970; unsuccessful candidate for nomination February 8, 1977, to the Ninety-fifth Congress in a special election primary; died October 10, 1996.
Bibliography
Beito, Gretchen Urnes. Coya Come Home: A Congresswomanâs Journey. Los Angeles: Pomegranate Press, 1990.Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
