Friends of Olin and Emma Swenson (Eau Claire, Wis.)

Olin and Emma Swenson were prominent activists in the fight for socialist causes throughout Chippewa County. As a young man living near Holcombe, Wis., Olin Swenson organized lectures and debates concerning issues such as women's suffrage and prohibition. In the early 1920s he founded a cooperative creamery on his farm. He later moved to Chippewa Falls, Wis., where he spent the majority of his life. Olin Swenson was involved with Northern Thunder to protest the construction of a nuclear plant in Durand and he was the mastermind behind the formation of the Surplus Food program in Chippewa Falls in the 1960s. Olin and Emma Swenson supported the formation of the Group Health Cooperative. This collection contains only a small amount of information relating to Emma Swenson, although it is clear that she was supportive of, and active in, the pursuits of her husband.