Lange, D. (Dietrich), 1863-1940

Dietrich Lange was born on June 2, 1863 at Bonstorf, Germany, the son of Johann Peter and Maria Dorothea Katharina Ahrns Lange. In September 1881 the family emigrated to the United States, settling in Nicollet Township, Nicollet County, Minnesota.

Lange had received a primary and secondary education in Germany and immediately began teaching in Nicollet's German Lutheran parochial school (1881-1883). He attended Mankato Normal School (1883-1886) and eventually received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1909.

Lange moved to St. Paul in 1887, where he taught in the city's elementary schools (1887-1889) and then at St. Paul Central High School (1889-1906). From 1897 through 1906 he also served as supervisor of nature studies for the city's entire public school system. In 1906 he became principal of St. Paul's Humboldt High School, a position he held until he was named St. Paul superintendent of public schools in 1914. He left that position in 1916 to become principal of St. Paul's George Weitbrecht Mechanic Arts High School. He remained there until he was named director of nature study for the St. Paul public school system in 1939.

Lange was a nationally known author and lecturer on the outdoors, nature, and the need for conservation. He published not only numerous magazine and newspaper articles about these topics, but also a number of books, his best known being a series of popular boys' stories concerning Indians, nature, and pioneer life. He was one of the leading authorities on bird life in the Great Lakes region.

He was also a pioneer in the Boy Scout movement; led political fights in Minnesota to prohibit the sale of wild ducks, abolish spring hunting, and enable the state to acquire cut-over forest land for reforestation; and was a member and/or officer of the League of American Sportsmen, Izaak Walton League of America, Minnesota Professional Men's Club, Minnesota Historical Society, Audubon Society, and Wilson Ornithological Club.

Lange married Hulda Wilhelmina Freitag on September 13, 1888. The couple had three children, Lorna Frances, Edna Louise, and Otto Frederick.

Lange died on November 18, 1940 of heart disease.

Biographical data was taken from the collection and from Who Was Who In America, Vol. II, 1943-1950 (Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, Inc., 1950) p. 312.

From the guide to the Dietrich Lange papers., 1889-1940., (Minnesota Historical Society)