Ueland, Brenda

Brenda Ueland was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (October 24, 1891), the daughter of Andreas Ueland (1853-1933), a prominent lawyer who served as judge of probate and general counsel for both Midland National and the Federal Reserve banks of Minneapolis, and Clara Hampson Ueland (1860-1927), an activist in the women's suffrage movement who served as the first president of the Minnesota League of Women Voters (1919-1920) and as chair of the League's legislative council (1920-1927).

Brenda's siblings include Anne (1886-1960), Elsa (1888-1980), Sigurd (1893-1975), Arnulf (1895-1978), Rolf (1899-1973), and Torvald (1902-1978). Another sister, Dorothy, was born between Elsa and Brenda but died as an infant.

Brenda attended Wells and Barnard colleges, receiving her baccalaureate degree from Barnard in 1913. After a brief newspaper career as the first woman reporter on the Minneapolis Tribune and a stint on the St. Paul Daily News, Ueland moved to New York City. She worked for the Crowell Publishing Company (1915-1917) and lived in Greenwich Village, where she associated with journalist-socialists such as John Reed, Louise Bryant, and Emma Goldman. She married William Benedict (1916), had a daughter, Gabrielle (1921), and was divorced (1926). She supported herself and Gabrielle as a staff writer for Liberty Magazine (1922-1925) and as a free-lance writer for publications such as the Saturday Evening Post and Ladies Home Journal.

In 1930 Ueland returned to Minneapolis, where she continued to write. She published two books: If You Want to Write (1938) and an autobiography entitled Me (1939). From 1941-1948 she wrote a column for the Minneapolis Times and was awarded the Knights of St. Olaf medal by the Norwegian government while on assignment covering the Quisling trial (1946). She later wrote columns for the Askov American and the Minneapolis Posten .

Ueland was married and divorced two more times. Her second husband was Manus McFadden, editor of the Minneapolis Times, and the third, Norwegian artist Sverre Hanssen. Brenda Ueland died on March 5, 1985.

Biographical data was taken from the collection.

From the guide to the Brenda Ueland and family papers., 1857-1993., (Minnesota Historical Society)