Red River Valley Sugarbeet Industry Oral History Project: Interview with Leslie and Virginia Anderson and Lee Lykken

Titles: Red River Valley Sugarbeet Industry Oral History Project: Interview with Leslie and Virginia Anderson and Lee Lykken (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Virginia Anderson and Lee Lykken were the grandchildren of Hans Lykken, first owner of what is now known as Lykken Farms, located in North Dakota's Red River Valley. Leslie and Virginia Anderson were husband and wife. Hans Lykken's two sons, Luther, father of Virginia, and Harry, father of Lee, were both born on Hans's farm and took over the family farming operations from their father; they later established the partnership known as Lykken Farms. From 1916 to 1925 Luther also operated the Lykken General Merchandise store in Auburn, North Dakota. Luther died in 1962. Lykken and both Andersons were all born and educated in or near Grafton, North Dakota, and continued to live and farm there. The Lykken Farms partnership members were Lee Lykken, Virginia Anderson, and Virginia's son, Doug Anderson. The family received a contract from American Crystal Sugar to grow sugar beets in 1927. The partnership joined the co-op program in 1973 when the American Crystal Sugar Company was purchased by the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association and reorganized as a growers cooperative. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The Andersons and Lykken discuss their growing up and education in and near Grafton and Auburn, North Dakota; 1929 Depression years farm economy; migrant labor, housing accommodations, financial dealings and relationship with the Lykken family; harvesting, delivery and payment for sugar beets; pest and weed control; growing conditions, yields, and crop rotation; comparison of potato growing and beet production; and the purchase of the American Crystal Sugar Company by the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Growers Association as a cooperative.

Dates

• 12/15/1992 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewee: Anderson, Leslie
• interviewee: Anderson, Virginia Lykken
• interviewee: Lykken, Lee
• interviewer: Shoptaugh, Terry L.
• interviewer: Achin, Norman
• interviewer: Bass, Stewart

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 40
• Accession Number: AV2000.37.1

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Red River Valley Sugarbeet Industry Oral History Project' <OH 40>

Quantity: 42 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: text

Subjects

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