Daphna Nygaard Papers

Daphna Nygaard, Democratic National Committeewoman for North Dakota, was born March 14, 1896, in Ypsilanti, North Dakota. She was the daughter of Frank J. and Anna (Scholiander) Heuser, and graduated from Jamestown College. She married Jesse J. Nygaard in June 1916, and later assisted him in his 1936 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives and his 1938 campaign for the U.S. Senate. Nygaard served as North Dakota's Democratic National Committeewoman from 1940 to 1964, and was the first person from North Dakota to serve, beginning in 1944, on the Democratic Executive Committee. Nygaard was also very active in the North Dakota State Democratic Party as a campaigner, a member of the party's State Central Committee, and as a speaker, fundraiser, and women's leader. She has been a member of the State Health Council since 1971, and served on the Governor's Coordinating Committee on Water Resources in the 1950s. In her home community of Jamestown, North Dakota, Mrs. Nygaard has been a member or officer of the Jamestown Arts and Sciences Club, Book Review Club, Civic Club, Music Club, and the North Dakota Federation of Music Clubs. She was appointed to and served on the Jamestown Airport Committee, and chaired the Women's Committee for the Freedom Train in 1946. She was for many years a Panhellenic Advisor to Alpha Zeta Sorority at Jamestown College. Nygaard also served on the National Advisory Committee for Women's Participation in the New York World's Fair in 1939. Daphna Nygaard died in September 1978.

Note written by