In 1948, Mrs Henry E. Hartig—known to her friends as Dorothy—prepared this history of Robbinsdale for the Robbinsdale Library Club. She noted that while the material she used came from a variety of sources listed in her short bibliography, the choice of items discussed was entirely her responsibility. In 1949 Mrs. Hartig’s history of Robbinsdale was buried in the cornerstone of Lee Elementary School at the corner of 36th and Lee Aves. N.
Mrs. Hartig’s husband, Dr. Henry E. Hartig, was a University Professor and World War I veteran who served on the Robbinsdale School Board for many years. Mrs. Hartig was active in the Minnesota Women’s Clubs and the Women’s Auxiliary of the American Legion. She was also President of the Minneapolis Presbyterial Society and well-known as Robbinsdale’s Girl Scout Troop Leader. The Hartigs lived at 3940 Lake Curve Avenue.
In 1957, the 43rd Annual Convention of the Tenth District Minnesota Federation of Women’s Clubs was held at the Congregational Church in Robbinsdale, with Mrs. Henry Hartig and Mrs. J. W. Bobletter as co-chairs. There was a scrapbook contest and the scrapbook of the Robbinsdale Library Club, won first prize.
In 1978 Dorothy Hartig helped to organize the Robbinsdale Historical Society. Five years later, Helen Blodgett used Mrs. Hartig’s informal history of Robbinsdale as a starting point for her book, Robbinsdale Then…and Now. Dorthy Hartig passed away in 1988, at the age of 92. This post will be the first in a series of three featuring Mrs. Hartig’s original, hand-corrected manuscript.
