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Harold Knutson

American politician (1880-1953)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ200806
Source-derived summary

Harold Knutson (October 20, 1880 – August 21, 1953) was an American politician and journalist who represented Minnesota in the United States House of Representatives from 1917 to 1949 as a member of the Republican Party. From 1919 to 1923 he was the Republican majority whip.

Early life

Knutson was born in Skien, in Telemark county, United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway. At the age of 6 he and his family moved to the United States. They initially settled in Chicago, Illinois, but later moved to Sherburne County, Minnesota.

Journalist career

Knutson became the editor for the St. Cloud Daily Journal-Press. Later, he was president of the Northern Minnesota Editorial Association.

U.S. House of Representatives

From 1917 to 1949 he served as a Republican Party Congressman in the 65th, 66th, 67th, 68th, 69th, 70th, 71st, 72nd, 73rd, 74th, 75th, 76th, 77th, 78th, 79th, and 80th congresses. On April 5, 1917, he voted against declaring war on Germany.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Harold Knutson” as american politician (1880-1953). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1880, 1953, 1917, 1949—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1880-10-20. The account is most persuasive where Harold, Knutson and American can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american politician (1880-1953). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q200806. VIAF identifies the subject as 41463766. The Library of Congress control number is no98106916. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1880, 1953, 1917 and 1949.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Harold Knutson”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Harold Knutson primary sources, Harold Knutson archive and Harold research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Harold Knutson”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Harold Knutson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.