Lyla Mae Olson
American nurse (1895-1964)
Lyla Mae Olson (1895–1964) was an American nurse who wrote several books on practical public health and home nursing, including ways to make the equipment needed. She is best known in the 21st century as the inspiration for the "Olson mask," variants of which were one of the most popular cloth masks worn during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early life
Born May 12, 1895, in Pope County, Minnesota, Lyla Mae Olson was the second of nine children. Her parents, Axel Hagebert Olson and Ragnhild "Rosie" (Hoverud) Olson each immigrated with their families from Norway. Axel's family was living in Rolling Forks, Minnesota at the time of the 1885 Minnesota State Census. Ragnhild came with her family from Valdres, Norway, and by 1885, was living in Langhei, Minnesota.
Axel and Ragnhild Olson were living in Benson, MN in 1900 with four children: Myrtle, Leila (Lyla), Leonora, and Hazel. Axel's occupation is listed as "machinery salesman." By 1905, the Olson family had grown by three more children — Helen, Esther, and Clifford — and Axel's father, Ole S. Olson, had also moved in with them.
By 1910, the Olsons had moved to White Bear Lake, MN and had another son, Arthur. By 1920 the Olsons had moved to their final home in Glenwood, MN where their ninth child, Licele, was born, and Axel was working as a policeman.
“Lyla Mae Olson” enters the record as american nurse (1895-1964). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Lyla, Olson and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q94537392. VIAF identifies the subject as 144149196504874791986. The Library of Congress control number is n88115985. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1895, 1964, 1885 and 1900.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lyla Mae Olson” 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.