Letter - Survey asks about Kensington Runestone

To the editor:

Since 1898, when Olaf Ohman unearthed the Kensington Runestone, scholars throughout Minnesota, the United States and internationally have argued the authenticity of the Kensington Runestone. Everyone seems to want to prove or disprove the 202-pound greywacke stone covered in runic writing. No one seems to care what the Kensington Runestone does for the city of Alexandria and Douglas County as a whole. Authenticity aside, the Kensington Runestone has changed the course of Douglas County forever.

Douglas County would not be the same without the Kensington Runestone. There would be no Big Ole watching over Broadway, nor would there be businesses containing the words Runestone and Viking like Runestone Animal Medical Center and Runestone Community Center or Viking Pawn Shop and Pay Day Loans and Viking Office Supply. Our county has been forever changed by the Kensington Runestone, perhaps for the better? As a graduate student at the University of North Dakota – from the Alexandria area – I have found this topic fascinating and have decided to look at the Kensington Runestone as my geography master’s thesis focusing on the aspects of community, cultural identity, and economics. I ask readers to visit my website http://www.wix.com/kimberleyhoppe/kensingtonrunestone and take a brief survey regarding their thoughts and feelings regarding the Kensington Runestone and how the Kensington Runestone promotes community and cultural identity within Douglas County, Minnesota by February 1, 2011.

This survey is completely optional and voluntary. Your name is not associated with the survey in any way.

If you have questions regarding my research, please contact the University of North Dakota’s Internal Review Board at (701) 777-4279 or my advisor, Douglas Munski, at (701) 777-4591. A presentation of my findings will be held in mid March and a copy of my findings can be obtained on May 1, 2011, by contacting me at kimberley.hoppe@und.edu.

Kimberley Hoppe

Grand Forks, ND

Tags: opinion, letter, hoppe