Longtime MSUM teacher honored as a pioneer
Shelda Warren honored as the first woman to earn a master’s degree at the university in 1955
By Kevin Wallevand
Inforum/WDAY TV
MOORHEAD — World War II had just ended when Shelda Warren left little Borup for what was then Moorhead State Teacher’s College.
At the time, becoming a teacher was one of the few professions available to women.
“My mother was a teacher, and when I graduated from high school, girls could only become teachers, secretary or a nurse,” she said.
At 98, Warren can still bring you back to 1945, when she raised her own money in Borup to attend college in Moorhead.
“I was building bikes. I would get old frames at the dump. So I would build bikes and sell them and use the money for tuition at college,” she said from her apartment at Eventide in Moorhead.
Warren got a degree in math and physical education, and went on to become the first woman to receive a master’s degree at MSUM in 1955. Now the university is honoring her for that milestone.