Hannah Kempfer

Who was Hannah Kempfer?

Hannah Jensen Kempfer was a Minnesota schoolteacher, farmer and politician. She was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1923 to 1930 and from 1933 to 1942, representing District 50 and Otter Tail County. Kempfer was one of the four women first elected to the Minnesota legislature in 1922 after women's suffrage.

Born on a ship in the North Sea, Kempfer was adopted by a Norwegian family that immigrated to the United States in 1885. Her family settled in Minnesota and squatted a piece of railroad land where she grew up in poverty. She became a teacher at a small rural schoolhouse.

As a legislator, she championed the rights of children and fought for the conservation of natural resources. She introduced legislation to protect the Showy Lady's slipper, Minnesota's state flower.