Educator Carl Van Dyke of Minnesota: Also a Talented Politician

Talented teachers often possess the personality traits that make them successful in the political arena. Such is certainly the case for Carl Chester Van Dyke, an elementary school teacher who went on to become a lawyer and then a United States Congressman.


Carl was born on February 18, 1881, in Alexandria, Douglas County, Minnesota. He attended local schools, and when he came of age, taught elementary schools in Douglas County from 1899 to 1901. It was in that year that he enlisted in the Minnesota Volunteer Infantry branch of the US Army, where he served as a private in Company B in the Fifteenth Regiment. He saw action in the Spanish American War. Carl was highly respected by his fellow veterans. In fact, in 1918, the former teacher was elected Commander in Chief of the US Spanish War Veterans.

Once he returned from military service, Carl attended St. Paul College of Law, which later came to be known as William Mitchell College of Law. Following his graduation, Carl was admitted to the bar in St. Paul. His leadership abilities evident, the former educator was elected to the US House of Representatives, where he served from 1915 until his death on May 20, 1919, in Washington, DC. He was only 38 years old. After his passing, this gifted teacher, lawyer, and public servant was cremated and his ashes interred in a mausoleum in Forest Cemetery, St. Paul, Minnesota.