History of IDA-UMB

IDA's Upper Midwest Branch Offers a Long and Renowned History

The Upper Midwest Branch was the fifth branch to form in the nation. It was literally the only branch between the East and West Coasts. The national files state that “a preliminary meeting to form the Upper Midwest Branch of the Orton Society was held during the National Orton Society meeting in October of 1968.”

The first informal organizational meeting of a nucleus of interested people met in Rochester, Minnesota in April of 1969. More than 130 educators, parents and physicians attended the first meeting on September 26-27, 1969 in Rochester. It was organized by Branch founders Paula Rome and Jean Osman, assisted by their Reading Center staff Arlene Sonday, Marcia Henry, and Roberta Stroebel. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada made up the Upper Midwest Branch. The first officers elected were Paula Rome, President, Jean Osman, Vice President, Dorothy Ley of Wayne, Nebraska, Secretary, Julie Steinke of LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Treasurer, and Isabel Matterson of Ames, Iowa, Membership Chairman. The keynote speakers at this meeting were Margaret Rawson, Past President of The Orton Society; Dr. Manuel Gomez, Mayo Clinic neurologist; Dr. Fredrick Darly, head of the Speech Pathology Department at the Mayo Clinic; and Dr. Mary Lee Enfield of the Project Read Program in Bloomington, Minnesota.

The presidents who have led our branch during the past 30 years have been Paula Rome, Jean Osman, Mary Lee Enfield, C. Wilson Anderson, Jr., Arlene Sonday, Joan Kelly, Betty Sims, David Winters, Bonnie Berquist, Mary Platt, Hannah Tolles, Sara Sevik, Trish Vickman, Claire Eckley, Wilson Anderson, and Cindee McCarthy. The branch has continued to provide both the public and its membership with regional conferences, newsletters, tutor referrals, Orton-Gillingham and related teacher training courses, support groups, a hotline and scholarships to regional and national conferences.

Among the notable accomplishments during the years are the first World Congress on Dyslexia in 1974 in Rochester (in cooperation with the Mayo Clinic); the hosting of the Orton Dyslexia Society’s annual conference Bloomington in 1978; the 48th Annual Conference in 1997 in Minneapolis; and hosting the Whole Language and Phonics Symposium in Bloomington in March of 1979.

As was envisioned by the early founders, the branch has been instrumental in assisting other states in the Branch to develop their own state branches. The first to “branch off” was the state of Iowa, followed by Nebraska, and Wisconsin, leaving Minnesota, North and South Dakota and Winnipeg.

For such a small branch we have supplied an impressive numbers of members to the international Board of Directors including Paula Rome, Jean Osman, C. Wilson Anderson, Jr., Arlene Sonday, Dr. Drake Duane, Dr. Mary Lee Enfield, Tori Greene and Dr. Marcia Henry. Dr. Duane, Wilson Anderson and Dr. Marcia Henry have served as Presidents of the now International Dyslexia Association. Paula Rome, Drake Duane and Wilson Anderson have brought additional honors to the Branch by being recipients of the Samuel Torrey Orton Award in 1978, 1983 and 1997 respectively. Further honors have been brought to the Branch by Margaret Byrd Rawson Award recipients Marcia Henry, Jean Osman and Arlene Sonday.

Written by Joan Kelly and updated by Wilson Anderson, published in Samuel T. Orton, MD and His Legacy: 50th Anniversary of the International Dyslexia Association.