Karlton Jerome Rosholt (January 20, 1923 – April 4, 2008) was an American journalist and author.

Background

Rosholt was born in 1923 in Glasgow, Montana. His parents were Carl Lauritz Rosholt (1881–1952) and Ida Emilia Solem (1893–1926). He has one younger brother, Norman Tegnear Rosholt. Rosholt attended Luther College, but was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the war, he served with the 95th Infantry Division. After the war, he was graduated from Luther with a degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

in 1948. During college, Rosholt twice won national forensic championships in extemporaneous speech, both times winning the college division and then representing the college division in the university division and winning it. Luther College later honored him with the first Oliver Eittreim Award for Excellence in Broadcast Media (1977) and a Distinguished Service Award (1998).

Career

As a journalist in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

and

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, Rosholt was the head writer for the radio personality Cedric Adams at WCCO. He also worked for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

in Minneapolis. In 1957, following the launch of

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space progra ...

by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Rosholt was the first American journalist to report that the successful launch signified a new age of space exploration, not just a defeat of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the race to be first to enter space. For this report, Rosholt was awarded the Distinguished Journalist Award by Sigma Delta Chi (now known as the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

.) From 1960 to 1962, Rosholt represented Lutheran Film Associates in the distribution of the motion picture ''

Question 7 ''Question 7'' is a 1961 American-West German film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Michael Gwynn, Margaret Jahnen and Christian de Bresson. It won the National Board of Review Award for Best Film. It was also entered into the 11th ...

''. In 1962, Rosholt started working for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

at WRCV-TV. In 1964, he represented

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

for the News Election Service, supervising the collection of votes for NES in three states. In 1966, he transferred to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, writing for WNBC radio. Following his reports on the August 1967 riots in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, he was promoted to the Huntley-Brinkley Report. During the final years of the Huntley-Brinkley Report and during the period of time that

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkle ...

was anchor of the

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

, Rosholt was a field producer, notably covering the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which won

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

in every category of television news coverage. He also covered the U.S. - U.S.S.R. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (

SALT In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

), the

Sadat Sadat () is a suffix, which is given to families believed to be descendants of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. In Iran, after the revolution, it is mandatory to mention "Seyed" or "Sadat" in the names of or whose descent from Muhammad has been men ...

-Begin Peace Talks, the

William Calley William Laws Calley Jr. (June 8, 1943 – April 28, 2024) was a United States Army officer convicted by court-martial of the murder of 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre on March 16, 1968, during the Vietnam War. Call ...

trial, several

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

demonstrations, anti-

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

protests and national political conventions from 1964 to 1988. In 1972, when

John Chancellor John William Chancellor (July 14, 1927 – July 12, 1996) was an American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News. He is considered a pioneer in television news. Chancellor served as anchor of the ''NBC Nightly News'' from 1970 to ...

took over as anchor of the

, Chancellor selected Rosholt as his personal producer and head editor. They worked together until Chancellor was replaced by

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of Today (American TV program), ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anch ...

. Transferring to NBC News Computers, Rosholt finished his career rising to the level of director and retiring in 1988.

Vesterheim Museum

In 1996, Rosholt was asked by Darell Henning, curator of

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa is the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School, with over 33,000 artifacts, 12 historic buildings, and a library and archives. This treasure showcases one of the most extensive ...

, to compile a database of Norwegian immigrants who fought in the U.S. Civil War. In 2003, Vesterheim opened an exhibit on

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans () are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 milli ...

soldiers. Accompanying the exhibit was the database and a book, also written by Rosholt, titled ''Ole Goes to War: Men from Norway Who Fought in America's Civil War''. The book contained stories and pictures Rosholt had found during his research.Decorah (Iowa) Journal
/ref> In September 2006, Rosholt was awarded the

St Olav's medal The St. Olav's Medal and the St. Olav's Medal With Oak Branch were instituted by King Haakon VII of Norway on 17 March 1939. They are awarded in recognition of "outstanding services rendered in connection with the spreading of information about No ...

by King

Harald V of Norway Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the Succession to t ...

"in recognition of isgreat services to Norway, in particular isactive involvement with the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum on its Civil War project". The medal was presented on October 21 in

Decorah, Iowa Decorah is the largest city in and county seat of Winneshiek County, Iowa, Winneshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,587 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Decorah is located at the intersection of Iowa ...

, by Norwegian Consul General Rolf Hansen.

Personal life

Rosholt married Carolyn Janelle Hanson (1926–1993) on August 28, 1947, in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

. They had three sons. Descendants of Jacob Tollefson Rosholt and Johanne Kristine Jacobsdatter of Lardal, Vestfold, Norway.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosholt, Jerry 1923 births 2008 deaths American male journalists American Lutherans United States Army personnel of World War II American reporters and correspondents NBC News people Writers from Montana American people of Norwegian descent Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Luther College (Iowa) alumni People from Glasgow, Montana Journalists from Montana 20th-century Lutherans 20th-century American journalists