author
Alfred G. (Alfred Gilmeiden) Arvold
1882–1957
Best known for bringing theater to rural communities, this North Dakota educator wrote with the energy of someone who believed drama belonged to everyone. His work blends practical know-how with a real sense of mission, showing how performance could enliven small-town life.
1 Audiobook
The little country theater
by Alfred G. (Alfred Gilmeiden) Arvold
About the author
Born in Whitewater, Wisconsin, in 1882, Alfred G. Arvold studied at the University of Wisconsin and then began his career as a teacher before joining the faculty of the North Dakota Agricultural College in 1907. He spent decades there teaching speech and related subjects, and he became one of the state’s most influential champions of educational theater.
Arvold is especially remembered for founding the Little Country Theatre at the college in 1914 and for encouraging drama far beyond campus. He promoted theater as something useful, social, and accessible, especially for people in rural communities, and that idea shaped both his teaching and his writing.
His best-known book, The Little Country Theater, reflects that hands-on spirit. Rather than treating drama as something distant or elite, it presents it as a living community art—one that could help neighbors gather, learn, and create together.