Einar Oswald Hammer was born on October 23, 1897 in Webster, South Dakota, the son of Reverend and Mrs. L. E. Hammer, two Norwegian immigrants. Hammer grew up on a farm and attended local schools, then served in World War I before attending St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. His interest in journalism was manifest even as an undergraduate, as Hammer served as editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Following his graduation in 1922 Hammer was employed for six years as city editor of the Faribault [Minn.] Daily News. He left Faribault in 1928 to take over publication of the Jackson [Minn.] Weekly Republic. In 1933 he moved to Lone Rock, Wisconsin, where he owned, edited, and published the weekly Lone Rock Journal.
As a result of his publishing success in rural communities and his resulting knowledge of the rural economy, in 1944 Hammer was appointed head of public relations in the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and Markets. For the next eight years he was editor of the departmental publicity, public relations, and market news. In this capacity he wrote numerous articles, reports, essays, radio talks, and speeches about the role of agriculture in Wisconsin. He also drafted an unpublished book, “Backgrounds of the Wisconsin State Department of Agriculture.”
Hammer was also president of the Public Relations Club of Madison. In 1949 he received an M.S. in agricultural journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Also interested in his own ethnic background, he was a member of the Ygdrasil Literary Society and a student of Scandinavian languages at the University.
Hammer left the Agriculture Department in 1952 to accept a position as public relations director for the Madison Chamber of Commerce. In 1954 he became publicity director for the State American Legion Convention. In that same year he moved to Minneapolis as director of fraternal affairs for the Sons of Norway, an insurance-based fraternal order for Americans of Norwegian descent. Hammer's association with the Sons of Norway had begun in 1945 when he joined the Madison Lodge No. 74. By 1949 he was president of District Lodge No. 5, which governed the state lodges of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan.
As director of fraternal affairs, Hammer was a frequent speaker at national, district, and state lodge events, and he was chiefly responsible for maintaining channels of communication within the fraternal structure. Hammer also edited the Sons of Norway magazine, supplying it with numerous articles and book reviews. Many of these articles were inspired by his organization-sponsored trip to Norway in 1959 and by his interest in the Kensington Runestone issue, the voyages of Leif Erikson, and the archaeological evidence of early Viking settlements in North America. Hammer also directed organizational affairs in relation to other fraternal orders and served on the legislative committee and as head of publicity for the Minnesota Fraternal Congress.
Hammer was married to Magna C. Simpson in 1926. They had three children, Einar D., Lowell E., and Lois Hammer Seymour. In 1964 he resigned from his position with the Sons of Norway. He died on August 21, 1965.
