The Dorothy Ann (Knutson) Bierne collection consists of an audiocassette and transcript of an oral history interview conducted between Bierne and Masao Hakuto during the fall of 1987. Bierne began her teaching career in Clark, South Dakota and then after one year she move to Milbank, South Dakota to continue teaching. After marrying in 1950 and beginning a family, she quit teaching. She remained strictly a homemaker until 1957 when she finished enough coursework to earn a bachelor's degree from Mankato State College in 1959. Bierne began teaching again in 1959 when she was hired to teach at Union Elementary School in Mankato, Minnesota. In 1965, she transferred to the newly opened Hoover Elementary School in North Mankato, Minnesota where she remained until her retirement during 1986. In the Interview, Bierne discussed her family, her experiences teaching in South Dakota but primarily Minnesota, teacher organizations, state regulations, and the expectations of parents.

This oral history interview was conducted as a requirement for the graduate level Educational Foundations course entitled History of Education in American Culture at Mankato State University in Mankato, Minnesota.