Birthday profile

Ida McNeil

Ida McNeil, American broadcaster and designer of the flag of South Dakota (died 1974)

Born
September 8, 1888
Died
August 13, 1974
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1888

About Ida McNeil

Ida McNeil was an American broadcaster and the designer of the first state flag of South Dakota. She and her husband, Dana McNeil, founded KGFX, in Pierre, South Dakota, one of the first radio stations in South Dakota, in 1927. She continued to run the station after his death in 1936 until her retirement in 1962. She has been nicknamed "Mrs. Pierre" for her work in broadcasting and "the Betsy Ross of South Dakota" for her state flag design. Ida McNeil (née Anding; September 8, 1888 – August 13, 1974) was an American broadcaster and the designer of the first state flag of South Dakota. McNeil's first post-graduation job was with the South Dakota Department of History in Pierre, where she filled a variety of roles. She first worked as a clerk and legislative reference librarian before becoming personal secretary to superintendent Doane Robinson, and later became assistant superintendent.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Ida McNeil timeline

  1. Ida McNeil (née Anding; September 8, 1888 – August 13, 1974) was an American broadcaster and the designer of the first state flag of South Dakota.
  2. She and her husband, Dana McNeil, founded KGFX, in Pierre, South Dakota, one of the first radio stations in South Dakota, in 1927.

The world when Ida McNeil was born

Ida McNeil was born in 1888. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineGreat Blizzard of 1888 paralyzes US East Coast
  • Technology milestoneKodak box camera — "You press the button, we do the rest"
  • Defining fadKodak camera craze
  • World population~1.48B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderGrover Cleveland
  • U.S. population57.6M

1888 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Ida McNeil's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18882026
Population57.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, South Dakota Hall of Fame, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.