Floyd Anderson Papers Relating to Augustana Lutheran Church, Washington, D.C.

Floyd Anderson was a high-ranking engineer with the Department of the Navy, member of Augustana Lutheran Church, Washington D.C., and a prominent leader in the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Born in Rock Island, IL, Anderson attended Augustana College from 1935-1937, graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1940 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, and went on to do graduate work at George Washington University and Pennsylvania State University. Anderson moved to Washington, D.C. in January 1941 to accept an engineering position with the U.S. Navy, Bureau of Ships under Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. He married Louise Ruth Anderson on April 19, 1941 at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Rock Island.

Anderson participated in the first civil rights March on Washington in 1963. During the 1960s he supported and fostered church-community partnerships within the Shaw neighborhood. He also helped organize community outreach efforts and after-school programs provided at Augustana Lutheran Church, such as the Harrison Community Program which was established to ensure children could reach their potential.

Anderson worked with Lutheran Lay Foundation to establish the nonprofit group, Fellowship Square Foundation in 1960, which provides affordable housing for the elderly and disabled in the Washington area. He also served on the boards of Largo Landing Elderly Developments, Inc., the New Inner-City Community Organization, Inc. and Inter-Religious Elderly Development, Inc.

In 1983 he helped found the Luther Institute, a faith-based organization created to address public issues within the framework of Lutheran theology. The Institute provides learning opportunities to future church leaders, internships for college students, and sponsors seminars led by theologians and professors.

A member of Augustana Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C. for sixty-four years, Anderson held many leadership positions in the church. He was a Sunday School superintendent for twenty years, member of the church council, and served on several call committees to select new pastors. He also served as Chair of the Social Ministry Committee, Finance Committee, and two capital fund appeals. Beyond the local level, Anderson also served the synod and national church. He served on the National Executive Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for fourteen years, the Finance Committee and Construction Committee of the Maryland Synod, the Finance Committee of the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Synod, and the Finance Committees of the New York Conference and National Augustana Lutheran Church.

Anderson was active in various organizations through 2005. At the time of his death, he was a member of the President’s Cabinet at Gettysburg Theological Seminary, Treasurer of the Fellowship Square Foundation, Treasurer of the Lutheran Lay Fellowship, and Treasurer of The Luther Institute. He died of cancer on March 24, 2005 at Washington Home Hospice. His wife, Louise passed away on December 2, 2011.