Before she became Peggy Lee, the woman with the sultry, unmistakable voice heard around the world, she was Norma Egstrom who spent her high school years in Wimbledon, North Dakota, a small-town girl whose first taste of a bigger stage came in Valley City.

Her first radio performances came from KOVC in 1936, followed by dances at the Eagles Club and appearances with local bands. Valley City newspapers never forgot her. Again and again, the Times-Record reminded readers that Peggy Lee “made the light of Broadway via Valley City.”

By the early 1940s, she was signing with Benny Goodman in New York, a remarkable rise from a small-town beginning. During wartime, the pace intensified. Peggy later recalled, “We did begin doing bond show after bond show, mostly in Times Square between regular shows, and things became more and more hectic.” She and the band also played for hospitals, bringing music to wounded soldiers while the country waited anxiously for news from overseas.

Those years were triumphant and deeply human. One evening during the war, Peggy befriended a wounded RAF pilot who requested sad songs, especially Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine.” After opening up to her about the trauma of combat, he later took his own life. Peggy was devastated but sang that night anyway, urged on by Benny Goodman. The show must go on, even when the weight is unbearable.

Through it all, Valley City followed her journey closely, celebrating her successes, defending her dignity when national magazines dismissed her as “corn-fed”, and welcoming her home whenever she returned. In 1950, after performing at the North Dakota Winter Show, Peggy left Valley City in a farm truck driven by her brother, navigating snowdrifts to reach her ailing father near Wimbledon.

Despite international fame, those who knew Peggy Lee remembered her for something quieter. A Valley City businessman once said her greatness showed not on stage, but in her humility, her kindness, and her deep religious faith. Peggy Lee never forgot where she started. Valley City and Barnes County were not just footnotes in her story, they were the foundation. From KOVC to Carnegie Hall, her voice carried with it the grit, grace, and heart of North Dakota.