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7%^ Stote Historical Society of Wisconsin Vol. 79, No. 4 • Summer, 1996 THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN

H. NICHOLAS MULLER III, Director

Officers GiKNN R. CoATF.ES, President RicHARii H. Hoi.scHER, TreastireT GERALD D. VLSTE, First Vice-President H. NICHOLAS MULLER III, Secretary PATRICIA A. BOCE, Second Vice-President

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin is both a state agency and a private membership organization. Founded in 1846—two years before statehood—and chartered in 1853, it is the oldest American historical society to receive continuous public funding. By statiUe, it is charged with collecting, advancing, and disseminating knowledge of Wisconsin and of the trans-Allegheny West. The Society serves as the archive of the State of Wisconsin; it collects all manner of books, periodicals, maps, manuscripts, relics, newspapers, and aural and graphic materials as they relate to North America; it maintains a museum, library, and research facility in Madison as well as a statewide system of historic sites, school services, area research centers, and affiliated local societies; it administers a broad program of historic preservation; and publishes a wide variety of historical materials, both scholarly and popular.

Membership in the Society is open to the public. Individual membership (one person) is $27.50. Senior Citizen Individualmeraher^hip if, %22.bQ. Family m.emhenh\Yi is $32.50. Senior Citizen Family mevaherf,\\i\i is $27.50. SM/»/)ortmg'membership is $100. Switommg'membership is $250. A Patron contributes $500 or more. Lz/i? membership (one person) is $1,000. Membership in the Friends of the SHSW is open to the public. /wrfiwirfMa/membership (one person) is $20. Family membership is $30. The Society is governed by a Board of Curators which includes twenty-four elected members, the Governor or designee, three appointees of the Governor, a legislator from the majority and minority from each house, and ex officio, the President of the University of Wisconsin System, the President of the Friends of the State Historical Society, the President of the Wisconsin History Foundation, Inc., and the President of the Administrative Committee of the Wisconsin Council for Local History. A complete listing of the Curators appears inside the back cover.

The Society is headquartered at 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1488, at the juncture of Langdon and Park streets on the University of Wisconsin campus. The State Historical Museum is located at 30 North Carroll Street. A partial listing of phone numbers (Area Code 608) follows:

General Administration 264-6400 Hours of operation 264-6588 Affiliated local societies 264-6583 Institutional advancement 264-6585 Archives reading room 264-6460 Library Circulation desk 264-6534 Contribution of manuscript materials 264-6477 Maps 264-6458 Development 264-6589 Membership 264-6587 Editorial offices 264-6461 Microforms reading room 264-6536 Fax 264-6404 Museum tours 264-6555 Film collections 264-6470 Newspaper reference 264-6531 Genealogical and general reference inquiries 264-6535 Picture and sound collections 264-6470 Government publications and reference 264-6525 Public information office 264-6.586 Historic preservation 264-6500 School services 264-6579 Historic sites 264-6586 Archives Division http://www.wisc.edu/shs-archives

ON THE COVER: Photograph of Historical Society Staff taken April 18, 1996, by Jay Salvo, Senior Media Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Extension Photographic Media Center. Volume 79, Number 4 / Summer, 1996

WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY

Published quarterly by the Slate Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1488. The Society at One Hundred Fift}'Years 2,59 Distributed to members as part of their dues. Individual membership, $27.50; senior citi/en individual, $22.50; family, $32.50; Lma Appel and the Art of Copyediting: senior citizen family, $27.50; supporting, $100; sustaining, $250; A Personal Memoir 364 patron, $500 or more; life (one person), $1,000. Single numbers from Volume 57 fonvard are $5 Francis Paul I-'rucfia plus postage. Microfilmed copies available through University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106. Commimications should be addressed to the editor. The Society does not assume responsibility for statements made by contributors. Second-class postage paid at Madison, Wisconsin. I'O.STMASTER: Send address changes to Wisconsin Magazine of History, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1488. Copyright© 1996 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Magazine of Itis/oiy is indexed annually by the editors; cumulative indexes are assembled decennially. In addition, articles are abstracted and indexed in America: History and Life, Historical Abstracts, Index to Literature on the American Indian, and the Combined. Editor Retrospective Index to Journals in PAUL H. HASS Histoyy, 1838-1974.' Associate J^ditors Photographs identified with WHi negative ntnnbers are from the WILLIAM C. MARTEN Historical Society's collections. JOHN O. HOI.ZHUEIKR \VIIi(X3).-)04fB The familiar sight of a researcher at work in the slacks of the Society library, warmed by the glow from above and below, with well-worn volumes on either side.. 258 The Society at One Hundred Fifty Years

F the many milestones in the long active, how useful, how great a historical O history of the State Historical Soci­ society the people of the state—and this ety of Wisconsin, perhaps none was more as I see it means you—want. Only with noteworthy than that marking the dedica­ that support can we move ahead. But with tion of the neoclassical headquarters that support, there are no ultimate visible building on October 19, 1900. A host of limits as to where we can go. . . ." luminaries, including Governor Edward Now we have gone another fifty years, Scofield, University of Wisconsin presi­ and the Society is celebrating its sesqui- dent Charles Kendall Adams, and Charles centennial: without doubt, a remarkable Francis Adams—civic leader, historian, milestone. But anniveraries, like obituar­ and grandson of John Quincy Adams— ies, are tricky business. The vocabulary of extolled the founders and the grand commemoration is dense with invocations democratic vision of this new-style west­ of a splendid past and golden future. ern historical society. Reuben Gold What can we add to what has already Thwaites, second director of the Society, been said? recounted what he termed the "small be­ This issue of the Magazine is our at­ ginnings" of the historical society in 1846 tempt to mark the Society's sesquicenten- and its several reorganizations prior to nial in some permanent way with a mini­ the advent in 1853 of its savior and first mum of self-congratulatory rhetoric. To superintendent, Lyman Draper. Thwaites that end, we invited several hundred eulogized Draper as a diffident but inde­ "alumni" to recall their days or years within fatigable man, "full of vigor and push," the circle of the Society. These included whose energy and unconquerable persis­ former staff members and administrators, tence had set the institution's founda­ students and professors, historians, re­ tions broad and deep. Concluding, he searchers, and writers of all kinds, folklor- predicted that "to those who, succeeding ists and genealogists, ex-members of the us, shall celebrate its centennial within Board of Curators—in short, anyone who these walls, the first half-century will seem knew the Society or had used its varied to have indeed been a time of modest resources and whose address we could accomplishment. We are but oh the find. (No current staff membei"s or cura­ threshold of our possibilities." tors were included; they will have to wait One such threshold was crossed forty- for another anniversary.) six years later, on the occasion of the We wanted to learn how the Society Society's hundredth anniversary. Clifford looked from different perspectives, how L. Lord, newly appointed director, ob­ it worked, how it changed over time, how served that it had taken "vision and sheer it resonated in people's personal and pro­ gambling instinct to dare to start a Wis­ fessional lives. Our aim was to compile a consin-wide historical society when most kind of family album that would convey, of the ten-year-old Territory was still un­ to luembers and readers, something of settled, when communications were diffi­ the Society's history and inner workings cult, and when our citizenry was of neces­ over the past eighty years. (Astonishingly, sity far more interested in making history that is how far back our contributors' than in recording it." Great things had hindsight extends.) Collectively, our re­ been achieved; even greater ones lay just spondents created just such an intimate ahead, on the eve of the state's centen­ family portrait, warts and all. The person­ nial. "How far we can go," declared Lord alities of various directors, the changing in 1946, "depends on just how good, how roles of women, the office politics, the 259 (Copyright © 1996 h\' Ihf Stale Hislotical Sdricty ofWisconsin Ail lights oi reproduction in Any ibiiii reseiTed. WISCONSIN \L\C;,\ZIXK OF ULSrORV SUMMER, 1996

richness and diversity of programs and We are grateful to Delores C. Ducklow collections, the changes in style and scale and Carolyn J. Matney for their generous as the Society grew and evolved—all were assistance in every phase of this sesqui- recalled with a clear-eyed fondness bor­ centennial undertaking, and to Bill Mar­ dering on passion. ten for his prodigious photo research. To Our selections from the many letters all those who responded to our call, and we received, lightly edited and arranged especially to those whose contributions in roughly chronological order, comprise appear in these pages: the bulk of this special commemorative Ihanfis. You did us proud! issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of Hislory. Father Prucha's memoir of working on PAUL H. HASS his first book with Livia Appel beautifully Editor complements the crazy quilt of recollec­ tions which precedes it. We hope that oiu' JAMES P. DANKY readers will enjoy meeting this lively and Newspapers and Periodicals Ubrarian varied cast of characters.

Contributors

Alexander, Edward P 268 Litdefield, Daniel F., Jr 346 Ambrose, Stephen E 294 Lorence, JamesJ 332 Anderson, Donald N 318 Lurie, Nancy Oestreich 268 Archdeacon, Thomas J S.TS McCloy, William Ashbv 271 Barland, Thomas H. .'. 312 McKay, Eleanor 353 Berlet, Chip 355 Macleod, David ,.'. 335 Bicha, Karel 301 Margulies, Herbert F 325 Bogue, Alan and Margaret 341 Miracle, Faith B 347 Borst, Charlotte G 351 Mitchell, Bonnie 331 Byrne, Frank I. 299 Murphy, Robert B. 1 261 Colson,John Calvin 302 Murray, Catherine Tripalin 337 Cook, J. Frank 312 Nelson, Harold F. (Bud) 353 Cooper, John M 345 Newby, David 352 Cronon, E. David 320 Nichols, Roger 1 305 Current, Richard N 266 Ozanne, Robert 308 Darling, Jo.sephine Harper 273 Packard, Jitn 356 Doherty, Tom 344 Paul, Justus F 306 Dooley, Fav S 302 Peters, Marsha 339 Fishel, Leslie H., jr 310 Pritchard, Sarah M 339 Freeman, Joan 315 Quinn, Patrick M 326 Gara, Larry 293 Rinney-Kehrberg, Pamela 354 Glad, Paul'w 329 Roedcr, George H., Ji 342 Goldstein, Sarah Perrv 306 Rosholl, Malcolm 355 Greene, Victor R 323 Schereck, William J 298 Hachten, Harva 341 Sewell, Richard H.' 325 Halloran, Harriet A 351 Silvestro, C^leinenl M 283 Hamilton, Marv Jane 359 Skinner, Jean C 316 Haney, Richard C 334 Smith, James Morton 336 Hayes, Paul G 354 Smith, Kathryn Schneider 360 Harrsch, Patricia 359 Staedtler, Monica 263 Holter, Darryl 348 Tepper, HerbertJ 300 Irrmann, Robert H 324 Twining, Charles E 308 Jallings,Jack 319 Twombly, Robert 357 Johnson, Jtme 282 Ubbelohde, Carl 272 Kaiser, Barbara 304 Wilkins, Sara Feuchter 350 Kanetzke, Howard 306 Zeitlin, Richard H 332 Kennedy, [ay 343 260 ROBERT B. L. MURPHY Since history was early my favorite sub­ Madison, Wisconsin ject, and my undergraduate and graduate major, I developed a rather close acquain­ Y earliest memories of the State tanceship with those sections of the M Historical Society as a significant library's collections. Because I did not building rather than an organization go know about any other university library back to my preschool years. It meant to system, I never thought it strange that me the fourth-floor museum of the origi­ much of the university's general library nal central portion of the Society build­ was located within the State Historical ing before its several additions. The home Society building and that the Society's in which I was born (1905) and spent my American History library was heavily used first seven years was on Langdon Street in by the university faculty and student body. the long block between Lake and Park I considered that normal and desirable. streets of Madison. It was only a one-block After my first year in the University of walk to the museum. Wisconsin Law School, I became a gradu­ According to my recollections, my fa­ ate student in Fnglish history, with par­ vorite exhibits were artifacts from the ticular emphasis on legal and related Native American period, the French Ca­ institutions from the late Anglo-Saxon nadian period, and Daniel Webster's car­ period through the Doomsday Book riage. The latter always impressed me (A.D. 1087) and the development of greatly—probably because by the time I a precocious national legal system by was able to identify other people's arti­ the close of the thirteenth century. That facts, there were very few carriages the graduate year gave me an opportunity size of Mr. Webster's left in Madison, for more intimate contacts with the Milwaukee, or Chicago. 1 enjoyed my vis­ university's library resources housed in its to the museum during my childhood the Historical Society building. years and would report them in some One of the mandatory courses in the detail to my younger brother and my sis­ history department's first graduate year ters. The senior ctuator of museum col­ was an introditction to historiography. lections during those years was a delight­ The lecturers included senior members ful gentleman named Charles Brown, who of the department. Among them was Pro­ was never too busy to guide me and others fessor Frederick Logan Paxson, a scholar through the exhibits. of international stature and chairman of By the time I reached high school and the history department for a number of college age, I knew at least some of the years. Before he began his lecture, he areas of the Society's library in which distributed cards to his audience of first- reference books of history were located. year graduate students. He explained they 261 presidency and other Society offices, and when there was no limitation in terms on the Board of Curators. I was elected to the Board in 1948 and remained an active member of it until 1990. I have been told it was the longest period of board service since 1950 but that some of my predeces­ sors had served longer than that in the Society's earlier years. I feel a special tie to the Society; namely, that I knew formally or well all of its directors save for the first of them, Lyman Copeland Draper. (He died more than a decade be­ fore I came on the scene, which explains why we missed meeting each other.) Some were primarily scholars; some were able adminis­ trators; a few were both. A disdnguished example of scholar and administrator was Reuben Gold Thwaites, who wrote, edited, or published in excess of 100 volumes of North American or related history, besides whi (x:^) X6]3 stimulating nationwide interest in the Wis­ consin society and in regional history. How .Society Director Reuben Gold Thxuailes contemplating still he achieved all this, given the Society's lim­ more research in the Society's riches, 1898. ited staff, low budget, and the supposed slower pace of life at that time, is something which remains beyond my comprehension. were applications for membership in the I have thought the Society most fortu­ State Historical Society ofWisconsin, that nate overall in its selection of directors. it was a distinguished organization, and All of them were able, all of them commit­ that he would personally pick up the cards ted. No two of them operated the Society at the end of his lecture. I thought that in the same way. But the Society and the an effective way of assuring 100 per cent people ofWisconsin were the beneficia­ membership in the Society by a signifi­ ries of their dedication and their strong cant segment of the graduate community. sense of public service. At all events, I have been amember of the As president of the State Historical Historical Society since the fall of 1929, Society from 1958 to 1961, and as the and it is a membership which I shall al­ president of the Wisconsin History Foun­ ways treasure highly. dation from approximately 1960 to 1990, During the 1930's, as I was beginning I believe the need for supplementary fi­ to practice law in Madison, I also began nancial support for the Society has be­ attending the annual meetings of the His­ come increasingly clear. I wish the Foun­ torical Society, or at least those held dation had been more active sooner, but in Madison. The attendance, as I recall, a movement such as this has to be some­ ranged from twent)'-five to forty people thing more than the dream of a handful and the programs were not particularly of people. To be successful it has to be a challenging or lively. These years marked dream shared by an increasingly large the end of the era when people com­ number of the people of the state. Today monly served more than one term in the that is happening.

262 While many good things could and should be said of each of the earlier Soci­ •^'t ety directors, the preparation of a careful updated report on Society space and re­ lated needs, and the translation of those needs in understandable terms to grow­ ''^? ••' ' •'?) ing segments of the Wisconsin legisla­ ture, the executive branch, and the pub­ lic has been a primary interest of the present director. The legislature's maxi­ mum attainable support of the basic struc­ ture of the Society and its staff was never more needed, as is an additional build­ ing. Supplementary funds have to be avail­ able if the Society is to continue to carry out its statutory functions acceptably. In brief, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin has touched and enriched my life in many ways. It has made me and many others realize that all responsible citizens must know whence we came, and that we can better understand today if we have some studied or observed acquaintance­ ship with yesterday. For such reasons, among Students reading the daily papers in the Society's mag­ azine room, 1913. The distinctive lamps disappeared others, I feel a deep sense of gratitude to in the 1960's. the State Historical Society ofWisconsin and its ever-committed staff. W United States or Wisconsin history. He became interested in me because I was MONICA STAEDTLER from Monticello, in Green County, which Verona, Wisconsin was mostly agricultural, and he was inter­ ested in farming. Dr. Schafer was a very MOVED to Madison and graduated nice gentleman. Sometimes he invited us I from the University of Wisconsin in to his house. His wife made lunch, and his 1926, as a teacher. The Society was sucli a boys waited on us and served the lunch. In beautiful building. It seemed strange to those days, women were running the Soci­ graduate from the university and not to ety. Every important department was have spent much time in it. The university headed by a woman. Annie Nunns, who did not have a library school then, so I started in 1889, ran the whole place—;just joined the Societywithout a library course. like the director would today. She seemed When I started work in the fall of 1928, to like how I responded to her and was half of the building, the north end, was very nice to me. (Miss Nunns liked mys­ rented to the University ofWisconsin as teries, and so did I.) University Library. Joseph Schafer was I worked in the library with sisters Dor­ head of the Society—superintendent he othy and Marjorie Park. Dorothy took was called. He did research, gave talks, care of the federal documents, etc. Her went to Germany and England to speak sister, Marjorie, was head of purchasing on behalf of the Society. He talked on books and magazines that professors historv, but I don't remember if it was would order. We checked catalogs for old

263 Dorothy Park was given head of the department when Marjorie Park died. She was a University of Wisconsin graduate and had taught school up north. Both sisters were afraid of Miss Nunns. If any­ thing was to be said to Miss Nunns, I was asked to deliver the message. The mu­ seum, on the fourth floor, was run by an elderly man and I was asked to deliver messages to him. All four chummed to­ gether, and had parties. One of the girls who worked for me, I don't recall her name, never spoke a sen­ tence without swearing. I told her if you swear once more, I will fire you. It was very silly to say it, but that is what 1 told her. Around the corner from me was a very nice, pretty girl, Kay Lohman, from Evans- ville. One day Kay became quite ill with an upset stomach. She went over to the Me­ morial Union where they sold Rolaids, etc. After she had been gone some time, WHi (D487) 8918 Dorothy Park asked what had happened to Kay. (Kay was always afraid of Dor­ Society Director Joseph Schafer reflects on the meaning othy.) I went looking for Kay and found of history., September 29, 1926. her in the parlor, very sick. I asked Dor­ othy to call Kay's sister. The ambulance arrived. I asked the man, "Is she dead?" books to be purchased—that meant check­ He replied, "Yes, ma'm, she is." Kay worked ing catalogs as well as the stacks, to make hard for me, but not for Dorothy. sure the book had not been purchased. When the Depression came, someone A couple of rooms on the first floor from the state tried and tried for years, to housed photographs which were not in­ get ahold of the rich Historical Society. dexed. People just "hunted" for what Salaries were lowered. Mine was lowered they wanted. The head of documents, on to $70 a month. It took a long time to the first fioor, was supervised by a woman, build the salary back up. We wrote and as was the book area—both women were wrote exams, but it didn't help. After Dr. quite elderly. (Of course, I was young, so Schafer died, Clifford Lord was hired, they seemed elderly.) Miss Nunns had and things began to change—the mu­ the middle office by herself. She ran the seum, and so on. Dr. Lord paid more place. Every afternoon at 3:00, she and attention to the Society itself, particularly the other women would go to the third- the library. We got to know many profes­ floor parlor on the south side of the sors, and Dr. Lord asked staff members to building (where the Historic Preserva­ do more things. In 1967 he and Carl tion offices and restroom are now) for Ubbelohde, one of the students working tea. We were never invited. We had to go there at the time, wrote a history of the across the street to the Union for a cup of Historical Society called Clio's Servant. coffee, which was not too siuart, because Before that, no one paid too much atten­ it took a lot of time. tion to the Society itself.

264 SI".SQUICE\TENNI.'\L RECOLLECTIONS

In 1944 a new man was hired in the library, Club or the Lorraine Hotel. My pleasure was Benton Wilcox. He wanted me to take care of mostly with university folks. I liked my work, genealogy. The man in charge of the desk really enjoyed it. I always liked reading, and I encouraged me to get a Ph.D. in history and had many good years at the Society. Later on, "brush up on genealogy." I refused thejob. It I worked in the business office, in purchasing. was to have been a betterjob. I talked with the A woman that worked for me, Ruth Hayes, university librarian and the head of the his­ always went with men for coffee, and she tory department; both of them told me I was always knew everything before I knew it. She foolish to try for a Ph.D. I was young and typed very well. The Society hadjust gone into should have done differently. Instead, I just state coding. She could not understand it. stayed and plugged along. I told her, "Think what you are going to The Society was a nice place when I came. use this article for," but she could not get Most of my friends were at the university. We onto it at all. She told my boss, Johnjacques, formed a card club and asked Genevieve that I never showed her how to do anything. Winchester, who worked at the desk, to join I remember Mary McCann from the the university group. We played bridge and business office, and Alice Smith, the re­ went from house to house, taking turns hav­ search director who retired to California. ing dinners, often uptown at the Madison Willie Jo Walker was very nice. She liked

Dorothy Park, business manager, to tlie left, Monica Staedtler to the right, and Kay Lohman in the background, processing orders for Historical Society supplies. May 15, 1952.

Wlli (X2) 191 I

265 WISCONSIN M,.\C;AZINE OF IIISIORY SUMMER, 1996

to bring biscuits (a bakery next to Yost's on State Street made very good breads). I got up in the morning, felt it was not a nice day. I thought I better go get the buns. Before I went, I got sick, but went anyway. That night, a Saturday, I called the Quisling Clinic—I had only been there twice in my life—and told the young man I thought I was having a heart attack. He said it was probablyjust arthritis, and that I should put a heating pad on my back. (Afterwards, I was told that was the worst thing I could have done.) Needless to say, I did not go to the picnic. "^

RICHARD N. CURRENT South Natick, Massachusetts

IEN I first became acquainted with Wit, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin was a decade short of its cen­ tennial, and its one building was only thirty-six years old. Streetcars no longer

Wlli (x:i) ,")(i4(>(> ran by on State Street, but the tracks were still there, and they added to the hazard 'The legendary Annie A. Nunns, "who ran the place" for of negotiating the street in winter. The many years, enjoying retirement in I lie early 194()'s. gutters were deep, the curbs high, and the street, like others in Madison, was left unplowed when snow fell. The snow re­ peatedly thawed and froze, leaving treach­ to visit. Her daughter was a nurse at the erous icy ruts. Still, for a graduate student Veterans Hospital in Madison, and Willie in history, getting to the Society was more Jo was so proud of her. I remember the than worth the risk to life and limb. mailroom, and the boys who ran it: Bob I roomed on Wingra Street, near the SyvTud, who lived in X'erona, and Jim zoo. Years later, in the 1960's, when I was Tschudy, who lived in New Glarus. When on the University ofWisconsin faculty, one my mother got sick and had to go into a of my students happened to mention that nursing home, they would give me a ride he lived on that street. I commented that it to Verona to visit her. I would take the bus was rough getting from there to class on back to Madison. cold mornings. He said. Yes, sometimes I was planning to retire in 1969, but his car would barely start. As a student, I John Jacques asked that I stay on one did not own a car; the only student of my more year. I refused. I always said I would acquaintance who did was a (Common­ retire at sixty-five. My plan was to stay wealth Fellow from England, whose fellow­ until the fall'of 1969 "until all the bills ship included the price of an automobile. were paid," but the heart attack came in In the 1930's the Society and the univer­ late spring. We were going to have a pic­ sity were so closely interrelated that it was nic out at Stonefield, and I Itad promised hard to tell one from the other. The Society's

266 Wlli (N48) 2069

Society building from the southeast, beckoning students to their studies in 1954 xvhen there were both automobiles and trees on State Street. Photo by John Newhouse. library stacks occupied the south wing of it possessed a number of museum artifacts, the building, and the university's the north these were not conspicuously displayed. As wing, while the reading room served the for historic sites, there were none that I users of both. On the first floor were history remember. seminar rooms, in one of which Professor The Society then was much less oriented William B. Hesseltine's disciples, among toward the popularization of histoiy than it them Ken Stampp, met weekly, late in the now is. It was preeminently a place for the afternoon. Books reserved for the seminar scholarly study of the subject, and, as such, were shelved in the room. There were no it could hardly be surpassed. As a student at guards at the building's entrances, and Tufts' Fletcher School of Law and Diplo­ someone could easily have made off with macy, before arriving in Madison, I had had books, but I never knew of anyone's doing access to the greatest of university libraries, so. I do remember, though, that, to reserve at Harvard, a wonderful aggregation of his­ for themselves books in special demand, torical materials. But the Society's library students sometimes hid these behind other seemed equally strong in American history, volumes on the shelves. and it certainly was more compact, cozy, The Society functioned much more as a and homelike, an easier and pleasanter library than as a museum. It collected and place to work. made available books and other research In the first-floor newspaper room— materials. It also published its quarterly where we could leaf through big bound magazine and, from time to time, a volume volumes instead of cranking rolls of of its collections or a monograph. Though microfilm—Alice Smith was genially

267 WISCONSIN MA(;A/,INE OF insTOR\" SUMMER, 1996 and helpfully in charge. Women at the checkout counter upstairs were fiercely prcHective of the library's holdings, but once inside the stacks, we had free access to what Christopher Marlowe might have called "infinite riclies in a little room." Attached to the end of each row of stacks was a small desk where we could conve­ niently make use of the treasures, and where I spent many happy hours. For me, there were three centers of life on the W^isconsin campus during my stu­ dent days: the Memorial Union, Bascom Hall, and, above all, the Slate Historical Society building. «'

EDWARD P. ALEXANDER Newark, Delaware

he big aim of my four years as direc­ tor of the State Historical Society of T Society Director lulward P. Alexander, left, with a reel of Wisconsin (1941-1946) was to make the microfilm, and Library Director Benton H. Wilcox with state's citizens conscious of its useful past. a bound volume of newspapers, demonstrating the space- Reuben Gold Thwaites had the same saving features of the new technology. dream, but after his death in 1913, the Society had devoted itself to university historical research and taken little inter­ ences would wait expectantly for their var­ est in the public. ied backgrounds to be mentioned. I also Despite World War II shortages, by did a thirty-two-wcek radio histor)'. working long days and holidays, I started All in all, it was an exciting time. I many new activities that included mu­ enjoyed the dozens of people I worked seum exhibitions, library expansion and with in Madison and the scores I met microfihuing ne\s'spapers, a revised lively throughout the state. In fact, as I look quarterly magazine and starting a series back on my career—Ticonderoga, Albany, of biographies, moving the Society an­ and Cooperstown in New York state; Madi­ nual meeting around the state, working son; then Williamsburg, Virginia, and closely \vilh some two dozen local histori­ Newark, Delaware—I must say that Wis­ cal societies, pushing historical markers consin was mv favorite of them all. W and acquiring a historic site at Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien, and teaching a course in Wisconsin history at the university. NANCY OESTREICH LURIE I recall with special pleasure my speak­ Milwaukee, Wisconsin ing engagements around the state—sixty in one year, which I later held down to one HARLES E. Brown was the director per week. One of my talks dealt with the C of the State Historical Society Mu­ immigrant groups that had come to Wis­ seum when I entered the university at consin, from the Poles, Irish, and Germans Madison as a freshman in 1941. I can see to the later Italians and Russians. Mv audi- him today in his cluttered office, reach-

268 SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS ing carefully for his ringing phone, the of the Milwaukee Public Museum, Brown kind with a separate earpiece, and emit­ had begun his career there as a scientific ting the peculiar bray he only used on the aide.) telephone, a drawn-out, quavering Frankly, I didn't think much of the "Hallooo?" as if he distrusted the instru­ Society's museum exhibits, compared to ment to really work. Milwaukee, but I felt at home in the office From the time my memory began, I and storage area with catalog files and knew I would be an anthropologist, but artifacts. As was the case in Milwaukee, my introduction to career preparation at visitors came in with objects to be identi­ the University of Wisconsin had been fied or made inquiries on the phone. Dr. something of a disappointment. The only Brown's responses to telephone questions anthropology faculty were H. Scudder always were preceded by that strange Mekeel and William Howells, lodged in "Hallooo?" Also, as in Milwaukee, I got to the sociology department, and my "ma­ meet a lot of American Indian visitors jor" was really in sociology, augmented by who dropped by to chat with their old electives of all the anthropology courses friends on the staff. My personal remem­ offered. Even worse, my first year had to brances of Brown are of a kindly, humor­ be spentwith required courses in English, ous man, skinny, balding, and probably science, and other fields before I could nowhere near as old as I thought he was even take electives. when I was seventeen. Somehow, through a family friend, I When my parents deposited me at my heard about Dr. Brown and was able to dormitory room at Barnard Hall on the introduce myself to him, explaining my Madison campus, they decreed I could life's mission and expressing an interest not come home until Christmas time. in possibly making myself useful. He set (They always worried that I would be­ me to work tracing the outlines of projec­ come an over-protected only child, which tile points for record purposes, filling out is amusing since both of them were only catalog cards, and gophering after speci­ children and it had never cramped their mens in storage. Well, this was more like stylel) But by November they relented it! My freshman year was not going to be and said I could come home for Thanks­ a complete waste, after all. This was an­ giving. Sorry folks, I had my own plans: I thropology as I knew it. I had grown up had been invited to the Browns' for din­ in Milwaukee and from the time I was ner. Dr. Brown and his wife Dorothy had old enough to ride the streetcars alone, I a late-in-life child, more the age of a grand­ spent many Saturday mornings in those daughter than a daughter and accord­ days of forty-four-hour work weeks in the ingly indulged. I was charmed with the anthropology department of the Milwau­ wigwam playhouse Brown had built in his kee Public Museum, making myself use­ back yard for the little girl, only four or ful or perhaps just being good-naturedly five years old at the time, and with the tolerated by my first anthropological men­ "bear tracks" he had made early in the tors, museum director Samuel A. Barrett morning to fulfill her expectations from a and Will C. McKern, the head of anthro­ favorite legend about the bears dancing pology. Possibly, they had added a word in the first snowfall. in my behalf to facilitate Brown's accep­ Dinner at the Browns' home always tance of me, but just knowing ol my Mil­ included wild mushrooms, freshly col­ waukee experience might have been lected or dried. Besides being well known enough for Dr. Brown to look upon me for his archeological work, Dr. Brown favorably. (Although I didn't know about came out of the old tradition of largely it until years later, when I wrote a historv self-trained general naturalists with many

269 • •»'••

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WUi (X28) S681

Charles E. Brown, the Society's long-time museum director (white hat, back row center), with a group oj university students leaving Jor a tour of historic sites in the summer of 1923. scientific interests. Everyone not on a first sion to have information repeated, would name basis called him Dr. Brown but I don't whisper to me, "And vhat's daht?" I would know if this was an honorar\' or academi­ bellow a stage whisper directly in his ear: cally earned title. He invited me to attend a "That's an elm mushroom" or whatever. meeting of the Madison Mushroom Club. I My friend also suffered severe palsy. As a knew nothing about mushrooms but found properly brought-up child, I pretended the meetings fascinating and was soon ser\'- not to notice, but I kept a close eye as the ing as secretary—a task wished on me as the paper plates changed hands to make sure youngest member. The others were all Dr. no mushrooms ended up on the floor. Brown's age or older, many of them retir­ One evening a member brought in an ees. We only met in the spring and fall when unusual, gelatinous mushroom that quiv­ members brought in their most recentfmds. ered at the slightest touch. To my friend's These were passed around on paper plates; usual query, I hissed in his ear, "That's a each finder gave the scientific and common 'trembling mushroom'." Passing the bob­ names if he knew them (Dr. Brown often bing plate to the next person in our row, had to provide such data) and, if edible, he said with wry resignation, "By mine recommended recipes. hand are dey a^Z trembling." A cherished A dear old gentleman with a strong moment! eastern European accent always sat next I am also beholden to Dr. Brown for to me. Predictably, his mushroom inter­ launching my career as a published scholar. ests had begun in the old country, and he Before I had completed my sophomore had joined the club to learn about Wis­ year, "Butterflies and the American In­ consin species. He was quite deaf and, not dian" appeared in the March, 1943, issue wishing to interrupt the general discus­ of The Wisconsin Archeologisl (Vol. 24, No.

270 SESQUICENTENNIAI. RECOLI.ECIIONS

1). Actually, the article was based on notes I don't remember all the details of Brown had assembled but which he turned what transpired, but he came to me more over to me to do the actual writing and or less incidentally, saying that his depart­ generously gave me sole credit as author. ment had been given the assignment of By the end of my sophomore year, I coming up with something to celebrate became acquainted with the other side of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Historical Society beyond the museum. the Society— and that he and the others I was already familiar with the University did not know what to do. I told him I Library, housed in the same building at would be glad to paint a mural for them that time; but it was another mentor, my on two conditions: 1) that it would not anthropology teacher J. Sidney Slotkin, cost me anything—the Society would pay who introduced me to the riches of the for all materials, for models, and so forth; Society's library and archival holdings. and 2) that what I did would not be just He taught me the distinctions between for the Wisconsin State Fair, which was primary and original sources and the focus of the celebration and provided preached that even old documents very the deadline for what they were to come close to the events described have to be up with. After consultation with his vari­ used critically. Slotkin was filling in for ous bosses, Harry said that I could do the Mekeel and Howell, who were engaged in mural for the space where it now is (on special wartime service and away from the south landing between the third and campus. I hated him and was frequently fourth floors of the Society), and that I on the verge of tears when the kind of could do it in place, but that the mural papers that got good grades from other would be on some kind of support that instructors came back from Slotkin with would be transportable, so it could be scornful comments: "Pretty thin soup!" shown in Milwaukee, then be returned to "You call these citations?!" Realizing he Madison for "permanent" installation. had only one anthropology "major," We did everything the cheapest pos­ Slotkin apparently decided to do the best sible way. The canvas was heavy cotton he could with what he had to work with duck (a kind of sail cloth). I hand ground and somehow managed to wangle a the pigments from dry powders purchased stack permit for mc, and work space— from a local paint store, run by an old unheard-of for an undergraduate in German by the name of Krebs. The Soci­ those days—and he spent hours intro­ ety paid for the time of all the models I ducing me to the riches of the Historical used as well. While I followed, very care­ Society and the proper means of tapping fully, sound technical procedures, by us­ such riches. By the end of my junior year ing cotton canvas rather than the more he was my favorite teacher. *«' expensive linen normally used, we were taking a risk: cotton does not take glue sizing very well, and I knew that some WILLIAM ASHBY MCCLOY kind of glue cracking might devek^p in Uncasville, Connecticut the future, but the fact was, the Society did not have the money to do more than HAT I did for the Historical Society we did. (And of course, some glue crack­ Wshould be credited to Harry Lichter, ing has developed, just as I thought it who became a museum curator for the would.) Society after he stopped teaching for the I knew nothing about the history of University of Wisconsin's department of Wisconsin, so I went to the Library and art education, where I had gotten to know did what I would today call a bit of him quite well. superficial research. I had no ax to grind;

271 Meeker and Hodgell would have worked with me on a more regular basis, but I was not a good person to work with or for. I thanked them—then repainted what they had done as soon as they left. (I had done the same thing with the work of assistants on an earlier mural I did for Truax Field just before I went into service in 1943). The techniques I used was more or less the same as that used by John Curry, and was one I had used in my own easel paint­ ings for about twelve years: first a half- Wlli (N48) 20:12 chalk ground, covered with an ochrish imprimatura; second, an underpainting us­ William .Asliby AlcCJoy working on tJie early stages of his ing for the shadows an umberish tone Centennial mural, which can still he viewed on the mixed with a medium tempera emulsion, landing betxueen the third a lid fourth floors of the Society's headquarters building, 1948. Photo by John Nexviiouse. and a heavy putrido white for all the light areas {putrido is also a tempera but with a much higher percentage of oil). The paint­ I picked out themes that lent themselves ing was then finished using oils ground in to some kind of sensible design, and fi­ linseed oil with a touch of damar varnish nally came up with the three basic theme and Venice turpentine. To the best of my groupings: Early Exploration Days; In­ knowledge, the painting has never been dustrial and Commercial Development; varnished. and Wisconsin's Political History. I had The painting was finished in plenty of no guidance—and I don't remember time, was taken off to the state fair in anyone's checking what I was coming up Milwaukee for its Centennial showing, with—although I am sure someone did, before being returned to Madison, where somewhere along the line. it still resides, according to occasional I made dozens of compositional stud­ reports of various friends who come to ies, then made detailed studies from mod­ Madison from time to time. I have only els, before finally making the cartoons seen it once since I left Madison in 1948: from which I was to work. I tried to tie the I came to Madison about 1952 or so look­ three panels together by using some kind ing for someone to hire for the art depart­ of dynamic symmetry, to which I had been ment of the University of Manitoba, where introduced byjean Chariot, a well-known I was director. More recently, the Society's French-Mexican mural artist with whom I staff sent me slides of the mural with had studied briefly. (I still have all these inquiries about the cause of the glue cracks studies, including the final designs, which that have indeed appeared. W are on a 1:4 scale.) Two people helped me very briefly: Dean Meeker, also a member of the art CARL UBBELOHDE education department, who painted some Cleveland, Ohio of the entrance to the mine in the central panel, and Bob Hodgell, a friend and N the years from 1948 to 1954, I lived student who had assisted John Steuart I in three intersecting spheres: as a stu­ Curry on a number of his murals and who dent in the history graduate program at worked briefly on the underpainting. the University of Wisconsin; as an ex­ More would have been glad to help, and ploiter of—and later, employee of—the

272 SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS

State Historical Society ofWisconsin; and in the Society's library than I did in any amongst friends, mostly fellow graduate other place those years. It was, at the same students, who somehow carved out niches time, daunting in its resources and a com­ for a life away from, although always still forting, sheltering place. I carried with connected, to the university and the So­ me the latter sense when I left to take up ciety. When I reflect on those years, I the challenges of the "real world." Ever seem to think about people, not spaces, since, I have enjoyed the unusual plea­ and although some of those people are sures that come from time spent in librar­ associated with certain corners of the ies and collections of manuscripts—away Society building, for the most part that is from the noise and confusion of regular a minor circumstance. An exception routines, escaping via books and journals might be Bill Hesseltine and the "smok­ and manuscript collections into a time ing room"—but, then, I think that he and place in the past. The other remain­ taught me more when we sat across the ing legacy is a yardstick against which I table from each other in the Manuscripts measure all other libraries and historical Room. He was then at work on his biog­ societies. It may be unfair, but I do it. And raphy of Lyman Draper; I was beginning you'll not be surprised to find that none the research for the history of the Soci­ rate as highly as the workplace of my ety that Clifford Lord had initiated. Lord, apprenticeship: the Library of the State of course, was the Society's director in Historical Society ofWisconsin. W those years—a generous man with a fine sense of humorwho intimidated me more than a bit. JOSEPHINE HARPER DARLING Another exception might be Merrill Fitchburg, Wisconsin Jensen at the head of the table in the Seminar Room (unforgettable, especially ROBABLY my most vivid recollec­ my first effort at reporting on research P tions of the Society are my early ones. progress on my master's thesis). Then, I began as curator of manuscripts (civil again, of course, I might as easily encoun­ service classification: Manuscripts Librar­ ter Merrill in the stacks, seeking yet more ian I) on January 15, 1948. My sole previ­ choices for his documentary book on the ous visit to the Society had occurred in colonies and the British empire. And two the preceding fall, when I came to Madi­ truly kind professors—Merle Curti and son and spent a few hours totally on my Vernon Carstensen—also might be seen own in the building the day before taking in the stacks, probably working on their the civil service exam for the position. history of the University ofWisconsin. Although I had had enough basic library Most the rest of the people I best re­ science courses to qualify me as a school member were among the extraordinary librarian in Illinois, was completing my women and men who comprised the doctorate at the University of Illinois, and Society's professional staff. They include had made research trips to other Josephine Harper and Ruth Davis, Benton midwestern historical societies and ar­ Wilcox and Margaret Gleason, and, espe­ chives, I had no professional archival train­ cially, Alice Smith. Without exception ing in the care, appraisal, organization, these people seemed to understand the or reference service of manuscript mate­ needs and anxieties of fledgling histori­ rials. My starting salary was the $170 base ans, helping us find resources needed for for a Librarian I, plus a state bonus of $30 seminar projects and theses and disserta­ a month—a total of $200 a month, which, tions, showing kindnesses that often were after years of frugality in graduate school, extraordinary. I think I spent more hours seemed a very adequate sum! In fact I

273 i

WHi (X.S) 504.50

The history building cU the Wiscomin State Centennial Exposition, West Allis, in the summ.er of 1948. Photo by Walter Harrison saved a higher proportion of my salary training me in the policies and methods during my first year at the Society than I applied to manuscripts at the Society. did in many later years when both salary The State Archives had been newly cre­ and my lifestyle expanded. ated under Jesse Boell's leadership, but The Society was then in the throes of Archives and Manuscripts were still sepa­ change and expansion, a process which rate departments. For a number of years, had been begun by Edward Alexander Manuscripts continued to hold and ser­ (whom I did not know), and was being vice state records gathered (frequently continued at a rapid pace in 1948 by rescued) by Alice Smith in the 1930's and Clifford L. Lord. Alice Smith, the recently earlier '40's. apppointed chief of research, had the In 1948 the Manuscripts Reading Room task of facing her new responsibilities and and stacks still occupied the space allot-

274 SESQUICENTENNIAI. RECOLLECTIONS ted to them in 1902, the southeast corner William B. Hesseltine and his graduate of the first floor. To alleviate some earlier students were among our most frequent space needs, a mezzanine balcony had users. Hesseltine was writing his biogra­ been added over a portion of the Reading phy of Lyman C. Draper; while research­ Room, and by 1948 it was crowded with ing Draper's activities as a spiritualist, heavy wooden map cases and many boxes Hesseltine came in one day to give us a of papers; more map cases were in the glowing account of a seance he said he main reading area. Readers, who num­ had had with Draper in Chicago—whether bered only a few hundred daily registra­ a real event or an imagined one he would tions annually, were accommodated never divulge! Nevertheless he reported mainly at one long library table parallel to that Draper's spirit assured him that he the windows facing the Library Mall. At was happily hobnobbing with the spirits the north end of the table, I had a desk. At of his revered heroes Daniel Boone, the south end of the table our Cataloger, George Rogers Clark, and others of his Ruth Yoke, had a desk. Around the corner old informants. Two of Hesseltine's gradu­ in front of another south window was a ate students, Clement Silvestro and Ken­ third desk and an ancient chair, which I neth Duckett,joined our Manuscripts staff was told had been used by Louise Phelps in the I950's after Ruth Yoke's death and Kellogg (who had died in 1942). In the went on to distinguished historical and late '40's and early '50's this desk had archival careers—as did others in the '50's numerous uses: sometimes a work table and '60's who were Manuscripts research­ for staff or our one part-time student ers but not staff members (Thomas assistant, sometimes a desk reserved for Vaughan and Stephen Ambrose among notable visiting scholars. Of the latter, I others). recall especially the Civil War historian Nineteen forty-eight was also the cen­ Bell Wiley, who spent several weeks read­ tennial of the State ofWisconsin, marked ing every Civil War letter and diary that by many events in which the Society was a the staff could locate in our collections. participant. At the state fair, for example, When he found something of interest or the Society had an extensive exhibit and surprise, there would be a loud outburst— promotional booth, and at the Boston a laugh, words of excitement, words of Store in downtown Milwaukee a recre­ derision—for all to hear. Since there was ated 1848 home open during fair weeks. usually a response from staff or other Staff from Madison went to Milwaukee for researchers, Wiley would sometimes read stints of a week or two to be hosts and or explain his find. Despite the use of the hostesses in these displays. There was a long research table, which gave most re­ heat wave, no air-conditioning in the dis­ searchers little personal space and also pro­ plays or in the hotel where we were housed, vided the risk of papers being mixed up and long hours; at the Boston Store I had among collections, the old Manuscript Read­ to wear a quite elegant nineteenth-century ing Room had an intimacy and a camarade­ gown of heavy material with a layer of rie which our later, ever-more-spacious read­ petticoats underneath—highly uncom­ ing areas with their separate tables never fortable in the heat! Of course there was achieved. As for the risk, it was a reality at virtually no time for us to enjoy the rest of least once; for years Alice Smith and I sus­ the fair or its activities. My experience pected that a segment of the Eleazer Wil­ there in 1948 killed any desire to attend liams Papers might have been stolen, but a any future Wisconsin State Fairs, although researcher more than ten years afterward since childhood and into the 1980's I discovered the missing folder in a com­ have enjoyed many state fairs in my home pletely unrelated collection. state of Minnesota.

275 M' • • Ji.. ,Ji;i; s

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A Society staff meeting about 194 7, v'ith Director Clifford L. Lord at the head of the table. Clockivise from Lord are Alice E. Smith, Wilbur Glover, Lillian Krueger, Benton H. Wilcox, Ruth Hayward, Dora Drews, Dorothy Park, jolin W.Jenkins, Mary l\ohy Ryan, Jesse Boell, and Ruth Davis.

From Alice Smith, Dorothy Park, and Until about 1953 the University Library Ruth Davis I learned of the history of the occupiedhalf of the Society building, and Society, for they had all come to the Soci­ both libraries shared the large second- ety during Joseph Schafer's administra­ floor reading room, with one reference tion. I formed other lasting friendships desk at the north end, the other refer­ with them and with some of the newer ence desk at the south end. Staff mem­ staff women who came in the I940's and bers of both institutions watched with into the I950's—Esther Nelson, Doris much interest the construction of the Piatt, Margaret Gleason, and Barbara new university library a few hundred feet Kaiser of the Society's staff and Louise across the mall. In the Manuscripts Room Henning of the University of Wisconsin one day we heard a strange rumble, and Library reference staff And later arrivals when I turned to look out the window as staff and researchers have also been behind my desk I was amazed to see the dear friends—for example Margaret steel framework of the new structure col­ Hafstad,Joanne Stranberg (Hohler), and lapsing as if the girders and beams were a Fannie HickHn. bunch of toothpicks! Except for dust and

276 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

debris in the air, the actual collapse lasted rector) , Leslie H. Eishefjr.,James Morton only a few seconds, I think. We heard later Smith, and Richard A. Erney, all men of that the framework had not yet been riv­ talent but diverse in personalities and eted, and when one beam was acciden­ administrative styles. In hindsight, I have tally hit by a crane it set off a domino- come to admire and appreciate Cliff effect collapse, in which happily no one Lord's creativity, dynamic energy, and was killed. the opportunism with which he captivated After that setback, work on the build­ public interest and raised funds for new ing framework began again and the departments, new projects, and expanded university's Memorial Library was com­ staff. The acquisition of the McCormick pleted as planned. As a result of the UW Collection and its curators, Herbert and Library move and the remodeling and Lucile Kellar, the foundation of the Mass enlarging of the Society's building. Manu­ Communications collections, and the es­ scripts moved its collections to the north tablishment of regional depositories— stacks, Archives moved its records into forerunners to the Area Research Cen­ the south stacks, and the two departments, ters—were but three of the significant notyet combined administratively, shared contributions he made to our archival a new reading room on the balcony over­ programs. Nevertheless, Dr. Lord and I looking the reading room of our Library. had serious personality conflicts. After Although we provided individual tables years of freedom in graduate school, I was for researchers, this balcony reading room too independent in both speech and ac­ had serious flaws. It was too small for the tion: not a good team player. And I dis­ increasing number of searchers in manu­ liked what I considered Lord's arrogance, scripts, maps, and government records; his eagerness to take public credit for any moreover, in the 1950's little consider­ program success, and his search for a staff ation was given to accessibility for the scapegoat if a project did not live up to his handicapped—and the short series of expectations. When threatened with loss steps from the main halls to the balcony of my position, I made a conscious deci­ required maintenance staff to lift up and sion to keep quiet and play the game as he down anyone who came in a wheelchair. willed it to be done; by the end of his term Similar stairs from the stack areas to the as director we were coexisting in outward Balcony Reading Room made servicing peace. And in later years I truly enjoyed collections inconvenient for staff; we had talking with him during his occasional to unload boxes of papers or volumes visits to the Society when we were both from one book truck on the stack level, free from the tensions of the past. With carry them down the few steps, and put Don McNeil, assistant and later acting them on another book truck to wheel director, I had a more pleasant and coop­ over to the researcher's desk. Truly we erative working relationship. were glad when the next building remod­ eling (in the I960's) finally gave us a In the summer of 1953, Lord some­ much more spacious and accessible read­ what reluctantly gave me a month's leave ing room on the fourth floor, where it to attend the Summer Institute in Ar­ remains. chives Administration offered in Wash­ ington, D.C., by American University in Today Robert B. L. Murphy probably cooperation with the Library of Congress, holds the record for longtime association the National Archives, and the Maryland with the Society and its directors through­ Hall of Records. For this leave I became out most of this century. In my thirty-five very grateful, for that summer institute and a half years I served under Clifford L. was the turning point in my archival train­ Lord, Donald McNeil (briefly acting di­ ing and career. It was there that I had the

277 wisc;oNsiN MAC;AZINE OF HLSTOR'I' SUMMER, 1996 opportunity to meet and know as friends Ernst Posner and many leaders of the North American archival profession at the time; I learned that the problems we were encountering at Society in terms of new types of collections and their space and processing needs were not unique; and as a Library of Congress intern, I received training in what were then new principles and theories of manuscript pro­ cessing being promoted there by Eliza­ beth Brand to cope with its increasingly large and complex twentieth-century col­ lections. To keep a collection in the ar­ rangement devised by its creator and to describe the arrangement and contents in an inventory took time, of course, but not nearly so much time and labor as breaking the collection down into a strict chronological sequence before describ­ ing it, the system which Alice Smith had

learned in the 1920's at the Minnesota Wlli (x:i) 5oiiii Historical Society and firmly believed in. However, despite her initial skepticism, State Archivist E. Gercdd Ham examining part cf an we went ahead with the new methods. If archival colkction sometime, in the 1960's, when both staff we had not done so, our staff could never and the public were permitted to .smoke in the building. have coped with the large collections in mass communications, labor history, and other fields which were received from the talk with. He was a frequent visitor to our 1950's through the I970's. Archives Reading Room and my office, I retired in 1983 as the Society was and on Saturdays he could often be found entering the computer age, which has in our stacks exploring our Civil Rights brought undreamed of changes and ad,- collections for his own research projects. vances in which I had no part. In my view, Les made it a point to know every staff manuscript and record procedures are member in every division, section, and never static. In the nineteenth and early department; knowledge and interest twentieth century, binding manuscripts rather than rank often determined his into volumes was a common practice. Thus choice of staff committee appointments; in the 1890's and early 1900's Reuben his office door was always open for an Thwaites had kept the Draper Manuscripts individual conference; and in my experi­ mainly in the arrangement their creator, ence he could always be relied upon to Lyman C. Draper, had given them, but take responsibility for his decisions. To papers not yet l)ound by Draper were put cite an example, on one occasion he de­ into volumes by Thwaites. Therefore, they cided to relax our policy of not making escaped chronological breakdown. personal loans of manuscripts for study Each director of the Society has had his outside of the building, and agreed to own internal management style. Of those loan a document for personal research by I knew as a staff member, Les Fishel was an official in one of our neighboring coun­ the most democratic and the easiest to ties. Unfortunately the manuscript was not

278 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS returned on time and my polite inquiry ment and of federal grants. Under stress aboixt it brought no acknowledgement or he could be mercurial, but he could also response. After I reported the situation, inspire and stimulate us to new heights. Les responded at once that he would take As the Archives and Manuscripts staff care of the matter as he had authorized grew rapidly after 1948,1 no longer needed the loan. Several weeks later he brought to remain a jack-of-all-trades in Manu­ the manuscript to mc, commenting that scripts, and as the staff became more spe­ he had had to make a special trip himself cialized, I gravitated to research and ref­ to get it back, and that the Society would erence. The most enjoyable aspects of my not make any future archival loans to that work were the correspondence I had with individual. researchers world-wide, and meeting and In contrast to Fishel, who had often assisting these who came to the Society talked with me directly about problems in person. With my interest in nature and projects, I foundjan^es Morton Smith and animals, I was thrilled to meet Edwin disappointingly distant and remote. Un­ Way Teale and his wife when they came less he was giving someone a tour of the to examine our John Muir materials. On Society, he seldom visited the Archives early bird observations in Wisconsin I as­ Reading Room. Very rarely too did he sisted at times Dr. Arlie W. Schorger, ever communicate in person, or by memo, chronicler of the passenger pigeon, and or by phone with me directly, but instead the novelist Sterling North. Through the Gerry Ham would forward a note he had Mass Communications collections I en­ received stating "TellJLH . . ." or "AskJLH joyed meeting celebrated pioneers and to send me information on. . . ." In other performers in that industry: H. V. words, I perceived that Smith preferred Kaltenborn, Louis P. Lochner, and Moss to deal directly only with the division Hart's widow Kitty Carlisle, to mention head and not with the under staff. To me only a few. he was a shadowy figure during his years In the I970's we welcomed to our read­ as director. ing room the first historians to come from Dick Erney I knew as a professional the Soviet Union as well as a charming and a friend for many years. During his young woman scholar from East Germany. years as state archivist, associate director, It was most interesting to see how these and director, he was another man who people reacted to our city, our campus, could be relied upon to keep his word. In and our library procedures—and the free­ whatever office he held, he gave staunch dom they were given to wander around support to the advancement of the total and take photographs. The Russians archival program. missed their calisthenic breaks and would F. Gerald Ham was the state archivist go out in the hall for a brisk walk or a few for twenty of the thirty-five years I was on stretching exercises during the mornings the Society staff. Energetic, dynamic, cre­ and afternoons. With labor historians, I ative, and articulate, Gerry managed an confess I was never completely comfort­ ever-larger and ever more diverse divi­ able. I had been raised and educated in a sion, taught university courses in archival non-union, or more correctly an anti­ administration, and achieved national and union, environment, and had never had international recognition for the Society's any detailed courses which stressed union archival programs as well as for himself as achievements and contributions. Of ne­ a spokesperson for the American archival cessity I did some reading on labor his­ profession. Like me and many others, he tory after I came to the Society. Often I was often impatient with the bureaucratic was pleased to delegate labor inquiries regulations and demands of state govern­ to someone much more knowledgeable

279 WISCONSIN MACiAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 than I—in my later years Harry Miller, tailed, in both English and Ojibwa, who became my capable successor as ref­ Chippewa grievances about broken trea­ erence archivist when I retired. I also ties and other injustices committed by the admit that 1 usually preferred work with federal government. Photocopies were personal papers to work with county and made, and one of the students held up his state records. copy and told me how surprised he was to Over the years I enjoyed preparing find that some of the grievances he many archives and maps displays, for Ad­ thought were modern had been voiced by miral William H. Leahy, for the Robert M. a Chippewa more than a century before! and PhiUp La Follette collections, for the Perhaps, as their teacher intended, spe­ Society's collection of autographs of the cial excursions to the Society's archives signers of the Declaration of Indepen­ did help to build students' self-esteem, dence; and for a multitude of local history and give them some pride in their heri­ and genealogical events and for classes of tage, as well as being a welcome break in students from fourth grade to college on institutional life and an adventure to re­ topics appropriate to each group. Often port to their classmates. the younger students were more openly And what shall I say about the Draper enthusiastic and questioning than older Manuscripts, with which my name became ones. For several years (in the late 1970's so closely associated over the years? In as I recall) the history teacher at the state fact, when I came to the Society in 1948, juvenile school for boys at Wales annually I had never heard of them; but I soon brought four or five of her students for a learned that the majority of our reference day in the Archives Reading Room. She inquiries pertained to the documents col­ always came to see me a week or two in lected by Lyman Draper. Because my own advance to discuss the topics she was con­ college and graduate school studies had sidering and to see what interesting mate­ been in the eighteenth century (Thomas rials we had on some or all of them. With Jefferson) and in the pre-Civil War years such advance preparation, more time was of Illinois, I soon found much of interest available for the students to do actual in the Draper Collection, and I also very reading when they did arrive. much enjoyed Hesseltine's research on One group of young Native Americans Draper the man. Already well in progress I remember particularly. They entered before my arrival in 1948 was the micro­ the reading room to be registered, silent filming of the Draper Collection, perhaps and wearing expressions ranging from the first pioneer project to reproduce on sullen to hesitant. Their chip-on-the- microfilm a major manuscript collection. shoulder demeanor did not seem a prom­ Despite wartime technical advances, it ising beginning. We brought out a sam­ was difficult for cameras and films to copy pling of manuscripts, including interviews clearly and legibly the many variations in by Lyman Draper with Indian leaders in colors of ink and papers found in old the East, old records by or pertaining to manuscripts. Some Draper volumes were members ofWisconsin bands, and letters filmed at the Society by Dwight Kelsey; and documents written by Native Ameri­ others, at the University of Chicago. Dur­ cans. As the morning wore on, we began ing 1948 and early 1949 I spent many to see a thaw in the young men's behavior, hours proofreading rolls of film to check for they began to confer and discuss with page inclusion and document legibility. enthusiasm among themselves. Most in­ Alice Smith had calculated that four com­ teresting to them was an 1864 document plete sets of the films would have to be by George Warren, an educated Wiscon­ sold to cover the actual film and caiuera sin Chippewa of mixed blood, who de­ costs, but the orders came in quickly and

280 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

far exceeded anyone's expectations. Forty- nine sets were sold over the next few years, plus dozens of partial sets. Their use stimulated a great, and unanticipated, increase in Draper-related correspon­ dence. It was obvious to many, staff and researchers, that the one finding aid to the entire Collection (the Descriptive List of 1906, compiled by Thwaites soon after the collection was opened to public study) was marred by inaccuracies as well as by many gaps and omissions. After consider­ ing the pros and cons of revising and correcting Thwaites's volume or of writ­ ing a new one, the Society administration gave me permission to do a new summary finding aid. Like many another such project, this one proved far more difficult

and time-consuming than any of us had WHi (N48) 2074 envisioned. Finally, after more than a dozen years in preparation, it was pub­ Josefjhine L. Harper, head of the maps and manuscripts lished in March of 1983—a golden day of division, about 1950, holding the file mount of the both relief and joy for me! My Guide to lite autograph of Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration Draper Manuscripts was the final part of a of Independence. Photo by John Newhouse. larger Draper publication project we car­ ried out between 1970 and 1980, includ­ ing a new, higher-quality edition of Draper reference! Because I consider the publi­ microfilms and microfiche copies of the cation of the Draper volume the end of calendars, published and unpublished, a major chapter in my life, I chose to to several major series of papers within retire at the end of the following June, the collection done prior to 1930. I fin­ a decision I have never regretted. Yes, I ished my book just as the Society was missed associations with colleagues and beginning to enter fully into the com­ researchers, but I rejoiced in freedom puter age, and I now realize that the from administrative demands and prob­ technical and electronic systems of today lems. Retirement has been a fine new could produce a much more detailed chapter in my life, with a good marriage, Guide than mine in a different format. time for European travels, photography, However, I did strive to reflect in the book reading, and other interests, and opportu­ some changing historical interests and nities to participate in activities and other concepts by placing more positive em­ organizations. phasis on Draper's references to women, What did the Society contribute to my to Afro-Americans, and to Native Ameri­ life? For thirty-five and a half years my life cans, as well as more inclusive lists of centered in and around it. It provided persons, places, and events. Perhaps I am work—research, editing, writing, and per­ one of the few persons besides Draper to sonal contacts by mail and in person— have read the collection in its entirety, which was interesting, and often chal­ but, lacking Jack Holzhueter's remark­ lenging, to me as a historian and archi­ able memory, I too often have to consult vist. The high regard in which the Society the Guideifl want to find a specific Draper and its archival programs were held made possible professional friendships and

281 WISC;ONSIN MACAZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

activity in the Society of American Archi­ Shuttleworth, was assistant to Dr. Charles vists, and my eventual election as a Fellow. Brown for many years and with that rela­ Income from my professional position tionship I had several privileges. I was enabled me to enjoy a pleasant home, allowed to sit in Daniel Webster's carriage the many other cultural opportunities and to go inside the pioneer kitchen. On available in Madison, and vacation travel occasion I helped give out cookies at the in the U.S. and Canada. The majority of children's parties. my closest friends have been persons I remember seeing in one display case with staff or other associations with the a ball that looked something like an on­ Society. Just as Thwaites's Descriptive List ion. It was supposed to! It was made up of became outdated and was no longer a strips of thin rubber wound tightly to­ research tool, so too will the publica­ gether. The caption said that during tions on which I labored. Yet I believe World War I German sympathizers had that the various guides and finding aids made these look-alikes and put them in compiled by me and my colleagues, the bags and on top of them put real onions. inventories we edited, and the thousands This then would fool the authorities and of letters written in my office to many could be sent to the enemy. On several parts of the world all made some mean­ occasions I was constantly startled when I ingful contributions to the interests and roamed the corner of one room for there research projects of many others—stu­ stood a rather frightening suit of armor dents, historians, biographers, novelists, — either Japanese or Chinese. genealogists, and other archivists—dur­ In college, of course, I used the library ing my years at the Society. As I have frequently, but it was the university side indicated, the sailing was not alwavs that I patronized. After all I was an En­ smooth, and there were downs as well as glish major and a French minor. ups; but I look back on my career with I came to work at the SHSW in 1948, overall satisfaction, and most of my the year of the State Centennial. At the memories are good ones. There is no State Fair in West Allis that year the Soci­ other institution in which I would have ety had an exhibit of Indian portraits preferred to spend my archival career. «' painted by H. H. Cross. We employees all had to man the booth, but on my shift most of the people who found their way JUNEJOHNSON into the tent were really looking for the Madison, Wisconsin next-door exhibit. That housed the very popular Elsie the Cow. 4AT can I say about my long tenure Libraries are supposed to be quiet Was a librarian at the State Historical places, with a scholarly and serious air Society of Wisconsin? It was certainly a about them. The Historical Library has departure from my previous employment. this, but also it had a certain elegance I had been a U.S.O. director during the because of the beautiful reading room war years in Morehead City, North Caro­ and its balcony. I liked the feeling of lina, and at Fort Hamilton in New York, space, the high ceilings, the large win­ and had thought I had left my library dows and the clean, classical whiteness. training and experience to the past. Com­ The contents of the building were ex­ ing to the Society, however, was not a new traordinary and received much praise. I experience for me. As a child I had spent was more and more impressed as I came many an afternoon roaming through the to learn more about it. It was astounding galleries of the Museum which was then to read in a newspaper an account of a on the fourth floor. My sister, Mrs. F. D. very alive Napoleon Bonaparte.

282 -JMW

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WHi (X2) 349

June Johnson, .landing, and Margaret Gleason, seated, at the main desk of the Society library in 1948. The air conditioner at the far right is going full tilt. Photo by Walter Harrison.

The Historical Library was a good place for the membership were open to us— to work. First of all, there was the security annual meetings, Founders Day, etc. I factor. Working for the State in those days joined the State and Local History organi­ was almost a guarantee that you could zation and as a member saw, and was always keep your job as long as the stan­ entertained by, places that I would never dards were met. The staff was friendly. have experienced as an ordinary citizen. The librarians were congenial and consci­ Like many others, I believe that knowl­ entious. I made friends there that I see or edge of the past is not only fascinating, correspond with long after my retirement. but essential. Without it our ability to deal The clientele was pleasant, highly moti­ with the present and the future is vastly vated, and usually grateful for any help we curtailed. W could give them. I, for one, liked the location of the Historical Society. I liked being in the CLEMENT M. SILVESTRO midst of the university complex. When Lexington, Massachusetts the routine of library work became te­ dious, there was always the Union. It was FFILIATION with the State Histori­ convenient to take in their many events. A cal Society ofWisconsin changed the There were other perks to being an em­ course of my professional career. In the ployee of the SHSW. The activities slated summer of 19491 entered graduate school

283 WISCONSIN MACAZINE OF HISTORY SU-MMER, 1996 at the University of Wisconsin with the undercurrent of rivalry between the Soci­ initial intention of securing a masters ety and the University library. In 1949, degree in history. By then my G.I. Bill negotiations were taking place for sepa­ benefits had run out. My savings were rating the university collections from the minuscule. An out-of-state scholarship Society's holdings, and plans for construct­ helped, but the prospect of securing a ing a new and much-needed university teaching assistantship was nil, particularly library building, just across the mall, were for first-year graduate students. A part- already underway. Nor did I understand time job of some kind was critical if 1 the broad-based purpose of the Society's were going to stay in Madison for more program: the museum, the school pro­ than one semester. gram, the state-history-focused publica­ I had intended to make Colonial his­ tions, or the historic sites under its juris­ tory my major, but Professor Merrill Jen­ diction. This all came much later. sen was on leave, and Professor Chester At this juncture I had no idea of the Easum, chairman of the history depart­ Historical Society's importance as a re­ ment, directed me to William Best search library, nor, for that matter, any­ Hesseltine, the eminent Civil War histo­ thing dihont the precise nature of this in­ rian. It turned out to be a stroke of luck. dependent institution, set in the heart of Both the man and his approach to the a sprawling state university complex. Be­ studyof history completely captivated me, fore long, however, I realized the people whereupon I decided to make the Ameri­ who used the research collections were can Civil War my major. This decision had not just American history graduate stu­ other beneficial consequences. Unbe­ dents attending the university. Scholars knownst to me at the time, Hesseltine had from all over the United States and some­ a direct tie with the historical society; he times from abroad made special visits to was a member of the Board of Curators use them. Historians who could not come (and later was its president). This associa­ in person wrote lengthy letters to Dr. tion gave him the opportunity to help Harper requesting information on their graduate students like me find part-time current project. The Lyman C. Draper Col­ jobs there. In September of 1949,1 began lection was considered one of the most work in the Society's manuscriptdivision— important sources for the history of the twenty hours a week. The pay wasn't much western movement. The Wisconsin society, but at least 1 was able to survive. Little did I quickly learned, was a very special place. I know that this arrangement, rooted in When I began to meet the division expediency, would eventually guide my heads of the organization and other staff career goals away from college teaching members, I discovered the Society was directly to the historical society field. more than a research library. The tall, Because the University of Wisconsin gaunt Dr. Benton Wilcox directed the library was then housed in the majestic, hbrary, Alice E. Smith, the research divi­ classical-style State Historical Society sion, Jesse Boell, the state archives, John building on State Street, I thought the Jacques, the newspaper collection, John historical society was simply the Ameri­ Jenkins, the museum, Ruth Davis, govern­ can history research library of the Univer­ ment documents, Livia Appel, book pub­ sity complex. Like most beginning gradu­ lications, Lillian Krueger, the magazine ate students, I had no idea it was an inde­ of history, Doris Piatt, the school pro­ pendent organization, incorporated by gram, Ray Sivesind, historic sites, Dwight the state legislature before the University Kelsey, photoduplication (meaning, prin­ came into being. I really didn'tlearn about cipally, microfilming the huge newspa­ the differences (sometimes sharp) or the per collection). The Society had a public

284 SESQUICENTENMAI. RECOLLFCLIONS

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Dwight Kelsey filling a photo.stat order, in addition to his microfilming duties at the Society, probably in the early 1960's.

relations director and a business man­ simply could not find college teaching ager. By getting to know each of them, jobs. The more fortunate ones found one easily could acquire an education careers as research historians in the apart from the graduate classroom. And National Park Service or the National they were unstinting in their willingness Archives, two federal agencies which to impart their knowledge to young gradu­ expanded at a time when private cultural ate students like me. For one thing, many institutions were cutting back. Other lucky of us were veterans of World War II, had ones also found employment in state his­ been in combat, and had been in places torical societies, mostly replacing retiring about which most people had never heard. personnel. This trend actually did a great Wet behind the ears we were not. deal to raise professional standards in Many members of the senior staff had these institutions, and also to solidify re­ their doctorates in history, a fact that lationships between the academic com­ impressed me. Most graduate students munity and historical agencies. But there believed the only reason for getting a was often a sad side to the story—the Ph.D. in history was to teach at the college underlying disappointment at having had or university level. Our vision was limited. to setfle for something less than \heir The thought never entered our minds original career objective: college teach­ that it was possible to have an alternative ing. To be sure, they adjusted^ but not career objective. As I got to know these totally. It was my personal opinion the Wisconsin staff members better, I learned condition was made worse by the prevail­ why some were here. Historians who had ing attitude among some academic histo­ earned their Ph.D's during the Great rians at the time, who generally looked Depression of the 1930's, as they did. down on them as the second team, as it

285 WISCONSIN MAG.AZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 were. A rank of professor at a college or people at all levels of society. Populariz­ university provided a certain status which ing history was the key for doing this, and a historical society position did not. it became the politically correct concept Astride the pyramid of this competent of the time. The battle cry "Making His­ professional staff was the Society's direc­ tory Come Alive" was aimed at washing tor. Dr. Clifford Lee Lord, and his assistant away the popular notion that history was director. Dr. Wilbur H. Glover. As a lowly a deadly dull subject, with nothing but research assistant, I did not get to know dates and events to memorize. At every either of these two gentlemen very well level, passivity was out, aggressiveness during the two years it took me to com­ was in; and thus began an expansion plete my master's degree. I did not at­ boom that would last for several decades. tend weekly staff meetings, and our paths State history magazines were revamped crossed only on a passing basis. What I into more appealing formats which in­ did know early was that Lord was a dy­ cluded lots of photographs drawn from namo who was revitalizing the Society rich and under-utilized collections. Ra­ from stem to stern. It did not affect me dio and TV shows, beamed at audiences very much, but the process was already far larger than those who attended an­ underway. The University of Wisconsin nual meetings, had great appeal. School Library had moved out in 1953 and the services and "junior historian" programs Society building was being refurbished were accelerated. A Historymobile—ac­ and readied for a spurt of growth that tually a huge mobile home converted to would last several years. hold museum cases—carried exhibits Clifford Lord's revitalization program around the state. Historic sites were trans­ at Wisconsin did not occur in a vacuum. formed into Hollywood movie sets, with The late 1940's and 1950's witnessed an costumed, educational specialists inter­ expansion boom for state historical soci­ preting the historical setting and events eties, archival agencies, and similar agen­ with dramatic eclat. (The successful ones, cies of historical preservation across the anyway.) Historic markers with scenic land. The successful conclusion of World turnoffs became commonplace; history War II had triggered a phenomenal inter­ museums were redesigned and updated est in the nation's history and its demo­ to attract a wider audience. Indeed all cratic institutions. Patriotism was not es­ these programs were focused on general chewed; America's position as a world audiences; and, not incidentally, they power made Americans proud. The also catered to the tourist trade, an im­ economy expanded significantly when the portant industry in Wisconsin. veterans returned, thereby providing tax Older staff members abhorred this dollars for new projects and for those set popularizing approach, as did many uni­ aside during the war years. versity history department members, but Where the leadership existed (and it Clifford Lord had the support of his Board certainly existed with Cliff Lord), state of Curators, the state legislature, and key historical societies took advantage of these leaders throughout Wisconsin. With this conditions to reassert their role as mandate, he forged ahead. Cliff epito­ guardians of the nation's patrimony, mized the dynamic leadership of the state and for developing a series of programs historical society movement of the late and activities aimed at making their 1940's and 1950's, and during this period organizations into broad-based educa­ the Wisconsin society became a role model tional institutions. Historical societies for other aspiring state historical societ­ were no longer to be elitist enclaves domi­ ies nationwide. It was an exciting time to nated by first families but were to serve be there.

286 1 if'Tur^irt

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A/zee E. Smith (seated, zvith glasses) autographing copies of her biography of James Duane Doty at the Society': Eounders Day gathering, 1956.

And what better place to work during career as director of the Oregon Histori­ this exciting period than in the research cal Society; Robert Polk Thomson, who offices of Alice E. Smith? She was in charge taught at Vanderbilt and later at George of the Society's research projects, but she Peabody College; Frank Elliott, who be­ also functioned as a resident scholar, do­ came president of Rider College in New ing her own research and writing, and Jersey; Loren Baritz of the state university counseling university and visiting schol­ system in New York, and many others. ars. She knew Wisconsin history backward Alice Smith was the mother of us all. and forward, as well as the history of the Her tenure at Wisconsin stretched back Old Northwest. Her ties with the history to 1929, a time when two powerful women, department, particularly with the Annie Nunns and Louise Phelps Kellogg, Americanists—Merrill Jensen (her favor­ reigned supreme at the State Historical ite), William B. Hesseltine, Merle Curti, Society ofWisconsin. On rare occasions, Howard K. Beale, and Fred Harvey she might recall what it was like to work Harrington—were very close. She wielded under these two arrogant, condescend­ a lot of power, which she exercised like a ing females. As she spoke, Alice's nor­ consummate diplomat. The list of gradu­ mally gentie face would become taut. She ate students who worked under Alice is would take a deep pull on her cigarette, extensive: among them were Thomas tap off the ash with a quick flick, and, as Vaughan, who was to have a distinguished the smoke streamed from her nostrils.

287 WISCONSIN MAC;AZINE OF HISTORY SUM.VlER, 1996 recount a humiliating experience in pre­ At this point, a personal decision took cise, clipped language. (Harassment is me away from Madison for a year. Betty what we would call it today, but in the and I went to Maine where we worked for 1930's, when jobs were scarce, it was prob­ a year in her father's wholesale baking ably the norm.) business. We returned to Madison in the Alice was cagey about revealing where fall of 1952 to resume our academic ca­ she stood regarding the changes taking reers. I began work on my doctorate, again place. Cliff Lord had a very high opinion with Professor Hesseltine, who once again of her, and I'm sure he knew she had clout helped me find a part-time job in Alice "up the hill," meaning Bascom Hill where Smith's research division, where work was the history department had its offices. I proceeding on a major project: the Diction­ believe Alice recognized the Society ary of Wisconsin Biography, which the So­ needed to be revamped, and its budget ciety ultimately published in 1960. increased, and she went along with Lord Even with an absence of only one year, because he was manifestly successful in it was apparent that changes at the Soci­ doing that. The major complaint she ex­ ety were moving at a rapid pace. A critical pressed openly was that Cliff was doing too change at the top administrative level was much "without ever finishing anything." to have lasting significance. This was the On June 26, 1950, the day after the appointment of Donald R. McNeil as Korean War began, Betty C. Mack and I Cliff's assistant. A decorated World War II were married. Betty was then a doctoral veteran, Don was also a member of candidate in Russian and Asian histor)'. Hesseltine's seminar and was by this time With this added personal responsibility, I working on his doctorate. C4iff hired Don needed to work full time. Alice Smith did when Wilbur Glover was on quasi-leave not have a full-time job for me, but by status to finish a book; then, shortly after chance there was an opening in the completing it. Glover left to assume the Society's manuscripts division. I had com­ directorship of the Buffalo and Erie pleted my course work for the master's County Historical Society. Thereupon, degree and was in the process of writing Don became assistant director. my master's thesis, so I took thejob. For Initially, the team of Lord and McNeil the next academic year I learned to pro­ was absolutely unbeatable. They operated cess manuscript collections, and to sen'e in tandem and were fantastically success­ the scholars and students who used them. ful in launching a number of major Dr. Josephine L. Harper, the division projects like the American History Re­ chief, was a very quiet person, knowledge­ search Center and the Mass Communica­ able in her field, and patient. For her, the tions Center. New faces began to appear— process of training still another graduate among them, quite by chance, three student into the many-faceted activities of Southerners. Forrest McDonald, a dy­ a research library's manuscript division namic young Texan who later made his operations must have been frustrating, reputation as a constitutional historian, because most of her trainees eventually headed the new American History Re­ left her the moment they could obtain a search Center, which soon launched an teaching assistantship. Actually, I was in­ ambitious book-publishing program. Wil­ trigued and fascinated with the process of liam C. Haygood, a successful novelist sorting and arranging collections, and and writer from Georgia who had trained writing the summary descriptive invento­ for librarianship at the University of Chi­ ries—even though typing sets of catalog cago, took over the Wisconsin Magazine of cards left a lot to be desired. In any event, History. O. Lawrence Burnette, a North the experience was important. Carolinian educated in Virginia as a his-

288 SESQUICEN'TENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

tory teacher and editor, succeeded Livia the feeling, justified or not, that Lord and Appel as director of the Society's publica­ McNeil were really calling the shots and tions program. (Scholars in the history that was that. department who denigrated Cliff's popu­ By this time I had become quite at­ lar history approach could hardly quarrel tached to the historical society and the with the quality of these new profession­ staff. As students, we never had enough als—though some might have been resent­ money, but we entertained each other on ful that the American History Research a modest scale, and in turn, were enter­ Center was not controlled by the history tained. The Hesseltines made a special department.) point of entertaining their graduate In this period. Cliff and Don succeeded students, a practice not common at uni­ in acquiring the immense family archives versities elsewhere. The most memorable of Cyrus McCormick, together with Dr. occasion was a joint birthday party for Herbert and Lucile Kellar, custodians of Professor Hesseltine and Herbert Kellar, the collection. Why the Chicago institu­ curator of the McCormick Collection. tions like the Newberry Library or Chicago Most of the guests were history depart­ Historical Society allowed this important ment professors and key historical society collection to elude them is a mystery to staff; Betty and I were among the very few me, but 1 suspect the package included graduate students invited—quite an hiring the Kellars, a condition that would honor, we realized later. It was a costume have made the acquisition too costly for party; we were to come dressed as charac­ them. M^hatever, it was another coup for ters in U.S. history. Despite budgetary Cliff and Don. constraints, we came up with what we The Society was on a roll. Things were thought was a novel idea. President War­ happening all the time. Renovation of the ren G. Harding had a mistress, by whom building was in progress (it was rededi- he had a child out of wedlock. The child's cated, with much pomp and circumstance, mother organized a movement to get ille­ in 1955). The budget was increasing, as gitimate children legalized, which she were private contributions; and most im­ named the Elizabeth Ann League. We portantly, Cliff's popularization program resolved that I would go as the baby, Eliza­ was paying off. The people ofWisconsin beth Ann, and Betty would go as Harding's came to know about their state historical mistress, carrying a petition for guests to society in a manner not previously known. sign. From Livia Appel, I borrowed an old The names of the Society's two charis­ cotton nightgown. I used a pair of muk- matic leaders. Lord and McNeil, were not luks for baby boots and fashioned a baby's as common as household words, but close bonnet; then I went to the university hos­ to it. Whether all this energy and enthusi­ pital (which was then on University Ave­ asm filtered down to the line staff is hard nue, not far from where we lived) and to say. Most seemed to like the Society's begged them to let me have a newborn's new status as a vibrant, educational insti­ string of beads bearing the name Eliza­ tution; however, some growled that their beth Ann with the promise I would faith­ workloads had increased beyond their fully return them. Betty wore an elegant capability. Additional help was always black velvet dressing gown and a headband promised but was not often forthcoming. to convey a I920's "flapper" look, And even though weekly staff meetings At the party, guessing who each guest provided division heads and key staff represented was part of the fun. In some members the opportunity for input, and cases, of course, there was instant recogni­ also to learn exactly what was going on tion. Fred Harrington, who was six feet, and what was being planned, there was four inches tall, came as Abraham Lincoln.

289 WISCC5NSIN M.UiAZlNE OF HISTORV SUMMER, 1996

Hesseltine, wearing a driving duster and for the academic year beginning in 1954. artificial whiskers, was Horace Greeley. The assignment included assisting But Betty and I were not readily identi­ Hesseltine teach a course on Wisconsin fied, even by those eminent historians history, of which by this time I had consid­ present. While the guests puzzled about erable knowledge. Although this took me who we were, Betty dutifully made the away from day-to-day contact with the rounds, gathering signatures on her peti­ Society, my ties with the professional staff tion without revealing anything except continued. I still participated in the es­ that it was in support of the Elizabeth Ann tablished practice of having lunch with League. (The petition now reposes in the Cliff, Don, and other male staff members William B. Hesseltine Papers at the Sc:)ci- who made a daily ritual of swimming at ety, liberally stained with the Kellar- the university's "old red gym" at noon­ Hesseltine famous, and lethal, Chatham time, followed by our bag lunch on the Artillery Punch, which has undoubtedly Wisconsin Union terrace. (The noon swim helped to preserve it.) habit stayed with me. No matter where I Once I passed the preliminary exami­ go, I've managed to find a pool for my nations for the Ph.D., I qualified for a daily swim.) At the end of that academic teaching assistantship, which I received year, I once more had to find employ-

At an elaborate historical costume party (c. 1955) to celebrate the joint birthdays of William B. Hesseltine of the history department and Herbert Kellar of the Society, Clem Silvestro and his wife appear in the front row as the illegilimale cliild and mistress of President Warren Harding.

Wlli (XS) 39093 SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS ment while Betty and I tackled the task this job, I came to know every part of of completing research and writing our the state—the farms, the towns and doctoral dissertations. We were in the cities, the woodlands, and of course East during the summer of 1955 when the people. Living in Madison estab­ Cliff Lord called to ask if I wanted to lished a standard against which all fu­ become a candidate for the director­ ture judgments regarding lifestyle had ship at a historical society in California. to be measured. Hesseltine, in the meantime, was ex­ Of the many memorable trips I made, ploring a possible teachingjob for me at the time I visited Senator Joseph R. Wake Forest. (The "old boys' network" McCarthy stands out. It must have been was firmly entrenched in those days.) As in 1956, after McCarthy had been cen­ it turned out, neither job possibility sured by his colleagues in the Senate worked out. Then Cliff called again: and was pretty much disgraced. I was in "Why don't you and Betty come back to the Appleton area, sorting out lead cards Madison? You can succeed Frank Elliot (actually half-sheets of paper contain­ as director of field services and finish ing descriptive information about po­ your dissertation as well." Madison, the tential collections) when it occurred to Society, and the University ofWisconsin me that the Senator might be at home. was a magnet hard to resist. We thought To my knowledge, the question of where it over carefully and agreed to do it. he might deposit his papers had not yet The Society's field services division been decided, although it could be as­ was yet another progressive and aggres­ sumed they eventually would go to the sive vehicle of the new popularization Library of Congress. I had no authority era. Instead of passively waiting for his­ to contact him; I'd never thought about torical collections to drop haphazardly it before I left. But I went to a telephone into its lap, a special office was assigned booth, found a listing, and called. Lo the task of tracking down important and behold, the Senator himself an­ collections of important people both swered. I explained who I was and asked in- and out-of-state, making contacts if I could talk to him about his papers. with them or members of their family, "Sure," he said. "Can you meet me at my requesting them to leave the collec­ office at the Post-Crescenl in half an tions to the Society. A second impor­ hour?" 1 was there sooner than half an tant function of the office was to make hour, and by that time I was having contact with and lend technical assis­ doubts about having initiated the ap­ tance to county and local historical pointment. Like everyone else, I had a societies in the state. Thejob required television image of what Joe McCarthy travel, and Cliff and Don even man­ would look like—the heavy beard, the aged, after a while, to get the state smile that would appear as a smirk, the budget office to approve the purchase rough, aggressive manner that showed of a Ford ranch wagon with THE STATE up in his questioning of state depart­ HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCON­ ment officials and the like. What a con­ SIN lettered on the doors—very im­ trast when I met him in person. In walked pressive. Of course the representatives a casually dressed man of average height of this office achieved another indis­ and build, his shirt open at the collar, pensable objective: building up good no tie, wearing an outdoor, lumber-type will in all the communities throughout jacket and a big disarming smile as he Wisconsin, which in turn, translated greeted me. into support in the state legislature at My strategy was to acquaint him with budget time. In the two years I spent in the Society, which he knew about, and

291 WISCONSIN MACAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 our interest in possibly acquiring his per­ In 1957 came an opportunity that sonal papers. I told him the collection permanently committed me to a life­ didn't have to go to the Library of Con­ time career in the historical agency field. gress, that it could stay right here in In 1957 Cliff became president of the Wisconsin for scholars and writers to American Association for State and Lo­ use. I made it clear that the Society's cal History. Three years earlier, this or­ director would be happy to discuss the ganization, which had founded Ameri­ matter with him at his convenience. can Heritage ma.g-3L7.ine, had sold the pub­ McCarthy listened attentively. I was lication to a professional marketing struck by his charm and warm personal­ team. The AASLH was now enjoying ity—qualities that any successful politi­ royalties which would enable it to estab­ cian would be glad to possess. Of course, lish a central office. Cliff was eager to he made no commitment, but it was my have AASLH headquartered in Madison impression that he was interested. We under the aegis of the State Historical met for half an hour, and I parted with Society ofWisconsin. Initially, the asso­ high expectations that perhaps I had ciation could only afford a half-time made a coup. (For whatever reason, position, whereupon Cliff approached nothing came of my meeting, and even­ me again. Would I take on thejob, and tually Senator McCarthy's widow do­ continue half-time as one of his assis­ nated his papers to his alma mater, tants? I agreed, and with this decision, Marquette University.) my career goal was set at last. '«

Prank Elliott and Ken Puckett of the Society's field staff load another "find" into their much-traveled Ranch Wagon, about 1955.

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The Society's leaders, John Jacques, left, and Cliff Lord, .suffering some pain for the gains brought about by major remodeling in the 1950's.

LARRY GAR-V arrive at the Society's doors when they Wilmington, Ohio opened. (Only Merle C^urti and I ar­ rived that early.) It was in the Society OR those of us who were history gradu­ that I assisted with the research for F ate students in the early 1950's, the William B. Hesseltine's biography of Historical Society was like a dream come Lyman C. Draper, and also researched true. Any monographs in American history my own doctoral dissertation, later pub­ that we could not find in the stacks we could lished by the Society under the title surely locate in the university library, which Westernized Yankee: The Story of Cyrus was then housed in the other side of the Woodman. building. The Society staff in all depart­ Writing this brings back a flood of ments was always patient and helpful. memories. There were our heated dis­ I still remember trudging through cussions in the small smoking area the snow with my Royal portable to where Frank Byrne, Warren Susman, 293 WISCONSIN M,\C,AZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

Charles Vevier, and I talked about poli­ STEPHEN E. AMBROSE tics and history. There was the Frederick New Orleans, Louisiana Jackson Turner Room, used for semi­ nars, where I had the privilege of see­ N my freshman year at the University ing such great historians as Merle Curti, IofWisconsin, 1953-1954, the main li­ Howard Beale, and Fulmer Mood lead brary of the university had just moved discussions of the reading they had as­ into its new quarters, so I don't recall signed in their respective fields. Above having entered the Society building. In all, that was the room where the noted the fall semester of my sophomore year, Hesseltine seminar met, with the mas­ however, I took a course entitled Repre­ ter himself leading the pack in a kind sentative Americans, taught by Professor of mutual criticism that left no bud­ William B. Hesseltine. He put the two ding historian unshaken. Everything hundred or so sttxdents in the class to from dangling participles to faulty re­ work on a term paper that involved origi­ search was exposed in what some nal research into Wisconsin figures promi­ thought a most ruthless fashion. Yet nent in politics, business, the professions, out of it came historians like Frank the military, and so forth. His aim was to Freidel, Richard N. Current, T. Harry produce a proposed dictionary of Wis­ Williams, and Benjamin Quarles, all consin biography. from an earlier generation than mine. I was assigned (or selected, I forget There was also Clifford Lord's pro­ which) Charles Billinghurst, a one-term gram of training personnel for histori­ pre-Civil War congressman. A graduate cal agencies, a program that produced assistant (quaintly called quiz instructors archivists Maynard Brichford and Ken­ in those days) gave us some minimal guid­ neth Duckett, as well as Don McNeil ance into doing research during an on- and Clem Silvestro, all members of the site tour of the Society. He showed us seminar with me. where reference works were located, how The Society was a very special place. I to find local histories in the stacks, and recall an Easter Sunday when I was edit­ most of all how to locate old newspapers. ing my dissertation for publication and I have long since forgotten what term learned, just as we were ready to leave Billinghurst served, or where he was from; town, that I had left the manuscript in I do recall that he was a Republican and that the stacks. A call to John Jacques, the his main interest was getting a railroad to Society's assistant director, brought him run from Milwaukee to Minneapolis to down, uncomplainingly, to let me into the West Coast. Professor Hesseltine was the closed building. Where else could an economic determinist; his lectures had anyone get that kind of service? fully convinced me that the important Having spent the better part of three sectional struggle in the 1850's was over and a half years within its walls, I real­ railroads, not slavery. ize that the Society has meant more to Billinghurst fit perfectly into this inter­ me than I can possibly express. Many pretation. I was completely under the spell times in later years, laboring in the of this great teacher, so it delighted me vineyards of small colleges, I have beyond measure that my research was yearned for the kind of research insti­ proving his point. Even more exciting, tution which we took for granted in however, was the research itself. For all Madison. The building and the Society that Billinghurst has faded from my itself will always be a part of me. I'm memory, I'll never forget the first time I grateful for having had the experience opened his home-town newspaper. I was of using its magnificent collections. '« eighteen years old, and until that mo-

294 Students nesting in the Society's second-floor reading room during the 1960's.

ment I had no idea that pre-Civil War horse races and fairs, church meetings, newspapers were still in existence, or that school happenings, new buildings in town. a kid like me could actually read them. I read the advertisements and marveled at The newspaper was in one of those the prices. Most of all my eyes searched dusty, musty, falling-apart leather-bound for the name Billinghurst. I was delighted volumes. You placed it on a rack. When when I could find any reference to him, you opened it, bits of paper broke free overjoyed when the paper carried a sum­ and fell to the floor. I suspect I was the mary of one of his speeches, ecstatic when first person to look at it in years, if not it gave the full text of a speech. decades. I was doing research! I was, in It was a magical moment. That newspa­ Hesseltine's word.s—the words that caused per drew me in like a magnet. It swept me me to change my major from pre-med to back in time a full century. It put me in history—ynakinga contribution to the world's touch with the past. I could see it, feel it, knowledge. smell it. At that moment I realized it was With Hesseltine's help, I got ajob in the possible to transcend time, that the past Society's library, first of all in the mail room wasn't dead and buried, but very much in the basement, then working in the stacks, alive, right here in front of mc. replacing books. How I loved those stacks I devoured the news stories, those one- —long, narrow, dark, so crammed full of paragraph local features and the hunger books. Someday, I vowed, I would read pieces on national politics. I read about them all (an ambition notyet realized!).

295 Wlli (X3) 39099

Stephen E. Ambrose with Projessor William B. Hesseltine on Bascom Hill, 1957.

The next year 1 got ajob in the Cyrus Hesseltine's seminars arejustly famous. Hall McCormick Collection. I was a file He stressed writing and research. He in­ clerk, helping to put the papers in some sisted on evidence. He was death on edi­ kind of order, but I fear I wasn't very torializing, on the passive voice, and on good at the job, because I spent more most adverbs. He stressed pace and tim­ time reading the documents than filing ing—don'tflash forward, don'tflash back, them. I was fascinated by the reports sent always begin a sentence with the time into the home office from Russia, where clause, then the place, then the action, McCormick was trying to sell reapers. then the result. (His favorite example: The reports from the salesmen in the "Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14, field gave me a vivid impression of 1865, in Ford's Theater" is about as bad as mid-nineteenth-century Russia. a sentence can be. The right way: "On In my senior year, I was allowed into April 14, 1865, in Ford's Theater, John Mr, Hesseltine's seminar because I had Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln." His signed up to do a senior honors thesis. We favorite sentence in the English language: met on Monday afternoons—which al­ "In the beginning, God created heaven lowed me to skip Monday afternoon foot­ and earth." When, who, action, result.) ball practice, a blessing—in the Sellery He insisted on honesty, evidence, and Room. It was a grand room, dominated by the integrity of the past. He would not a portrait of George Clarke Sellery, a uni­ allow putting one's own politics and preju­ versity dean. That first day, Hesseltine dices into the writing of history. (I've talked about biographv, constantly refer­ spent a career trying to figure out how to ring to the portrait. He said that wasn't do that.) He was scathing in his criticism the Sellery he remembered—he recalled whenever we would apply the standards the dean as a mean-spirited, small man, of the 1950's to the 1850's. His teaching not at all like the rather good-looking, method was to have each student present kindly face we were looking at. But, he a chapter from his or her dissertation. It said, everyone had the obligation to do had to be submitted a week ahead of time his own portrait of his or her subject. and placed behind the check-out counter

296 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

at the Society's circulation desk. We would Judy and our first child, Stephcnie, born read it and take notes in preparation for a in April, 1960, Hesseltine and the Society two-hour discussion. He encouraged us to were once again the center of my life. I be intensely competitive and unrelentingly was in that marvelous old building every critical. He set the example—he could be morning at opening (8 A.M. as I recall) absolutely brutal. (If he were reading this and except for a quick lunch, and some­ paper, he would angrily draw a bright red times dinner, I was there until they kicked line through all the "ly" words in the previ­ me out at closing time (10 P.M.). As a ous two sentences.) Not many sur\'ived this Ph.D. candidate and Hesseltine's assis­ treatment. Those who did learned how to tant, I had an exalted status, sufficient to research and write history. get me a private study carrel on the top My senior thesis was on General Henry fioor, where I could keep books and docu­ Halleck, Lincoln's chief of staff. My main ments, my typewriter, all the essentials of source was the Official Records of the War of a budding scholar. I all but lived in that Ihe Rebellion. Its hundreds of volumes were carrel, to the point that Judy and I once in the stacks and I worked at a tiny table at made love in it—surely also not a first in the end of one of the rows, with a small the history of the building. fluorescent light and a stiff-backed chair. I had taken philosophy as a minor when I spent hours, days, weeks poring over the I was an undergraduate and wanted to O.R., taking notes, trying to discover what pursue it as my minor in my Ph.D. studies. Halleck had done, what role he had But Hesseltine had put together a four- played, what his impact on war had been. course program taught by members of the Usually I was the only person in that part Society staff on "historical agencies." His of the stacks; often I was the only person reasoning was that those who couldn't get on the floor. It was a monk's existence. I jobs as teachers could still make a living as loved it. historians by working at state and local I was in and out of the Society library historical societies. I resisted. He insisted. twenty times a day. There was a hat and One course was on the administration coat check counter just to your left as you of historical agencies. It ranged from book­ entered. The attendant was a student- keeping and hiring to fund-raising and worker, Judy Dorlester. I got to know her was taught by Cliff Lord, director of the well, fell in love, and married her the day Society. Another was on displays, taught after my graduation. I'd be pretty certain by the people responsible for the design that wasn't the only romance that started and display of artifacts in the Society's in the SHSW. museum. The third was on historical pub­ I went to Louisiana State University for lications, taught by the editor of the Uni­ ray master's degree. I wanted to study versity ofWisconsin Press and the editor under T. Harry Williams, who was one of of the Wisconsin Magazine of History. The Hesseltine's first Ph.D.s. My senior thesis fourth was on documents and library sci­ served as the basis for my M.A. thesis, and ence, taught by the staff of the Society's then became my first book, published by manuscripts division. LSU Press. I don't suppose more than a At one session in his course on histori­ couple of hundred people have read it, cal agency administration. Dr. Lord but one of the readers was Dwight D. brought in three or four members of the Eisenhower, and he liked it enough to state legislature to talk about securing invite me—at age twenty-eight—to be an state funding for historical agencies. One editor of his papers and his biographer. of those legislators made a remark worth That came later, after I had returned repeating. "Wisconsin isn't a rich state," toMadisonfor my Ph.D. It was 1958. After he pointed out. "We have our financial

297 WISCONSIN MACA/.INE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

problems and a lot of demands for state them most definitely were rascals and scoun­ money. I don't know why we should have drels, present company excepted. the best state historical society in the coun­ To me the Society will always be the try, considering the cost. But by God, we epitome of opportunity and upward mobil­ do have the best, so I'm willing to support ity, even for such aliens as sociologists and it so that it remains the best." retired infantry officers attending the uni­ I hope that attitude prevails through versity on the G.I. Bill and combat disability the twenty-first centurv. «' pay. I started out as a ten-hour-a-week stu­ dent helper in the newspaper section and was retired years later as Supervisor of the WILLIAM J. SCHERECK Office of Local History and Executive Sec- Lodi, Wisconsin rctar)' of the Wisconsin Council for Local History. Both offices, I may add, were cre­ HE State Historical Society of Wis­ ated at my suggestion. (Epitome, indeed!) T consin well merits praise and eulogiz­ Between those two events I first officially ing, as do the men and women whose labors became a member of the staff in Govern­ made her great despite the fact that some of ment Publications via the Wisconsin civil

William J. Schereck reviexvs one rfhis ami history taf>es on the ethnic dwersily of Wisconsin. SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS service. Then followed the next great op­ sin faculty, with whose encouragement I portunity: oral history. For three years, I did my M.A. work on a local topic. (In­ traveled the state with Radio WHA equip­ deed I wrote my whole thesis at one of the ment, recording interviews during Cliff desks attached to the old stack ends in the Lord's ethnic history program. The project Society's library.) Hesseltine, in his search culminated in an Ohio University innova­ for alternative jobs for his students, cre­ tive radio award for a thirteen-program ated (together with Cliff Lord) a minor radio series, Sounds of Heritage, in which I doctoral field in historical agency work integrated excerpts of the taped interviews through which I came to know the into narrations on the histories of some ten Society's principal officials and to receive different Wisconsin nationality groups. their then new ideas on historical out­ I was rewarded with promotion to field reach and popularization—innovations services, which later, as Field Supervisor, which Hesseltine supported even though I divided into two offices, assuming the he often referred to the Society's proud role of supervisor of the spun-off Office of new Historymobile as the "peanut wagon"! Local History. My main occupation was In sum, the Society became in most the incorporation of new county and lo­ ways the center of my existence from the cal historical societies. Ultimately, more fall of 1950 to 1954, and (after a hiatus for than a hundred of them were statutorily the military) from 1956 to 1957. I and affiliated with the state Society. When most of my contemporaries lived in the requests for new staff were denied, I di­ now-demolished slums east of the Soci­ vided the affiliates into ten regions and ety. On a typical day I'd breakfast at commenced servicing them at annual re­ Gannon's "greasy spoon" on University gional conventions under the collective Avenue, spend all of the day when not in cognomen, Wisconsin Council for Local class at the Society, lunch and supper at History. Among my tools were a periodi­ the Union (beginning my lifelong over­ cal newsletter. Exchange, and such how-to weight with cheap stuff like hamlaurger mimeographs as A Calaloging System for casserole, "grease a la mode"), and clos­ Eocal Historical Society and Museums. I got ing out the day at 9:45, frequently with the very little help except from the mailing ceremonial ringing in the Reading Room room and the typing pool, but several of an old-fashioned set of chimes. One agency directors saw to it that I was not afternoon each week, of course, the mem­ hindered in most of my initiatives so long bers of Hesseltine's famous seminar tore as they did not become consequential each other apart, in later years in the budgetary items. '« Sellery Room. The venue of this daily routine was the first real research library in which I had ever worked. I quickly learned that the book collection for the FRANK L. BYRNE nineteenth century was eqtxal to or better Kent, Ohio than that of the Library of Congress (and surely more accessible!). It was arranged 4ILE the State Historical Society by the obsolete Cutter system which, how­ Whas been and always will be in flux, ever idiosyncratic, actually made more the timing of my contact with it marked a sense for a local history collection than coming of age for both it and me. I was any other. Aside from the books, 1 came more aware of what happened at the Soci­ to respect the numerous bound volumes ety than was the typical graduate student of paper ephemera—irreplaceable pam­ specializing in American history because phlets on so many topics! Because my I worked with William B. Hesseltine, the master's thesis took mc through almost Society's greatest booster on the Wiscon­

299 ready legendary Miss Annie Nunns and tucked away till there might be money to rebind them! As to the Society's people, who really made all the rest of it work, I must admit that while Cliff Lord was friendly I never thought of him as a friend. Rightly or wrongly, I never had confidence that his scholarship was solid. Far better in that respect was Alice Smith. It should be encoixraging to all of us in the field to see how well her substantial works have stood up. I enjoyed keeping in touch with this good friend till long after her retirement. It has been fine as well to keep in touch with her scholarly succes­ sor. Bill Thompson. Another friend since those days, June Johnson of the Library, I'm happy to say is likewise still with us. Also a friendly librarian—once you got past his funereal look—was Benton Wilcox. And of course my post-Madison editorial activities have also kept me close to the editors of this journal. But to clc^se this catalog of Society people, I must ask if anyone recalls Willie Jo Walker, the cleaning lady? Every day she'd stop by my desk with another chap­ Ees.s-than-ideal nexvspaper storage at tlie Society, 1945. ter in a never-ending saga of personal disasters (mostly), all recounted in a heavy Southern accent: "The avalanche came for him. . . ." (It took me some tim_e every bound volume of pre-Civil War Wis­ to understand that a vehicle was involved.) consin newspaper, I gained much appre­ She was a truly not-to-be-forgotten per­ ciation for this unrivaled part of the son from a time long gone which deserves Society's collections. to be remembered. «' 1 began working amid these treasures while they were in a today all-buuforgotten disarray. One side of the circulation desk was controlled by the University Library, HERBERTJ. TEPPER which shared the building while the Venice, Florida other was labeled for the Society. Years of overcrowding had guaranteed that OME years ago I was keeping bees in piles of books would intrude upon the S the Lake Winnebago area ofWiscon­ open space on both sides. Years of sin and working part-time as an apiary Depression-era poverty had produced inspector for the state. The honey crop even greater oddities. I can recall several was poor in the summer of 1954, so I times seeking volumes not on shelf only decided to take a civil service exam for a to discover that they had been wrapped full-time state job. It so happened that the in brown paper and string by the al­ Society was looking for a replacement for

300 SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS

Bill Schereck in building a duplicate col­ which had been adapted for the Society lection of state publications. I applied for by C^harles A. Cutter himself. But there thejob. Don McNeil, the Society's associ­ was a trend in the library world at large to ate director, looked me over, asking about shift to the Library of C^ongress classifica­ my graduate work in history and my un­ tion for the sake of uniformity in aca­ dergraduate studies at Amherst College. demic libraries. That shift was speeded up Then he took me to meet Cliff Lord, the greatly in the 1980's by the advent of Society director and a prominent Amherst computerized cataloging. alumnus. The Amherst connection prob­ As a section head, I had much more ably got me thejob. contact with the head librarian, Dr. Miss Ruth Davis, the head of the Gov­ Benton Wilcox, who looked very much ernment Publications, was my first super­ like Abraham Lincoln, only without the visor. Bill Schereck had gone on to work beard. He wasn't very confiding, but he in Field Services as a liaison to local his­ was much respected because of his schol­ torical societies. The work with duplicate arly attainments. He also held important state publications was phased in with the positions in the state library association regular government publications work. and even wrote a history of the organiza­ The Newspaper Section operated in tion. For us, Wilcox was mainly a buffer the same wing of the Society's building against the Society's front office. He par­ as government publications, so I got to ticularly didn 't like John Jacques, who was know Don Oehlerts, the head of that sec­ the assistant director specializing in the tion. He was also working part-time on a internal affairs of the Society. W library science degree at the university. I decided that would be good job insurance for me. Consequently I started taking K\REi. D. BICHA classes there part-time, too. Eventually I Madison, Wisconsin got the library degree in 1959—ten years after my master's in history. In the mean­ Y first experience with the Society time, Oehlerts had gotten his degree M was surely prosaic. As a first-year and left, so Ben Wilcox, the head librar­ undergradixate looking for a comfortable ian, appointed me to replace him as head place to study, I discovered the institution of the Newspaper Section. in the autumn of 1954. There is an alcove During the early 1960's the head of the on the first floor which was once a lounge Catalog Section, Edwin "Tom" Tomlinson, came into quite a bit of money when his father died in South Dakota. He was very 'llie oft-remembim'd stuffed chairs scattered strate­ conservative in his politics and didn't like gically throughout the Society, here in the smoking lounge on thefitrstfloor after remodeling in the 1950 's. the prevailing liberalism of Madison. He (The chairs xvere vinyl, not leather.) left to take a libraryjob in Orange Coixnty, California, an area noted for its conserva­ tism. Dr. Wilcox appointed me to that position in 1963. And that's where I stayed for the next twenty-four years. As head of cataloging, I had much less to do with the public than during those years in government publications and newspapers. In the sixties and seventies there was much original cataloging to be done. We used the Cutter classification r

.•<"i .-'-L*:w". WISCONSIN MACiAZINE OF HTSTORY SUMMER, 1996 containing a few stuffed, oversized, vinyl- employment at the Society (1953-1965). covered chairs of an indeterminate shade They were as diverse and stimulating a of green. Having concluded that my needs group as ever I have worked with; but it would be fulfilled there, I spent much of would be invidious to name some and the next four years in those chairs. I also omit others. There are none I remember explored the resources of the place and with pain, and many, fondly. They were by my lastyear I had discovered the manu­ more important to my education than any scripts room. Four fioors in four years academic endeavor, even if some were signified slow, mean, yet steady progress. intermittent sources of exasperation. Along the way, the staff members who It was the opportunity to work in a answered my questions and tendered ad­ great research library (whatever that over­ vice treated me with unfailing courtesy. I worked phrase may mean) that brought remember, in particular, the omnipres­ me to the Society, but it was the range of ent Miss Ellen Burke. users that never ceased to amaze me: Conveniently adjacent to the one-time George Kennan, A. L. Rowse, Larry lounge area is a men's room. On many Cremin, Merle Curti, Fred Harrington, afternoons, one or more of the great men Mac Coffman, Jack Barbash, Dave Shan­ passed by on their way to perform the non, Arlie W. Schorger, Edwin E. Witte; customary ablutions before meeting their and the graduate students: Steve Ambrose, graduate seminars. The great men, of Ernie Isaacs, Saul Landau, Art Waskow, course, were Messrs. Merle Curti, William Dave Eakins. . . . But enough of name B. Hesseltine, Howard K. Beale, Merrill dropping—except to say they are woven in Jensen, David Shannon, Vernon Car­ and out of my life as threads in a tapestry. stensen, and Paul Sharp. (In those days, In the thirty years since my departure "mister" was good enough on campus for from the Society, life has treated me to a everyone male.) I regarded the great substantial variety of adventures, but none men with consummate awe and wonder. have been so formative nor useful as those One day Paul Sharp, in whose course in dozen years at the Grand Old Lady of economic history I happened to be reg­ State Street. "^ istered, sauntered by while I was deeply engrossed in study. Intruding on my con­ templation, he exclaimed, "That's what I F.YY S. DoOLEY like to see!" Since undergraduates in Marinette, Wisconsin those days did not exist to be noticed, let alone complimented, I ascended in­ STARTED work at Wade House on stantly to some place in euphoric space. I May 1, 1956, and continued there for Such experiences surely helped me to twenty years until 1976. During those years make a career choice. W' there were many joys: a new marriage to someone who also shared my love of his­ tory; the acquiring of the Jung carriage JOHN CALVIN COLSON collection; the building of the Jung Car­ Prescott Valley, Arizona riage Museum; and the building of a new reception center. OMEONE more famous—if no wiser— There are two events which stand out S than I is alleged to have said that the in my memory of the Wade House years: most important part of any institution is one was a special event reenacting the the people connected to it. Proof of the wedding of Hollis Wade, youngest son of saying may be found in the roster of my the inn's proprietor, who had married colleagues during the dozen years of my the schoolteacher who boarded there in

302 S9K»«

i'^''.i7-- •••••'

The Civil War wedding reenactment at Old Wade House in August, 1964: the State Hi.stoncal Society stands for "tlie truth about history as nearly as xoe can determine it. "

1865. We had received a beautiful satin would talk to the Society's director, Les wedding dress of 1865 vintage, and Ray Fishel. When he called back, he said, Sivesind, the sites director, had provided "The director is out of the state, so I a Civil War uniform for the bridegroom. talked to his assistant, Glenn Thompson. Chet Schmiedeke, the Society's publicity He said that we must correct this be­ man, had sent out a news release with the cause, after all, that's what a state histori­ information we had sent him including cal society stands for: the truth about his­ details of the original wedding—that tory as nearly as we can determine it. I'll tell Hollis had come home after serving in Chet to correct it with another story." the Civil War to marry the schoolteacher. My first thought was, "Chet will hate Our special event was all set. me for this." My next thought was, About a week before the event, a young "That's what happens when you hire a man who had applied about a month college professor for a guide, no matter before to work as a guide (he had given how handsome, intelligent, personable, his address as "Lakeland College" and I and charming he is." And then the believed him to be a student, afthough it thought came to me, "So the historical turned out he was in fact a history profes­ society stands for the truth about his­ sor there) came into our jam-packed of tory." I truly almost burst with pride fice and very quietly said to me, "Did you that it was my good fortune to work for know Hollis never served in the Civil War? this organization. His father bought him off I'll show you Our special event was a real success, the document." perhaps becaixse of the extra publicity For the next few moments I panicked. Chet had sent out. Chet was still my good Then I called Ray to tell him and to ask, friend, and he didn't hate me. But I "Since the publicity is out, can't we just learned to research a topic more thor­ let it go along that way?" He told me he oughly before presenting it.

303 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY- SUMMER, 1996

The other event that remains in my sin, I knew the building primarily as the mind: in 1967 Dr. Lord was a co-author of University Library. Having read that a a history of the State Historical Society, research curator in the Museum had left Clio's Servant, of which he sent me a copy. his position, I entered the Society build­ In this book he had named people whom ing after meandering the length of State he considered "servants to the 'muse' of Street with the same query about job pos­ history." I was extremely proud to be on sibilities. The responses were all negative. his list as "having revitalized the history in I was directed to John Jacques, who Marinette County." handled personnel matters. In his rapid- After years as director of the Society, fire, staccato manner, he bombarded me Dr. Lord was offered the fulfillment of his with questions, among them, "What makes dream: to be president of a small college. you think you can do research?" He then He became the president of prestigious continued, "Well, thatjob has been filled, Hofstra University in Hempstead, New but we're creating a new position of ad­ York. But for as long as he and Ray Sivesind ministrative assistant to the Director. The lived, they kept in touch with me through Boss has already picked his person, but their letters. That, perhaps, is what I miss she doesn't want a full-time job. Let me most in my retirement. "^ see if he will talk to you." Within a few minutes, I was ushered into the Director's office, where I again went through a se­ BARBARA KYISER ries of questions from Cliff Lord—all of Madison, Wisconsin them concerning Alaska, where I had lived the previous five years. Nothing about the Y first impression of the Society nature of thejob. I was a little bewildered, M (and among my most lasting) was but somewhat encouraged, when John related to my interview experience when had me wait in his office as he talked with I inquired about the possibility of a job in Cliff and returned, saying he was to "run the spring of 1957. I was not one of those me through the paperwork." Then came who was familiar with the Society's the description of my duties: "In this job, strength in American history. During my you have to learn to juggle the work. If the college days at the University of Wiscon- Boss asks for a broom from the broom closet and it's not there, don't waste a lot of time looking for it. Find out what else Barhara Kaiser searching for more important things than he wants!" That's the analogy which re­ a broom, probably during the 1960 's. mained indelibly fixed in my mind, and, after being hired, I concluded it wasn't

Wlli (X31 5047! too far off the mark—in view of some of Cliff's instructions to me. When I left the building that after­ noon, I had very mixed feelings about the Historical Society. I thought Cliff and John were a little strange. I was told I had to pass an archives exam (about which I knew nothing) to get on a Wisconsin Civil Service Register. Jesse Boell, the Society's brusque archivist, was reluctant to lend me a book on archival theory because, as he said, he had already "picked his per­ son." It was rather discouraging, but I very SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS much needed a job, so I proceeded to difference in either the reading room or cram into my head the whys and in the stacks, as far as the Historical Soci­ wherefores of developing an archives. (I ety staff was concerned. They gave me the was hired as the administrative assistant, same help and support everyone else got. not the archivist.) Later, I became better I used the library from 1957 to 1963, and acquainted with the Society's informal again in the fall of 1967. Being able to method of operating and the ease of work­ take one's typewriter into the stacks and ing relationships among staff members. to work amid the often musty book hold­ During the period when I was director ings made research and graduate paper of the Field Services Division (1967-1982), writing easy and exciting. The smell of I would remark with fair regularity that it stale pipe tobacco in the graduate stu­ was the best job I could possibly have. I dent carrels seemed appropriate at the worked with a small staff (three or four time. Hearing Steve Ambrose pounding people) which was stable, congenial, hard­ his typewriter so hard and fast made me working, and txncommonly dedicated to envious that anyone could be writing with the collecting efforts which we pursued, such apparent ease. Seminars held in the both statewide (all areas ofWisconsin his­ Sellery Room and other rooms seemed tory) and nationally (mass communica­ less like regular classes than they would tions, social action, and labor history). By have had they met in small classrooms in that time, I had become much aware of the regular campus buildings. richness of the Society's research materi­ The Society's staff offered pleasant and als. There was genuine conviction when thoroughly professional help to me as my staff and I touted the strength of the a graduate student, and later as a visit­ Society's holdings as we solicited prospec­ ing researcher. To many of us as gradu­ tive donors for their papers. There was ate students, the head librarian, Benton shared pleasure when we acquired a well- Wilcox, appeared somewhat odd. He known and/or a particularly valuable col­ rarely spoke tons, but walked through the lection; and there was real excitement when stacks humming and was universally we uncovered leads to little-known sources known among gradtxate students as "The of research materials. There was also a Hummer." Rtxth Davis bailed out many a sense of satisfaction when we could sug­ student lost in the maze of government gest and steer researchers to materials document searches, while Josephine which might help them. Up to the time of Harper presided over the manuscript my retirement, I felt a surge of pleasure materials with an obvious pleasure. For when I discovered my name in the book those of us needing help with regional acknowledgements of a researcher who topics, Alice Smith proved willing and had consulted with me. And overall, there knowledgeable. Bill Haygood gave many was ego satisfaction in knowing that the of us our first books to review and pub­ Society's holdings which we had acquired lished the results in the Wisconsin Maga­ would be useful to many in future years. "^ zine of History. In the almost thirty-two years since I left Madison, I have worked on projects that ROGER L. NICHOLS have taken me to many research facilities Tucson, Arizona in the U.S. and Canada. Everywhere, the staff people have been pleasant and help­ CAME to Madison as one of the green­ ful. Yet I have never found another re­ I est graduate students the history de­ search facility that topped my experiences partment had admitted in years—or so I at the Society, or that I enjoyed nearly as thought at the time. But that made no much as my years in Madison. W

305 WISCONSIN M.-UJAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

SAR,\H PERRY GOLDSTEIN JUSTUS F. PAUL Madison, Wisconsin Stevens Point, Wisconsin

Y most lasting impression of the Y first encounter with the State M State Historical Society is of work­ M Historical Society ofWisconsin was ing as assistant to Paul Vanderbilt, the in 1959 when, as a twenty-one-year-old curator of what were then called the Icono- graduate student, I began looking for graphic Collections. I started in 1957. My materials for a master's thesis on the role official duties were to file, retrieve, an­ of agriculture in the presidential cam­ swer requests for photos, and to guide paign of 1928. My utter astonishment at schoolchildren through the exhibits the wealth of materials contained within which were then on the first floor and the building reflected on my just having some on the fourth. I certainly was happy graduated from a small liberal arts col­ Paul hired me; it was my first full-time job lege in the Midwest with a class of fifty- and I was relatively well paid. nine people and a library which was only He hired me even though I had no appropriate for such a small undergradu­ training in archival work but had worked ate college. During my first semester in in libraries. During my interview, I hap­ Madison, I spent much time winding my pened to mention that I was from Black way through the mazes of the Society's River Falls. Paul asked if I was related to holdings of books, journals, microfilm, Frances Perry, and I said yes, I was her and documents. daughter. It was that, I think, that per­ Thirty-five years later, while searching suaded Paul to take a chance on me. My for materials to incorporate into my cen­ mother, a member of the Jackson County tennial history of the University of Wis­ Historical Society, had saved the wonder­ consin-Stevens Point, I was no longer ful glass negatives of photographer astonished. Over the years, I had spent Charles Van Schaick from extinction in much time in the Society's library and the local dump. Paul had met her and had come to recognize the truly great eventually some 3,000 of them fotxnd a treasure which we, in Wisconsin, have— home in the Iconographic Collections. A and have benefited from—for the past bit later, the Van Schaick negatives were 150 years. When Barbara and I put to­ printed and made available to the public. gether our Badger Slate book of readings In 1973, many appeared in Michael Lesy's and documents in the late 1970's, we (in)famous book Wisconsin Death Trip. found the textual materials and photos I remember working under the huge we needed, and the staff was overwhelm­ skylight in the fourth-floor office/storage ingly helpful and supportive. The quality facility—especially in summertime. (The of the materials and the helpfulness of Society was not air-conditioned then.) I the staff are among the very strongest was in awe of Paul Vanderbilt and I'm attributes of the Society and its service to glad I had a chance to work for him and researchers and the public. '^' the Society. When I became pregnant in 1958,1 kept working as long as I could. No one mentioned maternity leave, so I left HOWARD KANETZKE early in January of 1959; my daughter was Madison, Wisconsin born in February. Frances Perry still lives on Main Street HEN I began work in 1959, I heard in Black River Falls, where on January 5, WJohnjacques, the assistant director, 1996, she celebrated her ninety-ninth telling of a television program that the birthdav! W Society had sponsored. John, together

306 SESQUICENTENNI/VL RECOLLECTIONS

with several of the Museum staff had some molten taffy, and began pulling it become a panel of experts to identify desperately to get it off his scalded fin­ "whatsits" (meaning artifacts) that people gers. In response to Lori's questions, Stan brought to them off the street. This was a bravely explained the taffy-making pro­ "live" program that he and others remem­ cess, remarking, as he pranced around bered fondly. Doris Piatt offered several the set, his eyes filled with tears of pain, other, more organized and researched that sometimes it was fun to dance while television programs. Born on the Prairie pulling taffy! highlighted the histories of communi­ The Society's radio and television pro­ ties in the WHA-TV viewing area. I re­ grams reached a broad spectrum of people member borrowing Paulineware from the statewide in those days. As editor of Bad­ Edgerton Library, taking photographs of ger Hislory, I attended all teachers' con­ Badger "diggings" near Dodgeville, using ventions in the state to display the Society's the Society's photographic collections, publications and to provide aid and infor­ and its archives, library, and museum col­ mation to teachers. During much of that lections for items to use in this show-and- time. Jack Holzhueter had a radio pro­ tell-type TV presentation. gram that was carried by the stations in Lori's Log Ckibin was the first television the public radio network. Teachers fre- program offered by the Society to chil­ quendy opened conversations with a com­ dren. Lori Nelson, a School Services ment like, "I heard you on the radio yes­ staffer, researched this program in which terday and I have a question for you. ..." she played the role of a newly arrived settler from an eastern city who weekly turned to seasoned settlers for advice and Lorraine Nelson appears on live television in aid. Each program featured a different "Lori's Log Cabin. " topic, and Lori drew upon Society staff to be the visiting experts. No scripts were Wlli (XS) 50402 prepared, but the main points of the topic i^A^. and/or process to be discussed were re­ searched and written down. Participants read this information, assumed their roles, and went on camera. Live television made for some interesting shows. (My three- year-old-son, who was supposed to play some pioneer games—and had done a fine job in the run-through—suddenly decided to crawl under the table when the lights and cameras came on.) An­ other time, a student worker, Stan Mallach, was called upon to demonstrate candy making. The set for Lori's Log Cabin had a fake fireplace with a hotplate be­ hind the fake flames on which a pan of taffy was heated. The taffy wasn't hot enough for a demonstration during the run-through, but everyone agreed it would bejust fine for the program. In fact, it got too hot. I'll never forget Stan's animation when he reached into the pot, pulled out 1 307 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OE HISFOR\' SUMMER, 1996

Jack's programs had made him "Mr. His­ The next thing that amazed me—and I tory" to many of these people, and they hope it continues to impress current pa­ were eager to meet him. '« trons—was the people. Naturally these included fellow students. We kept a close eye on each other in those days, soon CH.ARLES E. TWININC; noting who was first to sign into their Federal Way, Washington carrels each morning. Then there was the staff, Ruth Davis in command at the circu­ ECENTLY I had the opportunity to lation desk; Alice Smith and Josephine R work again in the old familiar Harper tending the old manuscripts room; haunts, and I was pleasantly reminded and the likes of Dee Ducklow and Dick of past pleasures. I was also reminded of Erney here, there, and evervAvhcre. Most my first hesitant steps into the Society. 1 importantly, however, was the faculty, at came to Madison in the fall of 1959 work. One invariably ran into Merle Curti, (although he never mentioned it, Vince Bill Hesseltine, Vernon, Bill Williams, and Lombardi and I arrived in Wisconsin their colleagues, doing the same thing almost hand-in-hand) to begin gradu­ there as we students: researching. I think ate studies in American history. My im­ that was the most valuable lesson. Per­ pressions were, of course, colored by haps ixnknowingly, they were teaching us previous experiences. My undergradu­ that our profession had no finish line. ate degree was from the University of There was always another manuscript to Akron. In those days, Akron was hardly study, another book to read, another idea noteworthy, unless one happened to be worth considering. And this was the way pursuing studies in rubber chemistry. you did it; there were no shortcuts. «' When I think back to my introduc­ tion to the Society, the word that always comes to mind is "venerable." God, it RoBER'E OZANNE was impressive. As I remember, the pa­ Two Rivers, Wisconsin trons whispered, almost as if they were in church. I guess that was considered NE day in the late 1950's, the chair­ appropriate library behavior, but it O man of the University ofWiscon­ seemed even more so in the Society's sin economics department, Ed Young, magnificent reading room. And perus­ said, "Bob, the Department has some ing the stacks was like window-shopping Ford research money. Would you like to in a candy store. forgo teaching next semester and work My first seminar was Vernon (^ar- full time on research?" I have never stensen's and his initial assignment had known a professor who would turn down to do with the development of local such an offer. government. Now, my experience sug­ My research concern was one that gested that one ought to assess available was popular among economists then resources before selecting a subject, but and perhaps even today: "Do unions in this instance, we were simply asked to affect wages and income distribution? pick a state, any state. Well, having long If so, how?" I had entered this debate wonderedjust what a/)«n,v/jwas (beyond in 1959 with an article comparing wage St. Vincent's in north Akron), I chose movements in the 1920's with those in Louisiana. And soon, with a little help, the more unionized 1950's. I wanted to I f'oLind everything I needed to know expand my study backwards, with wage about Louisiana parishes, in Madiscm, data going back even into the nine­ Wisconsin. Amazing. teenth century.

308 Wlli {X2) 34,52

Doxun liascom Hill, across Park Street, and into the back door of the Historical Society, 1948. Photo by Walter Harri.son.

As a research assistant I hired not a The two of us charged over to the Wisconsin economics graduate student, Historical Society Library. There, in the but a Wisconsin history graduate student room set aside for the McCormick Collec­ who was more familiar than I with the tion, was not only the company's wage broad resources of the State Historical book for all of 1871, but entire shelves of Society Library. He described to me the wage books covering the hours and wages Library's newly acquired McCormick Col­ of all McCormick factory workers from lection, from which several Wisconsin his­ 1848 through 1902. tory professors already had written boo-ks But before beginning work on this about the charities of this pioneer manu­ hoard, I asked myself whether this collec­ facturing family. We wondered, might tion was uniqtxe, or would other libraries there also be data on the business and such as the celebrated Harvard Business labor relations of the McCormick Har­ School Library have similar, perhaps even vester Company? more extensive wage records from other After a week's exploration, my assis­ companies? I spent a week in Cambridge tant brought me a copy of one page from searching in the business school library, a wage book he had found in the and I did find interesting wage data: from McCormick Collection. He chuckled in an early steel mill, the x's each worker anticipation of my excitement as he marked on the receipt as he received this watched me read that page, which con­ weekly wage, revealing his illiteracy; the tained the names of twenty molders, wages of workers in an early nineteenth- mostly Irishmen, and for each of them century textile mill. However, neither of their daily and weekly hours of work and these sets of wage records covered more their weekly wage. The year was 1871. than a dozen years.

309 these wage records end in 1902? What about the years beyond? The curator of the Collection, Lucile Kellar, explained: at the end of 1902, the McCormick Harvesting Company merged with two other companies to form the Interna­ tional Harvester Company. Consequently, wage data after 1902 was beyond the control of the McCormick family. But I determined it should not be beyond the scope of my study, so 1 enlisted Mrs. Kellar's assistance. She agreed to make some calls to the International Harvester Company in Chicago. Two weeks later, a special truck arrived with McCormick plant wage data from 1903 through 1960. The boxes of data completely filled a basement room in the Historical Soci­ ety, where they were piled on the floor waist high! Now I had the data to complete the study, but the volume of material had become overwhelming. I received funds Cliff Lord and Herb Kellar examine part of the McCormick for additional research assistants, and Collection, December 14, 1951. what I had envisioned as one book even­ tually became two books: A Century of So, even more impressed with the Labor Management Relations at McCormick McCormick Collection, I went back to and International Harvester, and Wages in the long job of analyzing its half-century Practice and Theory, which won the of wage data. There I found an unex­ Newcomen Society's award for the best pected but vital bonus. Accompanying books on business history for the years the wage data was McCormick corpo­ 1967-1969.W rate and family correspondence, which vividly stated the motives for cutting or raising wages, the pros and cons of rec­ LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR. ognizing or breaking unions, and even Madison, Wisconsin detailed family views and reactions, such as a letter from the mother of the HEN I first came to the Society in McCormick Company president be­ W the summer of 1959, my only moaning an 1884-1885 wage cut and real contact with the ongoing staff had the resulting strike. Extremely valuable been with John Jacques, then assistant in understanding the McCormick to the director. Of course, I had met Company's wage policies were the with the Board of Curators' search Society's microfilms of the Chicago committee and fooled them into think­ Tribune s detailed coverage of this strike ing I was competent. (On second and the labor radicalism of the subse­ thought, perhaps they fooled me: they quent Haymarket Riot of 1886. were fatigued in their search for Cliff By now, this wealth of material had Lord's successor and maybe I was their made me greedy, insatiable. Why did last straw. Hmmm.)

310 w m ••"fl!!

Wlli (X3) 50404

Society Directirr Leslie H. In.shel, jr., comptroller Len Behnke, future society director Richard A. L^rney, and assistant diredtrr John Jacques plan the 1960's building addition and renovation.

Johnjacques was a man to whom the director's secretary would fit in well there Society owes a huge debt. I liked him and that Bunny Wilhelm could handle right away; he found a duplex for my the director without breathing hard. He family while our house was being built. was right: the first one fit well in the More importantly, I liked him because editorial sector and Bunny handled me his hairline and mine had something in effortlessly. common: they didn't exist. On the sur­ When the maintenance crew needed a face, John appeared gruff and impul­ new boss, John chose a crew member who sive, even self-righteous. Underneath, had given him and the retiring crew chief he was thoughtfully indecisive, sensi­ more trouble than the whole bunch to­ tive, even shy, and modest. More than gether. Other staff were aghast and filled that, he was knowledgeable and effi­ the building with predictions of immi­ cient. He handledjust about everything: nent doom. They were wrong and John maintenance, staff relations, public re­ Jacques was right; the new boss proved to lations, and, after I arrived, the care and be a winner. John supported the museum feeding of a new director. wholeheartedly, but he believed that the Advice and suggestions were his stock research resources of the library and in trade, from my first day down to his last, archives-manuscripts divisions were the and his batting average was pretty good. Society's heart and strength. It galled him He thought that the publications division when university history faculty using these needed a secretary (maybe the publica­ resources (which the staff had collected, tions people had mentioned this to him processed, and cared for) seemed to take once or twice), sojohn suggested that the them and the staff for granted, an attitude

311 WISCONSIN M.AGAZINE OF HTSTORV SUM,MER, 1996

which disturbed other staff members as First, there was the smell of the stacks, well. The solution—partial at best—was a mixture of old books and narrow, worn to work with faculty leaders to demon­ staircases and little-washed graduate stu­ strate that the staff in its functions was as dents. A third of a century later that smell professional as the professors were in remains and it pleases me every time I theirs. Though not fully acquiescent, encounter it. John worked hard at this potential solu­ Second, there was the humming of the tion, never quite satisfied that it was suc­ head librarian. The first time I heard cessful. Benton Wilcox 1 was in the stacks looking One of my initial decisions ran against for a book and this odd sound coming John's advice. When I first entered the from the next row startled me. I'd give a Society building as director, filled with a lot, though, to be able to thank him today sense of self-importance, I couldn't help for the help he so cheerfully gave me but notice an insipid exhibit spread helter- thirty-four years ago. skelter around the first floor lobby. It Third, the John Muir clock. I'd never consisted of color copies of paintings by seen anything like it and couldn't wait for Robert Thom depicting famous advances my parents to come up from Virginia to in medicine, like the first experiment with visit me. Certain that it would soon disap­ anesthesia, the early use of vaccinations, pear into the bowels of the vast Society and so forth. As I remember them, the building, I longed for them to be able to pictureswere one-dimensional, on easels, enjoy it also. So inexperienced was I in and not too informative. Within weeks, the ways of historical museums that I as­ Johnjacques to the contrary notwithstand­ sumed the staff constantly replaced items, ing, I directed that the exhibit be re­ no matter how wondrous. Learning more moved, and it was. In exercising that mag­ over the years about Wisconsin's regard isterial authority, I managed to alienate for Muir, I am glad to be wrong. (Wish it the chief curator of the museum, who ran, though.) never forgave me, as well as the Society's And finally, my wife. I eyed my fellow Women's Auxiliary, a co-sponsor of the history graduate student as I worked on exhibit along with the State Medical Soci­ my master's thesis in the old manuscripts ety, which had until then been a good reading room on the third floor. Mary friend of the Historical Society. Not bad Ann worked for the archives and came for a neophyte: one swing and three outs! to the university the same year 1 did, but True to form,John swallowed hard but it took almost four years for us to get never said "I told you so." Quite a guy was together. Johnjacques. 'i^' Thus I am indebted to the Society for my education, my research training, my love of old things, and my spouse. With J. FR,ANK COOK luck, maybe we'll both be around for the Madison, Wisconsin Society's 175th anniversary. '«

ONGRATULATIONS to the Society C on attaining its 150th anniversary! It THO.MAS H. BARLAND stuns me to realize that I have been associ­ Fan Claire, Wisconsin ated with the State Historical Society for almost a quarter of that time. When I first WAS thirty-one years old in 1961 when came to Madison in the fall of 1961 as a green I I first became a member of the Society's graduate student, I remember being struck Board of Curators. While I was given a warm by four things — three of which remain. welcome, the backgrounds of the Curators

312 spoke, which wasn't often, people lis­ tened as if he were the Oracle at Delphi. He never lost a debate. Mrs. Howard T. Cireene (in those days that is how she was listed in Society papers) was a warm and gracious per­ son. She had good access to funds, prob­ ably because her husband, who was de­ ceased then, had been a Republican candidate for governor. There were also several industrial and commercial lead­ ers on the Board. Most prominent was W. Norman Fitzgerald, the CEO of Northwestern Mutual Insurance (Com­ pany. By the time I met him he was a legendary figure in the insurance field as well as one of the foremost business Wlli (X3) ,50152 leaders in Milwaukee. Without advance information, one would not know that Society curator Jim Dan Hill peruses a copy of God and Man at Yale, Af«y), / 952. in first meeting him. He seemed to be a very modest man, and he spoke during meetings only when necessary. at that time were intimidating. Among the The president of the Society, Bill Hes­ most memorable was General Jim Dan Hill. seltine, one of the giants of the uni­ He was then president of the Superior versity's history department, gave the Teacher's College—not one of the largest impression of being a bear. His rough of our teachers' colleges. It was his title face and bent posture contributed to "General" that was so formidable. Most re­ that. His voice rumbled and he spoke serve officers do not use their military tides with atxthority. He was a good person to in civilian life, but Generaljim Dan Hill did. preside over that group. In addition, he had written several books, One who always spoke forcibly, with some of them in the field of history. This authority, and sometimes with sarcasm factwas referred to frequently whenever we that some interpreted as arrogance, was had disagreements on the Board. Finally, Fred Harvey Harrington. As chancellor General Jim Dan Hill had many political of the University ofWisconsin at Madi­ friends and connections—almost all on the son, he presided during the turbulent, Republican side. He knew governors and sometimes riotous Vietnam years. His party chairs. I never did learn exactly what interest in history and dedication to the he did in World War II, even though his Society were such that he attended "great contribution" to the Allied victory nearly all meetings, sitting on the was referred to by others when they were Board's executive committee and serv­ currying his favor during a debate. ing as president while also serving as Fred Sammond, then rather elderly, chancellor of the university. but lean and tall, was the head of the The only other member near my age largest and most prestigious law firm in was William Stark of Pewaukee. He was Wisconsin: Fairchild, Foley and Sam­ a handsome blond with a look of ro­ mond. (It still exists as Foley and Lard- mance about him. Much later I learned ner.) Fred was always soft-spoken and that he had sailed through the Straits of gentle in his ways, but whenever he Magellan as a deckhand on a sailing

313 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

his service on the Board for many years, always maintaining a razor-sharp mind and memory. Another stalwart of the Board wasjack Geilfuss, president of the Marine Na­ tional Bank in Milwaukee. He, too, was one of the most influential business lead­ ers in his time in Milwaukee. Of all the prominent members of the Board he was probably the most soft spoken and gentle in his remarks. At times he appeared to nod off in meetings, but it was apparent that he was always following what was going on, even if subconsciously, and invariably he contributed the critical re­ marks at the climax of a Board discus­ sion. He was alwa)'s there when you needed him. He continued to serve the Society for decades in one position or another until his death in 1993. No review of the very prominent mem­ bers of the Board of Curators in 1961- 1962 would be complete without Robert B. L. Murphy, historian, raconteur and lawyer. He was, and still is, the Society's Donald R McNeil and Robert li. L. Muiphy separating truth institutional memory. His ties to the fromfiction at llie Society's annwd meeting in Madison. Society go back to his earliest childhood when he lived within playing distance of the Society's building, and through his ship. His work included climbing high father's connection he has known every into the rigging to furl and unfurl the sails. Society director save one. Now a Cura­ Tony Wise, the flamboyant promoter tor Emeritus, he still attends many Board of northwestern Wisconsin, the founder meetings and participates actively in So­ of Telemark and of the Hayward cross­ ciety committee work. During the time I country ski race known as the Bir- have known him, he has always been kebeiner, was clearly out of place on the one of the most influential members of Board. He had nearly a five-hour drive, the Board. Sometimes he prevailed by one way, to any meetings in Madison. the simple force of logic. At other times Whether it was because of the drive or he indulged in mini-history lessons con­ the sedateness of the meetings, he didn't cerning not only the Society but the appear at many of them. state as a whole, if necessary. His ulti­ An old-time progressive, former legis­ mate weapon when dealing with Board lator, lobbyist, and head of the Gov­ members who did not agree with his ernor's Task Force on the Aging, Milo point of view was a very charming form Swanton, looked and acted as if he had of flattery. He called attention to his been hewed from granite. Even his voice debating opponent's strengths, aug­ had a strong, precise, hard quality to it. mented by a little colorful enhancement. Well beyond normal retirement age when For example, he referred to General I first encountered him, he continued Jim Dan Hill as "our distinguished au-

314 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS thor and scholar of history" while at the ful to walk down the staircase in a wed­ same time calling him "General." Few ding dress. I, too, appreciated the stair­ could resist such treatment. ways, except when the elevators were In later times, disagreements at Soci­ not working and all the field equipment ety Board meetings sometimes became had to be carried down from the fourth acrimonious. That never occurred on floor prior to summer fieldwork. (The the Board during the 1960's. However Museum was on the fourth floor then.) strong the disagreements, there pre­ One day, as a grad student, I slid down vailed an aura of gentility and respect the banister between second and first for others in the discussion, "i;' floor. Another time, a bunch of us stood on fourth floor and spit down to first. How irreverent can you get? JOAN FREEMAN The Society provided me with a part- Madison, Wisconsin time job when I was in grad school after a semester as a volunteer. We were CAN'T remember whether it was be­ known as student help and the pay was I fore or after I started working at the 90 cents an hour, which in 1954 paid for Society that my Mother told me she had food, books, and coffee in the Rathskel­ always wanted to be married in the build­ ler. That job kept me in grad school, ing because it would have been wonder­ and I am grateful.

'The Indian Room of the State Historical Society Museum, c. 1914.

315 WISCONSIN M.\GAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

The Museum provided me with a col­ facts in a collection given bv' her descen­ lection from an archeological site in dants. Miss Smith knew all about the Brown County that was the basis of my family and could have told me what I master's thesis. The library provided the wanted to know. Instead, however, she books for comparative data for the thesis gave me references to check, saying, "I and also for my Ph.D. dissertation, which know you want to read about this your­ was on archeological sites in northeast­ self." What a wonderful scholar and ern Oklahoma. The library had every­ teacher she was. thing students (and faculty) needed for In the early '60's the anthropology research in North American anthropol­ office and museum exhibits were on the ogy. My major professor often said that fourth floor where the Archives reading the collection was the most comprehen­ room now lives. Back then, when arti­ sive he had ever seen. That was trtie until facts from excavations had to be washed, some student(s) started clipping articles a bucket of water had to be drawn from from periodicals. I am sure that this con­ the slop sink in the woman's restroom on tinues, although the advent of photo­ fourth floor (it's now the men's) and copying must have reduced the clipping. carried to the work area. Dirty water had In 1960 I began full-time as curator of to be taken back to the sink. When the anthropology in the Museum. I remem­ Museum moved to the basement of the ber the awe, wonderment, and delight of new addition in the mid-60's, we got a being in that institution as a staff mem­ sink and a real lab table for washing ber. As years passed the awe and wonder­ artifacts. I remember Johnjacques, the ment diminished, but 95 per cent of the assistant director in charge of person­ time, the delight was still there. In those nel, cars, furniture, and many other days the Societv had a relatively small things, telling me that the next genera­ staff, and we got to know each other tion of archeologists in the Museum across division lines. Many of us social­ would think there always had been run­ ized at a weekly TGIF get-together at ning water in the lab. He was right. 'il' Troia's on State Street. For a time the editorial division held a sort of semi­ nar where staff members read papers JEAN C. SKINNER and discussed their research. In many Madison, Wisconsin ways the Society then was an academic institution. You could e\'en apply for a Y first visit to the State Historical three-month sabbatical in which to do M Society of Wisconsin Library was research—with pav. One person on the in No\'ember of 1962. My husband had staff who really impressed me was Alice been invited to come for ajob interview E. Smith. Here was someone who ap­ in the University of Wisconsin's poultry peared to be a dithering old lady but who science department. He was then teach­ was as sharp as a tack and could mix a ing at the University of Nebraska in Lin­ mean cocktail. She sat in on my oral coln, and I was absolutely out of mind defense of my dissertation, remarking with anticipation to use this library. It that I had done a prodigious amount of was like arriving in heaven. I had been reading. After I started work at the Soci­ working on my genealogy since 1958 at ety, she helped me many times with in­ Nebraska, and the Society's library had formation I needed for historical \vork all the books I needed to use. on the collections. Once I needed infor­ With my twelve-year-old daughter, a mation on Elizabeth Baird's relatives in new stack of comic books for her, and my an effort to pinpoint the origin of arti­ genealogy notes, I approached the front

316 Wlli (X3) 5044,3

Teacher Denis Eide kiting her fifth-grade .students from Madi.scm 's Randall .School use the Society's museum as in.spiralicrn, April, 1946.

desk, only to be told that children were her comic books. So I reluctanfly gave up not allowed in the library. I was told she my research, my daughter much more could sit in the hallway and read her reluctanfly and noisily her quarters, and comics, and so this is what she did. But, we both went out and took a look about being the typical mother, at the end of a the campus and met her father at the half hour I checked on her, only to find Memorial Union later. an older graduate student sharing her We fell in love with the campus and comic books. I glared at the student and Wisconsin that November of 1962 and sat down with my daughter; then I took moved to Madison the following June, her and her comic books to the "little with a son, a daughter, a Scottie dog, and girls' room" and we stayed in there a bit, a trailer full of white Cochin Bantams. while my precious time ticked away. We To this day, my husband says that he went back to the hallway and the student didn't dare not accept this UW position had left. I told my daughter that every because he would have lost his happy half-hour she stayed on the bench with­ home if I would not have been able to use out moving was worth a quarter. She was this library. He's probably right. not to leave the bench, under any cir­ cumstances, and I went back to the li­ I had to wait until fall to really get to brary stacks. All was well on the next half use the library. But it was all I had hoped hour check, but on the next check, the it would be, and I loved it. After using the graduate student was back again reading library nearly every day the first year, I went in to talk with the head librarian.

317 WISCONSIN M.YGAZINE OF HISTORV SUMMER, 1996

Charlie Shetler, and volunteered to do best of breaks. Working with Ray was an anything that needed doing at the li­ inspiration, and I think he had more in­ brary. Consequently, Jerry Eggleston, tegrity than any other single person I ever John Peters, and Ellen Burke put up with worked with. me as a volunteer for nearly twenty years. My career with Sites and Markers came During that time, students were allowed to an end when the Historic Preservation to bring children into the library while Act of 1966 was funded in 1969 and I they worked, and I was so pleased to see became a one-man preservation division it happen. A city ccnincilman working on until Jeff Dean was hired. I finished my a graduate degree and his seven-year-old career there but have no comments about son used to come into the microform it except that it was interesting and in room, and while one worked on his re­ general the staff was pleasant to work search the young one read old newspa­ with. There is one aspect of it that I will per comic strips on the reader. And this always remember with a chuckle, how­ year, my five-year-old granddaughter and ever. In 1975, with the nation's Bicenten­ I used the library between Christmas and nial coming, each state was directed by New Years. Washington to prepare and publish a his­ I believe the best thing that happened toric preservation plan. I was assigned the in the library, at least while 1 worked as a job of writing the Wisconsin history por­ volunteer, was a young red-headed refer­ tion. For some reason I did not take that ence librarian, Jim Hansen, who under- assignment very seriously. For one thing, stoc:>d the genealogical needs of the library. I had no training in historiography; for He set about building an outstanding ge­ another, I could see no particular point nealogical collection. His recent appoint­ to such a subject in the preservation plan ment as a lifetime Fellow of the American as a whole. I was wrong, of course, but I Genealogical Society made me as proud proceeded to write the history in a very as if he were mv son. '« non-academic or non-professional man-

DONALD N. ANDERSON Kingwood, Texas Raymond S. .Sivesind, the Society's historic sites and markers supervisor, leaving on a lecture trip, 1950. Y best days at the Society began M when my work in Field Services ta­ pered off and Les Fishel reassigned me to Historic Sites and Markers—a sort of last resort for me, as he told me. But I had long hoped someday to work with Ray Sivesind, he was glad to get me, and within a few months he got me two upward re­ classifications and made me assistant di­ rector of Sites and Markers. I had charge of sites operations; Ray concentrated on research and development. All this must have set Fishel aback somewhat, espe­ cially when I thanked him for the transfer to Ray's division and told him of my long­ time desire to work there. "Small Junior," as I always called Fishel, had given me the

318 will iX ',) 504(>0

Margaret Hafstad processing a collection in the m.anuscrif>ts xuorkroom in the late 1960':

ner, using a poor choice of words—slangy my memories of happenings connected at times—generally outiining Wisconsin with work at the Society. Dale Treleven histoiy in fairly logical order but just and I once had a conversation about the poorly presented. When my history made Society, its staff, and the impressions made the rounds of the Society's professional by some of us who made contacts with the historians—the editorial and research public. I told Dale that my feeling w^as staff and on to Jim Smith, who was direc­ that when a staff member made contact tor at the time—I received the kinds of with an individual on behalf of the Soci­ comments to be expected. Some were ety, the staff member luas, to that person, sardonic, some provided helpful sugges­ the Society, and that I always put that tions, and one stated that the paper was philosophy to use, whether the contact not really too bad, though it needed a lot was made in person, by correspondence, of editing, clarifying, etc. (That was from or by phoning. W Bill Thompson.) Jim Smith wrote me a beautiful, scholarly two-paragraph intro­ duction. As a result of all this, I got really busy and wrote the Wisconsin history JACKJ.VLLINGS Oregon, Wisconsin that was part of the first Wisconsin hi,s- toric preservation plan that was published and successfully submitted to the Na­ NE day in 1964, after a full day of job tional Historic Preservation Officer in Ointerviews with three organizations Washington. and twojob offers, I went home and talked it over with my wife—which job should I I don't mean this to be an ego-satisfy­ take? Her reply was to take the one I really ing comment, but it is important to me in wanted. Naturally, it was the one with the

319 WISCONSIN MACiAZlNF OF HISTOID' SUMMER, 1996

lowest pay! I was hired as a manuscripts call the time we couldn't locate a par­ curator in the Society's Archives and ticular student worker—until, after a long Manuscripts Division. I was not about to search, he was found, fast asleep, way display my ignorance of just what curator back in the stacks. Needless to say, he did meant. not sleep any more. Or work either. W Less than a week after I began, F. Gerald Ham, who had been hired a few days earlier as head of the Archives and Manu­ E. D,\viD CRONON scripts Division, called me in and told me Madison, Wisconsin that he was transferring me to the ar- chives because he felt that my varied ex­ Y association with the Historical Soc­ periences would be of more value lo the M iety goes back long enough that archives than to manuscripts. (Perhaps it's difficult to single out any one event he had been told that I did not seem to or memory above many. It all began when know what a curator was.) At any rate, I arrived in Madison in the fall of 1948 thus began a long and fruitful association for graduate work in American history. with Gerry, who gave me a lot of rope so My education had been interrupted for long as communication was there and more than three years by army service in joint agreements were made and kept. World War II, and like most of the veter­ Area Research Centers of the Society ans then dominating campuses across were located in different parts of the state, the country I wanted to finish as quickly usually at branches of the University of as possible and get on with my life. (I did, Wisconsin svstem. Their function was to too, completing my Ph.D. in five years, collect records from the branch and pro­ including a Fulbright year in England cess them as in Madison. In the early days during which I revised my M.A. thesis on of field trips to the centers, we were not Marcus Garvey and turned it into a book, too surprised to find records stored in BlackMoses, which became the University rather miserable conditions, often in ofWisconsin Press's all-time best seller damp locations, and in no good order. It and is still in print.) was, however, a bit of a shock to find in It didn't take mc long as a grad student one center, amidst all the messy records, to appreciate the riches of the library and a human skull. other collections of the Society. One of My first impression was, and still is, my vivid memories of those days is of what a wonderful place the Societv' is in working in the newspaper collection, which to work and learn. A very big plus then consisting mostly of row after row of to me was that working for the Society stacks of dusty bound volumes presided seemed far more important than work­ over bvjohn Jacques. One day he and I ing for any commercial enterprise. If were there alone and he said, "You'll there was a problem, it was the distrac­ never guess where I was a decade ago this tion caused by the constant urge to read week." I gave up and asked where. He all the fascinating accessions. There sim­ answered, "Fighting on the Ebro River ply wasn't time. But it was tempting to front with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade." get lost in the collections. Between 1966 John was reluctant to talk about his war and 1975, we had an average of fifteen experiences in Spain, because in those work-study suideiits working for us in days of rabid anti-communist hysteria he various capacities in the Archives. Many feared for hisjob, but I liked to get him of those students were terrific; much was to open up. Few people knew he had a accomplished with them. Ntnv and then, plate in his skull as a result of being however, one would not work out. I re­ wounded in Spain.

320 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

WHi (X3) .50416

Richard W. El Perrin explaining the early plans for Old World Wisconsin as Society Director fames Morton Smith and historian Victor R. Greene listen, December, 1971. Photo by William Meyer, Milwaukee Sentinel.

I guess the Society experience I find located an attractive site in the Southern most gratifying personally is my small but Kettle Moraine Forest. It got Professor pivotal role in establishing Old World Bill Tishler and his landscape architec­ Wisconsin in Waukesha County. I joined ture students to produce plans and an the Board of Curators in 1964, having attractive three-dimensional model of the been tagged by my elders in the history site. The Society began stockpiling some department to take over what they consid­ old structures from around the state. The ered the department's "seat" left vacant stickingpointwas the Department of Natu­ by Bill Hesseltine's untimely death. At ral Resources, which owned the land and that same annual meeting in Whitewater insisted we could get the site only if we the Milwaukee architect, Richard W. E. bought it at fair market value. Since the Perrin, gave an illustrated lecture on the Society had no money either for acqixisi- tragedy of the disappearing ethnic archi­ tion or for development of this or any tecture in the state. Enough of us got other site, the project seemed thoroughly excited to try to do something about this stymied. to get a special board committee, headed At thisjuncture I was elected president by Norman Fitzgerald, to plan an outdoor of the Board of Curators, coincidental ethnic museum. The committee worked with the arrival of James Morton Smith as hard and imaginatively, and eventually the Society's new director. I told Jim our

321 WISCONSIN .M.AGAZlNE OF HISTORV SUMVIER, 1996 first order of business must be either to of $100,000 from a prominent and influ­ get the OWW project underway or admit ential state Democratic leader conditional it was beyond the Society's capability and upon our obtaining the Southern Kettle cancel it. We couldn't go on forever mis­ Moraine site. Voigt was clearly interested leading people as to our intentions. in the concept. He thought for a few Several months later, in December, moments and then asked if our Board of 1970, I received a copy of a letter written Curators would be comfortable investing by Dick Perrin to Representative Henry funds in the development of a site to Reuss of the Fifth Congressional District which the Society did not have title. We in suburban Milwaukee. Reuss had asked said we were sure that was not a problem, to meet with Perrin on his forthcoming since we already operated two museums visit home and be briefed on the OWW on DNR land and had always enjoyed Project. Perrin had responded by saying excellent cooperation with his agency. he'd be out of town, but that it didn't He then said he thought his board would matter: the Society had been fooling agree to assign the 600-acre site to us for around for six years with no result, so the OWW museum, and that he could Reuss shouldn't waste his time on a scheme even promise DNR help with site develop­ that was going nowhere. I knew Perrin ment, such as putting in roads and park­ well enough to phone him and say, in ing lots. Round Two: successful. Within effect, "Gee, Dick, if you can't help us, at the space of a couple of months we had least don't hurt us! Jim Smith and I are solved the two major and seemingly in­ serious about OWW and are determined surmountable problems holding up to resolve it one way or another soon." I OWW's development! then called Reuss and arranged for Jim Later Governor Lucey appointed Jim and me and several Society staffers to meet Smith and me to the State Bicentennial with him and go over our plans. We did, Commission to draw up plans for the Reuss was impressed, and at the end of state's celebration in 1976. The commis­ the meeting astonished us by promising sion hired one of my recent Ph.D. stu­ an anonymous (at first) gift of $100,000 dents, Dick Wagner, as its executive di­ in development funds, provided we could rector. The three of us were influential acquire the site without cost so his gift in persuading the commission to desig­ could be used solely for developing the nate Old World Wisconsin the state's museum. Round One: successful. major bicentennial project. This was not The Reuss pledge put new urgency difficult, for the entire commission into the problem of acquiring the site, agreed that the development of OWW but it also provided some useful political would be an ideal state contribution to leverage. I discovered that the Society the nation's birthday celebration. As Jim contacts with the Department of Natural and I intended, however, the designa­ Resources had, up to now, all been with tion had several important conse­ low- and mid-level staff members. I told quences. It opened the door to state Jim we needed to talk with Lester Voigt, funding for a crash program to develop the DNR secretary, who was likely to be the museum so it could open in 1976, nervous about his future in the new Demo­ and it enabled us to get a bicentennial cratic administration of Governor Patrick grant from the Danish Government to Lucey, inasmuch as the governor was try­ restore a Danish farmstead at the mu­ ing to establish a cabinet government. We seum as Denmark's bicentennial gift to met with Voigt and discovered, as we had the United States, which the Danish suspected, that he knew nothing about Queen dedicated on her visit to the the project. We told him we had a pledge United States in 1976.

322 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

^•i:~5ES3siK:v.*v.t.

Governor Gaylord Nelson and schoolchildren visiting the Society's Historymobile at a lakefront stop in Milwaukee, 1960.

I have no doubt that Old World Wiscon­ University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee had sin would have succeeded in the long run appointed me that fall as associate profes­ no matter what; but I like to think my sor of American immigration and labor decision to smooth over Dick Perrin's cava­ history and my family was just getting ac­ lier response to Henry Reuss in 1970 played quainted with Milwaukee and Wisconsin. I a small but significant part in moving the had accepted the position because, among project forward. %' other reasons, I knew that Wisconsin was one of our most ethnically diverse states, a veritable laboratory for immigration study. VICTOR R. GREENE I was very fortunate in my first few months Milwatxkee, Wisconsin here as I never thought I would become acquainted with the state's ethnic character OINCIDENTALLY I, too, am cef so quickly. C ebrating an anniverary this year, mark­ In the late 1960's the Society was deeply ing my initial experience with the Society. involved in the planning for the new state It occurredjust a quarter-century ago, late park, an outdoor ethnic agricultural mu­ in 1971. I hadjust arrived here then; the seum known as Old World Wisconsin.

323 WTSCONSIN MAGAZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

With the help of a member of the Board The second event, wholly unantici­ of Curators, my colleague here at UW-M, pated, was being sought out by the Fred Olson, the Society appointed me to Society's president, Scott Cutlip, who the OWW planning committee. There I asked me to come to the meeting of the met the Father of Old World Wisconsin, a Board of Curators, to which (without any fellow committee member, Richard W. E. previous knowledge on my part) I had Perrin, whose idea for the site changed been elected. It was the start of eleven and in fact enlarged my concept of my years on the Board, ending only when field. To that time I had thought of Ameri­ immobility compelled me to resign—walk­ can immigrants as chiefly peasants mov­ ing and steps had become insurmount­ ing from European villages to American able barriers. urban centers; but Dick Perrin's vision Itwas at that 1971 meeting of the Board really expanded my understanding of the of Curators that the third momentous salience of ethnicity in America. He and event took place: the vote of the Board to Old World Wisconsin taught me more embark upon the project of a new historic fully than I had previously realized that site. Old World Wisconsin. At the end of immigrant cultures also were evident in the meeting, OWW'' was an idea btxt noth­ and had an important impact on Ameri­ ing more. One of the first follow-ups was can agriculture through various cultural the appointment of the Old World Wis­ practices—for example building construc­ consin committee, to which I had the tion and cultivation. In general I gained a good fortune to be appointed. It was a new appreciation for material culture, vigorous committee,"with such stalwarts and especially for museums, as more than as Elsie Greene, Phyllis Smythe, Dave just warehouses of artifacts but also as Cronon, and Richard W. E. Perrin, upon learning institutions. W whose expertise we came to rely. I believe it was Bill Tishler of the University of Wisconsin who first outlined what might ROBERT H. IRRM.A.NN become the layout for an outdoor mu­ Madison, Wisconsin seum that would reflect the ethnic and architectural contributions of the various WENT to the annual meeting of the ethnic groups that were Wisconsin's earli­ I Society at Stevens Point in 1971, antici­ est settlers. pating an enjoyable June trip: a good We had an idea and the genesis of a annual address, the pleasure of meeting plan, but as yet no site for the project. The acquaintances from previous meetings, state would have liked Old World Wiscon­ and the conviviality of good companions sin to be sited near Aztalan in Jefferson and good conversation in the bar at the County, but the committee, and the Soci­ end of the evening. I ended with far more ety, held out for a rolling area in the than I had anticipated, for three events Kettle Moraine near Eagle in Waukesha occurred that stand out in memory. County—and we got it. The Eagle site The first was the display of the publica­ proved perfect, for each farmstead or tion of the first volume of the Society's complex stands out by itself, yet the total­ projected six-volume History ofWisconsin, ity is a unified achievement. The topogra­ the fruits of Alice Smith's research and phy is such that each unit seems some­ scholarship. There was a grand display of what complete in itself and is notjammed the book and also the presence of its up against another complex. Thus we author, for Alice Smith was there, signing obtained the land; but planning and the copies for those of us who purchased the implementation of apian calls for money, book on the spot. of which we had little or none.

324 SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS

Through the munificent generosity of tionist newspapers to facilitate my study Henry Reuss, the OWW committee ob­ of antislavery politics in the United States; tained its first funding, and we proceeded Ellen Burke cheerfully arranged for in- with the initial project: the Finnish farm­ terlibrary loans; Ms. Harper and her suc­ stead. The first building put up was the cessors opened up the treasures of the Ketola house, then the barn, then the manuscripts room to me and my students; sauna, and in time other supporting struc­ Jack Holzhueter volunteered information tures. From the idea, from that plan, and props to improve my undergraduate from that first underwriting has come a lecture on Civil War Madison. Even the significant outdoor museum, mirroring maintenance staff came obligingly—if Wisconsin's past and the richly varied in­ somewhat less than cheerfully—to the gredients of that past. In the years I served rescue when in 1994 the Society's eleva­ on the Board, many other significant tor stuck between floors after too many projects were discussed, and many imple­ members of my Civil War seminar and I mented, but the inception and realization had clambered aboard for a ride to the of Old World Wisconsin remains a golden manuscripts room. Not only did the Soci­ memory, fe ety give me a study carrel—one tucked away in hidden recesses where only the most desperate, persistent, and resource­ RICHARD H. SEWELL ful could find me—but, during a critical Madison, Wisconsin period in my research, it also made a microfilm reader available for my per­ OR years I have told all who were sonal use. W F interested that the State Historical Society ofWisconsin was the best working library in American history an)'where in HERBERT F. MARGULIES the world. Its combination of rich collec­ Honolulu, Hawaii tions, open stacks, and an obliging and professional staff is, I believe, truly ex­ TREASURE the State Historical Soc­ traordinary. I iety ofWisconsin for many things, but This conviction began to take hold in most of all for introducing me to the my mind when as a graduate student at world of manuscript collections. My first Harvard University I traveled to Madison experience with them, as a neophyte to do research for my doctoral disserta­ graduate studentstudying Wisconsin poli­ tion, a biography of New Hampshire's tics in the Progressive era, was with the antislavery senator, John P. Hale. The papers of James O. Davidson. The lieu­ manuscripts ofWisconsin politicians like tenant governor, who became governor James R. Doolittle, Timothy O. Howe, when Robert La Follette went to the U.S. and Moses M. Davis which I found at the Senate, refused to step aside for soraeone Historical Society proved unexpectedly preferred by La Follette when it came rewarding, and the courtesy and assis­ time to seek nomination for a full term, in tance of Josephine Harper and others the first test of Wisconsin's new primary impressed me greatly. Later, as a member election law. I could not help but to sym­ of the history department at the Univer­ pathize with this self-made immigrant sity ofWisconsin (1965-1995), I contin­ storekeeper as he battled for vindication. ued to draw upon the Society's resources, Paradoxically, years later, in writing a bi­ both for my own research and for teach­ ography of Davidson's opponent, Irvine ing. Jim Danky and Gerry Eggleston in­ Lenroot, I found my sympathies on the vested liberally in the purchase of aboli­ other side. (Davidson won, incidentally.)

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The Davidson story, and the unfolding Library Mall on my way to the Kollege of Wisconsin political history, led me to Klub for a few beers when some inner other collections, and what a wealth of impulse steered me toward the Society's them the society had secured. Each of­ entrance facing on the Mall. (I had, in fered a different perspective from all the fact, been in the building once before— others, and together they formed a com­ during the spring of 1954, as a member of plex mosaic that approached historical Miss Lorraine Meyerhofer's sixth-grade truth, as I perceived it. There was Elisha class in the Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, ele­ Keyes, the canny old stalwart from Madi­ mentary school.) As I entered the build­ son; the staunch La Follette men, James ing, memories of viewing the basement A. Stone and Herman Ekern; the cautious exhibits eight years earlier sifted through La Crosse congressman,JohnJ. Esch; the my mind. Then the building had had a able and ambitious Francis McGovern of distinctive odor—it seemed to me it was Milwaukee, who succeeded Davidson as the smell of marble, but probably it was governor, and many more. floor polish. Manuscripts led inevitably to the Finding nothing of interest on the first Society's superb collection ofWisconsin floor other than a small sales counter with newspapers. At that time, blessedly, they glass cases displaying various publications were notyet microfilmed. (Filming makes of the State Historical Society, I made my sense, but I'm glad it came after I'd felt way to the elevator and rode up to the the crumbling pages and inhaled the an­ second floor, where I was surprised to cient dust.) Ultimately a dissertation find a vast reading room with an enor­ emerged from these materials, and from mously high ceiling that reminded me of that, after further research in the Society's New York's Grand Central Station. There, library, a book, which the Society press too, I saw the legendary huge stuffed not only published but also improved with leather chairs that my buddies had in­ expert editing. sisted were the best place to sleep on the One final recollection: Alice Smith, whole campus. I slid into one and soon, as the Society's longtime research director. promised, was fast asleep. After a refresh­ She brimmed overwithjoy at the nuances ing doze I noticed students occasionally and paradoxes and quirks of Wisconsin entering and emerging from an opening history, and when we talked she made me to the right of the long circulation desk feel the sharer of valuable secrets. Kindly that occupied the west side of the cavern­ to a fault, Alice Smith was a wise mentor ous room. Curiosity again beckoned. I and, with her twinkling, knowing smile, soon found myself in the stacks, which an inspiration. '« conveyed a warm, womb-like atmosphere. I was enthralled with the smell of old books and bindings. My eyes scanned shelf after shelf as I made my way up and down PATRICK M. QUINN Evanston, Illinois the stairs to the various stack levels. What a pleasant discovery, I thought, as I leafed through the pages of a history of Walworth IV /T^ engagement with the State His- County where my home town was located. IVX torical Society ofWisconsin began in the early autumn of 1962 when, as a For much of the next four years the junior English major at the University of Society was my favorite refuge. I logged Wisconsin, I wandered into the building many a nap in those armchairs and spent out of idle curiosity. Bored with hanging endless hours browsing the stacks, espe­ out at the "Rat" across the street in the cially on cold winter afternoons. I loved Memorial Union, 1 was walking across the the deathly stillness of the reading room

326 SFSQUIC;ENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

A cloud oj tear gas drifts across the State and Park Street intersection near the Society's south entrance, May 5, 1971. Photo by Justin Schmiedeke.

in the evenings. The afternoons saw me archivist did but decided to apply anyway. indiscriminately reading county histo­ Perhaps the term suggested a hint of ro­ ries—or "mug books" as I learned they mance. In the event, I soon found myself were called—from all over the country. being interviewed by Gerry Ham, the state Civil War regimental histories, and my archivist. After a few cursory questions, discovered treasure, the massive, multi- which I apparently answered to his satis­ volume official report of the surgeon gen­ faction, I was hired and immediately put eral during the late rebellion with its to work. Gerry introduced me to Dave marvelous and, to be sure, scary colored Delgado, a guy about my age who in turn plates and illustrations. took me back into the stacks, showed me Four years later, as the 1966-1967 aca­ a range filled with massive, musty old demic year began, I found myself a third- leather-bound ledger volumes encrusted year graduate student in American history, with multicolored mold. He told me to married, the father of a three-month-old "process" them. daughter, and dead broke. On the bulletin I had no idea what he meant, but, after board at the university's employment office asking a lot of dumb questions, I began to I spotted a notice announcing a part-time get the hang of it. I spent the balance of work-study student assistantship in the State 1966 processing county records. As the Archives located in the State Historical So­ new year began, the Archives staff com­ ciety. I had only the vaguest idea of what an menced a massive move of state records

327 WISCONSIN .VIAGAZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 from satellite storage quarters in the state menial. He was assisted by the sometimes capitol and the Wilson Street office build­ avuncular Dick Erney. There followed a ing to the Society's brand-new addition, cast of characters whose very uniqueness which had been constructed between the formed the Society's human strength. old building's north and south wings fac­ Space permits mention of only a few of ing west on Park Street. Somehow I must these characters. First to mind was the have impressed upon Gerry Ham that I Society's assistant director, John Jacques, had a sense of order during the early whose bald dome, black-rimmed glasses, stages of the move, so he offered me a full- and forever florid face remain etched in time job coordinating the balance of the my mind. Often gruff, a man to be feared, endeavor. I accepted, dropped out of grad­ he had a heart of gold. Bright, perhaps uate school, and hitched my fate to the brilliant even, he carried out his bureau­ Grand Old Lady of State Street. In May a cratic duties by day, but off the clock he position came open as a professional retained the same fierce commitment to archivist; I applied for it and was promptly humanity that had impelled him to enlist hired at $5,000 a year. on the side of the Republicans in the For the next four years, until I resigned Spanish Civil War. in August of 1971, the Society was my Of my own division. Archives and Manu­ occupational home. I served variously in scripts, I had the good fortune to have both the Manuscripts and Archives sec­ been trained by the best. I was trained as tions as accessioner of state archives, di­ an archivist by Dave Delgado, who was in rector of county and local records, and transit from history to petroleum geol­ for a while as acting curator of manu­ ogy; by Jack Jallings, a longtime union scripts. 1 spent the bulk of my time arrang­ organizer and political activist; and by ing and describing papers and records Frank DeLoughery, a former machinist ranging from the records of the Cedar and bomb disposal specialist during World Rapids Federation of Teachers to the pa­ War II. Margaret Hafstad, the redoubt­ pers of U.S. Senator Alexander Wiley. I able curator of manuscripts, taught me also had the good fortune to do quite a bit how to write, or else. The Archives read­ of field work, resulting in the Society's ing room was run with an iron hand by Jo acquisition of the papers and records of Harper, who, in a different time, prob­ numerous radicals and radical organiza­ ably would have been a renowned scholar. tions, including the Students for a Demo­ I recall having spent an inordinate cratic Society (SDS). amount of time with the Society's main­ What strikes me as most significant tenance staff. Here were the only two about the Society during the late 1960's African-Americans on the staff: Willie Jo was the unique collective character of the Walker, the seemingly ageless janitress, staff. To call it an extended family would and her nephew George Dockery, a jani­ perhaps overstate the matter, but there tor who had been a football star at Madi­ did exist a very genuine esprit des corps, son Central High School and had served manifested primarily at the departmental in the Army Quartermaster Corps in Eu­ level in a collegiality that is altogether rope during World War II. George was a rare these days. The tone for this ethos— great sports fan and still possessed a mag­ which seemed, at least to me, to pervade nificent physique that suggested that he the Society—was set at the top. The could return to the gridiron with the same Society's director, Les Fishel, was a com­ skills that he had exhibited at Breese mitted liberal and a decent man who made Stevens field. Other notable members of a point of knowing and chatting with the maintenance staff included Loren virtually evervone on the staff, however Stuckey, one-armed, gentle, and strong as

328 SESQUICFNFENNL^L REf;OI,LECTIONS an ox; Marvin Clark and Jim Culver, af­ PAUL W. GLAD fable and industrious; and of course their Norman, Oklahoma supervisor, the droll philosopher Tony Schaeffer. All of them cared about the old Y first real association with the State building, despite its quirks. M Historical Society of Wisconsin During my tenure at the Society, the stands out in my memory as one of my Vietnam War raged both outside and most rewarding professional experiences. within the building. As the war dragged Beyond that, it was an experience I shall on, the staff became deeply divided over always remember as a high point in my whether to support or oppose it. One relationship with my oldest son, then a staff member kept a Chicago Tribune ma^p teenager. In 1965, I was teaching at the of Vietnam in his office in which he stuck University of Maryland and carrying on pins denoting U.S. military "victories"; research in the manuscript collections of many other staff members became active the Library of Congress. My son, Tom, in Madison's anti-war movement. Coffee sometimes accompanied me to the library, breaks at the Memorial Union became and inasmuch as he had developed skills forums for heated, sometimes acrimoni­ in using a typewriter, he helped greatly ous, debates about the war. During the with note-taking. In 1965, I received a late sixties the turbulent anti-war move­ grant to work on some of the middle ment literally swirled about the Society, western progressives, and of course the and on several occasions the National best place to begin such a project is Wis­ Guard occupied key campus buildings, consin. My wife and I therefore made including the Society's. I well recall Na­ plans for her to take three children to visit tional Guardsmen manhandling a .30- her parents in Indiana while Tom and I caliber machine gun past my desk on spent three weeks working in the Richard their way to place it on the roof overlook­ T. Ely Papers and other collections at the ing the Library Mall. I asked a sergeant State Historical Society in Madison. Hap­ whether the troops had live ammuni­ pily, I was able to secure a room for the tion. He replied in the affirmative, and, two of us at the faculty club just across the Paul Revere-like, I sounded the alarm street from the Society. among my colleagues, who hastily com­ Tom and I arrived in Madison on a Sun­ posed a letter of protest to the governor. day afternoon, moved into our quarters, In many respects the Society was a refuge and proceeded to explore State Street, the in those days—a refuge not only for reds Memorial Union, and the lakefront. It was of various persuasions but also for indi­ an introduction to the scene of our coming viduals who preferred a gentler sort of activities that could not fail to fire us both life than the harshness the "real" world with great enthusiasm for the work ahead. offered. The next morning, we found the manu­ While the Society's walls harbor, no scripts room, then housed on the mezza­ doubt, one of the rich lodes of historical nine overlooking the main reading room. documentation in the United States, my Jo Harper greeted us with her unfailing love affair with the Grand Old Lady of courtesy and instructed us on the finding State Street was mainly with those who aids and manuscript inventories that have peopled the building and with the build­ long helped to jtxstify the Society's reputa­ ing itself. Always warm and cozy in the tion as a researcher's paradise. Locating Wisconsin winters, it was a place that I the boxes we wanted from the extraordinar­ daily looked forward to entering. In the ily rich Ely collection, we began our work years that followed my departure, I have with materials relating to the period just never had a better place to work. W before World War I.

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Looking back on that experience, I lives were soon to change. The Shannons cannot imagine a better introduction to joined the faculty at the University of Madison, the university, Wisconsin pro- Maryland, as we anticipated, but to find gressivism, and tensions that troubled myself invited to take Dave's place at the state during the years of reform and Wisconsin was a possibility I had never war. In the evenings, after the manu­ considered. Nevertheless, the invitation scripts reading room had closed, Tom came, and in 1966 we moved to Madison, and I would drive around the city in an where we remained for a dozen eventful effort to visualize Madison as it had been years. Tom graduated from West High, during Ely's residence there. We found as did all our children, and he then com­ the house that he built for himself and pleted his baccalaureate degree at the his family, and in the process we also University ofWisconsin. He was an un­ found Frederick Jackson Turner's house dergraduate during the years of the Viet­ and many of the Madison houses of nam protests and was actively involved in Frank Lloyd Wright. the anti-war movement. We did not wander forlornly about Both of us often recalled the trauma the city in isolation, however, because that Wisconsin had undergone during that summer was a very active one for the First World War, and though condi­ many scholars using the Historical Soci­ tions were not identical, we both from ety. Gil Lite, from the University of Okla­ time to time keenly sensed the sort of homa, was teaching at Wisconsin and anxiety that gripped the state in the making frequent use of materials in the days when Old Bob La Follette was op­ Society's collections. Wayne Fuller of posing the policies of the Wilson admin­ the University of Texas at El Paso was on istration. I was working then on Volume hand working on activities of the U.S. 5 of The History ofWisconsin, and I could Post Office in rural areas. Jackson T. scarcely avoid comparisons that perhaps Main, who had been a frequent lun­ came all too readily to mind. Tom, as it cheon companion at the Library of Con­ turned out, drew lottery number 38 and gress, was in Madison for summer school was therefore in the last group drafted teachingand visits with friends and rela­ for Vietnam. After considering various tives. Dave Shannon, who was to be­ alternatives, he finally enlisted. come a colleague at the University of As I reflect upon the course of our Maryland, had remained in Wisconsin lives since that wonderful summer of for the summer. All of these friends more than thirty years ago, I must con­ were part of a congenial group that Tom clude that the experience I had with my and I remember with affection. We usu­ son at the Historical Society ofWiscon­ ally had lunch and sometimes dinner sin was determinative for both of us. with Gil and Wayne. Jack and Gloria And I must conclude, further, that we Main, who were living in Dave Lovejoy's have both benefited immeasurably from hotxse, often took us out to lakes and the wisdom, assistance, and example of into the countryside for swimming and the Society's librarians and archivists. I picnics. We had dinner with the Shan­ was able to draw upon that summer's nons on at least two occasions. In short, experience in writing on the history of the benefits of working at the Historical Wisconsin between the two world wars; Society that summer turned out to be as Tom gained an appreciation of archival satisfying as any I have ever experienced work that provided an excellent foun­ on a research trip. dation for a professional career as a Neither Tom nor I could have fore­ librarian in the Washington bureau of a seen that summer how profoundly our major New York newspaper. '«'

330 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

BONNIE MITCHELL 1968, women cooked, cleaned, cared Madison, Wisconsin for children and, if they ventured into the work force, counted on second- ORE than a quarter-century has class treatment, even by so enlight­ M passed since Richard A. Erney sat ened an agency as the State Historical across the table from me in the execu­ Society ofWisconsin. "Sex discrimina­ tive offices of the State Historical Soci­ tion" had not entered the national vo­ ety of Wisconsin and, with his hands cabulary. Today, laws and regulations clasped and resting calmly upon the governing sex discrimination and fair table's gleaming wood, said to me, "We employment, coupled with the near- always hire women for this position. certainty of legal action, would impede We can pay them less." any overt references to such hiring and On that late summer day in 1968, I wage policies in all circumstances. Oh, was interviewing for the position of Pub­ how times have changed! lications Supervisor. Dick Erney, one of Or have they? In all my discussions the interviewers, was then the Society's about women's rights and status over assistant director. He was affable and the years, I have quoted that candid kind. I was young and eager and, with a statement uttered a quarter-century ago recent master's degree in journalism to illustrate "how times have changed." from the University of Michigan, quali­ I've told my daughters about my Soci­ fied for the position—well-qualified, it ety interview. They've laughed, incredu­ seemed, since I was also a woman. lous. Any job is open to them, they I accepted the $6,500-a-year position think. But I've cautioned them that per­ with gratitude. I enjoyed my year and a haps the only thing that's really changed half at the Society. I edited the monthly is the acceptance of candor and hon­ magazine, Wisconsin Then and Now, as­ esty. Look at gender-comparative wage sembled the annual Wisconsin Calendar, scale statistics, at gender statistics in produced a brochure series for the his­ executive employment or in tradition­ toric sites, learned, matured and made ally "male" occupations other than life-long friends. But I've never forgot­ medicine. Have women gained that ten Dick Erney's candor at my interview much? Have policies such as the one and have quoted him over the years in declared to me so candidly in 1968 numerous discussions of women's rights disappeared, or is the open declara­ and status in modern society. tion of their existence just prohib­ Looking back, I marvel at my naive ited? Are they now just well-hidden, acceptance of his announcement in surreptitiously influencing wage 1968. Of course there were jobs "re­ scales and staffing decisions? At what served" for women: teacher, nurse, sec­ pace is history made, that of the hare retary, telephone operator, stewardess, or the tortoise? Does social change and, apparently, publications super­ progress in a straight and continuous visor. At least thejob referenced wasn't line or does it meander, curve, or one of the first three; I'd spent my even circle back? academic career fleeing from those pi­ I've no answers, just questions. I geonholes. I remember prickling with know, however, that the little vignette annoyance at receiving a salary lower of my job interview is testimony that than a man's in the same position, but the State Historical Society ofWiscon­ I would never have called the discrep­ sin is a player in the history it houses ancy into question. Blatantly unfair as and preserves. Not objective. Not aloof. it was, the policy existed openly. In An institution in and of its time. W

331 WISCONSIN M.AG.VZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

JAMES J. LORENCE As I search the recesses of my mind, Wausau, Wisconsin several images come to the fore. Who could forget the warm and nurturing mis­ A yCY personal memories of the State tress of the circulation desk, Ruth Davis, IVx Historical Society of Wisconsin who provided words of encouragement reach back into my years as an under­ and friendly smiles. Even more vivid is my graduate student at the University of Wis­ recollection of the stern competence of consin-Milwaukee when a young Reginald archivist Josephine Harper, who main­ Horsman sent me on a mission to explore tained absolute control and comprehen­ the Western origins of the War of 1812. sive command of the myriad archival and To this day, I recall clearly how stunned manuscript materials in her domain. I was at the depth and richness of the Rarely since then have I encountered an resources available, which were quite a archives manager so thoroughly confi­ revelation to a nineteen-year-old history dent and knowledgeable concerning the major. Not only was the array of primary resources in his or her charge. Though I sources dazzling, but their easy accessibil­ was by then twenty-seven and a mature ity was a welcome surprise. The end result graduate student, I found Miss Harper of this adventure was a successful research simultaneously impressive and at least paper and an indelible impression that mildly intimidating. there was, within the Society's walls, a It was under her guidance that I began world of original material to be explored to understand and practice the principles by the venturesome scholar. Before long, of thorough research, including the pains­ however, my attention was focused on the taking process of identifying the primary practical problems facing an inexperi­ sources essential to the completion of an enced secondary school teacher adjtxst- acceptable dissertation. At the time, the ing to a new environment in a new state. variety of materials seemed overwhelm­ When I returned to the Madison cam­ ing. Because I was conducting research in pus several years later, this time as a gradtx­ American foreign relations it became clear ate student, the Society became a second that I would need to do substantial work home. Here I researched as deeply as a in distant repositories. In the manuscripts harassed grad student could and made room, I learned where I must look for the long reading room tables my base answers to my questions. Under Miss Har­ area for study purposes as well. Not only per's tutelage I slowly began to gain was the studv space convenient to the control over the mass of material at my sources I was just learning to appreciate, disposal. In the long run, her assistance but it also provided the casual meeting during this apprenticeship period served ground where I became acquainted with me well. As the venue in which these men and women who were to become events transpired, the Society provided as prominent figures in the historical pro­ important a learning environment as any fession—Roderick Nash, Dave Thelen, classroom I ever inhabited. W Jim Gilbert, Bob Griffith, Edward Crapol, Joe Conlin, Ron Hoffman, Howard Schoen- berger, and many more. As co-tenants at the Historical Society, we shared the joys RICHARD H. ZEITLIN and trials of graduate study, including the Madison, Wisconsin intellectual discourse that prepared us for the rigors of the academic life. There we HE State Historical Society library established life-long friendships and the T provided a home for me during the habit of continuous inquirv'. years I attended graduate school in American historv at the University of

332 *1 1!!!J r'.tii ^'

ijes •_. ^y .:.**

! L..

WHi (X2) 5525

John Colson on duty at the main desk of the Society library while students read bound newspapers on the racks to the right and, undoubtedly, examine microfilm in the cubicles along the wall.

Wisconsin. I well remember the old read­ State Historical Society of Wisconsin in ing room lay-out, with its comfortable the area of American history. leather chairs, sofas, and classic feel. I As a youthful and unmarried grad stu­ was immediately taken by the place the dent whose campus-area apartment was first time I entered it in 1966. minimalistic in terms of personal luxu­ In addition, the library's collections ries, I felt more comfortable at the were unbelievably fine and completely Society's library than at home. That is accessible. There were no restrictions on where I met my pals. The bathrooms were entry to the stacks and virtually every­ kept clean. The marble staircase leading thing ever written pertaining to Ameri­ to the library reading room had a valley can history was available. I grew up in worn into it from the countless times fa­ New York and, while attending college, mous historians had trod the same path. had made extensive use of the central The ancient stands for reading the bound branch of the New York Public Library. volumes of newspapers looked like music There, only library staff members could stands. The dog-eared volumes of the enter the stacks. Sometimes there were Mississippi Valley Historical Review (later not enough seats in the reading room, the Journal of American History), many of and one frequently had to wait for hours which were richly annotated in the mar­ until someone located and retrieved gins by generation after generation of books. The collections seemed, upon history grad students, filled me with awe. reflection, to be less than those of the The library is where I read my voluminous

333 WISCONSIN M,V(;,AZINE OE HISTOR'l' SUMMER, 1996 class assignments and whcEe I spent most mechanics, my friends would have me do of my study time preparing for prelims. some of the periodic adjustments on their The library exuded serious history vibes— bikes. And since the State Historical Soci­ serious but friendly. ety was always the rendezvous of choice, I The stacks were fantastic. The library's began to keep parts and tools in my car­ use of the Cutter system of classification rel. Five or six of the motorcycle-oriented (the conversion to the modern Library of history grad students—"Hell's Historians" Congress method had recently begun) as we were known—kept me busy with was a boon to researchers. The C]utter mechanical matters. system tended to concentrate books on The Historical Society remains my similar topics next to one another on the brightest memory of grad school. It was shelves. Works which bore some relation­ my home away from home, the source of ship to particular subjects, therefore, part-time employment, the center of re­ could be picked out by diligent searching search and learning, a social hall, and the and browsing, and I found myself spend­ place where historians were made. I still ing a great deal of time in certain areas of love doing work in the Historical Society the stacks. collections. '« After 1 passed prelims in my quest for a doctorate, the Society granted me a study carrel. The little room soon became my RICHARD C. H,-\NEY stash for books and other materials that I Whitewater, Wisconsin didn't want to carry back to my apart­ ment. I still did most of my reading in the S a youth growing up in Madison, I reading room or in the stacks, but the A became aware of the importance of carrel became a huge locker. (I even kept the State Historical Society and the Uni­ a change of clothes there, because by this versity of Wisconsin early in life. My time the anti-Vietnam war protests had mother. Vera Haney, and my grandpar­ called forth massive uses of tear gas, which ents, Chauncey and Mabel Wolferman, lingered in one's clothing.) Books, pa­ would often entertain me by taking me ou pers, my typewriter, and finally motor­ visits to the Society's museum to see the cycle parts were all allotted carrel space. exhibits, to the UW observatory during In the late 1960's and early 1970's mo­ public viewing sessions, and to the caril­ torcycles represented a reasonable sys­ lon tower on Bascom Hill for Sunday af­ tem of transportation for students in ternoon bell-tower concerts. To this day I Madison. Convenient cycle parking ex­ remember especially a couple of Society isted on campus and motorcycles were exhibits on Indians and on the Civil War. relatively inexpensive. In the spring and During the summers of my high school fall my friends and 1 took short, but stimu­ years, I often went to the Society's cool, lating, rides to Black Earth or Spring comfortable, and cavernous reading room Green several times a week—usually just to read magazines and newspapers, and before dinner and the return to the read­ to scout out what attending the university ing room. In those days, probably half of would "really be like." It was a great re­ all motorcycles were of English manufac­ spite from working at the soda fountain at ture, especially the larger and faster ma­ the Rennebohm's drugstore on Univer­ chines. English cycles were simple and sity Avenue near the Shorewood Hills finely made, but they needed constant entrance. adjustments and maintenance. A person As a graduate student in history at the who owned one had acquired a hobby, if university from 1966 to 1970, I spent un­ not a part-timejob. Since I was interested in told hours in the Society building, re-

334 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

searching my dissertation and reading for Then came the actual note, which had my preliminary exams. I remember that to be copied verbatim. Summary of any the staff was always helpful beyond any sort was forbidden, thotxgh we were per­ expectations. Eventually, of course, I came mitted ellipses. This laborious method to know my way around the stacks with made for highly reliable notes that a minimal help, which paid off during the third party (Professor Current in my year or so that I was research assistant to case) could use with confidence, but it Paul Glad on his volume in the Society's exacted a toll on the note takers. I six-volume History ofWisconsin. dreaded encountering long passages of The Society was more than just a locale rich material, especially passages too long for me to engage in historical research, to fit onto a single sheet, because con­ however. It was a peaceful and quiet ref­ tinuing onto a second sheet necessitated uge from the tumultuous events of the repeating the whole citation and sum­ Vietnam War era on the university cam­ mary process. Since my office lacked a pus. Sitting in the stacks of the Society's window and the only item on the wall library provided me with a larger histori­ was a topographical map ofWisconsin, I cal perspective on that needless and tragic acquired a remarkable knowledge of war, and helped me to see that the divi­ Wisconsin place names and could at sions it created in American society would one time almost have drawn the con­ probably not last forever. W tours of the driftless region from mem­ ory. Fortunately, perhaps, a number of the dissertations from which I mined DAVID M,At;LEOD nuggets had remained unpublished Mount Pleasant, Michigan for good reason; after hours of unbroken typing, I could usually anticipate the N 1969-1970, I spent every afternoon relief of paging through long, worthless I in the Society's research division, passages. reading dissertations and past issues Another memory from that year is of the Wisconsin Magazine of History as the day the Society got tear-gassed. It a research assistant for Richard N. Cur­ was, I think, in the turbulent spring of rent's volume in the History of Wiscon­ 1970. A demonstration out on State sin series. "Taking notes" sounds like Street, which used to run along the south casual activity, but there was nothing side of the building, led the police to casixal about the research division's start pitching tear gas canisters. For some approved format. As I remember it, we reason—probably the coincidence of an used half-sheets of paper, 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 errant toss with someone entering the inches, rather than cards, in order to building—a canister apparently botxnced permit carbon copying. In the upper in through the south door. While tear lefthand corner, each note had to have gas was seldom very effective amid the an absolutely complete citation of the stiff breeze that blew off Lake Mendota, source. In the upper righthand corner indoors it was much more potent. With we wrote an extensive title, all in block the doors to the research division closed, capitals. Below these items, we could the air up on our part of the top floor briefly pour our creativity into four or was not too bad. But Alice Smith, the five lines in our own words, summarizing Society's director of research (emeri­ the contents of the note and indicating tus), wanted to leave—even though all why we thotxght the information im­ the younger staff members convinced portant, perhaps commenting as well themselves that a lady of her advanced on issues of context or interpretation. years would collapse in the gas on the

335 WISCONSIN MACJAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

Stairs. Eventually she did depart, and I only fault in all this was that when exiled recall that she coped quite handily. beyond easy driving range of Madison, I As a graduate student in the sixties found I had been spoiled. Serious re­ and as a researcher since, my dominant search now took so much more plan­ impression has been a mixture of awe ning, arranging, traveling, and filling at the richness of the collections and out interlibrary loan requests! gratitude that the Society has remained Returning to use the manuscript divi­ such a researcher-friendly place. To a sion in 1986 after considerable experi­ beginning graduate student, the Soci­ ence with other archives, I was even more ety opened a sense of almost limitless struck by the helpfulness of the staff and possibility. For an ordinary course pa­ the convenience of the arrangements. per, almost on a whim, I could use To be able to make photocopies myself Jedediah Morse's geographies on open at a nickel apiece was not only a rare shelves in the stacks or read letters amenity that speeded my work but also a written by Samuel Gompers in the manu­ mark of trust in researchers that made scripts division. The effect was liberat­ me feel welcome. W ing: I got the habit of asking questions first and only later worrying about sources. Especially if one could find a J,\MES MORTON SMITH Wisconsin angle, one could be sure of Elkton, Maryland locating enough in the Society's hold­ ings to get a good start on almost any Y first impression of the State His­ historical problem, often to do a whole M torical Society of Wisconsin came project without leaving the building. in the fall of 1964 when I served as a One arrangement imbued even mun­ visiting professor in the department of dane research with a feeling of mildly history at the University of Wisconsin, heroic endeavor: the microfilm read­ substituting for Professors Merrilljensen ers were enclosed in separate little and David Lovejoy. Since I shared an sheds, rather like tiny ice fishing shan­ office with William Appleman Williams, ties, along the west side of the reading a popular professor who had troops of room. Inside, however, they were any­ students in and out of the office daily, I thing but frigid. They were dark, as the requested a research carrel in the Soci­ reader provided the only light, and hot, ety, knowing that most books that I as the big bulb poured out heat hour needed for preparation of my lectures after hour. When it was time to get the would be within easy reach. They were, next reel of microfilm, one emerged and the Society quickly became my desti­ blinking and sweating into the cool nation every day throughout the 1964- light of the reading room—but serene 1965 academic year, lightening my heavy in the assurance that one had really teaching load while enlightening me and, been working. I hope, the students I taught. Of course I sometimes ventured across My second impression of the Society the mall to the university library, but came in the spring of 1970 when I flew never with the same sense of anticipa­ out from Cornell to be interviewed for tion. The slightly musty smell, the nar­ the position of director. As I walked row stairs, and the glass floors in the towards the Society, I spotted several Society's old stacks encouraged explora­ armed National Guardsmen on the roof tion; I remember being relieved in the of the building. Upon entering the build­ 1960's that the extension to the stacks ing, I noticed that smoke filled the first did not destroy the sense of place. The floor—caused, I soon learned, by the

336 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS firebombing of a nearby ROTC build­ and homemade sausage. Picnics at ing, which shared some underground Brittingham Park were a joyous celebra­ heating ducts with the Society. I knew tion of heritage. Gaiety and the aroma of then, as I had learned at Cornell the year ethnic foods permeated the air during before when student activists had intro­ such events, and the exuberance of people duced loaded firearms and seized the with a different language intrigued me. Student Union, that the quiet, cloistered Being stopped by people who knew my life of academia had changed forever. father when he shopped, or picnicked, That meant, I thought, that historical engaging in conversations in Sicilian, societies, like American society, would created more intrigue. I alzvays had a change also. But I remembered thatjer- feeling that I belonged in that neighbor­ emy Belknap, founder of the Massachu­ hood, so far away, it seemed, from setts Historical Society, the nation's first Talmadge Street where we lived. I was historical society, had laid down in 1794 thirsty for anything and everything hav­ a principle of adaptability that applied ing to do with my heritage. equally well to the State Historical Soci­ It should not have surprised me later, ety of Wisconsin: "We intend to be an after the neighborhood had been de­ active, not a passive, literary body, not stroyed in the name of "urban renewal," to lie waiting like a bed of oysters for the that I would recognize the need to cap­ tide to flow in upon us, but to seek and ture as much as I could by interviewing find, to preserve and communicate lit­ former residents now scattered through­ erary intelligence, especially in the his­ out the city. Besides, it was a way of meet­ torical way." Lyman Draper abbreviated ing and talking to people who knew my that statement in 1868 by affirming that grandmother, who had died a week be­ publication of the Society's Reports and fore I was born and for whom I was named. Collections would "bear upon its face the As a member of the Italian American evidence that ours is a /roe Society." It is Women's Club, I offered my services to also a lively Society, staffed by experts write a cookbook featuring the Italian who combine scholarly with popular his­ and Sicilian recipes our mothers and tory at its best. grandmothers had prepared for their And that is why I decided, after coun­ families. I was by then a special student at seling with my family, to join the Society the University of Wisconsin during the as director and why Kassie, our chil­ early I980's, so this would also be an dren, and I have always treasured our introduction to what the State Historical association with the staff, the Board of Society could offer in my research about Curators, the membership, and the the Greenbush neighborhood. people of Wisconsin and their elected To say I was fascinated would be an representatives. *¥ understatement. I lived for each morning that allowed me to load my backpack with writing materials and head down to CATHERINE TRIPALIN MURRAY Langdon Street to see what I could un­ Madison, Wisconsin earth in the Society's files. I studied mi­ crofilm until the strain on my eyes caused WAS born in 1937 and grew up on the headaches, unable to pull away from what I east side of Madison. From a very young was nourishing me in every way. But there age, I was curious about the old Greenbush are two particular things I remember most neighborhood where my father once lived. vividly during my research and I will live I liked visiting the Italian markets that forever with the feeling I experienced at supplied us with staples of pasta, olive oil. the moment of discovery. One was my

337 Wlli (X3) .50449

Paul Vanderbilt on erne of his photographic trips across the state, about 1963.

entry to the Rare Books Department and I thought would be a "perfect" picture finding a paper written in the 1920's by a having something to do with cooking. student in home economics, Jean Louise Not, that is, until I found in the Fred Pallica. It was her attempt to document Holmes Collection a photo of a woman the life of the Italian immigrants who making tomato paste on boards on the lived in the Greenbush neighborhood— front porch of her dwelling on Milton including her chart with names, birth­ Street. I remember gasping, because I places, places of employment, addresses, knew immediately that this would be my married, single or widowed, church affili­ cover photograph. Making tomato paste ation etc. I copied what I could, but have was part of the Sicilian culture and a since wanted to return a hundred times tradition practiced each year on porches, over to lose myself in something that I was in front and back yards, and in empty lots not fully aware of at the time. when garden tomatoes ripened. It was a The other experience that brought practice of the past that every Sicilian tears to my eyes was searching one last family remembers—though not always time for a picture that could be used on fondly by those who, as young children, the cover of my book. Having collected were responsible for shooing flies from many photographs from the families I the tomato boards! To me, the making of interviewed, I had not come up with what tomato paste symbolized ethnic pride.

338 SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS family, tradition—in essence, something way of looking at the world. It was his worthy of being preserved in print for special gift that he brought to the Society future generations. and to everyone fortunate to know him. I guess I could describe both discover­ The fragment of time I spent at the Soci­ ies as being a turning point in my new ety is preserved like a treasured daguerreo­ career as a "humble historian." The type in my memory. W adrenalin catapulted me onto a new pla­ teau in my life and, suddenly, I became aware that I couldn't get enough of what SARAH M. PRITCHARD I knew belonged to me. W Northampton, Massachusetts

ONGRATULATIONS to the State MARSHA PETERS C Historical Society of Wisconsin, for Chicago, Illinois enduring and thriving for 150 years! As a library science student at the Univer­ HE State Historical Society was my sity ofWisconsin in the mid-1970's, the T first place of genuine employment Society's library was a central and unique after graduate school in 1970. And, like a part of my experience, and in fact helped first love, it left an indelible impression. set me on a course that became a major In part it was the sense of commitment part of my career. Things I learned there and camaraderie the staff had. And, of were directly useful to me in my subse­ course, we had all been through the six­ quent work, insights into subjects and ties together on the University ofWiscon­ materials that were handled at only a few sin campus. But for the most part, it was other libraries in the country. my association with Paul Vanderbilt, cu­ Library science students knew only that rator of the Iconographic Collections, vaguely defined and somewhat musty won­ where I worked as an archivist. Paul ders awaited them at the Society; yet de­ opened my eyes to a world of marvelous spite their professors' encouragements, it images where history and photography seemed somehow more mysterious and intersected. He taught by indirection to less accessible than the Memorial Library. appreciate the nuances and grand themes Each time I went there, however, I was played out in heroic photographs or ev­ astounded by what I found and what I eryday snapshots of town and family life. learned, and by how knowledgeable and His curiosity, delight, and sly insights in­ supportive all the staff were. I first went to formed the Iconographic Collections and the Historical Society in the fall of 1976 to educated me. To Paixl Vanderbilt I owe peruse old census records for a biographi­ my life's interest, my work, and my per­ cal project that was part of a reference sonal passion. class. Scanning reels upon reels of film, I write with a sense of nostalgia and loss deciphering the infamous phonetic spell­ which may or may not be misplaced. I ing conventions, actually helped me trace hope not. I've thought a lot about the a life and document information that was Society over the years—sad that I left it, eventually incorporated into a published wondering what it would have been like if reference book in women's history. Later I had stayed. I wandered off to pursue my that same semester, I needed to study the own curatorial career, then strayed into output of a particular publisher. Ran­ the more cynical and clever world of jour­ domly picking a name in a class on acqui­ nalism where I have resided as a picture sitions, I didn't know that I'd chosen a editor for several daily newspapers. But "vanity press" or even what that meant, I'll always carry Paul's legacy with me—a let alone that most public and academic

339 The spirit-lifting sxveep of the Ihirdjloor balcony above the Society's reading room. libraries didn't buy such books. This was librarian knew exactly what I was talking when I discovered that some libraries will about and pulled a bunch of titles right buy anything on a topic that they consider out. I learned much more from that their most important collecting area; and experience than if I had worked on a so it was with genealogy and local history major press. at the SHSW. The library had quite a few Before long, I began to accumulate books from "my" publisher: personal nar­ other small research successes and to re­ ratives of early Wisconsin towns and fam­ alize that I was handling objects that, in ily histories ranging from the anecdotal all likelihood, would not have been acces­ to the comprehensive. I was fascinated sible anywhere else to someone like me. It with the issues, and impressed that the may seem corny or unremarkable, but

340 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS that moment of excited awareness is al­ I delighted too in prowling the stacks ways special for each student. I see it now with its rabbit-warren quality of various among students at Smith College who use height rooms and particularly the sur­ manuscripts in the Sophia Smith Collec­ prise of coming on the areas where the tion, and it is that very moment that often original building's carved pediments were leads a student to choose a life in history, about shoulder high. archives, or libraries. W Coming as I did from dailyjournalism, my cloudier pictures involve the frtxstra- tions of working at a pace determined by HARVA HACHTEN the historical long view and the constraints Madison, Wisconsin of a state agency. Historians, generally, are cavalier about meeting deadlines. My HINKING about my five years at the primary bete noire was the State Printing T State Historical Society is rather like Office with its bureaucratic tangle of rummaging through a box of unsorted clumsy, time-consuming, and often un­ snapshots: many interesting and some­ necessary procedures. times vivid images but little coherence Thinking back to the 1970's, I realize I and no unifying narrative. regarded the State Historical Society as a The mental pictures of the building collection of enclaves—a Balkans on Lake itself are clearly in focus. My office was a Mendota. Each division—acquisitions, his­ commodious fourth-floor room, tucked toric preservation, library, archives, ico­ under the eaves at the northeast corner. nography—had its own personality. The There, as publications editor, I wrote only common characteristic among them and produced the late monthly Wiscon­ was a fierce regard for their own turf and sin Then and Now and afterward started the equally fierce protection of it. We in work on The Flavor of Wisconsin, which Editorial, I always thought, were the most was to be a bicentennial project. The casual and least up-tight—sort of the Bo­ room was painted off-white and was bright hemians of the group. Our location in the with all the lights on, but it had no win­ upper reaches of the fourth fioor meant dows—invoking, as each day wore on, a we were far from power central. Certainly coffin-like ambiance. Had there been during James Morton Smith's tenure as windows, I would have had a grand view director, few VIP's ventured into our of the Library Mall and half of the Old space, which no doubt contributed to the Red Gym on Langdon Street. The lack of relaxed atmosphere. W a vista concentrated the mind but dulled the soul. Other aspects of the building have ALLAN BOGUE AND MARGARET BOGUE stayed with me. My favorite route for Madison, Wisconsin getting from the north to the south side of the building was along the third- E first heard about the Society while floor balcony overlooking the Library Wwe were members of Paul W. Gates's Reading Room. That graceful and mag­ seminar at Cornell. He conducted a kind nificent space never failed to lift my of verbal tour of the American libraries spirits. After July of 1976, I could look and archives in which he had worked, and down on the room and still see it in its he gave considerable attention to the So­ festive attire as the site of the elegant ciety, which he first knew as a graduate Bicentennial Ball and filled with for­ student circa 1925. Although he stressed mally dressed couples dancing around its archival riches, what raost stuck in his the card catalogs. mind, apparently, were the fearsome

341 WISCONSIN ,M,A(;AZINE OF HISTORY SUM.MER, 1996 ladies who administered the stacks and GEORGE H. ROEDER, JR. reading rooms and who gave the impres­ Chicago, Illinois sion that he or she who whispered or even cleared a throat would be at least sum­ WILL save my scores of other stories marily ejected and at worst held for exe­ I about the State Historical Society of cution at dawn. Wisconsin and the anti-war movement In 1968-1969, during his first year of for a future archival project focused on retirement, Paul Gates again taught at this particular topic, and instead re­ Wisconsin, and he discovered that the count my most extraordinary experi­ Society was a much more congenial place. ence as a researcher at the Society: the He did, however, find carrel L20 so claus­ day in October, 1973, when I first made trophobic that he fled to the stacks where contact with Blue Jenkins. The day be­ he set up shop most days at one of the gan with a request from Bill Thompson stack-end desks on level 10 or 11. He that I try to find out more about a could be seen at 7:45 most mornings go­ reference that Bernard DeVoto had ing to the stacks in a worn blue suit which made in his column in the January, had a slight bulge in the right hand 1946, issue of Harper's Magazine about pocket—his hard-boiled egg lunch. His his shocking experience on a recent earliness and faithfulness made lasting train ride through Wisconsin. Because impressions on the occasional graduate he thought ofWisconsin as a progres­ student who was up at that hour. sive state, on this train ride DeVoto was In 1972, when Al was a visiting profes­ dismayed to hear citizens of the state sor at Harvard, Frederick Merk and his frequently use the term "nigger" and wife entertained us. He had memories speak approvingly of an "anti-Negro of the Society at an even earlier date demonstration" that had recently taken than Gates. In the teens, Merk was an place in Racine. employee at the Society (and later, au­ I soon found that existing historical thor of The Economic History ofWisconsin sources gave no clue as to what the During the Civil War Decade) before go­ passengers might have been talking ing to Harvard for his doctoral work. about. Bill's request led to a day on the For a time he was the last employee out phone, with little to show for twenty- of the building at night, and he con­ two calls to sources such as the Racine fessed that after turning out the lights Historical Society, various churches in he would slide down the marble bannis­ the city, several public officials, and ter to the ground-floor lobby, an ath­ local civil rights organizations. Many of letic feat perhaps never equalled by a the people I talked to had vague memo­ later Society employee, though perhaps ries of something happening, but none Harry Miller does it today. could give me any precise details as to The way in which Society personnel what happened, or why, or when. Fi­ combined professional efficiency with a nally, on the twenty-third call, the min­ somewhat more relaxed attitude about ister of one of Racine's churches—Af­ rules and procedures has always been a rican Methodist, I believe—told me that source of good feeling to us. Interlibrary although he was new in town, he had a loans, the handling of reserve books, hurry- one-hundred-year old parishioner, up orders for book items (that we just had whose name I believe was Corienne to have or the sky would fall) were always Bray, who might be able to help. When handled and over and done with in the I reached her, she said that her memory time that it took university libraries, here was weakening, but that I should speak and elsewhere, to define the problem. "^ to her nephew Blue Jenkins, who had

342 SESQtJK^ENTENNIAL RECX)LLECTIONS excellent recall and should be able to who was then helping the Historical give me the information I wanted. This Society set up an oral history program, lead to my twenty-fifth and final phone I spent several years tapping into Bhxe call of the day. Jenkins' remarkable historical memory, When I reached Williamjenkins, who leading to the creation of an archive told me to call him Blue, I explained containing hundreds of pages of tran­ what I was looking for. He immediately script and hours of tape. This material said, "Yes, I can tell you about that. has proven to be a valuable resource to What do you want to know?" First, what scholars well beyond the borders of happened? He told me that two or three Wisconsin. In the most recent example African-Americans from Michigan, tem­ that I am aware of, the words of Blue porarily in Racine to do war work, had Jenkins of Racine are displayed promi­ been implicated in the murder of a nently near the end of the "Field to white soldier who was home on leave. Factory" exhibition in the Smith­ They allegedly had stabbed the soldier sonian's National Museum of American when he resisted their attempt to rob History. '^ him as he sat with his girlfriend in a parked car. Identification of the assail­ ants as black led some whites to carry JAY KENNEDY out a threatening march through New York City Racine's black community, the action that had won the support of the passen­ DISCOVERED the State Historical Soc­ gers DeVoto heard on the train. It also I iety ofWisconsin while attending the led to talk of white vigilante action. I University of Wisconsin as an under­ asked Bluejenkins when this took place. graduate from 1978 to 1981. I had long He told me that he could not be of been interested in counter-cultural much help in this respect because he publications from the sixties and early was not good on dates, btxt that he seventies that used comics. I'm not sure remembered that it was the second or what first brought me in the Society's third Friday in October of 1945. I soon doors; it may have been that I heard the found reports of the murder in the Society collected the output of the newspapers for Sattxrday, October 13 Kitchen Sink Press, a major publisher (the murder actually took place early of underground comics then located on Saturday morning), although nei­ in Princeton, Wisconsin. What I quickly ther on that day nor in the following discovered was the Society's Bell & week did Racine's or Milwaukee's daily Howell microfilm collection of under­ papers make any reference to the anti- ground newspapers. As I pored through black activities. The papers simply re­ the microfilm I learned of the Society's ported that in a trial that took place wider collections of alternative publi­ three days after the murder—and lasted cations. I had been saving underground for nine mintxtes—the three assailants comics on my own because I felt cer­ were found guilty. The court sentenced tain that this was such a dispersed, two to life imprisonment, and gave the grassroots field that no one was saving third a lesser sentence. them with the perspective that they Bill Thompson provides an illixmi- constituted a unified school of art. I nating full account of this incident in was astounded to learn that a major Volume 6 of The History of Wisconsin institution had the foresight to put re­ series. With Bill's encouragement, and sources behind assembling a much under the guidance of Dale Treleven, wider-ranging collection of alternative

343 WISCONSIN M.AC;AZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 publications, so many of which were So what good were they, and how unavailable elsewhere. could I let them consume so much of my Jim Danky became my guide to the time? Society's collections, widening my un­ I managed to sustain my faith in the derstanding and knowledge of the Times best-seller list until, in my early interconnectivity of sixties counter- thirties, I became a Saturday morning cultural personalities and publications. regular at the State Historical Society The encouragement Jim and the Soci­ Library. That's when I hit rock bottom. ety gave me helped motivate me to write After all, from a mass-market point of a reference book cataloging all under­ view, the library is nothing but floor upon ground and alternative comic books pub­ cramped floor of the eccentric and the lished between 1962 and 1982. That book ephemeral. No best sellers, no lists of later became my resume for my first com­ must-reads, no red-hot trends. ics editingjob a.t Esquirem3.gazine, which I was hopelessly corrupted. Here were in turn led to my present dayjob as the tons of congressional testimony about editor of King Features Syndicate. W fisheries and Filipino hemp, miles of mi­ crofilmed weekly newspapers, rank after stacked rank of technical manuals for TOM DOHERTY U.S. Army weapons long since relegated Madison, Wisconsin to the smelter and the ocean floor. Here were annual reports from state agencies. URING my college years I turned Histories of the least populated counties D into a habitual stack-wanderer, so of the least populated states. Transcripts it was probably inevitable that sooner or of reunions of Civil War regiments. Doz­ later I'd come down with a bad case of ens of giant bound volumes of The Shoe- cognitive dissonance. worker's Journal, The Journeyman Barber, a On the one hand, I craved simplic­ whole subculture of railroad labor maga­ ity: best-seller lists, certified great zines: The Locomotive Engineer's Journal, names, the up-to-date, market-tested, The I^ocomotive Fireman's Journal, The Time-and-Neivsweek-a.uth.entic2Lted top of Signalman'sJournal, and on and on. Amid the publishing food chain. Yet, on the the Society's endless bounty, lone read­ other hand, some self-destructive im­ ers desperate to seize a passing trend pulse increasingly drew me toward the wandered the stacks in a daze, hikers lost very randomness I abhorred: those un­ in the forest. charted swamps of the obscure, the Not me. I mined those stacks. Down marginal, the monumentally out-of-it. any given aisle on any given floor, you A memoir of travel in Russia in the could reach out blindly and lay hold of a 1800's; a record of life in post-Great War volume that no one had opened for half Germany; a compilation of nineteenth- a century, if ever. Or so it seemed. century newspaper stories from a I loved it and was deeply ashamed northwoods lumber town, a series of until eventually it dawned on me that ungainly volumes, each purporting to maybe I had been wrong all along. Maybe tell the story of a Wisconsin county, up the lists I had put such faith in were to about 1880. fool's gold. Maybe this place was the Such eccentrics fit no hierarchy I could real thing. Within a few years I was jour­ relate to. They did not recreate great neying those aisles with a purpose. I battles, or detail the stylish angst of sensi­ wanted to tell the story of Wisconsin tive young folk like myself. It seemed to National Guard units during the period me that they didn't even try to entertain. of transition from the peacetime rou-

344 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS tines of the Great Depression to the war He did so on April 21, 1938. You can years, and much of the information I imagine the scene. Here was the most needed was buried in the microfilm file aristocratic of our modern presidents— cabinets, government document collec­ this man whose roots went back to the tions, and bound military publications original Dutch settlers of New York on of the historical library. one side and to the Mayfloiver on the For a couple years I plunged up and other. You can imagine him telling these down those little steel stairwells, often fine ladies of the DAR: "Remember, re­ holding the hand of my youngest daugh­ member always, that all of us, and you ter who, even at six and seven, already and I especially, are descendant from shared my sense of anticipation as we immigrants and revolutionists." FDR caromed from card files to Government never got invited back! Documents to microfilm room to the I recently celebrated two anniversa­ Cutter Collection and then to the mili­ ries. One was the silver anniversary of tary shelves on the eighth stack level. my arrival here to become a resident of This was discovery. This was true ex­ Wisconsin. My family and I moved here citement. The smell of old books, the in the summer of 1970—my wife, my son luminous glow of a floor made of glass and myself. We have since added a per­ blocks, the stairwell echoes—all these son—our daughter, who was born here were part of the weekly adventure for in Wisconsin. In the course of my earlier us both. life, I had moved up the East Coast for If most of what is to be found in public my higher education, arriving finally in libraries has already been weighed, as­ the Boston area and Wellesley College, sayed, and assigned a certain cultural my first teachingjob. value by the experts, then what you find Having lived in Newjersey and New in the State Historical Library is buried York and Massachusetts, I thought I knew treasure, there to be dug up and re­ what winter was. How wrong I was. I dis­ stored. I know that I will get back to tinctly remember that dtxring our first some serious digging in the future— winter in Wisconsin, 1970-1971, there and who knows, maybe Betsy will too. "¥ was a period of three weeks where the high was five below. I would look out there at those glorious, bright, clotxd- less skies, and it would look so inviting. JOHN M. COOPER I wotxld walk out, and in about thirty Madison, Wisconsin seconds I would be freezing to death. I came here to teach at the Univer­ IKE so many other residents ofWis­ sity of Wisconsin. Quite honestly, the L consin, past and present, I am an way I felt when I joined the history immigrant—and not from a wealthy or department here was about like a ball socially prominent family, either. I was player from a class A minor-league team born and grew up in Washington, D.C., who had just got an offer to play in the but my forebears were North Carolina majors. When I was at Wellesley, there farmers and millers and railroad work­ were some people who lived in what I ers. It is very important for all of us to sometimes called the greater Harvard remember our origins. I very much like orbit. If they couldn't be at Harvard, to recall a remark of Franklin they desperately wanted to be near Roosevelt's. The president was once in­ Harvard. One friend of ours finally vited—and only once—to speak to the asked me if I was happy about going Daughters of the American Revolution. "out there," as if Wisconsin was some

345 WISCONSIN MA(;AZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 kind of exile. The truth is, itwas much been mainly at the Library of Con­ more like coming to Mecca. This is one gress. But, again, I found this Society of the great, great places for anyone fully the equal of the EC for doing who is an American historian. One of manuscript research. the main reasons that I still feel as if I I think you can imagine then, per­ have been honored to live in "mecca" is haps, how I felt five years later when I because of this organization, the State joined the faculty of the University of Historical Society ofWisconsin. Wisconsin. Maybe for the history de­ The second anniversary I celebrated partment I felt like somebody who was was the thirtieth anniversary of my very joining a major league team. But for first visit to Wisconsin, and to Madi­ research here at the State Historical son. I came here, not because of the Society, I felt more like the guy who University, but because of the State had died and gone to heaven. And three Historical Society. I was a graduate stu­ decades later, I still feel that way. dent, doing my dissertation research On the occasion of the Society's ses­ on the opposition to entering World quicentennial, I'd like to offer War I. Wisconsin was the single most thanks—the thanks of this particular strongly opposed state to entering that immigrant to Wisconsin—to Wiscon­ war. Nine out of eleven representatives sin: to the state, to Madison, to the in Congress voted against the declara­ university, and, above all, to this His­ tion of war, as did one of our two sena­ torical Society for giving me such a tors, Robert M. La Follette. I came here wonderftxl home. *« to use the Society's manuscripts, which in those days were on the third floor, where the Robert B. L. Murphy Con­ DANIEL F. LITTLEEIEED, JR. ference Room now is. It was there that Little Rock, Arkansas I encountered a formidable person, namely Josephine Harper. She was FIRST heard of the State Historical enormously helpful and enormously I Society ofWisconsin when I was an knowledgeable. I remember her very undergraduate student at Oklahoma fondly—a little fearfully, too, but very State University in 1959, a twenty-year- fondly. I also happened to know some old enrolled in a course in Oklahoma graduate students here. I must say I history taught by the distinguished was greatly impressed with how they teacher and scholar Angle Debo. Then made the Society their home—their in her late sixties, Dr. Debo had a long intellectual home, much more so than record of research and publication in the buildings of the university. While I American Indian history. I remember was here on the first visit I wandered clearly how she expounded on the sig­ among the book stacks, and used the nificance of the State Historical Soci­ newspaper collection. What I felt was ety as a research institution, especially sheer envy. I felt envy for my peers relating to the American Indian and here at the university, because this was the trans-Mississippi West. such a rich facility, and also, to use a During my years as a young aca­ current term for it, such a "user- demic and apprentice scholar, the friendly" facility. I was a graduate stu­ State Historical Society became to me dent at Columbia, and among librar­ one of those places, much like the ies, Columbia is no slouch. But it did Library of Congress, the National Ar­ not hold a candle to this place. And in chives, and the Anthropological Ar­ manuscripts, my previous work had chives of the Smithsonian Institution,

346 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS that I aspired to visit and work in but future generations know about today's could not for lack of resources. In Native communities will come from those days, research funds were lim­ such resources. It will serve the next ited in the regions in which I taught. generation of scholars just as it has There, research was less valued than it served the generations of scholars past. appeared to be elsewhere. Thus it was I, for one, envision a continued part­ not until near mid-career that I finally nership for the remainder of my ca­ made it to Madison. But as a mature reer, not only as a teacher, scholar, scholar, I prized more highly the ex­ and writer, but as director of the Ameri­ perience of research there and recog­ can Native Press Archives. And after nized that its resources were all that retirement, who knows? Perhaps sum­ Debo had told us, all I had imagined mer residencies in Madison and daily them to be, and more. research excursions in the State His­ Since my first visit, I have been there torical Society of Wisconsin. That many times, for the Society has been would be enough to make any old re­ indispensable in my research, particu­ searcher happy. W larly in Native American literature and the Native American press. Regarding the latter, I owe a special debt to the FAITH B. MIRACLE Society, particularly the newspapers De Forest, Wisconsin and periodicals section, and more par­ ticularly to the librarian there, Jim URING my childhood, I had the Danky. In 1982, our paths crossed as D privilege of living in states where we engaged in independent research history was part of the air I breathed. projects in the Native press—projects Each morning, for example, when I that coincidentally had similar scopes left home for school in West Alex­ and objectives. My research colleague ander, Pennsylvania, I looked directly and I soon found a common ground across the street at a weathered clap­ for cooperation with Jim and his staff, board inn where Lafayette had stayed a cooperation that we hope has been during the Revolutionary War. The old as beneficial to his work for the Soci­ square grand piano on which I daily ety as it has been to us. Since 1983, practiced my lessons had once stood there has existed between the newspa­ in the inn's parlor. In Kentucky as a pers and periodicals unit of the State young student I was made ever mind­ Historical Society and the American ful of the early struggles that had once Native Press Archives what we on our taken place around me and was taught end consider a partnership—a part­ to look with respect on that Dark and nership of concern for the preserva­ Bloody Ground. So when I moved to tion of the historical record of con­ Wisconsin my natural inclination was temporary Native communities, espe­ to know the history of my new home cially through the Native press. state. Largely as a result of Jim's efforts, Except, for me, knowing was not the State Historical Society holds the enough—I found I had to feel it, re­ world's largest and most comprehen­ spond to the stimuli of the history as I sive collection of Native newspapers had done before. and periodicals. During the past de­ Books, of course, were essential. I cade, we have referred scores—perhaps began to build my own library of books hundreds—of patrons, callers, and in­ on Wisconsin history, and whenever I quirers to that collection. Much of what had the opporttxnity I searched the

347 WISCONSIN M.AGAZINE OF HTSTORY SUMMER, 1996

shelves of both new and used book Jeremiah Curtin, edited and with notes stores. Many of the books I found were and an introduction by Joseph Schafer. published by the State Historical Soci­ What a productive scholar he was! "^ ety of Wisconsin. Included in my de­ veloping library were back issues of the Wisconsin Magazine of History. DARRYL HOLTER As important to me as reading, how­ Los Angeles, California ever, was the opportunity to visit sites throughout the state—often the pro­ HE Society has earned an interna­ verbial sense of being there made the T tional reputation as a lodestone printed facts become real, dimen­ for professional historians and genealo­ sional. Eventually, I came to experi­ gists. Less well known is the important ence the same sense of wonder when role the Society plays in non-academic hiking where I believed Black Hawk areas of public policy. My memories of had walked as I felt gazing up at the the Society reflect that imbalance in awesome (for a child) cliff that was the perception. When I was a graduate stu­ site of McCullough's legendary leap dent in history at the University ofWis­ near my home in Pennsylvania, or as I consin, I knew very little about the State felt when acting out childish histori­ Historical Society. As a student of Eu­ cal fantasies near Lincoln's birthplace ropean social history, my use of the in Hodgenville during long, lazy sum­ Society was limited to a few brief explo­ mer days—days often spent exploring rations. I was, however, qtxite envious the Kentucky countryside. of my colleagues in American history As my children were growing up in who could work in the beautiful read­ Wisconsin I wanted them to develop ing room on the second floor while we the same awareness of their heritage Europeanists rummaged about in the and experience the same pleasure in dimly lit "Cutter" stacks in the base­ knowing their state's history as I had as ment of Memorial Library. a child. Places like Villa Louis and Old It was only later, after I had finished World Wisconsin became mini-vacation my Ph.D. and gone to work as a legisla­ sites, visited again and again, often with tive representative for the Wfisconsin out-of-state guests. (Today, of course, State AFL-CIO, that I began to utilize the we add the State Historical Society Mu­ Society. It was then that I realized the seum on the Square to our list of places Society's valuable role in helping to shape to take guests in Madison.) public policy. In the recession-wracked When I began working for the Wiscon­ years of 1982 and 1983, Wisconsin's sin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Let­ venerable unemployment compensa­ ters as editor of the Wisconsin Academy tion system faced a major crisis, setting Review, my interest in the state's history off a bitter legislative battle that raised became a professional concern. More questions about the origins and struc­ times than 1 can relate, my little personal ture of the program. Faced with the library of books on Wisconsin history, need to find information to answer collected over a period of many years, several lawmaker's questions, I found became handy reference tools. A num­ myself heading down State Street in ber of them were the creations of the search of the historical record. In the Society's former "superintendent," Jo­ Society's rich collections I found the seph Schafer. Most recently I have been documents and materials I needed. For working with a warped, water-spotted, the next nine years, until I left Wiscon­ but much valued copy of The Memoirs of sin for UCLA, I was a regular at the

348 Cliff Lcrrd reviews the Labor History Project (1950) with State Federation of iMborpresident George Haberman, labor historian Lester Schmidt, SE'L research director George Hampel, Jr. (.standing), and SEL secretary William Nagorsne.

Society, using the library, the micro­ tion, employees' rights, and dispute film room, the government documents resohxtion. section, and the manuscripts and spe­ In an era when the locus of political cial collections. Unknown to the ptxb- power and legislative decision-making de­ lic, the Society, in its own unique way, volves to the level of the state, the value of yielded information that was utilized the Society should not go unnoticed. The in the crafting of a large body legisla­ historical record, organized and preserved tion, including plant-closing laws, tax safely in the beautiful building on State reform, workers' compensation, unem­ Street, is a vital resource for producing ployment insurance, utility deregula­ good public policy. "¥

349 WTSCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORV SUMMER, 1996

SARA LEUCHTER WILKINS the Wisconsin Magazine of History. But by Coconut Grove, Florida far the greatest impact of that project came many years later, when I began to HERE was never a more generous, use the tapes themselves in a course I T thoughtful, or dedicated boss to work taught on the Holocaust while serving as for than Barbara Kaiser, the Society's di­ an adjunct professor of history at Marshall rector of field services. Her commitment University in Huntington, West Virginia. to collecting oral history interviews from The course was entitled "Witness to the survivors of the Holocaustwho had settled Holocaust: History from a First-hand Per­ in Wisconsin after World War II grew to spective." It immediately became the most encompass a three-year oral history and popular one ever offered by the depart­ photographic documentation project ment, and I taught it for five years, until I which resulted in 160 hours of interviews, moved from West Virginia. 1,600 photographs, and a 200-page Guide There is no doubt that the strength of to the collection. that class lay specifically with the inter­ Together with Jean Loeb Lettofsky, I views. My students were able to grasp the was honored to serve as an oral historian enormity of the Holocaust by becoming for the project, and as writer/editor of intimately involved with a handful of the the Guide to Wisconsin Survivors of the Holo­ survivors, by getting to know them as caust from 1979 to 1982. We were truly individuals, as real people—not some pioneers in the field of Holocaust oral nameless, faceless group numbering in history, and our project became the stan­ the millions. I can't even begin to de­ dard by which all other such projects were scribe the reactions of my students to the measured. In particular, the Society's searing testimonies they heard, but I approach to oral history—which was a know that each one of them was touched direct result of the leadership and exper­ to the core. tise of oral historian Dale Treleven—was Over the years that I taught this course, unsurpassed among oral history reposito­ I began to realize the power of using this ries. In essence, after the interview was type of first-hand documentation as a conducted, a pre-recorded time track was teaching tool. I began to write and lecture dubbed onto each tape and an abstract of about it to a wide-ranging audience. I each segment of conversation was written delivered a paper on the subject at an and noted according to the time. Word- international teaching conference on the for-word transcriptions were not pre­ Holocaust, the proceedings of which are pared; rather, the interview was abstracted currently being published by New York and an index prepared according to sub­ University Press. And in April, 1995, I ject matter. Researchers could look at the delivered the keynote address at index, read the abstracts, and then go to Muskingum College's Holocaust Remem­ the original tape at precisely the spot at brance Week on this same subject—even which the discussion took place. In this playing several segments from the oral manner, the tape itself became a histori­ histories ofWisconsin survivors. cal document. By listening to the tapes— So I am proud to say that the impact rather than reading a typed transcrip­ of these interviews has not diminished tion—one could get the full effect of the over time. The foresight and dedication interview. of Barbara Kaiser and of Society direc­ I did some public speaking around tor Dick Erney to the oral history project south-central Wisconsin concerning our helped create a body of materials which project, and even wrote a number of ar­ will speak eloquently long after the sur­ ticles on it, one of which was appeared in vivors are no longer around to give their

350 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS testimonies in person. We were all a storage facility, but that she was not in part of a very important contribution to the building that day. The mission was future generations, and I will always be partially accomplished another day when grateful for the faith shown by so many an assistant helped me find the accession for a then young (and quite green) his­ number for the bells. However, Ms. torian/archivist. W Woodhouse needed time to locate the bells in storage. Finally came the message that the bells HARRIET A. HALLORVN had been found. I phoned to arrange my Brodhead, Wisconsin meeting with Ms. Woodhouse. I shared with her the story of Alexander Hamil­ FIRST saw the State Historical Society ton's family connection with Wisconsin, I of Wisconsin Library on a summer and she took me directly to the awesome evening in 1927 on my first trip to Madi­ basement archives where I was thrilled to son. My parents and I were treated by my see, touch, and hear the wonderful tones Madison aunt and uncle to a touring car of those brass bells. In my imagination, I ride to see the sights, which included the could hear the ringing bells as William state capitol, the zoo, an Oriental-style gas Hamilton and his horse traveled over the station on East Washington Avenue, and snow-covered hills of Wiota and south­ the Historical Library, among other im­ western Wisconsin! W portant places. Little did I realize then how many spots in Madison would become useful and familiar to me, especially the CHARLOTTE G. BORST handsome Wisconsin Historical Library. Birmingham, Alabama Time sped by to 1990. I was sitting on a low stool beside a bookshelf in the iEN I began my training in the Society's second-floor reading room. Whistory of science and medicine in While paging through the annual report Madison in 1979,1 gravitated very quickly of the Wisconsin Historical Society for to the wonderful reading room at the 1859, I found reference to the following Society's library. When I began my re­ gift item: "A relic of Mrs. Alexander search for my doctorate, I soon perceived Hamilton, two sleigh bells from a string the depth and scope of the Society's col­ presented by the late venerable widow of lections in American history. As I settled Alexander Hamilton to her son the late on my topic—an analysis of the change Colonel William S. Hamilton of this state from midwife- to physician-assisted child­ in 1839, from William Mayne of Wiota." birth in the late nineteenth and early Imagine my excitement! At that time, I twentieth centuries—I realized that al­ and two other ladies, all Wiota natives, most everything I needed for my work was were in the process of compilingwhat we at my fingertips. Scholarship in the his­ think to be the first written history of tory of medicine had always focused on Col. Hamilton's beloved Wiota. We won­ institutions, healers, and even diseases in dered, and still do, what became of some the northeastern United States, but the of his personal effects when he did not state archives and the other manuscript return from California. The sleigh bells collections of the State Historical Society are the only tangible items in existence ofWisconsin showed that there were many as far as we know. stories to be told beyond this narrow geo­ That very day I asked to see the sleigh graphic area. Thus, I began my research bells. I was told I would have to see cura­ looking at communities of midwives and tor Ann Woodhousc in the basement physicians in Wisconsin. I began with the

351 WISCONSIN MAC;AZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

microfilm collection. As I was eager to my dissertation into a book, I found I find out who was practicing midwifery had to come back to finish up my work, and obstetrics, who their patients were, and I spent one very wonderful month and how often they practiced. I used the luxuriating in the library once more. As birth records to generate the records of I got closer to finishing, many of the staff nearly 29,000 births in four Wisconsin located citations I had neglected to note, counties between 1870 and 1920. From and e-mailed them to me. But the hard these records—hand-coded "the old-fash­ work paid off, and my book. Catching ioned way" before laptop computers Babies: The Professionalization of Childbirth, made data entry easy—I generated the 1870-1920, was recently published by names of approximately 1,000 midwives Harvard University Press. Photos of three and 1,100 physicians. With the holdings midwives, from the midwife licenses in of the archives, I was able to link many of the Society's archives, are featured promi­ these practitioners to their licenses and nently on the cover. W registration data and thus to do one of the first extensive analyses of midwife and physician education. I then turned D.AviD NEWBY to the microfilm room's unparalleled Madison, Wisconsin collection of state and federal census records for Wisconsin, where I was able Y first use of the Society's collec­ to link the practitioners I had found to M tions was as a student, reading nine­ the descriptions of their families and teenth-century French popular newspa­ households. This information proved to pers on the microfilm reading machines, be vital for my analysis of midwifery as research for a study of the ideology of the women's work, and it provided a social nineteenth-century mass press in Paris. context for the practice of medicine. I My first real involvement with the Society used other resources in the library as was my appearance before a state legisla­ well—the wonderful collection of city tive budget committee in the 1980's in directories, particularly for Milwaixkee; defense of the labor and social action the excellent collection of local histories collections held by the Society. My con­ not found in many libraries; and of cern, then and now, was that there be course, the library's nationally recog­ adequate funding to maintain, and to nized collection of secondary works in continue to expand, these remarkable American history. collections which are critical to any seri­ But my fond memories of the library ous study of American social history. extend beyond the fabulous collections (About the same time, I myself became a in which I did my research. I was given donor to the Society's collections, when I research space upstairs in the "carrel donated materials collected from my civil area," and one year, I even won the Alice rights activities while I taught history at E. Smith Award, which provided the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama during money that paid some of the rather ex­ 196.5-1968.) tensive bills for card-punching all of my The Dane County Labor History data sets. Project, undertaken while I was president When I finished my dissertation and of the Dane County Labor Council (and left Wisconsin for a tenure-track job in funded by the Wisconsin Humanities Alabama, I have to admit I was naive Council and the Labor Cotxncil) did sub­ about how good the resources were at stantial archival research, especially photo the State Historical Society ofWisconsin. research, at the Society. My most recent When I began the long task of turning involvement with the Societv concerned

352 SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS the Smithsonian's touring exhibit on THOMAS J. ARCHDEACON American labor, "Images of Labor." My Madison, Wisconsin wife, Kathleen McElroy, joined the plan­ ning committee for events linked to the 4AT has made me most grateful exhibit. She and opera professor Karlos Wacross the years has been the unfail­ Moser of the University ofWisconsin cre­ ing efforts and abilities of the staff at the ated an original two-hour musical show. State Historical Society to be of assistance Images of Labor from American Musical in all matters pertaining to my research Theater, which premiered in Madison as and teaching. My favorite memory, how­ one of the many labor-oriented events ever, dates from my earliest days at the associated with the Smithsonian exhibit. university, in the autumn of 1972, as I The show featured rarely performed pro- took the first steps in transforming my labor compositions by the American dissertation into a book. As I freely roamed composer and lyricist Marc Blitzstein, the stacks (a delight in itself), I was able whose voluminous papers reside in the to find, on the open shelves, the eight- Wisconsin Center for Theater Research. volume set of The Minutes of the Common The show then toured the state for two Council of the City of New York, 1675-1776. years under the sponsorship of the Wis­ A critically important component of my consin AFL-CIO and the Wisconsin Labor research materials, the volumes had pre­ History Society, with funding from the viously been available to me only under Wisconsin Arts Board. W the restrictions of rare book rooms in other libraries. The books were in fine condition, and I did my best to keep them HAROLD L. (BUD) NELSON in good shape. The experience was in­ Madison, Wisconsin stant evidence of the wealth of the Society's research resources and of the commit­ USED some two dozen libraries in the ment of the community to preserving I United States and England during them. W thirty years' research about the history and present status of free speech and press in America. Gradually, I learned ELEANOR MCKAY that no other library enabled me to settle Millersville, Maryland in with a richness of collections such as the Society's books, manuscripts, docu­ ly/TY impressions of the State Histori- ments, and newspapers; and at once pro­ IVX cal Society between 1969 and 1976 vided such splendid services and the all- include the pleasures of working on a important ready access to resources and team with really bright, competent, dedi­ skillful, intelligent staff who wanted to be cated people like my boss Gerry Ham in helpful. (Once, indeed, there was a win­ Archives and Manuscripts and his lieuten­ try "No" from a library administrator. I ants. Jack Jallings, Jo Harper, Barbara remember it for its singularity.) I've been Kaiser in Collections Development, and deeply grateful for a long time. At sev­ Paul Vanderbilt (and later George Tal­ enty-eight, I feel that when I get old and bot) in Iconography; Margaret Gleason am unable to backpack, raft, and restore in the Library; and many others. prairie, I'll settle in again with some un­ I was thrilled to be selected as the finished research at the Society's stacks Manuscripts Curator, and then felt really and reading room. W denigrated when Manuscripts was rolled [Editors' note: Bud Nelson died on Feb­ into Archives and my position was de­ ruary 8, 1996.] leted. Over the decades, the people in

353 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996

Manuscripts had handled documents of have never since has access to such a such historical value that it seemed a smart pool of co-workers or such a fabu­ shame to trash the uniqueness of the work. lous library system. It spoiled me for It was great to work with a diverse and the rest of my life. Thanks for every­ exciting collection of scholars in the read­ thing, SHSW! W ing room. There was the man who thought he was the "reincarnated" Marc Blitzstein. There were the scholars from PA,MELA RINEY-KEHRBERG the Soviet Union, carrying wallets stuffed Normal, Illinois with an inch of American currency. The "moles" from the U.S. judiciary and mili­ HAVE very warm memories of the tary who tried to trick their way into I Society, centered on the library, from restricted collections of social activists. my years as a graduate student in the The famous historians whom it was a department of history at the University of delight to help and the graduate stu­ Wisconsin (1985-1991). For most gradu­ dents learning how to do research. The ate students in U.S. history, the library exploding mass of genealogists, especially was our home away from home. We gath­ after Alex Haley's /?oo/.j appeared in print ered in the reading room to study and to and on TV. visit (discreetly, we hoped), and went to I vividly recall watching the National our carrels to work seriously. I could not Guard sharpshooters race through the begin to count the hours I spent in the fourth-floor floor stacks during the anti­ building in the course of six years. I loved war demonstrations so they could get a its marble floors, lovely oak benches, and good rooftop view of the activity. Pat high ceilings. I felt inspired to study his­ Quinn, the acting manuscripts curator tory while inside its walls. and a sometime candidate of the Social­ In the four years since I left Wisconsin, ist Workers Party, often had to show the I have come to appreciate the Society's Guardsmen how to reach the roof; his library collections enormously. I have face showed how torn he was between worked at no other library that has had as duty to hisjob and his larger duty to the good a collection, or as accessible a col­ human race. All the while, tear gas seep­ lection, of materials in American history. ing in from the street riots made working I was terribly spoiled, and have only real­ conditions difficult. ized in retrospect how much I lost when I I enjoyed processing the collections moved on. of "movers and shakers" in the civil rights, The Society's library, in many ways, is social action, mass communications, and Madison to me. W entertainment collections, of actually meeting notables like Chet Huntley, and processing the restricted and revealing PAUL G. HAYES papers of anti-Vietnam War activists while Cedarburg, Wisconsin the war was still raging. Ditto the papers of civil rights activists, especially those OR thirty-three years, I was a reporter who had raised consciousness in my home F for the Milwaukee Journal. One of my state of Maryland. early assignments while I was serving on Most of all, I appreciated having ac­ general assignmentwas to reminisce about cess to one of the great library systems. Increase A. Lapham and his role in estab­ My husband, my children, and I could lishing the United States Weather Ser­ read practically anything and do re­ vice. It was a challenge. The files of the search on unbelievably arcane topics. I The Journal contained many references

354 SESQUICENTENNIAL RIXOLLECTIONS

over the years to Increase Lapham, but 7, 1990. Its title was "I Study Wisconsin: none fully explained his role in the infant The farsighted accomplishments of the days of weather forecasting. state's first great scientist." One cannot live in Wisconsin as a re­ That the State Historical Society ofWis­ porter for long without running into consin is observing its 150th anniversary of Lapham over and over again. There were continuing the vision of its founders, in­ Lapham Hall, Lapham Street, Lapham cluding the quiet Quaker scholar. Increase Peak. There were the effigy mounds he A. Lapham, is a living tribute to the state's was the first to describe. There were the first scientist and to the institution that he vestiges in Milwaukee of the canal that helped to create. W Lapham had laid out from the Milwaukee River, which was to have connected with the Rock River, until everyone realized CHIP BERLET that railroads had eclipsed canals as carri­ Somerville, Massachusetts ers of commerce. As science reporter for The Journal, T Political Research Associates, when there were few stories to be done in any A we get calls from serious students of science that Lapham hadn't influenced. the U.S. political right, we always recom­ The local fossils? Lapham had identified mend they contact the State Historical them correctly as identical to those he'd Society ofWisconsin and talk to the folks found as a boy in Lockport, New York, in the periodicals collection. There are thus establishing that Milwaukee's bed­ other collections at libraries and archives rock was Niagara dolomite, stretching around the country, but none offer the from Niagara Falls in the East to eastern range and depth of the collection com­ Wisconsin. Local plants? Lapham had bined with cheerful staff knowledge and collected and identified these, exchang­ painless retrievability. The Society's peri­ ing specimens with Harvard's great odicals collection is a national treasure as botanist, Asa Gray. Local shells? The far as our staff is concerned, and we mine first scientific publication in Wiscon­ it frequently. Where else can you find a sin was Lapham's Catalogue of Plants librarian who asks if the particular type of and Shells Found in the Vicinity of Mil­ hate-group newsletter you are looking for waukee on the West Side of Lake Michigan. is Ku Klux Klan, racial nationalist, neo- The first map ofWisconsin. The first geo­ Nazi, Third Position, homophobic, or logical map of Wisconsin. The first book Christian Identity? W published in Wisconsin. All Lapham's. It was inevitable, then, that over a long career I would return to Lapham to MALCOLM ROSHOLT do a fuller, more respectful article. Vir­ Rosholt, Wisconsin tually all of my research was done at the library of the State Historical Society of T A 7HILE I have no buck-slips to prove Wisconsin, which I had already mined VV it, I think I have been a member of for stories about archeology, book and the Society for at least forty years. In my paper preservation and restoration, and visits to Madison to do research work or others. Most of Lapham's papers are attend meetings, I came to know four housed in the library. (Of course! "secretaries": namely Clifford L. Lord, Lapham was a founder of the Society.) Leslie H. Fishel, Richard A. Erney, and Ultimately my article appeared as the now H. Nicholas Muller III. When I first cover story of Wisconsin, the Milwaukee called on Cliff Lord in the spring of Journal's Sunday magazine, on October 1957, I invited him to visit a pioneer

355 WISCONSIN MAG.VZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 museum which I had founded in Hill "How come?" Park at Rosholt in 1948. The Portage "Because," she said, "with $150 we're County board of supervisors allotted me getting a magnet with the Society's logo $500 to move an old log house, with a on it." lean-to kitchen, into the park as a token I glanced at our refrigerator, already of our participation and support of the jammed with magnets, but Margaret as­ Wisconsin Centennial celebrations. By sured me that she would find room. I held spring of 1957 I had two log buildings. I up both hands, folded like a Buddhist kept an empty gallonjug on a table at the monk in Bangkok, and we both laughed, gate of the entrance for donations to the happy to be alive and able to celebrate museum. Meanwhile, someone insisted with Nick Muller not only the sesquicen­ that I should have a stump puller for the tennial but also his own decade of pro­ museum, and since he was a house mover, gressive leadership in the Society. «' he brought in the stump puller at his own expense. I saw at once that it was going to be a problem to keep children, JIM PACKARD in the off-season, from climbing on the Madison, Wisconsin device, so I offered it to Cliff Lord for the Society's new museum at Stonefield near SKING me to recollect on my use of Cassville. A. the Society Library is an invitation Dr. Lord said he would come one day to let the genie out of the bottle. It was and look at it. We set a date and he sixteen years ago that I persuaded a arrived with an assistant. He took one friend to introduce me to the stacks. I look at the stump puller and said, "We'll was in search of information about a take it. I'll get someone in the highway colorful Hungarian who settled at Sauk department to pick it up." I never checked City. His name as Agoston Haraszthy, to see if it ever got to Stonefield, but it and he was one of August Derleth's fa­ soon was gone. vorite characters. It seems somehow auspicious that the I found Haraszthy, his face staring back State Historical Society of Wisconsin from a dusty page in an account of Sauk should be celebrating its 150th anniver­ County. This was a man who planted the sary in the same year as the Smithsonian first grapes for wine in Wisconsin, and Institution in Washington. also planted the first hops in the state. Since my wife Margaret and I are con­ After he left for California in 1848, he tributing members to the Smithsonian, became sheriff of San Diego, a state legis­ we received a window sticker with the lator, head of the San Francisco mint, a number 150 to assure us of a place to park noted California wine maker, and finally in the event we ever visit the museum a rum maker in Nicaragua. His winery still again. But the State Historical Society stands next to Jack London's estate out­ came up with an even better idea. Last side Sonoma in the Valley of the Moon. December, as usual, contributing mem­ All this, and infinitely more, was readily bers were reminded to send in their $100. available in the State Historical Society. I opened the standard form letter, tossed I'm indebted to Michael Feldman for it across the table to my wife, and said, choosing me as his announcer on his "Write them a check." weekly program on public radio, She replied, "I'm way ahead of you. "Whad'Ya Know?" As I speak, we have Mr. Muller asked us to up the ante this more than a million listeners, and have year to $150 and I've already made out added a live satellite feed to Europe. the check." One segment of the show involves deal-

356 ing with a town in America, chosen by a random throw of a dart. It's my job to research and write a profile of the com­ munity, and introduce the town to our radio audience. So each week I head to the stacks to find out about our "Town of the Week"—the names and locations, stories and pictures, growths and set­ backs, all that makes a place unique. My life is enriched both personally and professionally by weekly visits to the Society's beautiful building. And there is an added benefit for me: I'm often the first person to read a new book, as I keep watch for new arrivals on the shelves. W

ROBERT TWOMBLY New York City, New York

NE of my many Historical Society I. r.^ O legacies is eyeglasses. Were it not for its marvelous newspaper collection, so WHi (X3) .504,54 necessary for my dissertation research (and in the mid-I960's just being micro­ The Society's Microform Reading Room as it came to be filmed) , I might have been spared prema­ in the 1960's. ture middle-age ignominy. Then again, without that collection, my dissertation the lake side) nicely fitted out with an might never have seen the light of day. old oak bench and a standing ashtray I read endless reels of microfilm in a much used by all. (The latter, I'm sure, tiny darkened cubicle—hot, stuffy, but has since been consigned to the Mu­ wonderful, far superior to the spacious seum of Evil Objects.) Conversation microform room at my current place-of sometimes moved to the Memorial employment where, when I turn off Union cafeteria portion of a running banks of bright overhead fluorescents, seminar that lasted throughout my en­ staff members object because they think tire graduate school career. lights should always be on because Close ties between the Society and they're lights, and students studying the University ofWisconsin history de­ there despite signs telling them not to partment made this sense of community complain that I am slowing their aca­ possible. 1 believe that the ongoing in­ demic progress. formal exchange of ideas among fledg­ During breaks from the newspapers— ling Americanists, as much as or per­ or from rummaging through open stacks haps even more than the excellent that in so many other institutions are courses given by first-rate historians, was now closed—there was day-and-night my most vital graduate school experi­ conversation with other graduate stu­ ence. Our various research interests dents outside the reading room on the tended to separate us, but the Society's second-floor landing (my set preferred landings, entrance steps and, after we

357 WTSCONSIN M.YCYZINF OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 passed prelims, its study carrels—not to sion. Josephine Harper ran the Manu­ mention its hospitable atmosphere, scripts Division. Formidable she was in­ brought us back together for collective deed, and we non-faculty types never stimulation. The Union offered us cof­ dared to call her "Jo," as her colleagues fee, but the Society gave us a home. did. But she knew her archives like the That congenial atmosphere partly de­ back of her hand, and when students pended on Les Fishel, then director. A proved to her satisfaction they were se­ man of which any research institution rious about research, she became an would be proud, he was not only an indefatigable guide through the docu­ excellent historian probing neglected mentary thickets. I never knew if—for­ aspects of the African-American past, give me, Miss Harper—"Jo" liked me, but he also ran a tight ship. I don't but she helped me immeasurably, ap­ remember the reason for our first meet­ parently not without pleasure. ing—it may have been when I was seek­ There are many others whose names ing a part-timejob—but it took place in I forget or did not know well enough to his elm-shaded corner office with what say much about who made the Histori­ seemed like an enormous desk over­ cal Society a model of research excel­ looking State Street and the mall con­ lence and midwestern graciotxsness. I necting with Memorial Library. I was write this as a New Yorker who has coped scared to death. I wonder if Les knows with many Right Coast repositories— what an imposing presence he has. I some welcoming and efficient, some had seen him in the halls, perhaps even not—none of which offered the plea­ then telling Dave Thelen, his research sures of working at the Society. assistant, to look up this or the other I visited the Historical Society in 1991 and faster than that and get it right. I with my wife, Jeanne Chase Twombly, a feared for my head, but he didn't bite it historical demographer posted at the off and was actually very encouraging. Centre National de la Recherche Scien- Later in the sixties, we took an architec­ tifique in Paris, who wanted to look up tural trip together, and in the eighties something while we were in Madison for he asked me to write a little piece for the other reasons. I put her in the hands of Hayes HistoricalJournaThe oversaw while staff members while I wandered around. president of Heidelberg College. In be­ Itwas the first time I had been inside the tween we corresponded sporadically. building for many years. Not long ago I visited Les in retirement It had all changed. Things were in in Madison to find that he had kept the wrong places and I didn't know any­ close watch on my post-Wisconsin ca­ body. Thomas Wolfe was right, I thought. reer—and not only mine but those of But as I wandered, no doubt looking many other students he had known in bemused, perfect strangers offered kind his directorship days. On that lovely Sun­ assistance, and Jeanne returned to say day afternoon in his house I was struck that not in recent memory or on two once again that it would be hard to find continents had she encountered such a more interested, interesting man. It helpful, cotxrteous, and professional li­ was the Society's loss when Les Fishel brarians. Every research institution moved on, but its triumph to keep him should be like this, we agreed, and too as long as it did. bad we couldn't work here often. It Dick Erney was assistant director in pleased me more than I can say to have those days, and I remember his ready introduced Jeanne to the Society and to laugh, his real interest in students, and discover that where it mattered most it his commitment to the Societv's mis­ hadn't changed a bit. *«'

358 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS

MARY JANE HAMILTON Society's visual and sound archival hold­ Cross Plains, Wisconsin ings, and the carefully annotated log that the Society had acquired along 'M NOT a genealogist, but I know why with the negatives of Madison photog­ I so many people who are commend rapher M. E. Diemer, I was able to the microfilm collection so highly. Lots more accurately date several of Wright's of libraries have copies of the local news­ original drawings for the same unreal­ paper or even the New York Times on ized Madison project. microfilm, but at the State Historical But by far my most memorable day at Society you'll also find long runs of pa­ the Society was one nearly a decade ago pers from other cities and even pre- spent looking through the Civil War 1900's papers from small villages and diaries of Wright's maternal uncle, the towns. I've relied on all of them as well liberal Chicago minister and social ac- as old city directories. Sears catalogs, tivistjenkin Lloydjones. Inside the front and dissertations by students from all cover of each diary, Jenkin had penned over the country. Access to these di­ instructions requesting that if he was verse, and in some cases extremely rare, killed the volume should be forwarded sources has saved me countless days of to his parents, whom he identified along travel and considerable expense, had I with their then current Wisconsin ad­ attempted to secure the same informa­ dress. Though the address Jenkin pro­ tion elsewhere. vided in the final volume in the series Whether microfilms, books, manu­ corresponded with the scenic valley near scripts or photographs, the main focus Spring Green long associated with of my ongoing reliance on the Society's Wright and his Lloyd Jones relatives, collections has been in conjunction the addresses listed in earlier volumes with Frank Lloyd Wright, his maternal did not. After reflecting for a while on and paternal forebears, his built and this apparent discrepancy, I realized that proposed designs, and individuals asso­ I'd accidenjally solved the mystery of ciated with the famous Wisconsin-born when and where the Lloydjones family architect. Without a minute's hesita­ had lived following their departure from tion, I must attribute any contributions Ixonia in Jefferson County, their subse­ I may have made to the body of knowl­ quent residence in Sauk County, and edge in these areas to the Society. The their eventual settlement in Iowa County. papers of the Society's early museum I had been trying to piece together curator, Charles E. Brown, contained this puzzle for years, but had never early Nakoma Country Club records thought to look for the answer in Jen- that enabled me to redate Wright's club­ kin's diaries. W house design for the Madison area group. (Brown was also a golfer and member of the club.) Just a few weeks PATRICIA G. HARRSCH ago I discovered in yet another Society Madison, Wisconsin collection a tattered but still legible carbon of what may be the only extant S I consider the thousands of people copy of the 1923 program outlining the A. whose footsteps have formed the hol­ specific needs the group's House Com­ lows in the stairways leading to the upper mittee expected his clubhouse design floors of the Historical Society's head­ to accommodate. With the assistance quarters building, I am reminded of a of Christine Schelshorn, for so many sentence from Isabel Colegate's novel, years a veritable "walking index" to the The Summer of the Royal Visit. When the

359 WISCONSIN M.AGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 narrator is asked why he spends so much I was warmly received as a colleague. of his time in poring over old newspapers Although, with the overconfidence of un­ and records, he responds, "I am simply tested youth, I considered myself equal to looking for someone who went this way any challenge, I now wonder at the trust before me and left a sign on the wall placed in me to write, edit, and design beside the road." It is the making acces­ Wisconsin Then and Now, manage two sible the means for searching for this "sign school magazines, travel the state to pub­ on the wall" that I believe is the most licize historic sites, run a statewide photo remarkable of the Society's functions. competition for the Wisconsin Calendar, And as I look back upon my beginning plan public relations events, and gener­ research in family history in the Society's ally try my wings. The sense of family that library and archives, I remember being pervaded the place was reinforced by the seized by a sense of urgency—a feeling camaraderie of Friday-after-work gather­ that if I did not immediately make use of ings at Troia's Steak House, lunches at all the marvelous materials available to the Union, and after-hours gossip ses­ me, they would somehow all disappear. sions at the annual meetings. I remember Twenty-odd years later, that sense of ur­ often being scared by my responsibility. gency has abated, to be replaced by a (Why didn't my boss Chet Schmiedeke, concern about what the future holds for or Society director Leslie Fishel, look over this institution which has meant so much my shoulder more? Why didn't they tell to so many people. Quite apart from the me what to do?) I have since advised other question of the future accessibility of beginners lucky enough to be in similar computer-generated records, there are situations that it is a gift. Take it and try the more immediate problems created by everything. the sheer quantity of the materials already The Society was trying everything too. being collected. When this quantity is com­ The Mass Communications History Cen­ bined with the large numbers of patrons ter, led by Barbara Kaiser, was developing who want to use these materials, the ever- a new mission with major accessions. The smaller staff, creative and hard-working as new Office of Local History had begun to it is, is finding it increasingly difficult to connect and assist small historical societ­ cope. How sad it is for those of us who find ies around the state. Joan Freeman, the "re-creation" in the study of history to Society's curator of anthropology, was un­ watch budget constraints gradually reduce covering dramatic traces of prehistoric what was once one of the premier institu­ Aztalan near Lake Mills. Stonefield Vil­ tions of its kind in the nation to some­ lage, the Society's first experiment with thing less than that. W an outdoor museum, was being assembled at Cassville. Museum registrarjoan Severa was building the Society's costume collec­ KATHRYN SCHNEIDER SMITH tion and bringing it to the public with Washington, D.C. fashion shows in local department stores. The Society supplied a home for the na­ TEPPING into the Society's Office of scent American Association for State and S Public Information as assistant super­ Local History, which under Clem Silvestro visor in June, 1961,1 felt a rush of possibili­ operated out of one small room next door ties. To be moving from being a student to the Public Information Office. School user of the grand, hushed, marble-clad Services director Doris Piatt was experi­ library to taking some actual responsibility menting with history education on televi­ in this august place seemed the greatest sion, dragooning staff members such as good fortune. As it turns out, it was. myself into terrifying stints before live

360 SESQUICENTENNIAL RECOLLECTIONS cameras, wearing, and using, odd objects from the collections. Underlying it all was a dedication to involving the public in the enterprise of saving and using the past, a commitment I took for granted—having been thoroughly imbued with the "Wis­ consin Idea" that "the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state." The Society was not only teaching but was also encouraging and publishing scholarship, a dynamic combination I as­ sumed was typical of historical societies. Setting the standard was Research Divi­ sion director Alice Smith, who was just beginning Volume I of the Society's new multivolume history of the state. My clos­ est experience with dedication to scholar­ ship, however, came from working with Bill Haygood, who presided over the Wis­ consin Magazine of History with devotion, humor, and soul. He became my supervi­ sor when, after several years, the Society's two school magazines were added to my ••jJA-nwiaw responsibilities and I moved to the Publi­ cations Office. I remember Bill, his eye­ brows raised in disbelief, periodically William C Haygood working on an issue of the emerging from his office to read some Wisconsin Magazine of History in the late 1960's. mangled prose sent his way ("and lone behold"), or to recite an overheard mala- propism ("so sick, he was rushed off to the on the fourth floor, interviewing him for hospital in a avalanche"). Charlie Glaab, a story for Then and Now on a new exhibit. a scholar in residence, would stop by to He shared his passion for pictures that pass the time ("I could say my name is revealed the spirit of a person, place, or pronounced Glabe, but it's Glob"); only time in an unexpected gesture, in a detail later did I recognize the pioneering na­ in the background, or in the quality of ture of his research in the new field of light. I remember him saying that pic­ urban history. And just down the hall tures should be organized around such were the seemingly bottomless resources titles as "parades" or "Sunday afternoon," of the Society's library, manuscripts divi­ instead of traditional dates and places. sion, and state archives, being augmented Only later did I realize that Paul had by an aggressive field services office—all organized the incomparable Farm Sectx- available for my reference, all a source of rity Administration photograph collection ideas for Then and Now. at the Library of Congress, which I often Paul Vanderbilt, curator of library's now use, with this philosophy as a guide. Iconographic Collections, opened my eyes The opportunity to spend time, some­ to images as sources of information as times alone, in the historic rooms of the well as illustrations, long before such Society's scattered historic sites and hotxse thinking was acceptable. I remember sit­ museums provided a similar lesson in the ting in his tiny, cluttered, dimly lit office power of objects, room arrangements, and

361 WTSCONSIN M.AGAZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 landscapes to bring the past into the newspapers. I called at the local histori­ present. The view of the Mississippi River cal society, then known as the Columbia from first governor Nelson Dewey's liv­ Historical Society, in the early 1970's, to ing room at Stonefield in the silence of see what went on there. Informed that it a gray afternoon is with me still. Often was open froiu 2 to 4 on Saturdays, I my trips to do site publicity work were appeared at the appointed hour to find solitary, taken in my two-tone 1955 the door opened only a crack upon my Pontiac sedan through small towns ringing. A clearly apprehensive older where I would seek out the local hang­ woman inquired what I wanted. "To out for lunch: meat loaf, mashed pota­ come in," I replied. "The librarian isn't toes and gravy, and homemade pie. I in today," she replied. "I don't want to still love finding the heartbeat of a little use the library," I said. "I want to see the place in a local eatery, a legacy of those historical society." Itwas, I realize now, trips. Apparently my car amused some an unusual request of a society of an of my colleagues. The year the Ford altogether different tradition—an or­ Mustang appeared on the market, I won ganization of individuals for whom the a two-week free use of a convertible at a preservation of history was a highly Madison Press Club event. Some older motivated but largely private enterprise. members of the staff took fatherly roles When I inquired about how I could join in advising me whether or not to buy the and was asked, "Who do you know?" I car. Conservative views prevailed, and I was rendered by my midwestern SHSW did not. Years later, the Society's busi­ experience unable at first even to grasp ness manager, John Jacques, told me the meaning of the question. I suddenly that he had made one mistake at the recognized, and have come ever more Society: "I should have told you to buy clearly to understand, what a remark­ that car." able institution I had been part of in My monthly cranking out of stories Wisconsin. about Wisconsin past and present, my My career in Washington has evolved, travels around the state, my shuffling but thirty years later the spirits of the through hundreds of photographs for State Historical Society of Wisconsin the calendar with Mary McCann gave still whisper in my ear and guide my me more than a professional base. It course. Building a sense of place in a also gave me an understanding of what city with little self-identity as a home­ it meant to be from Wisconsin. It taught town seems to be behind it all. My hus­ me the importance of a sense of place; band and I have sought out and reveled of having, as Martin Marty has put it, a in real communities in which to live place to stand to view the world. and work—Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, And so when, in summer of 1965, I and Cleveland Park; for some time Sam moved to Washington, D.C, to do press edited and published, and I assisted work for Senator Gaylord Nelson, I with, a neighborhood newspaper. Af­ looked for that sense of place in my new ter adding a master's degree in Ameri­ home. I looked around me for the places can Studies to my journalism creden­ where its spirit and history were kept. tials, I edited a book on Washington The Smithsonian is a storehouse of na­ neighborhoods and published a study tional treasures. But the city of Washing­ of neighborhood change in George­ ton? There was no local museum devoted town. Today, working as an indepen­ to its understanding, no local history cur­ dent public historian, I am, among riculum in the public schools, and sel­ other projects, helping to create a com­ dom any local history features in the munity-based history center in a neigh-

362 SESQUICENTENNIAI, RECOLLECTIONS borhood that was for decades the heart Historical Society have been transformed of the African-American community in into a semiannual scholarlyjournal, Wash­ Washington. ington History, which I created and edited What can be traced most directly to my during its first three and a half years. It is experience at the State Historical Society, a child of the Wisconsin Magazine of His­ however, is my work with D.C. public tory and Wisconsin Then and Now. It is schools in creating a now-required ninth- designed to reach both scholar and lay­ grade D.C. history curriculum—inspired man. Its use of photographs breathes by SHSW school services—and my efforts, Paul Vanderbilt; its scholarship breathes as board president, to imbue the old Bill Haygood. The Historical Society of Columbia Historical Society with some Washington, D.C, has a ways to go to be of that sense of public mission I had the organization its city deserves and to absorbed in Wisconsin. Today, the orga­ be financially secure in a place where, nization is called The Historical Society unlike Wisconsin, there are no public of Washington, D.C. Its board is male and monies for local history. But it is on its female, black, white, Jewish, Hispanic, way. And it should be recorded in the and Asian; its programs and membership archives of the State Historical Society of are reaching into the community; its Wisconsin that there is a flame burning unanimously endorsed mission is public in the nation's capital that was lit at 816 education. The Records of the Columbia State Street in Madison. W

Visitors to the Society in 1954 xvere assured a warm welcome from either Tillie Severson or Willie fo Walker at the operator-run elevator.

WHi (X2) 5000

1

•«^- 363 Livia Appel and the Art of Copyediting: A Personal Memoir

By Francis PaulPrucha

Above all . . . the book owes whatever merit it may have in its final form to Miss Livia Appel, book editor of the State Historical Society ofWisconsin. Preface to Broadax and Bayonet

IVIA APPEL did the copyediting for ished presentations. I have always ad­ Li my first book, Broadax and Bayonet: mired the writing in the New Yorker, some The Role of the United States Army in the of it so vivid that years afterward I could Development of the Northwest, 1815-1860, not be sure whether I had personally which the State Historical Society ofWis­ experienced an event or whether I had consin published in January 1953. The merely read about it in the magazine. I experience of working with her was for­ naively assumed that the New Yorker could mative for my career as a historian and publish such excellent pieces because it writer. It taught me many tricks of the got them from its writers. Then I read trade and made me appreciate deeply the an obituary of one of its long-time help that an editor provides in the pro­ copyeditors, William Knapp. He didn't duction of a book. The history of the write much for publication, the obituary process that Appel led me through might noted, and it added, "Alot of Bill's finest also, I hope, serve as a lesson for other prose was to be found in the margins of young scholars struggling to turn a disser­ manuscripts or proofs or between the tation into a book. lines of others' handiwork." Knapp, ac­ Copyeditors, by and large, are invis­ cording to the obituary, "had had to ible people. Yet next to the authors them­ cope with a few writers who were [he selves, they are the most important per­ said] 'given to hiding essential facts, like sons in the publication of books. Skilled Easter eggs, in obscure corners, or to the in the fine points of English grammar, creation of impenetrable grammatical with an ear tuned to the rhythms of thickets.' He became singularly adept at good prose, and alert to any possible rescuing meaning from the densest misunderstanding, they persuade au­ copses without scraping or bruising it." thors to take the steps needed for pol­ The wTiter spoke of "the millions of sen-

364 C-opyright © 1996 b\' the State Historical Society of Wisconsin All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. PRUCHA: LTVTA APPEL tences [Knapp] polished"—all in the "gen­ as book editor. My manuscript thus ar­ erally unheralded business of editing."' rived at the Society at an opportune time, Not all copyeditors, of course, are as shortly after Appel had begun her eight skilled as William Knapp was. A decade years as editor there. It was among the ago the distinguished historian Jacques first of a series of scholarly manuscripts Barzun, with a great array of horror sto­ she edited for publication, some of them ries of what had happened to him or his written by quite distinguished historians.^ friends, excoriated those copyeditors who Her high standards and forceful advice lack a sense of rhetoric or rhythm and exemplify for me the superb editing that whose practice "tends ever toward flat­ has long marked the publications of the tening out, standardizing—through Society.'' pedantry, the literal mind, the love of the usual, which are forms of vulgar­ URING the course of my dealings ity."^ I myself in recent times have been D with Appel in 1951 and 1952 I was at subjected to the sort of mauling of a the Jesuit seminary at Florissant, Missouri, manuscript to which Barzun so strongly objected. But thank goodness—for my psychological well-being and for my ca­ reer as a historian—my first encounter "• On January 19, 1947, the Milwaukee Journal r3.n a feature article on Appel in which it observed: "Even with a copyeditor of a book was not the Ph.D.'s occasionally sUp upon such things as syntax, sort of creature that so incensed Barzun. spelling and punctuation. At times she has worked 24 It was, instead, Livia Appel, with whom I hours without sleep to whip a manuscript into shape worked at the height of her career in for the printers. But when she finished it, it was as scholarly editing. nearly perfect grammatically, rhetorically and ortho- graphically as an expert in those accomplishments Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1893, could make it." Some of the books she edited, the Appel graduated from the University of paper noted, were George E.Mowry's TheodoreEtoo.sevelt Minnesota in 1918. After a short period of and the Progressive Movement; Richard Nelson Current's Old ThadStevens:A Story of Ambition; T. Harry Williams' school teaching, she began working at the Lincoln and the Radicals; and Fred Harvey Harrington's Minnesota Historical Society in the early God, Mammon, and the fapanese. 1920's as research assistant and later as ' For listings of books edited by Appel at the State editorial assistant.^ Then in 1937 she was Historical Society of Wisconsin, see the Society's appointed managing editor of the newly annual Proceedings. A summary list appears in the established University ofWisconsin Press. Wisconsin Magazine of History, 40:11 (Autumn, 1956). The authors of nearly all of those volumes acknowl­ In her years at the Press, she gained a edged Appel's help. For example, Professor William reputation as a perfectionist.* In 1948, B. Hesseltine, whose Pioneer's Mission: The Story of when Clifford Lord, director of the His­ Lyman CopelandDraperthe Society published in 1954, torical Society, reinvigorated the Society's thanked Appel, "whose high standards, critical in­ book publishing program, he hired Appel sights, and unconquerable zeal for perfection, have, through many years, tutored my laggard pen. What­ ever merit this volume may claim belongs primarily to her, and to her I am both profoundly grateful for her ' New Yorker, November 5, 1990, p. 1.56. aid and humbly apologetic that I have fallen short of ^ American Scholar, 54:388 (Summer, 1985). The her standards." E. Bruce Thompson, whose Matthew article was reprinted in Publishers Weekly, September Hale Carpenter: Webster of the W«iappeared in the same 6, 1985, pp. 28-30. As might be expected, a lot of year, thanked Appel for "an excellent—and gratu­ editors fought back. Their comments are printed in itous—correspondence course in the art of writing." AmeHcan Scholar, 55:143-144 (Winter, 1985-1986), '' I write here, at this sesquicentennial time, only and in Publishers Weekly, October 4, 1985, pp. 33-35. about Appel, but I want to pay tribute, too, to her ' Appel's work at the Minnesota Historical Soci­ successors, who have strengthened the Society's ety is reported in annual reports published in Min­ reputation—men like O. Lawrence Burnette, Jr., nesota History and its predecessor, the Minnesota Peter Coleman, William C. Haygood, and especially History Bulletin. Paul Hass.

365 WISCONSIN M.AGAZINE OF HISTORV SUMMER, 1996 preparing for ordination to the priest­ for publication. He made it clear that hood. All my interchanges with her took the agreement to publish was on condi­ place through written correspondence, tion that I make some revisions, not in a fact she frequently lamented. The thick the substance of the work, but in the stack of letters that passed between us presentation. Lord, in his gracious way, offer a case study of how she worked, shielded me from the sharpest barbs of from my dissertation of 1950 to the fin­ the committee by not sending me any of ished book.' the comments except those of Professor I was urged to approach the Society William F. Raney of Lawrence College. I by my dissertation director at Harvard, did not see the critical reports until I Frederick Merk, whose Economic History was preparing this paper, at which time of Wisconsin during the Civil War Decade they came to light in the Society's file had been published by the Society in on the book. It was just as well, for some 1916. So in mid-February 1950 I wrote a of the reports were harsh. Fulmer Mood cautious letter to Alice E. Smith, chief and Vernon Carstensen, both members of research at the Society, who had of the history department at the Univer­ helped me when I was doing research sity of Wisconsin, were especially strong for my dissertation. I asked: "Do you in condemning my writing. Mood said, think that the Wisconsin Historical So­ "The author often writes English as though ciety would be interested in my manu­ it were his second language"; and script for publication? Would the edi­ Carstensen, in a long critique, objected, tors for the society want to read it with among other things, to the "many murky that in mind?" When I got a favorable and formless statements." Yet the com­ response from Clifford Lord, to whom mittee members also commented favor­ Smith had given my letter, I sent him a ably on my research and on the content of bound copy of the dissertation just as it the manuscript, and they seemed to feel was, without any revisions, a practice assured that if the presentation were pol­ that since then I have strongly urged my ished up, a worthwhile book could be own students to avoid. The manuscript produced. was to go to a seven-member editorial committee for appraisal. That appraisal took almost ten T was at this point that Livia Appel months. Not until December 15, 1950, I entered my life. Lord had asked her did I hear from Lord that the commit­ to write a critique of the manuscript and tee had voted to accept my manuscript to edit the first part of the manuscript to illustrate her comments. He attached to his letter five pages of comments by " The letters and other papers are in the Francis Paul Prucha Papers, Special Collections, Memorial Appel and returned the dissertation, in Library, Marquette University, Milwaukee, under which a large section had been dramati­ Published Books, Broadax and Bayonet. Unless other­ cally marked up with interlinear correc­ wise noted, the correspondence cited in this paper is tions and marginal notes. Appel did not taken from these materials. My files are duplicated in spare the rod, but those five pages of the Society's files in Madison: Series 981, Book Pro­ duction File, box 8, folder 8, Editorial File for Broadax criticism I have treasured as a remark­ and Bayonet; and Series 981, Book Production File, able exposition of the faults of disserta­ box 9, folder 1, Manufacturing File for Broadax and tion style. She began forthrightly, with Bayonet. In my files as well as those of the Society, the no gentle introduction: "Much work correspondence is arranged by date. I am very grate­ needs to be fione on this manuscript to ful tojack Holzhueter for locating the Society's files and for much other help in gathering data on Livia bring it in shape for publication. As it Appel's career. now stands, it is marred by many of the

366 PRUCHA: LIVIA APPEL faults of presentation that make the av­ cult with a stage manager putter­ erage doctoral dissertation so unsatis­ ing about in full view ... it is factory from the literary point of view." shattered beyond repair if the Then, in one page, she explained the reader is allowed to 'see the wheels general problem. That single page has go round.' ... In inexperienced helped me more than any other advice hands, if illusion is to be held in­ on writing that I have ever received, in tact, art-that-conceals-art entails school or out. Here it is: concealment not only of narrative designs and measures for their ac­ complishment but concealment of The most serious criticism is that the presence of the would-be artist one cannot read it without a con­ himself. stant awareness of the writer, of the labor and techniques of his "On behalf of the reader I am research, of sources of informa­ arguing not only for the exclusion tion used by him, and of the bare of those personal appearances by bones of the organization. It is un­ the author manifest in asides, com­ fortunate that prevailing standards ments, apostrophic remarks. . . . for the dissertation take so little What I suggest is the adoption of account of the literary tenets un­ some pervasive approach that will, derlying good exposition and nar­ besides making all such incongru­ ration. ous outbreaks unthinkable, reach down to the foundation of narra­ One of those tenets is that the tive statement and forestall even text should tell the story, and only the implication of the author's the story; that all persons, state­ presence on the scene."*^ ments of fact, and observations that do not contribute to that end should be omitted or relegated to Appel, of course, was not satisfied to the footnotes. In other words, any­ provide merely this general statement. thing that comes between the She followed it with a dozen examples reader and the story he is follow­ of "intrusive statements" in the disserta­ ing impairs the force of the recital. tion, statements which she regarded as The expert writer does not men­ "amateurish and inept" and which she tion himself or address his reader declared occurred scores of times in the text, discuss the purposes of throughout the manuscript. Some of his work (except in the Preface), her examples I considered at the time to state what topic he is going to be rather subtle intrusions, but I came handle next, repeatedly quote per­ to understand that the cumulative ef­ sons who are not characters in his fect was indeed one of amateurish and narrative, or argue the validity of inept writing. his sources. Professional writers of history would do well to take a leaf Appel's next point was just as blunt from the book of the short-story and just as much on target: "Equally writer, who is advised by a success­ prejudicial to literary quality is the ful author of our own day that author's failure to distill his sources into "There is in every story reader a stubborn hostility to the intrusion of any distracting, external human ** Appel did not identify the source of this quota­ tion, and try as I might, I could not locate it. I looked agency in his daydream; he will at writing manuals of the period, tracked down some 'skip that part' and move on to a promising leads in periodical literature, and enlisted point where the fable lets him the aid of colleagues in the English department, but dream alone. . . . Illusion is diffi­ all to no avail. 367 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OE HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 a strong, vigorous exposition of his own." two or three forceful, well-written sen­ Again she added specific instances: "in­ tences of the author's own." cessant citation of authorities (even sec­ She objected to stating a generaliza­ ondary sources) in the text, the piling up tion twice, once in my words and again in of quotations, many of which are not even the words of a contemporary writer, with good reading, and the repetition that is the needless, often dull, repetition that the inevitable result of this method." Then resulted. She deplored the plethora of she set forth her own succinct rules for quotation marks throughout the manu­ the use of direct quotations: script; their elimination would make a far more readable book and considerably In general, direct quotation can reduce its length. She observed, too, that be justified only when it achieves an the amount of detail cotxld be curtailed end that cannot be achieved other­ without weakening the manuscript. Then wise. A quoted passage may give came a final blast: "There are some other proof, as a paraphrase would not, of faults of style: wordiness and occasional the emotions, attitudes, or convic­ over-writing that fails of its purpose; tions of its author. It may embody unprecise use of words, especially verbs; statements of fact or purported fact strained metaphors and unidiomatic ex­ that cannot be substantiated but pressions; and an occasional syntactical should not be ignored or summarily error." rejected. It may reveal something of a man's competence, character, etc. These animadversions were reinforced Occasionally it may be used legiti­ by the marking up of the first eighty-six mately to give contemporary atmo­ pages of my manuscript, in which Appel sphere to a narrative. It should not pointed out every sin I had committed. be used as a substitute for original She replaced bad words with better ones, composition nor as an example of rearranged some awkward constructions, the evidence available. To do so re­ corrected capitalization, and filled the sults almost inevitably in a sacrifice margins with a string of critical words and of momentum and drama. phrases: faulty, bad metaphor, pedantic, clumsy, wordy, awkward, trite, weak verb, weak Following this statement of principles generalization, meaningless, overwritten, rep­ came examples of violations found in my etition, idiom faulty, vague, not clear, redun­ manuscript. Appel cited one eight-line dant, poor figure, and so on and on, until I passage (of which comparable examples, began to wonder if I had done anything she said, could be found in every chap­ right. She wanted me to cut out quota­ ter), which introduced four sets of quo­ tions and present the material in my own tation marks, four footnote indexes, and words and frequently noted "Do not a person who had no role in the story. quote," "Boil down", and "Paraphrase, Next she quoted a long paragraph to this is a very dull quote." She also marked illustrate "the lack of integration of facts every place where I referred to a source in and the tiresome repetition that results the text.-' from the stringing together of quota­ tions in lieu of original composition." She concluded: "It is hard to believe that this paragraph with the accompanying •' The bound copy of the dissertation, with Appel's paraphernalia of quotation marks, 'he editing of the text, is in Special Collections, Memorial wrote' and 'he found,' and frequent foot­ Library, Marquette University. Sometimes, when stu­ dents complained about how heavily I had marked note indexes would appeal more strongly up their papers, I sent them to the library to look at to the reader—scholar or lavman—than the dissertation and see what Appel did to me.

368 Livia Appel in the early 1950 's. Photo courtesy the University of Wisconsin Archives.

369 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORV SUMMER, 1996

HOROUGHLY chastened, I at once raphy. "It should be in a shape now," I T went to work to attempt the same reported with a sigh of relief, "that will sort of stylistic revision in the rest of the give the editor little trouble in preparing manuscript. The pages following page it for the printer." I rested comfortably 86 soon took on the look of the earlier with the conviction that my work on the pages, heavy with pencil notations indi­ project had been completed. cating needed changes. I paraphrased A few months later my complacency long quotations and tried my best to tell was completely shattered, for by early the story in my own words. I caught the February 1952 Appel had, as she put it, pattern, and the work went quickly. "painstakingly edited" the revised manu­ By the end of January 1951 I had script and had had most of it retyped— completed the revisions, but before re­ some pages two or three times as further typing the manuscript I had some ques­ improvements suggested themselves to tions—about page format, footnote her or her assistant."* "I hope you will style, and the possibility of reducing the agree," she wrote, "that the net result is a bibliography. Appel replied within a better knitting together, a closer integra­ couple of weeks with a long letter (she tion, of your exposition." She warned me seldom wrote a short one), in which she that I would have to work with her new offered practical and extensive advice. copy and my edited original side by side One bit of advice caused me consider­ in checking her changes. In addition, able irritation. She wanted the retyped there were marginal queries and observa­ copy to be triple spaced because the tions on both copies. Most of the changes typesetter had expressed great enthusi­ had been made in the interest of literary asm for that kind of copy. (This was in style, but there were others, too, some of the days of Linotype, or "hot metal," them suggested by the readers. She had when typographical corrections were shifted material from one place to an­ both cumbersome and expensive.) She other, including individual sentences. pointed out, too, that if a page needed Such changes in the text meant, of to be retyped later, triple spacing would course, that footnote citations had to be speed up the process. I was in no posi­ rearranged, a task she left to me. tion to object, but the only typewriter in the seminary available for my use could SHOULD not have been surprised not do triple spacing. Therefore, at the I that some of my stylistic and other end of every line in some six hundred revisions dissatisfied Appel. She had pages of retyped manuscript, I had to gone over my retyped manuscript with do the triple spacing manually by flip­ even greater care than she had given ping the return lever three times. And if the original dissertation, hammering I made a mistake, I had to correct it on again on some of the points she had the carbon as well as on the ribbon made so tellingly before. For example, copy. Students today with their sophisti­ my revised manuscript still contained cated word processors and copying ma­ certain points which I had earlier estab- chines do not have a hint of what we went through in typing and retyping manuscript in the old days. I sent back the revised manuscript on June 25, 1951. I had tried to incorporate '" Laura Clarenbach was hired as an assistant to Appel in 1951. Appel also had the services, during at least all of Appel's suggestions, eliminating ob­ part of her work on my book, of a history graduate jectionable dissertation techniques and student, Thomas Vaughan, who later became direc­ shortening the text as well as the bibliog­ tor of the Oregon State Historical Society.

370 wiset

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F'ather E'rancis Paul Prucha in the late 1960's. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SU.MMER, 1996 lished at some length and which the text followed by her shortened versions. reader could scarcely have forgotten. Two examples will show her at work: Appel noticed them and wrote: "Such repetition becomes tiresome; I found My text: "[The act] stipulated that myself saying, 'But he's already ex­ the regular army of the United plained all that.' Where it is essential to States was to consist of one regi­ recall some point to the mind of the ment of light artillery, composed of reader to round out discussion of some ten companies, eight regiments of other matter, an effort should be made infantry and one of rifles, ten com­ to express it in terms that suggest delib­ panies each, which were to be forced erate repetition—'isolated as they were,' into the total limitation often thou­ or something of that sort." She attacked sand men." examples that I had used to support generalizations. "It is the sum total of Her version: "[The act] limited the scores of such illustrations on which regular army of the United States to you have built your generalizations," she ten thousand men, comprising ten insisted, "and to cite only a few often regiments of ten companies each: seems to weaken rather than strengthen one regiment of light artillery, eight your argument, especially if they are of infantry, and one of rifles." not graphic." In working through the manuscript, she had found numerous My text: "An example of the ha­ passages which she recommended cut­ rassment which army officers expe­ ting. "Adds nothing," she commented. I rienced was the arrest of Major had no refutation to offer. David E. Twiggs." She still found too many direct quo­ Her version [prefaced by "Do avoid tations from sources, which she argued 'an example of'"]: One of the army would be better paraphrased; she typed officers who was thus harassed was out two such passages and provided me Major David E. Twiggs. with paraphrases. She told me not to worry that a close paraphrase might be I had to admit that her versions were construed as plagiarism. In other places generally better than mine, although in I cited authorities unnecessarily; in her some cases I thought the shortening mind the content of a quotation was all achieved was hardly worth the effort. that had significance, and it did not Appel also included a distressingly matter to whom the author was writing. long list of "literary faults other than She found some contradictory state­ wordiness": ments, and she was troubled by defini­ tion of geographic areas in terms of present-day political units that did not illogical arrangement of material. . . . exist at the time about which I was lack of smooth transition. . . . writing. inadvertent repetition of words or identi­ cal syllables, such as: "Dangers in­ The purely literary changes she sug­ volved in imprudent treatment..." gested were made in the interest of brev­ [and] ".sMz'fo he knew would en.sM^...." ity and greater simplicity. "Brevity is not, awkwardrepetitionsoivi\\norviord?>,suc\\ of course, in itself the criterion of a good as: "They had no doubt that the In­ sentence," she advised, "but brevity dian titles had, in practice. . . ." achieved without sacrificing other zurong verb tenses, especially the use of desiderata is always to be desired." Then the simple past where the past per­ she typed out twenty extracts from my fect is called for.

372 PRUCHA: LIVIA APPEL

use of words and expressions that are unidi­ the advice in the guide stressed prin­ omatic or lacking in precision. . . . ciples, not merely the proper form in weak terminology and understatement: which footnotes should appear. I liked "bothered" and "troubled," for ex­ the guide, too, because Appel dealt with ample, are weak descriptions of some JExst the sort of sotxrce materials that I of the emotions to which you apply had used in my dissertation. Since my them. notes conformed well enough to her overuse of certain expressions, notably rules and forms, she had less to say "played a part" and "played a role," about them than she did aborxt the text. which occur scores of times. . . . Try But she was aware that there was a liter­ always to vary the vocabulary when it ary quality even to footnotes, and some can be done without violence to pre­ of the comments about the form of my cision or grace of expression. Do notes referred to a "literary rounding not, however—I hasten to add—re­ out of the note." place a term that is exactly right with a less satisfactory synonym merely to One of her most helpful suggestions avoid repetition. The problem, of concerned combining footnotes. In her course, is to avoid both ineffective first set of critical comments, she advised repetition and unprecise terms—not me, "Where possible, a single footnote an easy one for any writer. should document an entire paragraph, explanatory statements being inserted wherever necessary." And her frequent With this long letter of February 4, she complaint about too many footnote ref­ sent back the first five chapters; on Febru­ erence numbers in the text drove the ary 8, three more; and on February 29, the point home. Fortunately, her Biblio­ rest of the manuscript, all with her correc­ graphical Citation provided an excellent tions and recommendations. Lest I might statement of principles and very useful think that she was an arbitrary editor, she examples of how the combining could wrote when she returned the final batch be done, and I found it relatively easy to of chapters, "I hope . . . that you will combine references. Chapter 1 of my continue to read the revision as carefully dissertation had twenty-five notes; chap­ as you have for the earlier chapters, for I ter 2, eighty-seven; and chapter 5, 104. have depended on you for that, making In the book these were reduced to ten, suggested changes which I would not have twenty-eight, and thirty notes, respec­ made entirely on my own initiative with­ tively; and the remaining chapters fol­ out the author's approval." lowed the same pattern. Appel and I did have extended discus­ IVIA APPEL was an expert on foot- sions on a few particular elements in the Li notes and all the niceties dealing footnotes. She insisted on the elimina­ with proper citation of sources. Her tion of any trace of ambiguity, especially booklet Bibliographical Citation in the So­ in distinguishing when a specific docu­ cial Sciences and Humanities: A Handbook ment was not coextensive with the main of Style for Authors, Editors, and Students (first issued in 1940, with a third edition '' The booklet was published by the University of in 1949) was, and remains, an invalu­ Wisconsin Press. The third edition differed from the able guide." She recommended it to earlier editions chiefly in the "expansion of a few me, and I followed its prescriptions when points which proved to be inadequately treated for I retyped the footnotes in my original the less experienced student and writer." (Author's note in third edition.) The 1940 edition was reprinted revision. Like the particularized sugges­ as an appendix in Gilbert J. Garraghan, A Guide to tions she gave me for my manuscript, Historical Method (New York, 1946).

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title of the volume or collection—de­ precedence over the saving of one manding the use of the proposition in or two pages of typesetting. for such a case. She was worried about undated documents: "Some indication In the end, the footnotes took up much of the time a document was written seems space, for no abbreviations at all appeared to me a sine qua non for the scholar, who in them. ought not to have to read the book through consecutively to get his bear­ ings as to time." She was ever conscious HE one point on footnotes about of precision, "which underlies this whole T which Appel and I had the longest business of footnote form." discussion concerned identification of the In the dissertation I had used some persons whose letters and reports I cited more or less obvious abbreviations—such frequently. I was satisfied to give only the items as A.S.P., M.A. (for American State names (and the full name when a person Papers, Military Affairs), U.S. Stat., and was first mentioned); she wanted to add Wis. Hist. Coll., and others like WD and to all of those names an indication of each QMG for documents from the National person's official position and/or location. Archives—and I suggested that the foot­ Our exchange of views illustrated Appel's notes in the book use such abbreviated force and persistence—and to some ex­ symbols for sources that required a tent my reluctant acquiescence. lengthy citation and appeared frequently. When Appel returned the footnotes The idea did not appeal to Appel, for she of my retyped manuscript, she appended did not like what she called "cryptic ab­ a note asking for identification of per­ breviations." Whereas a few extra words sons in the footnotes. With more bold­ in a sentence in the text caught her eye ness than I had venttxred in previous as she fought for brevity, her suggestions correspondence, I responded that army for improving the footnotes added greatly ranks in many cases would be almost to their length. She wrote: impossible to supply accurately. Often they were not given in the documents, I am not very enthusiastic about and the ranks of the officers changed your suggestion that certain bodies from time to time. Furthermore, the use of material be abbreviated with a of brevet rank sometimes and actual rank series of capital letters. Abbrevia­ at others times led to almost endless con­ tions such as A.S.P., M.A. (which is fusion. I was afraid, too, that adding the pretty awful) are an irritation to positions held by the officers would mea­ the librarian, the general reader, surably lengthen the footnotes. Finally I and even the scholar who hasn't wrote, "I must confess that I don't fully taken the trouble to memorize the agree with you about the necessity of such code. . . . Atleastfifty per centof the full information. It seems to me that the use of any book such as yours is more reader would assume that I am not draw­ or less cursory. By that I mean that it ing my material from out-of-the-way ex­ is read in spots for information on a amples. A scholar who would peruse the specific point rather than read through. For such readers I believe book in regard to research of his own every effort should be made to be as would most likely want to check the ac­ clear at all points as is consistent with tual sources himself an^'way." decent brevity and readability. ... I Appel quickly replied, retreating a bit, feel that the comfort and conve­ I thought, from her earlier position. She nience of the reader should take agreed that to append a man's title each

374 PRUCHA: LlVlA APPEL time was out of the question, but she did an official title (Secretary of War Cass, not want to force the reader to keep in Quartermaster General Jesup); some mind the identity of all the government needed identification of their regional officials cited: "It isn't a question, as I see jurisdiction (department commander it, of reassuring the reader that your at St. Louis or General Atkinson at St. examples are not from out-of-the-way Louis to General Gaines at Memphis); sources but of enabling him to read the in some cases mere identification that text intelligently." the man was an army officer would be Before I received that letter, I had enough. But she also accepted the long spoken my mind more fully on the ques­ identifications that I included for many tion: "I respect your opinion a great of the letter writers and their recipi­ deal in bibliographical matters, but it ents. I admit that I took a certain mis­ seems to me that there are two possible chievous delight in entering "Acting points of view. One, that the notes Assistant Adjutant General, Right Wing should provide all possible information Western Department" or "Aide-de-camp in the way of dates, persons, etc., that and Acting Assistant Adjutant General may come to the reader's mind. The atjefferson Barracks." I added, as well, other, that the note should identify the numerous shorter designations, such as source so that it can easily be located. "quartermaster at Fort Howard," "fac­ Now, except in notes which are in­ tor at Prairie du Chien," "commander at cluded primarily to give information to Fort Dodge," and "commander of the amplify the text, I think the second Eastern Department." Although I was view is wiser." And I pointed out that unhappy that adding new data meant she herself, in letters to me and in the retyping most of my footnotes and still preface of Bibliographical Citation, had thought that most of this was unneces­ agreed that the chief goal of any system sary, I could see thatsome readers might of citation was to provide essential data like footnotes with a lot of information in a form that allowed no misinterpre­ and no cryptic abbreviations to lessen tation and that helped one to locate their enjoyment in reading them. the materials cited. As I considered the numerous que­ I weakened in my resolve, however, ries and marginal notations that Appel and told Appel that, while I myself was had written on the footnote pages of not disturbed about the lack of identifi­ the manuscript, it seemed to me that cation of all the men cited in letters, I she or her assistant must have checked was disturbed that shewas troubled about many of the original sources—and it it. I admitted that "perhaps I was too was clear that she had checked the hasty in discounting the need (or the sources with greater care than I had. In advisability) of added information which one case she found errors in the exten­ the curious reader might want," and I sion of figures and in the addition of supplied a lot of identification material the final column of a table showing when I returned the notes to her. goods purchased for the army posts. I She liked the additional information had copied the table correctly, but it and wrote, "You have no idea how much had never occurred to me to check the it does to invest your citations with arithmetic. In the book, the data from meaning for one who is unfamiliar with the table was entered in paragraph the sources and the various officials form, with "[sic]" inserted after the er­ involved." She also supplied a listing of rors. One could hardly be more precise categories: some names needed only than that.

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NDER Appel's guidance, 1 short­ mately we assembled a considerable pic­ U ened and rearranged the bibliog­ ture collection of men and forts, from raphy. Early on, she had quarreled with which the seventeen illustrations in the the basis of my arrangement, which, in book were chosen. The choice in the part, was by depository or form of pub­ end was Appel's, and I could give her lication rather than by the nature or little help with captions because I did authorship of the material. She did not not know until too late just which pic­ like my listing of National Archives docu­ tures would be used. ments numerically by Record Group As I look at the illustrations today, it rather than alphabetically or my listing seems to me that some of them are not of printed documents in the Serial Set very attractive. Nor did all of them re­ of Congressional Documents by serial produce well, even though Appel made number rather than by the issuing of­ a point of evaluating the photographs fice. For her, "a serial volume contain­ with reproduction in mind and had the ing a miscellany of documents" was not pictures printed, not on ordinary book a publication in the ordinary sense of stock, but on coated paper wrapped the word, but "a bookbindingjob," and around the text signatures in the book. she therefore insisted that the docu­ The captions, written by Appel or her ments in a volume be cited as separate staff, did little more than name the sub­ publications, their titles italicized and ject without interpretive or descriptive arranged alphabetically under the au­ annotations, and many of them did not thor or the issuing office. even indicate the depository through She also wanted the secondary sources whose cotirtesy the pictures were used. in one list that included both books and Appel realized that the captions were articles (instead of my separate lists), incomplete, even after she and her staff and she asked for a selection of the most had done "an inordinate amount of important works, with the addition of "a work" on them, and she admitted that few words of criticism or description to the captions were "far from a scholarly each, indicating its general scope and job." She sent me a long list of problems value for the subject in hand." I drasti­ she had encountered in identifying the cally cut the lists of eighty-four articles pictures and their sources but concluded and eighty books in the dissertation to a that more time simply could not be given combined list of a mere thirty-five items to the matter. and supplied brief annotations for them. A similar somewhat haphazard ap­ Appel and I had continuing discus­ proach was taken in regard to the map sion about illustrations for the book, that Appel wanted for use as endpapers btxt she was not particularly knowledge­ in the book. The book clearly needed a able about sources of pictures. She did map, and Appel had sent me a copy of thoroughly comb the resources of the an endpaper map produced for an ear­ Society, however, and reported that she lier book published by the Society. Us­ had assembled a few pictures of Forts ing that as a pattern, I drew a rough Winnebago, Crawford, and Snelling. She sketch of a map. She returned it to me thought, too, that portraits of the secre­ with her approval and with advice about taries of war or post commandants might preparation of the final copy: "For an be included if any were available. I wrote endsheet, the finished product ought to to the National Archives, the Minnesota be well done so that it has a decorative Historical Society, and the West Point quality." Museum, inquiring about the availabil­ The finished map I submitted injune ity of suitable photographs, and ulti­ 1952 was not approved. Appel decided

376 PRUCHA: LIVIA .VPPEL thatitwas "not ^wi^eprofessional enough book is on the construction of the new." for an endsheet" and that it would be Raney considered the subtitle clear and used instead as a two-page spread in one accurate but not particularly striking. of the early chapters. She reported that He suggested a new title: "The United the Society no longer had a person who States Army: Spearpoint of Civilization could use a lettering machine with effi­ in the Northwest."'^ ciency, and, moreover, it would prove I told Appel that I preferred my own more costly (in terms of the artist's sal­ title to Raney's, despite his arguments. ary) than the Society could justify for But Appel, too, rejected the scythe meta­ small-edition books. But I thought an phor; it was, she said, "inaccurate in endpaper map was worth another try, so that scythe is too sweeping an epithet to I submitted a new version. This one Appel apply to the process you describe, and a judged "a great improvement... and quite little bit pretentious for the scope of the satisfactory for an endsheet." study." Yet she did not like Raney's pro­ Still, the outcome was a pretty ama­ posal, either, and she was not ready to teurish production. The base map come up with a title of her own. When I caused no special problem, but my at­ sent her the retyped revision of the tempt at hand lettering was, in general, manuscript injune I95I I had not yet unsatisfactory. Of my original freehand come up with a short and snappy title, printing, only St. Louis and Camp Des and I said I would leave the matter open Moines rema.ined. I then used a lettering for her consideration. She, unfortu­ template for the names of the major nately, had little to offer. "Title making forts, and someone at the Society re­ is not one of my greatest talents," she placed the other names and the title of confessed, "and thus far no real inspira­ the map with pasted-on lettering. The tion has been vouchsafed me. I sug­ decorative border and compass rose I gested 'Soldiers in the Wilderness' to a had concocted out of broadaxes and few of my colleagues, who liked it, and I bayonets survived. This last brings us to think it isn't too bad, but I am hoping a crucial problem that paralleled the you can think up a better one." work on text, footnotes, and bibliogra­ In the middle of March 1952 she phy: the book's title. I had called my wrote, "The title still continues to be a dissertation "The Scythe of Civilization: problem—for me and for the others I A Study of the United States Army as a have impressed into service." At that Civilizing Force on the Northwest Fron­ time she offered five suggestions: "Sol­ tier." The title was taken from a sen­ diers on the Frontier," "Broadaxes and tence of George W. Featherstonhaugh, Bayonets," "Frontiersmen in Uniform," an English traveler who observed, as he "Pioneers in Uniform," and "Soldier visited Fort Winnebago in 1835, "The and Settler." She remarked that the scythe of what is called 'civilization' is in last one seemed "rather weak" and that, motion, and everything will fall before it." although Clifford Lord had supplied No one but me liked that title. Profes­ "Broadaxes and Bayonets," which she sor Raney, of the editorial committee, considered a "terse, euphonious said the title did not fit the book, arguing phrase," it did not seem particularly that the "scythe" which replaced the civi­ suitable for the subject matter of my lization of the Indians with a new one was book. the settlers, not the army. Furthermore, he thought Featherstonhaugh's meta­ ' ^ Professors Fulmer Mood and Vernon Carstensen, phor emphasized the destruction of the as I discovered later, also objected to the title, espe­ old, while "the whole emphasis of this cially if it was taken to be the theme of the study.

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I soon replied, in a tone of resignation, military without overemphasizing that I thought we had only two choices— warfare, and that the sub-title will either a precise but prosaic indication of take care of any misapprehensions the subject of the book or something it engenders. I hope you can find it more appealing and better sounding but in your heart to accept it. It was, as less exact—and that we were in agree­ you remember, coined by Dr. Lord, ment that the title should be of the sec­ who has rather a flare [sic] for this ond sort. Abetter description of the book sort of thing. ccjuld be relegated to the subtitle. I noted three concepts that ought to be expressed, I was tempted to circle her misspelling of if possible, in the title: (a) soldiers, (b) on "flair" in blue pencil, add a marginal the frontier, and (c) civilizing work. Since note—Wrong word—and return the let­ it seemed impossible to find a short, inter­ ter, but I thought better of it and acqui­ esting title that combined all three, I was esced as gracefully as I could in the title willing to leave out the idea of civilizing. chosen. I wrote, "Any symbolic sort of The title I submitted was "Warriors in the title is bound to have certain disadvan­ Wilderness." tages as far as exactness goes, and if BROADAX AND BAYONET made such a I liked "warriors" because of the al­ distinct hit with the people who selected literation with "wilderness," but I was it, it should have a wide appeal with the willing to substitute "Soldiers in the Wil­ public." I hoped that the change in the derness" if necessary. The other titles title from plural terms to singular was suggested did not please me. "Broadaxes intentional, for I preferred the sound of and Bayonets" I considered too obscure "Broadax and Bayonet" to that of "Broad­ and not to the point of the story. "Fron­ axes and Bayonets." I could not resist tiersmen in Uniform" and "Pioneers in adding, however, that "the terms them­ Uniform" seemed inverted, for they could selves are not ones that jump out at you be taken to mean civilians temporarily in from the sources." (In fact I do not recall uniform, and moreover I thought the word seeing the word broadax at all.) I never "pioneer" to be questionable. I argued did come to like the title, but at least it is that the army was more than a pioneer one that seems to have stuck in readers' and in some respects acted contrary to minds. More than forty years later, the the general pioneer attitudes. But, again, book is still in print.'^ I deferred to Appel'sjudgment. That prob­ ably was a mistake. At the end of May, when I next heard from Appel, the question had been settled. PPEL sent me the galley proofs and She informed me, in as conciliatory a way A. then the page proofs in batches, as possible: and I checked them over during Septem­ ber and October with no special difficul­ You will be interested, and per­ ties except for restoring a few words and haps surprised, to learn that by a phrases that the editor had changed and unanimous vote some twenty of our correcting a few persistent errors. The department heads chose BROADAX index, too, I was able to produce quickly AND BAYONET as the best tide in the long list I submitted in staff meeting one day. They all felt, as I " The book was reprinted in paperback by the University of Nebraska Press in 1967 and again in do, that it has more sales appeal 1995, the second time with an introduction by Ed­ than any of the rest, that it epito­ ward M. Coffman, the distinguished military histo­ mizes neatly two functions of the rian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

378 PRUCHA: LIVIA APPEL enough. Appel had sent me some in­ informal and friendly than I would have structions about making an index—an­ imagined. The one clear picture that I other example of her providing basic have retained is that she perpetually had principles for my work: "I think the index a cigarette hanging from the corner of will give you no difficulty if you will her mouth. But I also remember that she remember just one thing: that a good made me feel that we were kindred souls index is in a sense a complete reorgani­ in discussing at length the problems we zation of the text from a different point had solved together in revising my dis­ of view and often with quite different sertation. terminology than you have used in the In August Appel resigned her posi­ text. One must always remember that a tion at the Society and in early October large number of its users will not have moved to New York City. Clifford Lord read the book and will have no idea what paid her this tribute in his column the special terminology of the subject ("Smoke Rings") in the pages of the is." She told me to take my time and not Wisconsin Magazine of History: "She has worry about length, for there would be created the most distinguished shelf of plenty of room. Appel was satisfied with publications ever to appear over the what I submitted, although she cut out Society's imprimatur in a comparable entries that she did not think useful. period. This is her lasting monument to With great joy and satisfaction, I re­ eight years of distinguished service. . . . ceived copies of the published book in Her rare capacities as editor and typog­ mid-January 1953, just a month short of rapher have been given to the Society three years after I had sent Clifford Lord without stint and without regard to the the dissertation. I thought it was an at­ hours required by the task of improving tractive volume, with its colorful endpa­ in every possible way each manuscript to pers, its well-chosen typography, its dark come before her. Each has left her desk blue binding and striking dust jacket. a better book for her painstaking efforts Appel and I had never discussed the and rare talents."'' book's design, and I learned only later As soon as I had returned to the semi­ that she was the designer of the Society's nary after my meeting with Appel injune, books as well as their editor.'* I wrote to her about an idea that had been on my mind for some time and was now reinvigorated by our visit. I urged MET Livia Appel personally only once, her to write up her principles and tech­ I at the end of June 1956, when I was niques in editing historical writing, in able to spend a short time in Wisconsin. order to pass on and perpetuate the skills My memory of that meeting after so many she had developed. I referred again to years is now dim. I do not remember just what my expectations had been in re­ gard to Appel's personality and appear­ ance—after all, our long correspondence '' Wisconsin Magazine of History, 40:11 (Autumn, had been very professional and all busi­ 1956). See also Lord to Appel, September 27,1956. In ness. What I found was a woman less October 1953 the Society's Board of Curators voted precise in dress and demeanor, more Appel the "second of our very rarely given Special Service Awards," to be formally presented at the annual meeting injune 1957. (Lord to Appel, Octo­ ber 18, 1956; State Historical Society ofWisconsin, ^ It is worth noting, perhaps, that the list price of Proceedings, 1956-1957, p. 11.) The Lord letters cited this handsome clothbound volume was a mere four here are in the Society's files. Series 934, Administra­ dollars. tive, General Correspondence, 1956, box 188, folder 1.

379 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SUMMER, 1996 her correspondence with me about 1962. "Now," she concluded, "I suppose Broadax and Bayonet, in which she had I am more or less permanently retired; set forth in pithy form such clear ob­ at any rate, the spirit moves much more jectives and had detailed so sharply sluggishly." She died in New York in the kinds of errors to be avoided. "Now January 1973.'« if you could distill some more of that wisdom in a small pamphlet," I wrote, "I'm sure that it would be received Y encounter with Livia Appel at the enthusiastically.""' M beginning of my career as a histo­ Just before she left for New York I got rian was a never-to-be-forgotten experi­ her response. She admitted thatforyears ence. Through it all, I gained an undying she had assembled notes for a booklet respect for the Society and gratitude for of the sort I had suggested, but she had what it did for me, through its director, concluded that there were too many Clifford Lord, who supported the project fields of writing, each with its own prob­ from the start and, most of all, of course, lems, and to cover everything in a single through Appel. Her patience was no volume would result in a large book, for doubt sorely tried as I struggled to make which she was not sure that there would my own the lessons she was imparting. be a market. "You would be surprised," In the end, I think I was an apt pupil, she lamented, "how slowly my little and I began to feel that she understood manual on bibliographical citation moves how much I valued what I was slowly at seventy-five cents a copy, despite the learning. After Broadax and Bayonet I fact that it's virtually the only thing avail­ was able to stand on my own, and, though able that is at all comprehensive."'" I tangled a few times with later Since there was no likelihood that copyeditors, the manuscripts I submit­ Appel would change her mind, I eventu­ ted for publication all bespoke my ap­ ally produced a small booklet of my own prenticeship under Appel. Even she for students, which I called a Guide for could not make me a great stylist, but it Term Paper Writers (1962). A second edi­ is remarkable how far I have been car­ tion with a new title. Research Papers in ried by the principles of good writing History, was published in 1973 and a and the practical skills she taught me. W third edition in 1987. The booklet con­ tains a good deal of what I had learned from Appel and thus has transmitted "' Prucha to Appel,June 29, 1956, Prucha Papers, some of her precepts to new genera­ General Correspondence. tions of students. '' Appel lo Prucha, October 6, 1956, ibid. '"Appel to Prucha, December 18, 1964, ibid.The Appel and I last exchanged corre­ date of death is taken from EamilySearch, U.S. Social spondence in December 1964. I had Security Death Index, CD-ROM, second edition (Salt written to tell her that I had met Tom Lake City, 1994). I have not located an obituary. Vaughan, her former assistant, and in a very gracious hand-written note she re­ plied, "I find it very gratifying indeed In 1992, Father Prucha retired from the faculty that you still find useful the correspon­ of Marquette University where he had taught dence we exchanged when Broadax was since 1960. He served on the Society's Board of in press; it makes it all seem eminently Curators from 1972 to 1978. In 1986 the Wiscon­ worth while—even beyond the scope of sin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters elected the problems connected with that par­ Father Prucha one of its Fellows, and in 1994 ticular work." She told me that she had the Wisconsin Library Association designated done freelance editing part-time until him a Notable Wisconsin Author.

380 STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN RESOLUTION

The Board of C]urators of the State Historical Society ofWisconsin, on behalf of its staff and membership, extends to

LESLIE H. FISHEL, jr. its heartfelt thanks for his ten years' distinguished service as Director of the Society, and his renewed contributions since his return to Madison, in the course of which he has helped to change the ways in which the people ofWisconsin view themselves, their institutions, and their richly varied past.

As Director of the Society, Les Fishel was involved in the conception and birthing of numerous historical projects whose value and significance continue to this day. They include Old World Wisconsin, the Society's premier historical site; the Social Action Collections with their superb documentation of the civil rights struggle of the I960's; the continuing development of the Mass Communications History Center; the launching of the Society's six-volume History of Wisconsin; and, not least, the recruitment and sagacious management of a talented staff.

A native of Long Island and Navy veteran of World War II, Les Fishel graduated from Oberlin College in 1943 and earned his Ph.D. in history from Harvard in 1954. Before coming to the Society in 1959, he had taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later at Oberlin, where he was also alumni director. In 1969, following his tenure as Director of the State Historical Society ofWisconsin, he departed Madison for Tiffin, Ohio, where he assumed the presidency of Heidelberg College. In 1980 he left Heidelberg to take up the directorship of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio, a position which also enabled him to teach history at Bowling Green State University. He retired in 1989, returning with his wife Barbara to Madison.

Throughout his teaching and administrative career, Les remained an active scholar, especially in the area of African-American history. His pioneering article "The Negro in the New Deal Era" (1965) is still used in history courses nationally. His two recent articles on black suffrage and civil rights in Wisconsin, and his recent study of Daniel S. Durrie, made important contributions to our state's historiography. All were published in the Society'sjournal, the Wisconsin Magazine of History. Today, in what can only nominally be termed retirement, he continues to explore and to draw intellectual sustenance from the bounty preserved in the institution he so ably administered.

The Board of Curators, therefore, does honor to itself and to the discipline of history by conferring upon this scholar, gentleman, and friend the distinguished title

HONORARY FELLOW OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN to be held by him for life, in recognition of his long service and manifold contributions to the Society, to the State ofWisconsin, and to public understand­ ing of America's past.

Approved by the Board of Curators February, 1996, at Madison 381 The Staff of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin

Executive Office William C. Marten H. Nicholas Muller III, Director Gail Martinsen Robert B. Thomasgard, Jr., Associate Carolyn J. Mattern Director Harold L. Miller Delores C. Ducklow, Administrative Richard Pifer Secretary Scott C. Portman Donna J. Sereda Administrative Services Tim Spindler Eugene L. Spindler, Controller Jennifer E. White Carol Benson Myrna T. Williamson Lisa Boshers Donna J. Burgette Development and State Relations Thomas Coyle Betsy Torrison, Director Marvin J. Duckert Deirdre Ann Croal Errol Erstad Robert G. Granfiaten Mary J. Foote Linda Kelly Historic Preservation John M. Lohrentz Jeff Dean, State Historic Preservation Officer Jacqueline M. McArthur Donna Amacher Shaunna Murray Sherman Banker Richard Newman Richard Bernstein Pamela Ninmann Robert Birmingham Steven Patterson Laura K. Borman Lora M. Schwenn John H. Broihahn Eddie Seamonson Chip Harry Brown B.James Tschudy DavidJ. Cooper Debra Sargent Cravens Archives Joseph DeRose Peter Gottlieb, State Archivist Richard W. Dexter Karen J. Baumann Jim Draeger David Benjamin Daniel Duchrow Nicolette B. Bromberg Geoffrey Gyrisco Robin R. Carlson Diane Holliday Susan D'Entremont Kathryn A. Long Susan E. Davis Sarah McBride Maxine Fleckner Ducey Brian McCormick Virginia Fritzsch Marie North Susan Ginter Larry A. Reed Ellen Goldlust-Gingrich James A. Sewell Sharlene Grant Dee A. Grimsrud History Services Charmaine M. Harbort Michael E. Stevens, State Historian Paul H. Hass Matt Blessing Paul Hedges Margaret T. Dwyer John O. Holzhueter Deborah Kmetz Deborah T.Johnson Bobbie Malone Helmut Knies Thomas R. McKay Cynthia Knight Constance H. Meier Andrew Kraushaar Judy Patenaude

382 Historic Sites Rosanna M. O'Connor David L. Pamperin, Administrator Susan G. Peters Ronald Biskobing Cynthia M. Reynolds Steven Cotherman Jane Richard Donna R. Day Sam Rowe Mary Antoine de Julio Christine F. W. Rurup Michael P. Douglass Marjut A. Salo-Cravens Tamara Funk Kendall H. Stern Susan Galkowski Geraldine D. Strey Lyle C. Kienitz Lloyd F. Velicer Mark H. Knipping Phyllis L. Young Robert J. Kubicek Michelle M. Ziegler Gerard P. Mariflce Judy Meyerdierks Management Support Services Raymond Olson Dotti A. Krieger, Administrator Ellen Penwell Michael Blair Martin C. Perkins Debbie Dutcher John W. Reilly Michael Harper Kathleen M. Reilly Carolyn J. Matney Richard E. Riddle Sandra Nelson Allen Schroeder Peter Oemichen Jeffrey Schultz Janice Quinlan David Seligman Robert F. Syvrud Margaret Vetare Kenneth N. White Museum Sally A. C. Wood William Crowley, Administrator Thomas A. Woods William M. Bailey Bryan E. Zaeske Leslie Bellais Paul G. Bourcier Library Monica C. Brei J. Kevin Graffagnino, Director Andrea S. Christofferson Loraine P. Adkins Consuelo Contreras Alice M. Alderman Carolyn L. Croy Lori Bessler Ken Dickerson James D. Buckett David B. Driscoll Ellen Burke Kathryn C. Egan Jonathan D. Cooper Leslie E. Eisenberg Carol Crossan Kelly E. Hamilton James P. Danky Nancy Buck Hoffman David Dodd Adele Karolik SusanJ. Dorst Douglas Kendall Michael Edmonds Jennifer Kolb John A. Friend Cheryl Korth Gail Gibson-Ranallo David Mandel Maureen Hady Rosanne Meer James L. Hansen Kori Oberle Laura Hemming Bonnie Riek Lindajoranger Wendy Rodriquez Margery Katz Scott Roller Sarah McCord Denise Wiggins Janet Monk David Wooley Charlotte M. Mullen 383 Patrons DR. DEAN M. CONNORS MRS. K. W.JACOBS,JR. Mineral Point Hartford DR, .\ND MRS. RIC,H,\RD CURRENT MR. THOMAS M. JEFFRES II South Natick, Mas.sachusetts Janesville MR. JOSEPH M. DEROSA MISS RUTH DEYOUNG KOHEER Wauwatosa Kohler MRS. GERALDINE N. DRESCOLL MR. AND MRS. IRVIN S.-VIHER Winneconne New Richmond DR. ROBERT H. IRRMANN Mr. AND MRS. DAVID STUCKI Madison Madison

Felloivs RICHARD N. CURRENT ROBERT C. NESBIT Massachu-setts Washington LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR. WILLIAM F. THOMPSON Madison Madison

Curators Emeritus E. D.,\\'ID CRONON HOWARD W. MEAD Madison Madison J.ANET S. HARTZELL ROBERT B. L. MURPHY Grantsburg Middleton NATHAN S. HEFEERNAN PHYLLIS C. SMYEHE Madison Milwaukee ROBERT H. IRRMANN ROBERT S. ZIGMAN Madison Mequon HELEN E.JONES Fort Atkinson

Life Members DR. EDWARD P. ALEXANDER MR. ROY C. LA Bi DDE MR. J. R. A,M..\CKER MR. ALFRED A. LAI N III MISS E,MMEI,INE ANDRUSKEX'ICZ MR.JOHN I. LAUN MISS HELEN C. ANDRLSKEVICZ MR. M,\RVIN MAASGH MR. DENNIS ANTONIE DR. EUGENE I. MAJEROWICZ Ms. M.^RION KUEHL AI'PI,E(;,ATE MR. C. L. MARQUETTE Ms. POLLY ATH,\N MRS, MARY C. MARTIN DR. AND MRS. 1R\ BALDWIN MR. AND MRS. DANIEL F. MGKEITHAN, MRS. LU(Y'ANN GRIEM BESS Ms. CONNIE MEIER MRS. J.ANE K. BILLINGS MRS. BESSIE MELAND MR. ROBERT E. BILLINGS MR. F. O. MINTZIJ\FF MR. AND MRS. OSCAR BOLD r MR. AND MRS. JOHN MURPHY MS. IRENE DANIELL BOSSE MR.JOHN T. MURPHY MR. PAUL L. BRENNER MR. AND MRS. ROBERT MLRPFP.' MR. LOUIS H. BURBEY DR. AND MRS. EUC;ENE NORDBY MR. THOMAS E. CAESTECKER MRS. LORETTA B. PECK MISS CHARLOTTE D. CHAPMAN MRS. A.J. PEEKE MRS. FRANCISJ. CONWAY MR. AND MRS. LLOYT) PETTIT MISS LOUISE H. ELSER MR. JOHN J. PHILIPPSEN MR. AND MRS. JOHN E. FORESTER MRS. JOHN W. POLLOCK MR. AND MRS. WALTER FRAUTSCHI MR. AND MRS. LEWIS SIBERZ DR. PAUU W. GATES MR. AND MRS. PHILIP SILLMAN MR. TERRY L. EtALUER MR.JOHN S. SKILTON MR. AND MRS. TOM HANSON MRS. GLAUS SPORCK MR. WILLIAM K. HARDING MR.JOHN STEINER MR. THOMAS E. HAYES MR. FRED J. STRONG MR. JOSEPH F. HEIL, SR. MRS. MILO K. SWANTON MR. GERALD E. HOLZMAN MRS. MILLIE TAIT MRS. PETER D. HUMLEKER, JR. MR. AND MRS. DUANE VETEER MR. VIR(;IL GEORGE JACK-SON MRS. WILLIAM D. VOGEL MS. CAROEY'N JOHNSON MR. W.ALTER L. VOGE MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM KAESER MR. WALFERJ. VOLLRATH MR. AND MRS. RASMUS B. A. EV\LNES MR. ,\ND MRS. ER,\NGIS W^ENDT DR. JOHN P. KAMINSKI .MR.JOHN WY-NGA-XRD MRS. HARVEY B. KREBS

384 THE BOARD OF CURATORS

THOMAS H. BARIAND RICHARD H. HOI-SGHER Eaii Claire Milwaukee JANICE BEAUDIN MRS. PETER D. HUMLEKER, JR. Madison Fond du Lac JANE B. BERNHARDT THOMAS MOUATJEFERIS II Cassville Janesville PAERICIA A. BO<;E RASMUS B. A. KALNES La Oosse Eagle DAVID E. CIARENBACH Rurii DEYOUNG KOHLER Madison Kohler GLENN R. CX)AIES SHARON L. LFAIR Racine Genesee Depot JOHN M. CO[)PER,JR. VIRGINIA R. MAGNEIE Madison Bayside NE,SS FEORES GEORGE H. MILLER Waukesha Ripen SIEPHENJ. FREESE JERRY PHIILIPS Dodgeville Bayfield PAUL C GARTZKE MARY C^ONNOR PIERCE Madison Wisconsin Rapids LYNNE G. GOLDSTEIN FRED A. RISSER Whitefish Bay Madison VIVIAN L. GUZNICZAK BRIAN D. RUDE Franklin Coon Valley OIARLES E. HAAS JOHN M. RU.S.SEEL La Oosse Menomonie BETTE M. HAYES MARY A. SAEIIER De Pere New Richmond FANNIE E. HICKLIN GERALD D. VISEE Madison Wausau

JENNIFER EAGER EHLE, President, Friends of the State Historical MARVEL ANDERSON, President of tlie Wisconsin Council for .Society of Wisconsin Local History RoGKNE G. FLOWERS, President of ihe Wiscormn History Foundation DAVIDJ. WARD, .Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs, University ofWisconsin System

Friends of the State HistoricalSociety ofWisconsin Officers JENNIFF:R EAGER EHEE, Evansville NAN(VJ. EMMERT, Madison President Treasurer LAWRENCE T. RIORDAN, Wausau NAN(^ B. AEEEN, West Bend President-Etect Past President MARGUERIEE OTTO, Racine DELORES C. DUCKLOW, Madison Vice-President Staff Liaison

Trustees RUTH WHITE ANDER.SON CHRIS KE:RWIN Edgerton Madison ALEEA BARMORE O. W. MARTIN, JR. Middleton Madison SHIRLEY BARIEEY KJ\THY L. RIORDAN Bloomington Wausau THEODORE E. CR/\BB MARK H. SURFUS Madison Manitowoc Jo GREENIIAEC;H GEORGE A. T.ALBOE II Madison Madison HARVA HACHTEN MICHAEL UIHLEIN Madison Odarburg BARBARA J. KAISER Madison THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY SHALL promote a wider appreciation of the American heritage with particular emphasis on the collection, advancement and dissemination of knowledge of the history of Wisconsin and the West. —Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 44