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Stargazers: Building the Washburn and Yerkes Observatories Life on the Fox River Locks
BOOK EXCERPT Something for Everyone Experience it for yourself: gettoknowwisconsin.org Wisconsin Historic Sites and Museums Old World Wisconsin—Eagle Black Point Estate—Lake Geneva \lM' Circus World—Baraboo Pendarvis—Mineral Point Wade House—Greenbush Stonefield—Cassville WISCONSIN Villa Louis—Prairie du Chien H. H. Bennett Studio—Wisconsin Dells HISTORICAL Madeline Island Museum—La Pointe First Capitol—Belmont SOCIETY Wisconsin Historical Museum—Madison Reed School—Neillsville Remember—Society members receive discounted admission. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY
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Division Administrator & State Historic Preservation Officer Michael E. Stevens Director, Wisconsin Historical Society Press Kathryn L. Borkowski Editor Jane M. de Broux Managing Editor Diane T. Drexler Research and Editorial Assistants Rachel Cordasco, Jesse Gant, Joel Heiman, John Nondorf, John Zimm Design Barry Roal Carlsen, University Communications and Marketing 2 Stargazers THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY (ISSN 0043-6534), published quarterly, is a benefit of membership in the Building the Washburn and Yerkes Wisconsin Historical Society. Observatories, 1870-1900
Full membership levels start at $45 for individuals and $65 for by Rachel S. Cordasco institutions. To join or for more information, visit our website at wisconsinhistory.org/membership or contact the Membership Office at 888-748-7479 or e-mail [email protected]. 16 History of the Fox River Locks The Wisconsin Magazine of History has been published quarterly and Reuben Gold Thwaites's since 1917 by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Copyright ©2013 by the State Historical Society ofWisconsin. Paddlingjourney, 1887 ISSN 0043-6534 (print) by Anne Biebel ISSN 1943-7366 (online) For permission to reuse text from the Wisconsin Magazine of History, (ISSN 0043-6534), please access www.copyright.com or contact the 28 Life on the Fox River Locks Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA, 01923,978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organizationthat by Christine Williams provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For permission to reuse photographs from the Wisconsin Magazine of History identified with WHi or WHS contact: Visual Materials Archivist, 38 Building a Community Among 816 State Street, Madison, Wl, 53706 or lisa.marine@wisconsinhistory. org. Early Arab Immigrants in Milwaukee, 1890s-1960s Wisconsin Magazine of History welcomes the submission of articles and image essays. Contributor guidelines can be found on the by Enaya Othman Wisconsin Historical Society website at www.wisconsinhistory.org/ wmh/contribute.asp.The Wisconsin Historical Society does not assume responsibility for statements made by contributors. 50 BOOK EXCERPT Contact Us: Something for Everyone Editorial: 608-264-6549 [email protected] Memories of Lauerman Brothers Membership/Change of Address: 608-264-6543 Department Store [email protected] by Michael Leannah Reference Desk/Archives: 608-264-6460 [email protected] Mail: 816 State Street, Madison, Wl 53706 54 William Best Hesseltine Award
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On the front cover: Aerial view of Yerkes Observatory OMATT MASON PHOTOGRAPHY
VOLUME 96, NUMBER 4 / SUMMER 2013 Building the Washburn and Yerkes Observatories, 1870-1900
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the Yerkes Observatory pier, amatei Sherburne Burnham, stands at the controls of the 40 inch refracto telescope. Burnham discovered several new pairs of double stars. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY
"The telescope may be likened to a wondrous Cyclopean eye, embued with superhuman . power, by which the astronomer extends the reach of his vision to the further heavens, and surveys galaxies and universes compared with which the solar system is JL but an atom floating in the air."1 — Edward Everett
At the Yerkes Observatory dedication ceremony in 1897 in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, astrophysicist and professor James Keeler told his distinguished audi ence that both astronomy and astrophysics "enable us better to understand the universe of which we form a part, and that they elevate the thoughts and ennoble the minds of men."2 While his audience of scientists, University of Chicago trustees, and inves tors must have believed this already, having supported the creation of the observatory, it was still important for Keeler to articulate this grand claim. After all, this was the golden (Above) The great spiral galaxy in Andromeda (M31, NGC 224) age of American telescopes and observato photographed with the 24-inch ries, when research universities across the reflector telescope of Yerkes Observatory over a four-hour country raised millions of dollars and lured exposure. away each others' top scientists to establish 3 (Middle) Sherburne Burnham, preeminent astronomy departments. It ca If
was time, scientists believed, for America to (Left) Distinguished catch up to Europe, and even surpass it, in astrophysicist, James Edward the observation and analysis of the heavenly Keeler, was speaker at the Yerkes dedication ceremony in 1897. bodies and the universe at large.
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astronomers and philanthropic businessmen at the end of the nineteenth century. While scientists Edward Holden and George Hale brought their visions of what the ideal observa tory should look like, magnates C. C. Washburn and Charles Tyson Yerkes supplied the capital and fame, and both universi ties and Wisconsin reaped the benefits.
Building the Washburn Observatory During much of the nineteenth century, American scien tists looked to Europe for the latest astronomical discoveries and innovations, since the former often lacked the necessary resources and institutional support necessary for carrying out their work. Nonetheless, scientists in America aspired to build telescopes and observatories that would rival those in Europe. Americans were particularly good at building large telescopes: the last half of the nineteenth century witnessed the construction of record-breaking instruments across the country, including the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC (26-inch objective lens, 1873), the Lick Observatory, Mount Hamilton, San Jose, California (36-inch lens, 1887), and the Yerkes Observatory (40-inch lens, 1897).5 In Wisconsin, the Washburn Observatory materialized with the support of former representative, governor, and Civil War general Cadwallader C. Washburn.6 As universities and colleges across the nation were expanding their scientific and research capabilities, the University of Wisconsin wanted to lead the way in innovation and exploration. Thus, in 1876, thanks to a legislative resolution, a professorship in astronomy Portrait of Cadwallader C. Washburn, Governor ofWisconsin, 1872- was created with the caveat that a patron would need to donate 1874. He financed the Washburn Observatory with funds from his an observatory in which the astronomer could work. Wash fortune made in the flour-milling industry. burn, a major backer of the legislation, provided the necessary funds, having made a fortune from his Hour-milling industry.' Wisconsin proved to be an ideal site for astronomical As the observatory's second director, Edward S. Holden, observations because of its clear, unobstructed skies. It was would write of Washburn years later, "[a]s long as the Obser also home to the prestigious University of Wisconsin and vatory which he founded shall stand, and shall continue to do neighbor of the University of Chicago, both important useful and faithful work, so long his name will be remembered institutions in the development of American higher educa among us all, and specially remembered by the students of our tion, professionalization, and scientific research at the end University, for whose benefit these instruments were placed."8 of the nineteenth century. During the last three decades of Construction began in May 1878, with the new observa the nineteenth century, the Washburn Observatory (Univer tory rising up from what is today called "Observatory Hill" sity of Wisconsin) and the Yerkes Observatory (University on the west side of the UW-Madison campus. This spot was of Chicago) rose up from the Wisconsin landscape as mate ideal, since it was far enough away from the town and campus rial symbols of an American scientific renaissance. Their and surrounded by woodlands, farmland, and orchards, one construction and dedications were followed closely by hundred feet above Lake Mendota. In keeping with the prac local and regional newspapers, which repeatedly reminded tice of luring away top scientists from other universities, the readers that they should be proud of their new observatories. University hired James Craig Watson, the director of the After all, the larger and more sophisticated telescopes housed Detroit Observatory at the University of Michigan, to be in those structures would enable astronomers to learn more Washburn's first director. Watson's claim to fame by the 1870s about the universe than ever before. This would distinguish was his discovery of over twenty asteroids. Wisconsin in the eyes of the nation and the world.4 Newspapers in Madison and Janesville carried the news These observatories would never have been built, however, of the observatory's construction from the beginning (often were it not for the important collaboration between academic on page one), informing readers about the project's genesis
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and the astronomers who would work there. These articles were usually upbeat and optimistic, singing the praises of the appointed director and the promise of future work as a way of boosting excitement about Wisconsin's research position in the nation. One Janesville Gazette article introduced James Watson as "one of the ablest astronomers in the country," and therefore "his conclusion to accept the position of professor of astronomy in our University is a fortunate thing for the State."9 The writer went on to praise the future observatory, claiming that "when completed . . . [it] will be one of the best in the land." Professor Waton's dedication to the construction of the observatory is apparent in a letter he wrote to Professor Hilgard of the National Academy of Sciences, apologizing for his absence at the Academy meeting in 1880: "I am still tied here in giving . . . supervision to work going on daily in connection with the erection & equipment of this observa tory. I am hoping today that it is nearly complete."10 Earlier
(Right) James C. Watson, Director of Washburn Observatory 1878- 1880. The University ofWisconsin lured Watson away from the Detroit Observatory at the University of Michigan.
(Below) Washburn Observatory from the dome of Main Hall on the University ofWisconsin Campus, 1894 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY
(Above) Washburn Observatory photographed through a special lens used by the University of Wisconsin Astronomy Department
(Right) Schematic drawing of the telescope at Washburn Observatory
wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY
A worker maneuvers a new mount for the telescope into the Washburn Observatory, undated
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that year, he had supervised an addition to the observatory, "consisting of a cross wing and connecting corridor to be situated at the East end of the Present Building according to Plans and Specifications prepared for the same by DR Jones Architect."11 A notice earlier that year declared that the Washburn Observatory, though not yet built, had already made a name for itself, having received international attention: "The first contribution to this institution yet to be built up comes from the Royal Observatory, Edinburh [sic], Scotland, in the shape (Above) Edward S. Holden, of the 'Fourteenth volume of the Edinburgh Astronomical Director of Washburn Observations.'... It is a magnificent volume, containing seven Observatory, 1881-1885. 12 He set aside certain nights hundred pages, with a number of cuts of rare scientific value." of each month for public Looking toward the future, the reporter hopefully noted that access to the observatory. "[t]he Washburn Observatory will sometime doutbless be able to return this distinguished compliment." (Top Right) Hand-colored lantern slide of Yerkes The Washburn Observatory was also to have a large Observatory, undated refracting telescope at a time when observatories around the country were vying with one another to build the largest one (Right) George Comstock, possible. Refracdng telescopes use a glass lens to collect and undated. Comstock, focus light, while reflecting telescopes use a glass or metal a Madison native and University of Michigan mirror to do the same thing. The advantage of a refractor graduate, took over as is that the aperture (opening) is completely unobstructed, 13 director of Washburn in allowing for images of the highest contrast and brightness. 1889. Washburn's refractor was to be built by the Alvan Clark and Sons company of Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was already well-known for its superbly crafted instruments. For a short while, Washburn's would be the fourth-largest refractor in the world, at 15 Vi inches (aperture) and 20 feet long. From the time the order was placed up to the instrument's completion, readers were updated on the telescope's progress. On December 27, 1878, thejanesville Gazette reported on the completed telescope's upcoming journey west to Wisconsin. Repeating the instrument's measurements, just in case readers
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Assistant astronomer, Oliver J. Lee, operates the Yerkes ' Observatory Rumford Spectroheliograph, 1926, George Ellery Hale invented the spectroheliograph in 1889 to study the sun's i prominences and surface features. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY hadn't remembered, the Gazette also engaged in the usual boasting, proclaiming that it was "larger than the famous one now in use at the Cambridge Observa tory."14 The contract price of $10,400 must have underscored the seriousness of the observatory project. By November 1880, the university was scrambling to find a new, and just as distinguished, observatory director after the unexpected death of Professor Watson. According to one report, the profes sor's "untimely death . . . was a severe loss, not only to the State, but to astro nomical science throughout the world."15 The Wisconsin State Journal dedicated a column to Watson's funeral service and the honors paid to him by the university. Onlookers flocked to watch the casket pass by, and, according to the reporter, "[t]he feeling among the spectators was one of profound sorrow, as they thought of the great loss which had been sustained not only by the afflicted family, but by the State ofWisconsin and the entire Northwest."16 The directorship was ultimately offered to Edward S. Holden, Professor of Mathematics with the US Navy at the National Observatory. Born in St. Louis in 1846, Holden had attended West Point in 1870, served briefly in the Fourth Artil lery, and went on to hold professorships in Natural and Experimental Philosophy and Practical Military Engineering at his Astronomer George Ellery Hale seated at his office desk in the "Monastery," the quarters alma mater." As director of the Wash of staff and visiting scientists at California's Mount Wilson Observatory. Hale approached burn Observatory during and after its Yerkes to finance what would be the largest telescope in the world. construction, Holden guided it toward becoming an effective teaching and research institution, The Washburn Observatory was ultimately opened overseeing its completion and starting the Publications of to the public for two nights per month and was visited by the Washburn Observatory, the University of Wisconsin's Wisconsinites interested in learning about the universe first research journal. around them. In 1881, the Janesville Daily Gazette notified When, in 1882, tributes were written about the observa its readers that Holden "wants the people ofWisconsin to see tory's namesake after Washburn died, Holden expressed his something of the Washburn Observatory, and to see some of admiration and respect for the philanthropist who had made the planets through a telescope," and thus "he has kindly set Wisconsin's first observatory possible. Looking back on the apart the first and third Wednesday nights of each month for work he had done so far, Holden explained, "I felt that the the reception of the public."19 An irritated reporter for the essential principles of what I was doing, or wished to do, were Milwaukee Sentinel, however, noted in 1882 that the obser plain to him, and that he sympathized with the methods of vatory "might as well have been located in the interior of a science fully. In looking over copies of my letters to him, I convent and be as accessible to the public as it is now."20 find that I wrote as I would to a man of science in a branch One of Holden's most gifted assistants during the obser different from my own."18 vatory's early years was Sherburne Wesley Burnham, who
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would go on to work at the Yerkes Observatory several years lens. As for the site of the new observatory, the selection later. While his appointment at Washburn only lasted five committee decided on Williams Bay, Wisconsin, on Lake months, Burnham, an amateur astronomer, contributed Geneva because of its clear observing conditions, conve greatly to the field by discovering several new pairs of double nience (for Chicagoans), and relative peacefulness (because stars (stars that appear close to one another in the sky).21 The of the many resort communities located there). Sherburne most common double stars are true binary systems, in which Burnham, formerly of Washburn, had suggested the spot the stars are gravitationally bound based on his own experience to one another. Burnham went on to observing the skies there.24 publish several volumes of observa- | The building itself was tions on double stars based on years g constructed in the form of a Latin of his own and observatory-spon- x cross, containing three domes and sored research. When his appoint- ° a meridian room23; the tower at ment at Washburn came to an end, s the western end of the structure, he reluctantly returned to his old I which would hold the massive tele job—that of court reporter. | scope, was over 90 feet in diameter. Ultimately, Holden left Wash- | The architect, Henry Ives Cobb, burn to become the president of the sj had adapted the plans for the University of California and then | Lick Observatory and the Astro- director of the Lick Observatory. As a physical Observatory in Potsdam, an astronomer, Holden had done § Germany.26 It would be built with < the important work of compiling and y brown Roman brick, embellished cataloguing the results of observers, with terra cotta ornaments, and and had built a strong staff of astrono house not just a massive telescope mers who pushed the bounds of astro but instruments and other materials nomical research. George Comstock, for photographic, optical, and other a Madison native and University associated work. of Michigan graduate, took over as The Yerkes Observatory was also director of Washburn in 1889 and Charles Yerkes undated unique because it was designed with guided it into the twentieth century. astrophysics—the "new astronomy"- in mind.2' By the end of the nineteenth century, astronomers The Yerkes Observatory and "the new astronomy" were becoming ever more ambitious, seeking, as Keeler claimed, While the Washburn observatory was born out of the desire "to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies rather than their of Wisconsin's leaders and citizens to enhance the state's positions or motions in space—what they are, rather than where reputation for scientific innovation and research, the Yerkes they are."28 Astrophysics allowed scientists to address a whole Observatory was conceived by noted astronomer and astro host of new questions, including the origin of the universe, plan physicist George Ellery Hale, with streetcar magnate Charles etary environments, and the effects of solar wind. Tyson Yerkes serving as "midwife."22 Construction of the observatory commenced in 1895, A solar astronomer, Hale had invented the spectrohe and by 1896, Hale was already planning a major dedica liograph in 1889 in order to study the sun's prominences tion ceremony to introduce the Yerkes Observatory to the and surface features, and he had gone on to make several country and the world. The ceremony, hosted by the obser further discoveries about the sun's properties. In 1892, Hale vatory's namesake, would include an astronomical congress, had approached Yerkes, the (in)famous businessman with a guests from around the world, and a banquet. But even request to help finance what would be the largest telescope before the dedication, Hale was inviting foreign astrono in the world and the observatory's main instrument. Yerkes mers to tour the rising structure. In September 1896, the at that time was still trying to live down his incarceration Chicago Daily Fribune described how a group of French in a Philadelphia prison for larceny in 1872. While he had and British astronomers was to inspect the observatory in its bounced back from the scandal and was once again building incomplete state and listed the American astronomers who a business, Yerkes must have believed that bestowing his would accompany them as guests of President Harper of the money and his name on such an important scientific struc University of Chicago (including George Hale and Edward ture would go a long way toward repairing his reputation.23 Emerson Barnard). The article further noted that the obser Once Yerkes agreed to Hale's proposal, the ever-popular vatory would be "ready for occupancy" by November 1, Alvan Clark and Sons began work on the 40-inch diameter 1897, and that "the lenses will not be shipped until the work
SUMMER 2013 13 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY on the structure and the placing of the telescopes has been When the conference began, the observatory was still completed."29 not quite finished, as it was missing one of its three domes. The delivery of the lens for the massive telescope was Despite that, the week was filled with celebratory talks, covered in the Chicago Daily Fribune as if it was a royal dinners, and presentations, and Bernard and Burnham, as cross-country procession. On May 19, 1897, the paper part of the distinguished new staff at the Yerkes, showed the provided a detailed discussion of how and when the lens visiting astronomers and other guests double stars through would arrive at the observatory. Once the lens was in place, the large telescope.33 The Chicago Daily Fribune devoted "Dr. Harper [would] act as host of a party of men who will much ink to covering the conference; one long and bold . . . take ... 'a peep through the completed telescope.' "30 headline read, "To Dedicate Big Lens. Formal Exercises of Transporting a large and delicate lens was not something the Yerkes Telescope Begin Today. Event Marks an Epoch in that could be left to chance, and thus "the glasses were laid Scientific Circles and Distinguished Professors and Investiga in large cases five feet square and one foot deep, and packed tors from Many Lands Will Be Present. . . ."36 Fhe Weekly about with curled hair. Then the covers were screwed down Wisconsin joined in the enthusiasm, proclaiming on its front and the boxes hoisted into the car, placed one on another, page, "A Giant Telescope. Formal Dedication of the Yerkes and tied together."31 The next day, the paper informed Observatory on Lake Geneva, Wis. Is The Pride Of Star- its readers that the lens had indeed arrived and that first Gazers. Largest Objective Glass in the World and Reveals "peep" would be taken later that day. It was also here that Hitherto Unseen Worlds."3' readers learned when they, too, might explore the obser This emphasis on the observatory ushering in a new vatory: "Director Hale stated today that the observatory scientific epoch that would advance astronomy and astro would be open to the public on alternate Friday afternoons physics demonstrates the optimism and pride felt in both and evenings, but the date of the first public opening has Illinois and Wisconsin, if not the entire nation. Readers not been determined." of the Fribune could even follow the conference proceed Writing to Yerkes after first using the new telescope, Hale ings from their armchairs, since the paper published the noted enthusiastically that "[s]uch objects as the ring nebula complete "Program for the Week," which included demon in Lyra, the great cluster in Hercules and the dumb-bell strations with the telescope, an address by director George nebula are shown in a surprising way. The brightness of these Hale, and a talk by Yerkes himself. Detailed accounts objects in the telescope is remarkable, and it is already clear of each day's proceedings appeared in the paper, with that no other instrument in the world will show nebulae32 in reporters assuming that readers would be interested in such so perfect a manner."33 things as "the principal features in the spectra of several of Finally, a date was set: the dedication ceremony was the fixed stars."38 to be held in August 1897, with much fanfare. And yet, a The Washburn Observatory was not forgotten amid the potentially catastrophic accident at the end of May threat excitement of the Yerkes dedication, for George Comstock ened to delay it. Just after two astronomers working in the arrived to discuss "work done there in measuring the paral unfinished building had left the dome on the evening of May laxes of certain stars and in studying the question of exis 29, a wooden floor broke loose from some cables that had tence of a lunar atmosphere."39 Not surprisingly, the giant supported it and crashed to the floor below. Apparently, the cables had not been securely fastened, and weakened joints had parted. If this accident had happened a few days or a few ABOUT THE AUTHOR hours earlier, certain astronomers and visitors to the obser vatory could have died. Luckily, no one was hurt, and while Rachel S. Cordasco earned her PhD in the telescope couldn't be used for months while the floor was literature from the University of Wiscon rebuilt, the lens had remained intact. sin-Madison in 2010. Her dissertation focused on opera in literature at the turn The dedication ceremony was rescheduled for the third of the twentieth century. Along with her week of October 1897. However, another, albeit relatively love of books, Rachel has always been minor, setback threatened Hale once more. Apparently, he fascinated by history and the people couldn't find a single astronomer willing or able to give the who shaped it. She enjoys writing about principal address. After being turned down by five men, Hale the arts and pursuing her own artwork, especially painting and wrote to his friend Keeler, alternately flattering and threat embroidery. While Rachel and her husband are originally East ening him, and ultimately telling him, "I positively forbid you Coasters, they are proud to call Madison, Wisconsin, their home. to refuse on pain of instant death."34 That clinched the deal.
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Yerkes telescope received much attention throughout that Howard White analyzes the movement in the context of American nationalism and ex pansion in "Natural Law and National Science: The 'Star of Empire' in Manifest Destiny week, symbolizing for many uncompromising human curi and the American Observatory Movement," Prospects 20 (1995): 119-60. osity and bold scientific achievement in an age that had 4. Smaller observatories built in Wisconsin around the turn of the twentieth century include the Beloit College Observatory and the Underwood Observatory at Lawrence witnessed so many revolutionary discoveries and inventions. College in Appleton. 5. Richard Staley, "Michelson and the Observatory: Physics and the Astronomical Com The Yerkes dedication also took place at time of great munity in Late Nineteenth-Century America." The Heavens on Earth: Observatories curiosity about the potential existence of life on other planets. and Astronomy in Nineteenth-Century Science and Culture, eds. David Aubin, Charlotte Bigg, and H. Otto Sibum (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2010), 225-253. Within the next few years, novels like H. G. Wells's Fhe War 6.1 have relied on the following two sources for overviews of the history of astronomy and of the Worlds (1898) and Fhe First Men in the Moon (1901) observatories in Wisconsin: "Wisconsin at the Frontiers of Astronomy" and "Washburn Observatory, 1878, A History" (1978) by Bob Bless: http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~varda/ would force humans to consider the Earth's place in rela Long_Wash_Obs_Text.html. tion to the rest of the solar system, galaxy, and universe. One 7. For more on Washburn, see Kerck Kclsey, "CO Washburn: The Evolution of a Flour Baron," Wisconsin Magazine of History 88 (Summer 2005): 38-51. reporter covering the Yerkes dedication inevitably noted that 8. Professor Edward S. Holden, Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume IX, 1882, "[w]e may expect that this telescope will add greatly to our page 360, http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whc/ present knowledge in many directions of effort, and ought 9. "The Wisconsin University," Janesville Gazette, October 30, 1878, 1. to be useful in solving several now varied problems, though 10. Letter from Professor James Watson to Professor Hilgard (National Academy of Sci ences, New York), November 15, 1880. Washburn Observatory records, UW Archives. it may not enable us to say whether the moon is inhabited, 11. Contract (construction of Washburn Observatory), Steenbock Memorial Library Ar 40 chives. still less the planet Mars." And yet, that desire to find out 12. Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, May 24, 1878, reprinted in Wisconsin State Register if humans were truly alone in the universe lingered behind May 25, 1878. 13. Almost all large refractors were made before the end of the nineteenth century, al such words. though small refractors with apertures of 50-110 mm continue to be popular for use by Despite all of the applause given to the telescope and amateurs. U.Janesville Gazette, December 27, 1878, 1. the astronomers who were making the Yerkes Observatory 15. "The Importance of Washburn's Observatory," Janesvillc Daily Gazette, June 11, a reality, loud praise was given to Charles T. Yerkes himself, 1881, 1. 16. "Last Honors. Paid by the University ofWisconsin to Its Deceased Astronomer," the man who had given money gained through terrestrial Wisconsin State Journal, November 24, 1880. Six days later, the Journal discussed the ? concerns to help advance the study of the stars. When Yerkes contents of Watson's will, specifically mentioning what was bequeathed to W atson's fam ily and to the National Academy of Sciences. was introduced to an audience eager to hear his speech, "his 17. Ibid. 18. "In Memoriam—Hon. Cadwallader C. Washburn, LL.D.," Wisconsin Historical Col reception was tumultuous. The audience . . . cheered and lections, Volume IX, 1882, 362. clapped their hands until the street car magnate blushed like 19. "The Importance of Washburn's Observatory." 41 20. Quoted in "Wisconsin at the Frontiers of Astronomy," 112. a bashful maiden." When he finally spoke, Yerkes told the 21. William Sheehan, The Immortal Fire Within: The Life and Work of Edward Emerson observatory staff, "I feel that in your attempts to pierce the Barnard (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 126. 22. See John Lankford and Ricky L. Slavings, American Astronomy: Community, Ca mysteries of the universe which are spread before you by our reers, and Power, 1859-1940 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997). great Creator, that the enthusiasm of your natures will carry 23. For more on Charles Yerkes, see John Franch, Robber Baron: The Life of Charles Ty son Yerkes (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2006). Novelist Theodore Dreiser wrote you to success." a fictional account of Yerkes' life and times in a trilogy: The Financier (1911), The Titan Both the Washburn and Yerkes observatories went on to (1914), and The Stoic (1945). 24. Susalla and Lattis, "Wisconsin at the Frontiers of Astronomy," 121-122. play major roles in the advancement of astrophysical knowl 25. A "meridian circle" is a telescope with an accurately calibrated circle which is con edge. Indeed, the Yerkes dedication inspired the U S's first strained to rotate in the plane of the meridian about an east-west horizontal axis. 26. Sheehan, Immortal Fire, 302. national astronomical society, the Astronomical and Astro- 27. Donald E. Osterbrock, James E. Keeler: Pioneer American Astrophysicist, and the Early Development of American Astrophysics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, physical Society of America, which held its first meeting 1984, 2002), 212-213. at the observatory in 1899. Because of the dedication and 28. From Professor Keeler's paper, "The Importance of Astrophysical Research and the Relation of Astrophysics to Other Physican Sciences," reprinted in "Given By Mr. Yer determination of scientists like Hale and Watson, and the kes." philanthropy of Washburn and Yerkes, Wisconsin has been 29. "Yerkes Observatory, To Be Inspected By Foreign Astronomers Today," Chicago Daily Tribune September 11, 1896. a home for more than a century to two of the nation's great 30. "Yerkes Lens in Chicago Today, Big Glass to Arrive at 7:35 a.m. and to Start for Wil observatories, which help us continually discover new things liams Bay at 8:30 O'Clock," Chicago Daily Tribune, May 19, 1897, 5. 31. "Yerkes Lens Reaches Observatory, Will Be Placed In Position at Once and the First about the galaxy we call home. Kl Peep Taken at the Stars Today," Chicago Daily Tribune May 20, 1897, 5. 32. A "nebula" is a cloud of gas and dust in space. The term was originally applied to any object with a fuzzy telescopic appearance, but with the advent of larger instruments, Notes many nebulae were found to consist of faint stars. 1. Edward Everett, The Uses of Astronomy (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1856), 33. Hale to Yerkes, May 31, 1897, quoted in Immortal Fire, 308. 17. 34. Osterbrock, Keeler, 223. The letter was written on September 4, 1897. 2. "Given By Mr. Yerkes. Railway Magnate Formally Presents the Telescope," Chicago 35. Ibid., 225. Daily Tribune October 22, 1897, 3. Professor Keeler's full address, "The Importance of 36. Chicago Daily Tribune October 18, 1897, 10. Astrophysical Research and the Relation of Astrophysics to Other Physical Sciences," is 37. The Weekly Wisconsin, October 23, 1897, 1. included in that article. 38. "Yerkes' Big Telescope," Chicago Daily Tribune October 19, 1897, 8. 3. See Peter Susalla and James Lattis's "Wisconsin at the Frontiers of Astronomy: A His 39. "Merit Of The New Lens," Chicago Daily Tribune October 20, 1897, 8. tory of Innovation and Exploration" (State ofWisconsin Blue Book, 2009) for an overview 40. Ibid. of the observatory movement in the U.S. and Wisconsin. Also see Stephen Brush's "Look 41. "Given By Mr. Yerkes." ing Up: The Rise of Astronomy in America," American Studies 20 (1979): 41-67. Craig
SUMMER 2013 15 Wisconsin's Historic Waterways jRetffaft <3P/Z?f(7%A>4/fati J-efferj'/reft? f£e-fax, JJS?
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Reuben Gold Thwaites rows the skiff Pilgrim on the Ohio River, May 4,1894.
Reuben GOld ThWaiteS (1858 1913), an American historian and State Histor ical Society ofWisconsin director from 1887—1913, enjoyed paddling the historic waterways of the upper Midwest and writing about his experiences. His narratives reflect a depth of knowledge concerning the early recorded history of the rivers and provide a vibrant primary source account of the places he visited. While paddling the historic Fox River in 1887, he experienced "locking-thru" the navigational system that had been installed in the 1850s and was in the process of being rebuilt. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY
Early History of the Fox River Waterway
From prehistory and into recorded times, the Fox-Wisconsin waterway has continuously served as an important trade, communication, and transportation corridor. Native Amer ican peoples navigated the river in small boats and portaged around its more perilous stretches. The first European explorer, Jean Nicolet, traveled the Fox River in 1634. Some forty years later, in 1673, Marquette and Joliet explored the length of the waterway from Green Bay to the Mississippi River. With the assistance of their Native American guides, they traveled southeast along the Lower Fox River to Lake Winnebago and from there along the Upper Fox River to a remote portage between the Upper Fox and Lower Wisconsin Rivers. The portage that connected the Fox River with the Wisconsin led to the Mississippi River, providing access to the northern and southern reaches of the North American continent. In the era of American settlement, in which Thwaites took a keen interest, the rivers were immediately recog nized as a significant transportation asset. Building a navigable waterway from Green Bay to the Mississippi River was first proposed in 1829 when the Michigan Territorial Legislature organized a company to dig a canal joining the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers at what the French called La Portage. Creating and main taining a canal through the swampy lowlands of the Upper Fox River required near-constant dredging. A good deal more effort was required to create a navigable waterway along the Lower Fox due to the substantial drop in elevation as the river travels northeast to Green Bay. An early plan suggested that towpaths be constructed around the rapids of the Lower Fox River. This early plan never was realized and was likely unrealistic due to the geography of the Lower Fox River and its long stretches of turbulent rapids.1 Efforts to finance the construction of the system continued for the next decade. In 1846, Green Bay entrepreneur and Wisconsin's terri torial delegate to Congress Morgan L. Martin sponsored a bill to provide a land grant for the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, with the state (not the federal government) assuming responsi bility for improvements. Failing that year, it was advanced again at the 1848 state constitutional conven Reuben GoldThwaites's Historic Waterways, published in 1888. tion, which Martin chaired. The terms were modified, with He presented a copy to the State Historical Society signed, the state financing the improvements through appropriations "The Author." against anticipated revenues. The measure was approved and, with Wisconsin statehood that same year, the new state legisla ture created the Board of Public Works to oversee the develop ment of navigational features on the Fox River.3
SUMMER 2013 17 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY
MAP OF THE FOX-WISCONSIN RIVERS to accompany THWAITES'S "HISTORIC WATERWAYS"
(Above) Map of the Fox River from Historic Waterways, 1888
(Right) Reuben GoldThwaites's handwritten i * WtfcJ a manuscript for Historic Waterways • £„ ?y "**• v^}., ; ** f^ezy^ ^ •4? By 1851, only one-third of the land grant had been sold, and although financing still remained uncertain, the Board of Public Works began »y^2^^f letting contracts to build the locks and canals. ****** **t Typical contract language specified that the locks were to be constructed of stone and timber, measuring approximately 160 feet in length by 18 wisconsinhistory.org I •! • 1 ' pmawaa i •H •au (Above) Steamboats docked in the hand-dug Portage canal. (Left) Dam on the Fox River at Buffalo Lake, 1895 SUMMER 2013 19 Bird's-eye view of Montello, 1883 of the canals to vessels with a draught of less than three feet. structed structures at Appleton Lock 1, Little Chute Lock Work began to increase the canals to a consistent depth of four 2, and Kaukauna Locks 2 and 4. Their journey, however, feet. However, ten years later, in 1866, the Fox and Wisconsin was before the COE built substantial lock tender residences Improvement Company filed for bankruptcy. Within months at a number of sites along the Lower Fox. As it turned out, its assets were purchased, and it was reorganized as the Green Thwaites and Turville would have appreciated the operators Bay and Mississippi Canal Company. The new company was being in closer proximity. more interested in developing water power along the Lower Earlier that year, Thwaites had been named the new Fox River than in operating the navigational features. The secretary of the Historical Society ofWisconsin. His steward Fox River locks and canals were turned over to the federal ship of that institution, from 1887 until his unexpected death government, as authorized by an act of Congress in 1870. The in 1913, was remarkable on a number of levels. Most signifi transfer was completed on October 28, 1872. cantly, Thwaites forged important relationships for the society After assuming management of the navigational system, within both state government and the University ofWisconsin. the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) completed another He set a course that did much to ensure the perpetuity of the survey on the condition of the locks and began a phased repair society, along with its high standards of academic excellence process. It began by rebuilding the stacked stone masonry and broad public accessibility. Thwaites also is known for his chambers using cut stone blocks and upgrading the wood and work as a scholar. His many publications, including transla iron mechanical elements with steel. Under the COE, mainte tions and summaries of French records in Fhe Jesuit Relations nance and reconstruction became an ongoing effort, with work and Allied Documents 1610 to 1791 and on topics ofWisconsin occurring constantly at some point along the waterway. The history, remain an important body of scholarship.6 Wisconsin River improvements had never been successful and It is not known if Thwaites intended to create a published were pretty much abandoned. The COE continued a process account of his trip, but the following year stories of his river of rebuilding and upgrading the Fox River navigational locks travels appeared in his book Historic Waterways.7 He cast his for the next several decades. narratives as a series of letters addressed to his wife and told of the places and people he encountered along the way. Thwaites Thwaites's Journey Down the Fox and Turville traveled in a canoe that was thirteen feet long In June 1887, Reuben Gold Thwaites embarked on a canoe with a three-and-a-half foot beam. In addition to providing a trip along the Fox River from Portage to Green Bay with unique and intimate perspective on the landscape, he wrote, his brother-in-law, Dr. William T Turville. The pair expe "[i]t was easily portaged, held two persons comfortably with rienced the waterway in transition and encountered recon seventy-five pounds of baggage and drew but five inches."8 20 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY Thwaites provided an overview of the itinerary he Thwaites related that when Marquette ascended the river in embarked upon with Turville, whom he refers to only as "the 1673, he too had found navigating the Upper Fox challenging. Doctor," Thwaites quoted the historic explorer, "The way is so cut up by marshes and little lakes that it is easy to go astray, especially The upper Fox is rather monotonous. The river twists and as the river is so covered with wild oats [wild rice] that you can turns through enormous widespreads, grown up with wild hardly discover the channel; hence, we had good need of our rice and flecked with water-fowl. These widespreads occa two guides."14 sionally free themselves of vege table growth and become lakes, like the Buffalo, the Puckawa, and the Poygan. . . . Lake Winnebago is a notable inland sea, and the canoeist feels fairly lost, in his little cockle shell, bobbing about over its great waves. The lower Fox runs between high, noble banks, and with frequent rapids, past Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, and other busy manufacturing cities, down to Green Bay, hoary with age and classic in her shanty ruins.9 Thwaites's first letter was written June 7, 1887, from Packwaukee: "It was 2:25 P.M. yesterday when the Doctor and I launched the old canoe upon the tan-colored water of the government canal at Portage, and pointed her nose in the direction of the historic Fox."10 Explaining that the railroad had supplanted the usefulness of the Fox-Wisconsin waterway, he described the Portage Canal as "fast relapsing into a costly relic. . . . [T]he locks are shaky and worm-eaten, and several moss- covered barges and a stranded old ruin of a steamboat turned out to grass tell a sad story of official aban donment."11 They passed the remnants of Fort Winnebago, which Thwaites characterized as a few battered sheds remaining near where the canal joins the Fox River.12 Thwaites wrote that, for a dozen or more miles beyond Portage, the serpen tine navigational canal appeared to have been "dredged out through the swamp like a big ditch.'"3 Traveling northeast and finding it difficult to maintain a course. Steamer Ellen Hardy at Prairie du Sac, undated SUMMER 2013 21 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY A Bend in the Historic Fox at Princeton, Wis. (Above) Princeton Brewery on a bend in the Fox River, ca. 1900 (Right) Locks at Berlin, undated From Packwaukee, Thwaites and Turville paddled the Thwaites wrote, "As we glided along her side, a safe distance seven-mile run down Buffalo Lake. When they arrived at from the great wheelbarrow paddle, she loomed above us, dark Montello, they encountered a navigational lock and small and awesome, like a whale overlooking a minnow." Thwaites dam. Not finding the keeper, they portaged the lock and trav commented that she bore a full load of wood, explaining that eled another four miles along the canal to the head of Lake the Chittenden and Ellen Hardy were the only large boats Puckawa, where a "government dredge-machine was at providing transport services on the Upper Fox above Berlin work, cutting out a water-way through the obstruction." They that season.1' encountered the stern-wheel freight steamer F. S. Chittenden After drifting part way down Lake Puckawa while enjoying at the mouth of the canal, headed in the opposite direction. a picnic, the pair stopped at the village of Marquette, once 22 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY the location of an important fur-trading camp and enjoyed as continued along the Upper Fox, soon passing the tumbled- favorite resort of the Winnebagoes. Following a night spent at down village of Butte des Morts. The pair crossed Lake Buttes a dilapidated little hotel, Thwaites and Turville set off again des Morts in high seas, and paddled another fifteen miles down the following morning. They encountered the Ellen Hardy at the Fox before arriving in Oshkosh. Venturing through the city the dock loading wheat to transport to Princeton.16 on their way to Lake Winnebago, they passed the sawmills and After some time lost in the swampy backwaters, Thwaites planing operations of Philetus Sawyer and the Paine Brothers: and Turville arrived at the Princeton Lock. They found the resident keeper to be "a remarkably round-shouldered Through the gantlet of the mills, with their outlying rafts, German," apparently very pleasant and fond of gossip and their lines of piling and great yards of newly sawn lumber, political commentary. Thwaites described the residence he we sped quickly on. A half-hour later, we were turning up shared with his wife as a "pleasant little brick structure in into a peaceful little dock along the south approach to the a plot of made land, the entire establishment having that St. Paul Railway-bridge, the canoe's quarters for the night.22 rather stiffly neat, ship-shape appearance peculiar to life- saving stations, navy-yards, and military barracks."17 As they Thwaites and Turville left Oshkosh the following morning, finished a meal alongside the "yawning stone basin of the traveled the length of Lake Winnebago, and arrived in Neenah. lock," the Ellen Hardy arrived. The lockkeeper set to his duty The Menasha Lock was closed, so they portaged across Doty's and the canoeists pulled in and maneuvered to the fore of the Island to Little Lake Butte des Morts and set off for Appleton. steamboat; Thwaites wrote of locking through with the Ellen Early in the day, north of Oshkosh along Lake Winnebago's Hardy: western shore, they encountered a heavy storm that required they pull ashore. After setting out again into the still-stormy lake, This was our first experience of the sort, so we were natu Thwaites and Turville "ran out well into the lower lake, and rally rather timid as we brushed her great paddle, going in, then on a port tack, had a fine run down to Doty's Island, which and stole along under her overhanging deck, for she quite divides the Lower Fox into two channels."23 Thwaites continued: filled the lock. The captain kindly allowed the liliputian to glide through in advance of his steamer, however, when the The city of Neenah, noted for its flouring and paper mills, gates were once more opened, and we felt, as we shot out, as is built upon both sides of the southern channel, or Neenah though we had emerged from under the belly of a monster.18 River; Menasha, with several factories, but apparently less prosperous than the other, guards the north channel,— Thwaites and Turville obliged the lockkeeper's request to ride the twin cities dividing the island between them. The along in the canoe to Princeton, three miles below, where they government lock is at Menasha, while at Neenah there is found the Ellen Hardy unloading its load of wheat. The two a fine water-power, with a fall of twelve or fifteen feet,— boats traveled in tandem the seven miles to the White River "Winnebago Rapids" of olden time.24 Lock. Following its lockage at White River, the Ellen Hardy steamed ahead.19 That evening they traveled another several miles northeast Thwaites's third letter, dated June 9, relates the adven through Little Lake Butte des Morts on their way to Appleton; tures of the previous day's travel from Berlin to Oshkosh. After they were wary of impending dusk because "[i]t will not do passing the ghost town of Sacramento, the men journeyed past to traverse these rivers after dark unless well acquainted with Eureka and traveled on to Omro, where again they encoun the currents, the snags, and the dams, for disaster may readily tered the Ellen Hardy.20 At this meeting, the good-humored overtake the unwary." Encountering Appleton at twilight, captain "leaned out of the pilot house window and pleasantly Thwaites and Turville witnessed the "outlines of the Appleton chaffed us about our lowly conveyance." paper-mills and a labyrinth of railway bridges, while the air fairly trembled with the mingled roar of water and of mighty The conversation ended by his offering to give us a "lift" gearing. Across the rapid stream shot piercing lights from the through the great Winneconne widespread, to the point window of the electric works, whose dynamos furnish light for where the Wolf joins the Fox, nine or ten miles below. . . . the town and power for the street railway."25 Of course we accepted the kindly offer, and fastening our After pulling ashore at the base of the Milwaukee and painter to a belay-ing pin on the "Ellen's" port, scrambled Northern Railway bridge and securing their canoe, they up to the freight-deck just as the pilot-bell rang "Forward!" walked across a railroad trestle to the far shore, climbed an 21 in the smoky little engine-room far aft. embankment, "and in a minute or two more were speeding up town to our hotel, aboard an electric street railway car."26 After several miles of taking in the view from the loft of Thwaites declared Appleton to be "a beautiful city,—the gem the Ellen Hardy, Thwaites and Turville disembarked and of the Lower Fox." He provided an overview of the geography SUMMER 2013 23 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY fiEaMtf. • • * M* t '•*'5- •^^^5^^^™^ a**»sBB (Left) View of the harbor atWaldwicon Lake Butte des Morts, 1910. (Below) View of Oshkosh from across the Fox River, ca. 1890 -*rtBbi*feB 4 ... uum . WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY River View, Menash*. Wis This stretch of the Fox River along Menasha provides a view of the paper mills, ca. 1910 of the Fox River Valley and praised its navigational and water explained, is the location of the "most formidable rapids on power improvements: the river, the fall being sixty feet, down an irregular series of jagged limestone stairs some half mile in extent." Before the There is a good natural water-power here, but the Fox- locks were installed, the French traders portaged their goods Wisconsin improvement has made it one of the finest in the over the falls and carried the empty boats, "the men walking world. . . . From Lake Winnebago, down to the mouth, the in the water by the side, pushing, hauling, and balancing."29 rapids are frequent, the chief being at Neenah, Appleton, Becoming impatient for a lockkeeper to arrive and operate Kaukauna, Little Kaukauna, and Depere. Of the twenty- the massive wooden gates and large metal valves of the first six locks from Portage down, seventeen are below our Kaukauna lock, the pair contemplated a run down the falls stopping-point of last night; the fall at each, at this stage of in the little canoe. Thwaites went exploring, only to conclude, the water being about twelve feet on average. Each of these "Whatever may be the condition of falls in Kaukauna in high locks involves a dam; and when the stream is thus stemmed water, it is certain that at this stage a canoe would be dashed and all repairs maintained, at the expense of the general to splinters. . . ."30 He lamented that lock tenders had been government, it is a simple matter to . . . have water power inconspicuous for much of the trip, stating: ad libitum.27 ... we determined to maintain the rights of free naviga While Thwaites expressed his admiration for the water power tors by obliging the tenders to put us through the five great and navigational improvements, he also offered that "it was locks, which are here necessary to lower vessels from the no holiday excursion to portage around the Appleton locks upper to the lower level. ... As I have said in one of my this morning. At none of them could we find the tenders, for previous letters, even a saw-log has a right of way; and the Menasha lock being broken, there is no through naviga government paid a goodly sum to the speculators from tion from Oshkosh to Green Bay this week, and traffic is slight. whom it purchased this improvement, that free tollage We had neglected to furnish ourselves with a tin horn, and the might be established here for all time. And so it was that, vigorous use of lung power failed to achieve the desired result."28 perhaps soured a little by our Appleton experience, we Once past the four Appleton locks, Thwaites and Turville determined at last to test the matter and assert the privileges set out toward Kaukauna, known as Grand Kackalin to of American citizens on a national highway31 early French traders. The Fox River at Kaukauna, Thwaites SUMMER 2013 25 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY Finally, Barney the lock tender arrived. Thwaites described and we felt that the cigars which we distributed along the him as a "stalwart Irishman" with an "air of dogged indif Kaukauna Canal were not illy [sic] bestowed.33 ference." Barney, to the delight of the children who had gathered, was adamant that he would not operate the first Thwaites's final letter was written in Green Bay on June 13. He Kaukauna lock for such a small boat.32 He acquiesced after and Turville had been dropped through at Little Kaukauna at an exchange with Turville, who threatened to report him about nine o'clock that morning. Traveling another five miles, to the Corps of. Engineers. Following their lock through, Thwaites and Turville arrived at De Pere. Thwaites described Thwaites reported, the historical importance of the location: "From the earliest period recorded by the French explorers, there was a polyglot ... we left Barney a cigar on the curbing. ... As we pushed Indian settlement upon the portage-trail, and in December, off he bade us an affectionate farewell, and said he had sent 1669, the Jesuit missionary Allouez established St. Francis his "lad" ahead to see we had no trouble at the four lower Xavier mission here, the locality being henceforth styled locks; . . . the other tenders were prompt and courteous, "Rapides des Peres."34 He went on to tell the closing story of his river voyage: WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY Unable to find the tender at this last lock on our course, we Clurg and Company, 1888). The book was reproduced in several subsequent editions, includ ing editions in 1902, 1907, and 1910. Versions of the book are available online. portaged after the manner of old-time canoeists, and set out 2. The terms of the Treaty of the Cedars are explained in Wisconsin Official Historical upon the home stretch of six miles. Green Bay, upon the Marker Number 77, which was placed near Little Chute in 1958: "... Under the treaty the Menominee Indian nation ceded to the United States about 4,000,000 acres of land eastern bank and Fort Howard upon the western, were well for $700,000 (about 17 cents per acre). The new area now contains the cities of Marinette, Oconto, Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Oshkosh, Wausau, Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, in view; and, it being not past two o'clock in the afternoon and many others. . , ." of a cool and somewhat cloudy day, we allowed the current 3. Vogel, et al., Lower Fox Corridor Study, 70; Mermin, The Fox-Wisconsin Rivers Improve ment, 19-28. to be our chief propeller, only now and then using paddles 4. "Annual Report to the Board of Public Works of the State ofWisconsin," Madison, 1852, 35 to keep our bark well in the main current. 9-10; Vogel, et al., Lower Fox Corridor Study, 84. 5. John N. Vogel, PhD, National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), Multiple Property Documentation Form 10-900b, "Waterway Resources of the Lower Fox River, 1850-1941," The canoe journey ended at four o'clock in the afternoon, (Approved 1993), Section E, p. 42. The nomination cites relevant articles as having appeared in the Milwaukee Sentinel on September 17, 1853, October 10, 1853, December 17, 1853, when Thwaites and Turville "pushed into a canal in front of and February 8, 1854. the old Fort Howard railway depot, and had an hour later had 6. The term "secretary" used to describe Thwaites's professional role in this context is com parable to director. For biographical information on Thwaites in addition to a bibliography crossed the bridge and were registered at a Green Bay hotel." of his writings, see Frederick Jackson Turner, Rueben Gold Thwaites, A Memorial Address (Madison: State Historical Society ofWisconsin, 1913). Thwaites edited, transcribed, and as While Turville would be leaving the next day to "resume sembled French records across seventy-three volumes in Reuben Gold Thwaites, The Jesuit the humdrum of his hospital life," Thwaites indicated that Relations and Allied Documents: Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France, 1610-1791; The Original French, Latin and Italian Texts, with English Translations he would "remain here for a week, reposing in the shades of and Notes (Cleveland: Burrows Brothers Company, 1896). 36 antiquity." 7. Rueben Gold Thwaites, Historic Waterways: Six Hundred Miles of Canoeing Down the Rock, Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1888). Thwaites's letters provide descriptive and anecdotal mate 8. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, 15-16. rial informed by a unique historical perspective. This was the 9. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, 22-23. 10. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "The Fox River (of Green Bay), First Letter, Smith's Island, first of many such voyages for Thwaites, who was passionate Packwaukee, Wis., June 7, 1887," 143. about following the long-vanished wake of earlier travelers 11. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "First Letter," 144. The Wisconsin River improvements had never been considered successful and were abandoned by the mid- 1880s. to the region. His account of his travels on the Fox River in 12. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "First Letter," 144-145. 1887 provides a portrait of the area that is nearly as realistic 13. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "First Letter," 146. 14. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "First Letter," 157. as an early plate-glass photograph, while also imparting the 15. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Second Letter, From Packwaukee to Berlin, Berlin, Wis., relaxed sensibilities of someone finding peace, recreation, and June 8, 1887," 164. The Ellen Hardy was built in Faxon, Minnesota, in 1867, with Saint Paul as its first home port. By 1870, the stern-wheeler was in Wisconsin, working the Wisconsin companionship in nature. WS River between Prairie du Chien and Portage. By the 1880s, the Ellen Hardy had assumed a prominent presence on the Upper Fox River. The boat was abandoned by its owners, M. H. Keyser and Company of Prairie du Sac, in 1888. The T. S. Chittenden was built in Packwau Notes kee in 1872; originally it was named the Bismark. It also was abandoned in 1888, although 1. Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) WI-83, "Fox River Waterway, Extending some of its machinery was salvaged and reused in the steamer Lcander Choate, which oper from Menasha to Dc Pere, to Green Bay, Kaukauna, Outagamie County" (Denver, CO: ated in the Oshkosh area. National Park Service, 1995), 6; John N. Vogel, PhD, et al., Lower Fox Corridor Study (Me 16. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Second Letter," 166-168. nasha, Wl: East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, 1992), 62; Samuel Mer- 17. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Second Letter," 169. min, The Fox-Wisconsin Rivers Improvement: An Historical Study in Legal Institutions and 18. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Second Letter," 170. Political Economy (Madison: Board of Regents of the University ofWisconsin, 1968), 2. The 19. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Second Letter," 172. general source for the early history of the navigational system is a series of reports completed 20. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Third Letter, The Mascoutins, Oshkosh, Wis., June 9, by Cornerstone Preservation, LLC, in collaboration with Oshkosh contractor C. R. Meyer. 1887," 177-178. They were developed as a part of the lock restoration projects undertaken by the Fox River 21. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Third Letter," 179. Navigational System Authority (FRNSA) between 2006 and 2012. The documentation is filed 22. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Third Letter," 186. with the FRNSA and the Wisconsin Historical Society State Historic Preservation Office. 23. Historic Waterways, "Fourth Letter, The Land of the Winnebagoes, Appleton, Wis., June This essay also borrows extensively from Rueben Gold Thwaites, Historic Waterways: Six 10, 1887," 195. Hundred Allies of Canoeing Down the Rock, Fox, and Wisconsin Rivers (Chicago: A. C. Mc- 24. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fourth Letter," 195-196. 25. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fourth Letter," 203. 26. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fourth Letter," 203-204. The use of hydroelectricity had been a recent development in Appleton. With hardware supplied by the Edison Company, Henry J. Rogers's plant began supplying electricity in 1882. Making use of this inexpensive ABOUT THE AUTHOR power, the Appleton Electric Street Railway Company began operation on August 16, 1886. Appleton frequently is cited as the first city in the West to operate an electric street railway. Anne Biebel's essay is partly based on 27. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fifth Letter, Locked Through, Little Kaukauna, Wis., project work completed with C. R. Meyer June 11, 1887," 206-207. of Oshkosh for the Fox River Navigational 28. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fifth Letter," 207. 29. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fifth Letter," 207-208. System Authority (FRNSA). Her firm, Cor 30. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fifth Letter," 208-209. nerstone Preservation, participated in 31. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fifth Letter," 209. the restoration of the historic naviga 32. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fifth Letter," 210. 33. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Fifth Letter," 212-213. tional locks in Appleton, Little Chute, 34. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Sixth Letter, "Sixth Letter, The Bay Settlement, Green and Kaukauna. Cornerstone Preservation also recently worked Bay, Wis., June 13, 1887," 228-229. The date Thwaites provided is inconsistent with other sources that date the mission to the winter of 1671-1672 (marking the completion of the first with the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway (FWHP) in the devel structure). However, the official parish history written in 1878 by Father William De Kelver opment of an Interpretive Master Plan. In that effort, Thwaites's indicates that on December 3, 1668, "Father Claudius Allouez on the festival of St. Francis Xavier said the first Mass and called the mission by its present name." Thwaites likely used travel narratives emerged as a rich primary source document that a different milestone for the establishment of the mission. See: "History of St. Francis Xavier beautifully captured the essence of the Fox River at a very specific Parish," accessed March 10, 2013, http://www.stfrancisdepere.org/parHist/index.php. moment in time. 35. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Sixth Letter," 229. 36. Thwaites, Historic Waterways, "Sixth Letter," 234. SUMMER 2013 27 Life on the Fox River Locks BY CHRISTINE WltLIAMS l"1ffi I - . € . .ppleton Lock 4 fromTelulah Park, ca. 1950 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY The Alden Sauerbreit family of Princeton Lock on the lawn of the lock house across from unidentified fishermen, 1954. Pictured are Grace Sauerbreit with her four children: Veronica, Valerie, Karen, and Kurt. In 1948, her husband, Alden, had taken over as lockmaster when his father, George, retired after forty years. In 1962, Alden Sauerbreit and his family were transferred to the Menasha lock after the Army Corps of Engineers closed navigation on the Upper Fox. He replaced Menasha lockmaster Harry Wilson, who had drowned while breaking ice off a dam in Appleton. The 275-mile riVer System that includes the Fox and Lower Wisconsin Rivers extends from Green Bay to Prairie du Chien. Beginning in the 1820s, government and private interests began to view the route as a direct water highway to the West, but the strong current and rapids—particu larly on the Lower Fox—made boat traffic impossible. The solution was to build a series of dams, locks, and canals, bypassing the river's obstacles and allowing for safe navigation. Construction began in 1851, and over the course of three decades, twenty-six hand-operated locks were constructed on the 162-mile stretch between Portage and Green Bay. SUMMER 2013 29 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY (Above) Lock locations included in the article are identified on the map. (Left) Sisters Marcia and Dona Clark at the Eureka lock, ca. 1935.The family fished for walleye, white bass, and large Mississippi bullheads in the Fox River. JAeurcv*- 30 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY (Left) Eureka lockmaster Sherman Clark, ca. 1922. He began working as a lock tender at Little Kaukauna under the supervision of his father, Leslie Clark. When he arrived in Eureka, the villagers placed wagers the young bachelor wouldn't last two years. He stayed thirty. (Below) George Allanson Sr., lockmaster at Menasha, turns the lock's hand-operated valves which are used to fill and drain the lock chamber to accommodate boat traffic on the river. The lock is at the confluence of the Fox River and Little Lake Butte des Morts. After George Sr.'s retirement in 1889, his son, George Jr., took over as lockmaster and served for forty-three years. The boy standing on lock gates is unidentified. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY y A three-masted schooner carrying a cargo of logs docked in Appleton's first lock, ca. 1885. In the distance, from left, are Appleton Paper and Pulp Company and Kimberly-Clark's Tioga, Vulcan, and Atlas paper mills. On September 30,1882, the Appleton Pulp and Paper Company, the Vulcan, and a nearby home became the first buildings in the nation to be lit by hydroelectricity using Edison's central power station. 32 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY To be "locked-through" boats travelled through a navi a boat capsized and was pinned against the Princeton dam. gational canal and entered the lock chamber. The large He watched as his father, Alden, and a fisherman rescued the wooden gates were closed by a lock tender who pushed the woman and her thirteen-year-old son who were clinging to long handles of a turnstile while walking twelve turns in a their boat. The woman's husband could not be saved, having circular path. Boats were lowered to the downstream river been pulled into the dam by its powerful undertow.4 level by the lock tender opening large valves, which quickly Despite the dangers, with the income and stability of a drained the chamber contents. Walking another twelve government job, it was not unusual for men to be employed revolutions on the handle opened the "low-side" gates by the COE for decades. The career frequently became and allowed the boats to head downstream. Reversing the a family vocation, with many sons who grew up on the process by filling the chamber would lift boats to the higher, lock assisting their fathers with tending duties. These sons upstream side of the lock. The locks are still operated in the acquired the necessary skills and expertise to follow in their same manner today. fathers' footsteps. An approaching barge or boat prompted service to Families adjusted to the unique life on the locks. The the locks with its whistle. To provide an around-the-clock Fox River was their backyard, and they had easy access to response, the US Corps of Engineers (COE) constructed boating, fishing, and swimming for summer recreation. In modest government houses adjacent to the locks where the winter there was ice fishing, skating, and sledding in the men, known as lockmasters, and their families could reside. A frozen canal. The river and its banks provided fish and turtles lockmaster's employment was year-round. He was in charge for food, and the families trapped minks and muskrats and of the operation and maintenance of his designated lock, sold their pelts for extra income. Some further supplemented dam, buildings, house, and grounds. Lock tenders, who were their income by taking in boarders. Some lockmaster's wives employed seasonally, reported to assigned lockmasters and did laundry for barge crews. worked alongside them during busy periods, covered shifts Family members came to know the pilots of the working outside the lockmaster's hours, and frequently tended other boats, barges, and tugs, as well as many passengers on steam locks as needed. boats and other recreational boats. Cy Wynboom, who was For a civilian employed by the COE, strict adherence to born in the Cedars lock house in 1937, recalls hitching rides policies and procedures was required. Logbooks documented on tugboats to travel downstream and visit his grandfather the name and type of every vessel that navigated the lock, its in Kaukauna. The camaraderie of the lock, dam, and bridge cargo and tonnage, destination, number of passengers, and tenders extended to their families, who often socialized lockage fees collected. To maintain the water flow needed to together.3 provide power to paper mills, utility companies, and other With increasing competition from railroads and high businesses, they checked the river levels daily. When directed ways plus barriers to navigation on the Wisconsin River, the by the COE office, the men manually adjusted their assigned locks on the Portage canal were permanently closed in 1951. dam's sluice gate chains that were only accessible from the The Upper Fox locks were closed within a decade. The final dam's dangerous walkway. In the winter months lockmasters blow to the system came in 1983 when Congress gave the used pike poles to chip ice free from the gates. John Rogers, COE authorization to abandon the Lower Fox locks, placing lockmaster of Kaukauna's fifth lock from 1906 to 1955, them in a "caretaker" status. recalled difficult days on the river: "[WJhen sleet covered the The families who resided in the lock houses between catwalk I crawled across on my hands and knees."1 Growing Menasha and De Pere were notified in September 1983 to up in the 1930s at Appleton's fourth lock, Ted Gerarden vacate by November.6 Several men took jobs at the Sault remembered "the cold, icy night I went with Dad out to open Sainte Marie lock. Some remained, working maintenance a sluice gate. He must have taken many a chance when we on the Fox River locks, while others retired. The empty were snug and dry in our beds and never a thought about the lockmaster's houses were shuttered, and so ended the long danger in his work."2 history of the men and their families who called these Lockmasters risked their lives to save boat passengers or houses ho^|e. fil others swept away by the strong river current, and several drowned doing their duty. In October 1916, Berlin's lock- Notes 1. Kaukauna Times, John Rogers's obituary. Died December 2, 1966. master, Joseph Demerath, attempted to save the life of a 2. Ted Gerarden, letter written to his siblings, March 23, 1984. government surveyor whose boat overturned while photo 3. "Double Drowning at Berlin Dam," Berlin Journal-Courant, October 24, 1916.4. 4. Kurt Sauerbreit, interview with author, February 24, 2013. graphing the dam. Demerath extended a pipe to the man. 5. Cy Wynboom, interview with author, March 9, 2011. When the surveyor grabbed hold; both men plunged into 6. "Family Members Told to Vacate Houses," De Pere Journal Dispatch, November 8, 1983. the churning water and drowned.3 Kurt Sauerbreit, now age sixty, painfully remembered the summer day in 1960 when SUMMER 2013 33 (Above) Dorothy de Young sits on the lock gates of Appleton Lock 4,1920. Her father was Charles de Young, who was employed as the lockmaster beginning in 1894. On August 13,1926, Charles was killed while manually operating the iron crank to open the lock doors for a tugboat. The crank recoiled, striking him in the stomach and knocking him into the river, where he was swept away by the strong current. (Left) Ted Gerarden, son of Patrick Gerarden, at Appleton Lock 4, ca. 1933. It was critical that lockmasters and their families teach children water safety and how to swim at a young age. At age fourteen, Ted saved the life of an eight-year-old boy after he fell off the lock wall. (Top Right) The Wittmann family on the Combined Locks lock house porch: Jacob (left), unidentified man, Harlan Wittmann (seated), Marie Reuter, Marie Wittmann (right). Harlan would become lockmaster after his father's retirement in 1945. Jacob and his wife. Fern, raised five children at the lock. (Right) Harlan Wittmann at the Combined Locks, Little Chute, 1946. Two locks are needed at this site due to the steep elevation change in this section of the Fox River. Also known as a step lock, the two locks are directly connected, one after the other, to accommodate the change in the river depth. When two locks are combined, there are only three sets of gates and valves because the middle set is shared between them. ^SKfKilsfH'^fSS:5^™; 34 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY US Corps of Engineers identification card from Combined Locks lockmaster Jacob Wittman. SUMMER 2013 35 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY IF YOU GO To learn more about the lock master oral history project, the restoration of the locks, and lock houses; and for information on exploring the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway, trails and more, visitheritageparkway.org/foxriverlocks/. (Left) Gilbert "Toady" Clark with his pet bunny on the lock turnstile, ca.1916. He later became lockmaster at Little Kaukauna in 1945. (Below) Little Kaukauna's lockmaster, Leslie Clark, his wife, and nine children in the living room of the lock house: Gene, Velma, Archie, and Vinny (back row left); Leslie, Theda, Gladys, and Sherman (middle row left); Frederick, Louis, and Gilbert (front row), 1914. Sherman was hired at the Eureka locks in 1922. Leslie's son, Gilbert, became lockmaster at Little Kaukauna in 1945. His daughter, Velma, married Edward Zuehls, the lockmaster at De Pere, in 1917. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY The Park-to-Park Paddle is one of several Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway Paddle events held on the lower Wisconsin and Fox Rivers. During the 2012 event, 158 canoes and kayaks squeezed into the Menasha lock. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Christine Williams holds bachelor degrees in business and marketing and an associate degree in criminal justice. A retired police officer with a passion for Wisconsin's history, she serves on the board of directors of the Apple- ton Historical Society and the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway. She was on the board of the Hearthstone Historical House Museum and also served on Appleton's Historic Preservation Commission. She began ongoing research for the Locktender Oral History Project in 2010, and she thanks the Wiscon sin Humanities Council, the Fox-Wisconsin Heritage Parkway, and Mandy Anthony, a lockmaster's descendant, for their assistance. She enjoys travel ing with her husband, Todd, ticking off bucket-list visits to major league ball parks, state capitols, and US National Parks. She grew up in Milwaukee but now calls Appleton home. ••••••••••Mi SUMMER 2013 37 • •• L Building a Community Among Early Arab Immigrants in Milwaukee, I890s-I960s BY ENAYA OTHMAN ike other immigrant groups that came to Wisconsin, most of the late nine teenth and early twentieth century Arab immigrants came to the United States lor economic betterment, as well as political and religious freedom. Tom the start, most immigrants intended to work for a few years and then return to their villages and towns after accumulating some wealth, although that orig inal goal evolved over time as many early immigrants found success in their new country. Most of the community originally settled in a tightly-knit community located in the Third Ward area. Over time, the settlement pattern of the Arab community changed as subsequent generations were Americanized. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY The immigrants came from Greater Syria before World American: Fhe Early Arab Immigrant Experience, explains, War I, which included today's Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Pales "Peddlers then trekked northward and established a settle tine, and Israel. After the war, the Arab community began to ment in Milwaukee. From there, smaller settlements began to distinguish itself as Syrian Lebanese, and Milwaukee became dot eastern Wisconsin, places like Oconomowoc, Watertown, the site of the largest Arab community in the state.' These immi Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and Green Bay."7 grants established a thriving The majority of early and energetic community immigrants came without that contributed to the social, money or knowledge of the economic, and religious diver English language. They were sity of Milwaukee society. usually peddlers by profession, Syrians belong to the which did not require much Semitic ethnolinguistic group capital. Peddling and commu of peoples. Over the ages nicating with nonimmigrant there has been assimilation Americans helped Syrian with many other peoples immigrants learn English and through conquest, migration, adapt to American society.8 and intermarriage. Today, the In general, most of the Arabs are the largest branch peddlers in the Milwaukee of Semitic people. They share area were Syrian Christians language, customs, values, from the Melkite sect of history, and geographical area, Catholicism, which belongs though they practice a variety to the Byzantine Eastern rite. of religions.2 While the vast They have been affiliated majority of Greater Syria's with Rome since 1724 and population is Arab, several are known as Roman Cath other minorities also live in olics of Byzantine-Melkite (Opposite) Modern interior photo of Saint George Melkite Church, 2013 the region, including Arme rite or Greek Catholics.9 nians, Circassians, Kurds, and (Above) Najeeb Arrieh and his wife Helen Herro. Najeeb immigrated The Maronites were another Turks.3 from Syria at age twelve and worked at his uncle's fruit stand initially. major Eastern Christian Like many Syrian immigrants, he Americanized his name and became The story and the experi group that lived in Syria, but James Arrieh. He ultimately became a successful business owner and ence of one Syrian immigrant after the Arab-Islam spread moved to the suburbs. to Milwaukee, Najeeb Arrieh, in the area, they migrated exemplifies the hopes and determination many Arab immi to Mount Lebanon. They also stayed in communion with the grants carried with them to their new home in America. Arrieh Roman Catholic Church.10 was a twelve-year-old boy in 1906 when he immigrated from Another Eastern Christian group is the Copts of Egypt. Ain al-Bardeh, a Syrian village in the Bekka valley located 55 The Copts are mainly Orthodox and Catholic and live in the miles west of Homs, Syria.4 Arrieh chose to settle in Milwaukee cities and villages of Egypt. Many of them view themselves as to join his uncle from the Herro family. true Egyptians of Pharaonic ethnic descent. Milwaukee began Pioneering Syrian immigrants like Arrieh were followed receiving a noticeable number of Egyptian Copts after World by their relatives and friends, either from similar villages and War II.11 towns such as Zahleh and Baalbek in present-day Lebanon There is also a small segment of Arab American Chris and surrounding areas, or from other parts of Greater SyriaJ tians who are Protestants—mainly converts from the three including Jerusalem and Ramallah in the Palestine region. major religious sects, the Maronite, Greek Orthodox, and The World's Fairs in the United States introduced many Greek Catholic. Most came from Palestine, where English Syrians to the land of the free, including the 1893 Chicago and American missionaries converted them, however, their fair and the 1906 Saint Louis fair. In the late 1880s, Amer number is relatively small.12 During the nineteenth century, ican World's Fair agents traveled to Middle Eastern cities and in all parts of Syria, the Christian Orthodox outnumbered villages, introducing the fair and encouraging many villagers other Christian sects, except in Mount Lebanon, where the to participate as performers, including folk dancers and Maronites are the majority and the Melkite sect is considered horsemen. Those who decided to stay in the area wrote letters to be the smallest.13 Because Christians in the Arab world back to family and friends, telling them of the many opportu had minority status and suffered persecution along with Arab nities in the United States.6 As Alixa Naff, author of Becoming Muslims under Turkish rule, some decided to immigrate.14 SUMMER 2013 39 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY In 1914, Arrieh cofounded the Syrian-American Men's Club, a cultural and social society, to increase fellowship between members. In 1915, Arrieh, and the rest of the Syrian community, welcomed one of its most distinguished pastors in the congregation's early history, Father Anthony Aneed, who replaced Father Jock. He was an active priest who encouraged and helped the Catholic Melkites construct their own church. On November 28, 1917, Saint George Church opened to the Syrian community for worship. The building was constructed on State Street between 16th and 17th Streets. Its architecture is Eastern Byzantine style with sand-lime bricks and three sheet- metal, onion-shaped domes. Two side stairs lead to the main wooden entrance, which is surrounded by five beautiful stained glass windows, two on each side (one small window close to the entrance and one large), and one on the top. Under the stairs, another sepa rate entrance leads to the basement, where all cultural and social functions take place. The church architect was German-born Erhard Brielmaier, who designed many other important build ings in Milwaukee.n Arrieh was among the many community members who had pushed hard to establish Saint George, rooting Middle East map, 1918 his family in the community. His chil dren attended Saint George Church In 1915, among the eight hundred Syrians living in and took part in the church activities, clubs and Sunday Milwaukee, ninety percent were Melkite.15 The Syrian commu school. After construction of the church building in 1917, nity maintained its ethnic and religious identity by preserving other social and religious organizations formed. Women in the its Eastern faith and keeping close ties with extended family community joined charitable institutions, such as the Syrian members and fellow villagers. The community founded the Women Progressive League in 1918; and Saint George's Altar oldest Middle Eastern Church in Milwaukee, Saint George Society for older women and the M. C. Club for girls in the Melkite Church, to establish their religious and social orga 1920s.18 The women's organizations offered both social and nizations. religious support,19 along with others that helped Arab Chris In 1911, when the Syrian Melkite community became large tians preserve some of their homeland's culture and customs. enough, the Milwaukee archbishop, Sebastian G. Messmer, Church members felt comfortable eating, dancing, and appointed Father Timothy Jock as the first pastor of the Syrian dressing in ways that reminded them of home, and through community. The parishioners used a vacant dance hall rented these organizations, Syrians learned to fulfill their civil and by Archbishop Messmer from the Pabst Brewing Company on national duties as American citizens. They voted in local and State Street.16 The church was named Saint George after the national elections, served in the military, and raised funds for Melkite parish in Ayn al-Bardeh. war efforts during the two World Wars.20 40 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY Most Syrian immigrant men had wives and children and became attached to life in the United States. Many believed it was a more suitable place for their descendants than their homeland because of the political unrest in the Arab world and the opportunities available to them in America. Owning property and shops furthered the assimilation of Syrian immigrants and kept them in contact with civil and legal agencies including police, and busi ness enterprises like banks and wholesalers.21 Americanizing their Arab names was one of the ways these early Arab Americans attempted to combat racism, smooth their acculturation, and help promote their sense of belonging in their new society. Some Syrians, for example, altered their names from Abraheem to Abraham, Yaqub to Jacob, and Dau'd to David. The racism experienced by first-generation immigrants from Greater Syria was similar to the experience of Eastern and Southern European immi grants during the same time period.22 It was often the result of the immigrants's inability to speak English and their limited income. There were very few immi Men at the World's Columbian Exposition Arabian village, 1893 grants who arrived as skilled laborers, which limited employment opportunities and income levels.23 Ultimately, upward mobility was achieved through strength of community and the stressed importance of education.24 Most of the Syrians initially lived in the Greek and Italian neighborhood on Huron Street in the Third Ward.25 Syrians in general were known for their trading skills, and their settlement in this part of Milwaukee was no accident. The area contained both commercial stores and residential buildings, making it the ideal place for their typical occupa tions of peddling and shopkeeping. The initial draw to the area was economic, and as the commu nity grew living within their religious community became important as well. When Arrieh arrived in the United States, he received help from his uncle, who hired him to work at his fruit stand for fifteen dollars a month. Like many other Arab Christians of this early generation, Arrieh understood that integration into American culture and society relied on economic success.26 He changed his first name from Najeeb to James, learned English, and worked hard to improve his economic condition. He would also identify himself as Syrian Melkite, not Arab, because of the percep tion that was held among Americans and publi cized through the media that linked Arabs to the Ottoman Turks. Many Americans held negative Lebanese-Syrian American Club on Highland Avenue, Milwaukee, 1960s images about both groups originating from writings SUMMER 2013 41 The Third Ward on Huron Street, undated. Most of the Syrians initially livecThere io the Greek and Italian neighborhood. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY State Street, Milwaukee, 1910. Arrieh opened his own fruit store herein the 1920s. by travelers and missionaries27 that typically stereotyped and today), and Kjlbourn Streets had the most commercial density. created myths about them.28 State Street alone had over fifty businesses by 1909, most of By the time Arrieh had immigrated to Milwaukee in 1906, which were owned by Syrians. There were also various busi many Syrians had relinquished peddling, their first trade, and nesses in the neighborhood of Saint George Church, including opened small shops, such as dry goods and food stores, in the saloons, meat markets, bakeries, fruit stands, and dry grocery Milwaukee downtown area.29 This included Arrieh's uncle, stores. Some Syrians, especially women, worked as clerks in who had given up peddling to open the fruit stand. Between the stores of their husbands or other relatives. However, many 1900 and 1920, members of the community started to shift their women in the Syrian community identified as housewives settlement to Kinnickinnic Avenue near Second Street, a move because mothers are seen as hallowed figures in Arab culture, allowed by upward economic mobility.30 Arrieh lived there for and men continued as the main providers for the family.32 few years, though by 1910, many other Arabs shifted their settle By the late 1920s, ninety percent of the Syrian commu ment to State Street between Highland and Kilboun. The new nity's members were also homeowners.33 They were active in neighborhood became the place of settlement for many Syrians various social and cultural functions in Milwaukee and partici for at least five decades, especially after the construction of their pated in the city's ethnic functions. They presented some tradi church.31 In the 1920s, after saving some money, Arrieh opened tions of their cultural and folk heritage, like Debkah folkdance his own fruit store on State Street. He worked hard and saved and songs, Arabic food, and opportunities for socializing enough money to buy more property, most of it located along together. Syrian community members and their organizations State Street and Wisconsin Avenue. Like Arrieh, many Syrian made an ongoing effort to strike a balance between American immigrants became successful business owners. ization and their determination to preserve the Syrian Arab The Milwaukee City directory of 1920 shows that members culture and heritage. of the Syrian community worked as owners of grocery stores In May 1919, the community started participating in and small businesses that sold goods like ice cream, fruit, souve Milwaukee Folk Festivals. In 1923, the Syrian community nirs, confections, and meats. State, Wells, Prairie (Highland assisted in founding the International Institute to assist immi- SUMMER 2013 43 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY (Left) Syrian section at the Chicago Liberty Day Parade, 1918 (Below) Milwaukee Syrian community, 1918 44 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY grants and refugees transitioning into the commu Copyright, »J5, b, Milwaukee, Wis. Tuesday, June 19, 1945 Th* Journal Company nity through programming and support services, and they provided their assistance to it for years to come. In 1936, the Syrian community performed Milwaukee's Syrians Are in the midsummer Folk Festival. In addition, they also organized their own social and cultural activi Prosperous and Patriotic ties for the community, such as the Haha, where Old Colony Outgrown, but Peaceful Folk they socialized with each other, served Arabic Still Meet at Church and Clubhouse food, and danced the Dabkeh, the Syrian folk dance. For the 1938 and 1939 Folk Festivals, James len the ncwa spotlight focused olics, and about return with their brides. The number of women in •ne to "win the first wave of immigration in the United States that elec- j*t u Seat- 00,000 (Above Right) Milwaukee Journal article "Milwaukee's eltc- Syrians are Prosperous and Patriotic," June 19,1945 » $*r (Right) The first Syrian folk festival in Milwaukee's c blU- cenU history was held Monday night, March 9,1936, at Siefert Social Center. Mrs. James Arrieh wore native i* 40 X ter snd Mrs. June* An-ich, 1437 W. State at., is shown in native costume aa she served native costume as she served delicacies from her country to ktto- delicacies to (left to right) Margaret Herro. 954 N. Thirty-fifth St.; Margaret Barrock. 2436 W. » u ts- State st„ and Helen Herro, 854 N. Thirty -fifth st. iM«niiiuMn»i (left to right) Margaret Herro, Margaret Barrock, and *rvte« Helen Herro. trthip John r. Den, in 1*32 that "Statu* I bit wi{* wsi ill. Window mad* res-j mid»t of hi* trial, with money coo- Elec- is bankrupt du* to her {duos* into j Utution of the entire W.95442 in the 1 Moated by fellow teachers, SUMMER 2013 45 "A 1 (Above) The Milwaukee band Desert Ensemble performs at Arab began to increase gradually and made up thirty-two percent of World Fest, undated Syrian immigrants in 1910 and forty-four percent in 1940. For (Below) Al Ramtha Jordanian Folklore Troup performs at Arab World Fest, the most part they followed their husbands, brothers, fathers, undated and sons to America as a result of the changing conception of settlement that solidified after World War I.39 When Arrieh decided to marry, he looked in his small community in Milwaukee and accepted his relatives' assistance to help him select his Syrian bride. He chose Helen Herro, a Lebanese girl from his village who had immigrated around 1916 to join her brothers and help take care of the household chores. Arrieh and Helen retained aspects of Arab culture and heritage by keeping direct contact with their homeland and by following the Melkite Christian faith. As a family man, Arrieh believed in the importance of raising his children according to his culture and Eastern religious ties. Significantly, however, Arrieh, who spoke the Arabic language well, failed to teach it to his children who attended American public schools. They socialized with other non-Arab children in their neighborhood and tried as much as possible to be more Americanized than their father by mastering the English language, an experi ence common to many of their peers. The loss of the Arabic language was the result of a desire to assimilate into American culture, but the effects included minimizing the communica tion immigrants and the following generations had with their families in their homeland. James Arrieh also believed in the importance of educa tion, which he stressed to his family. He had two sons, Ibrahim and Marshal, and two daughters, Fay and Yvonne, who all earned college degrees during the Great Depression. While this was a hard time for all, the Arab community did not expe rience as much of a setback as many other Americans. Because most were small entrepreneurs, they did not undergo the diffi- 46 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY culties of being laid off, but they were also not rich enough to have invested and lost money in the stock market. Any hard ship and struggle Arrieh experienced during the Depression did not deter him from saving all that he could to keep his chil dren in college. His daughters and one son became teachers. His other son, Marshal, graduated from Harvard and became an attorney.40 Marshal Arrieh, as a second generation Arab Chris tian, tried to teach his children to speak the language, but he did not succeed because he himself did not speak Arabic fluently. Marshal had five daughters, Michele, Camille, Danielle, Marielle, and Gabrielle, two of whom married Arab men and three of whom married non-Arab Ameri cans. Marshal declared that his daughters, third-genera tion Syrians, are "completely Americanized." They are all university graduates and have professional jobs, including doctor, lawyer, and banker.41 Even though James Arrieh and his children left the Saint George neighborhood for the Milwaukee suburbs in the 1950s, they stayed loyal to the church and active in the Syrian community's social and cultural functions. His move to the suburbs reflects the upward mobility of the Syrian immigrants as well as the falling housing market. This move, however, did not change the loyalty that some members of the Syrian community had for Saint George. For example, among Arrieh's children, Marshal, who stayed in Milwaukee all his life, at 80 years of age indicated that he still attended Saint George Church every Sunday. He remained active in the Syrian-Lebanese Club and was an Modern exterior of Saint George Melkite church, Milwaukee, undated avid member of the Midwest Federation of Syrian-Lebanese American Clubs. In addition, Marshal, a veteran of World The custom of arranged marriage that the immigrants War II, also served as a secretary of the advisory council of brought with them from the homeland also ended with the the mayor and a director of Greater West Wisconsin Avenue second- and third-generation Arab American Christians, even Advancement Association.42 though the American approach to mate selection was not fully acceptable. One solution was to combine both, so the 1950s-Present younger generation met through ethnic federations and local While the Syrian community helped maintain its ethnic and clubs, such as the Ramallah convention, the Syrian-Lebanese religious identity by preserving its Eastern faith, education Midwest convention, and other ethnic gatherings where inter was one of the important variables that led to greater inte action between the two sexes took place as the youth danced gration of second- and third-generation Syrians. In 1912, and socialized under the watchful eyes of community elders.45 among the sixty-five Syrian children, forty-two attended the Many community members' strong affiliation with Saint Gesu Catholic School and most of the rest attended a public George began to fade in the 1950s and 1960s. The fluctua school on Prairie and Seventh Streets. This number decreased tion in the number of baptisms among the Syrian commu significantly over time as parents challenged the advice of the nity at Saint George is a good indication of the urban sprawl community priest to send their children to Catholic schools and white flight that affected the Syrian community and Saint and insisted that their children were better off in the public George neighborhood. In 1949, there was a decline in the schools learning good English and more secular subjects.43 birth rate in the Syrian community, but a look at the baptism As it was for James Arrieh and his family, the occupational record of the two years before shows an increase in 1947 and pattern for the second- and third-generation Arab Americans 1948. The years between 1953 and 1957 still show a consider is different from their fathers. Seventy-six percent of second- able increase in baptism numbers,46 but a sharp decrease after and third-generation Arab Americans held professional jobs 1960 could reflect the influence of different factors including such as attorneys, civil engineers, and teachers.44 white flight and major changes in the commercial and residen- SUMMER2013 47 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY tial buildings of the area during this and most important Arab ethnic period.47 Urban renewal affected the and cultural functions. It attracts a area dramatically and helped change large number of people from across the demography of this neighbor Wisconsin and nearby states. hood, especially the construction of Ultimately, like many other the highway that demolished many immigrant groups, the Arab-Amer homes and businesses in the area ican immigrants in Milwaukee around Saint George. The value of adjusted successfully to their new the property decreased, which gave homeland. In the words of Marshal other minority groups the opportu Arrieh: nity to move in due to lower housing costs, including African Ameri Fhey succeeded primarily by cans, who arrived in the neighbor working long hard hours. Almost hood following World War II. Their every Arab-American family and number increased significantly and even the people who come here by the late 1960s and 1970s, they today, they will work ten to twelve constituted the majority in the hours a day seven days a week to neighborhood.48 Despite changes get on their feet and to bring the over time, however, the Saint family up, and through this hard George Syrian Melkite Catholic work they managed to be very church continued to function as an successful and these elders, most anchor for some of its parishioners of whom used to live around the who moved out of the neighbor Church when it built in 1917. As Father Philaret Littlefield, pastor of Saint George hood, as it did for James Arrieh their circumstances changed and Melkite Church, 2013 and his family. It gave them and the improved, and as this area went Syrian community spiritual, cultural, and religious support.49 down they moved out and scattered all around Milwaukee. The four major Syrian clans, Barrock, Herro, Mettery, Most of them live very well, and one of the things that we and Trad, did not abandon their ethnic church after more are proud of is that all through the bad years no family of 52 than three generations and continued to align themselves with Lebanese descent ever went on welfare. 63 their Eastern parish. For example, in 1959, there were more than forty-five church members from the Herro family. By Notes 2004, over thirty from the Herro family still considered them 1. For example, in La Crosse, the Syrians established one of their first Arab communities and selves members of Saint George.50 built the first Melkite church in Wisconsin, Our Lady of Lourdes, in 1908. Syrians came from different parts of Wisconsin, Minneapolis, and Chicago to receive marriage and baptism ser Between the 1950s and 1970s, the settlement pattern of the vices at the church. However, the church was short lived and by September 15, 1923, Our Lady of Lourdes Melkite Church was closed and torn down by its new owner, Mazel Haddad. Arab community changed. They moved to live near univer 2. Enaya Othman, "History and Assimilation: Arab-Americans in Milwaukee" (masters thesis, sities, and employers. Then, in the 1980s and 1990s, their University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1998), 5. settlements were spread further throughout the city and its suburbs. The majority of second- and third-generation Arab Christians now live in suburban Milwaukee and the old settle ABOUT THE AUTHOR ment of the Syrian Christians has been abandoned. Members Enaya Othman is a visiting assistant profes of the Melkite community come to their former settlement sor at Marquette University. She received her area only on Sundays to attend church services. Since the master's degree from the University of Wis Arabic language is not essential in the Arab Christian religion, consin-Milwaukee and her PhD in American the Sunday services in the Melkite Church are conducted and Middle East history from Marquette Uni in English, and they are often led by a non—Arab American versity in 2009. She serves as the president of priest.51 Today, only one-third of Saint George parishioners the board of directors of the Arab and Muslim are of Arab descent, although many social and religious activi Women's Research and Resource Institute (AMWRRI). She directs ties are still performed in the church, such as Middle Eastern the AMWRRI Oral History Project, which seeks to document lives dinners and other holiday gatherings. of American Muslim and Arab women and to disseminate infor Over time, the number of Arabs of Eastern Christian heri mation about their histories and experiences through educational programming and exhibits. Find out more about the AMWRRI at tage has decreased in Milwaukee, but they still play an important http://amwrri.org/aboutUs.htm. role in organizing and leading the Arab Fest, one of the largest 48 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY 3. Ibid., 4. man Turks, whom Americans perceived as exotic, backward, and barbaric. However, Arab 4. The Arabic name Ain al-Bardeh means "the cold spring." Christians would change their position on their Arabism with the rise of the Arab nation state 5. Greater Syria before World War I was a large region that included today's Syria, Lebanon, in the period of decolonization after World War II. They would become more comfortable Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. After World War I, the Arab community in Milwaukee started to identifying themselves as Arabs for different reasons, including the arrival of a new wave of distinguish itself as Syrian Lebanese as the region was divided into separate political entities by immigrants from different countries in the Arab world who were proud of their Arabism. the colonial powers, namely Britain and France. Other significant factors included the social developments taking place in the United States, 6. Samir Khalaf, "The Background and Causes of Lebanese/Syrian Immigration to the Unit chief among them the civil rights movement and its encouragement of pluralism in American ed States before World War I," in Crossing the Waters: Arabic-Speaking Immigrants to the society. United States before 1940, ed. Eric J. Hooglund (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution 28. Timothy Marr, " 'Drying up the Euphrates': Muslims, Millennialism, and Early American Press, 1987), 27. Missionary Enterprise," in The United States & the Middle East: Cultural Encounters, con 7. Alixa Naff, Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience (Carbondale: ference proceedings, eds. Aabbas Amanat and Magnus T. Bernhardsson (Connecticut: Yale Southern Illinois University Press, 1993), 141. Center for International and Area Studies, 2002), 130. 8. Ibid., 26. Peddling helped Arab immigrants learn the English language faster through expo 29. Arrieh interview. sure to American-born citizens. In addition, peddling helped these immigrants save money to 30. Stamm, A History of St. George, 8. eventually open their own shops; "A Peculiar People That Has Settled in Milwaukee: Are Ped 31. Arrieh interview; Stamm, A History of St. George, 27. dler by Profession," Milwaukee Journal, June 29, 1891. 32. Othman, "History and Assimilation," 17. These statistics are based on a survey conduct 9. Paul Douglas Stamm, A History of St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church, 1911- ed among the Arab Christian community in Milwaukee area in 1997; Milwaukee Sanborn 1986 (Milwaukee: Saint George Melkite Greek Catholic Church, 1986), 11. Historically, Maps, 1910-1926 and 1926-1961, Milwaukee Public Library; Less Vollmert Les, Robin Arab Christians were part of the Holy Apostolic Church until the major separation of 1054 Wenger, and Carlen Hatala, West Side Neighborhood Historic Resources Survey (City of CE, The Holy Apostolic Church was divided into two major churches, the Roman Catholic Milwaukee: Department of City Development, 1984), 2. The streets kept their character until Church in the West and the Eastern or Greek Orthodox Church in the East. The differences the late 1940s. between the two major churches were in their creed and some rituals and day-to-day practice. 33. Nicholas, The Syrians of the City of Milwaukee, 3-6; Stamm, 10, 17, 27. Constantinople was the headquarters of the Eastern Syrian Arab Orthodox Church, called 34. Arrieh inteview; Stamm, A History of St. George, 27-28. the Melkite. Meanwhile, with the eleventh century ecumenical drive by the Pope, the Mel 35. "Milwaukee Syrians Hold Folk Festival," Milwaukee Journal, March 10, 1936, 13; photo kite as well as the earlier Syrian Monophysite churches were split between Orthodoxy and graph, "Women Handing Coffee," March 1936, Collection of Saint George Melkite Church; Catholicism. The main distinction between the Christian Easterners and the Westerners is "Helped Entertain at Lakefront," Milwaukee Journal, July 22, 1936; Arrieh interview; that the latter are unified under one church, which gives its adherents one religious tradition Stamm, "The Melkites ofWisconsin," 35. knitting together the area. Meanwhile, Eastern Christians developed their own faith with 36. Private collection ofjoseph Makhluf. religious pluralism. They developed themselves under different religious "rites" in which each 37. "Syrians Top Bond Quota." was characterized by its own spiritual and liturgical expressions and by its regional locality. 38. Stamm, "The Melkites ofWisconsin," 36. Each rite represents a different local Christian community, built on a special and mutual 39. Samir Khalaf, "The Background and Causes of Lebanese/Syrian Immigration," 22-23. interaction between religion and culture. 40. Arrieh interview. 10. Othman, "History and Assimilation," 8. 41. Ibid. 11. Robert B. Betts, Christians in the Arab East: A Political Study (Louisville, KY: Westminster 42. Ibid. Marshal was eighty years old when interviewed. John Knox Press, 1978), 44-50. 43. Stamm, "The Melkites ofWisconsin," 23. 12. Philip Khuri Hitti, The Syrians in America (New York: George H. Duran, 1924), 40. 44. Othman, "History and Assimilation," 69. 13. Naff, Becoming American, 41. 45. Arrieh interview. 14. Othman, "History and Assimilation," 25. 46. Saint George Melkite Church, Baptism Record. 15. Stamm, A History of St. George, 10. 47. While previously the three blocks between Prairie and State streets had served mainly as 16. Paul Stamm, "The Melkites ofWisconsin," unpublished draft prepared for the 100th residential and commercial units, by 1961, the number of stores had decreased to just nine. anniversary of Saint George Melkite Greek Catholic Church, 716 State Street, Milwaukee, Many of the dwellings units and stores would disappear. The area experienced changes in Wisconsin, 2010, 22. the structure and use of the buildings, and the number of stores decreased while the number 17. Stamm, "The Melkites ofWisconsin," 33. Later, in 1976, Saint George was nominated of auto shops increased. Many dwelling units converted into flats, and apartment buildings as the "best example of Byzantine Revival-inspired architecture in the city" and registered became more prominent. as a historic landmark in Milwaukee. Erhard Brielmaier also built Saint Josephat's Basilica 48. West Side Neighborhood Historic Resources Survey, 13. in 1910, Saint Benedict the Moor in 1923, and Saint Mary's Convent and Saint Joseph's 49. United States Census of Housing, City Blocks, Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Cen Hospital in 1929. sus, 1940. Tracing the numbers and categories of population change between the 1940s and 1960s 18. Interview with Marshal Arieh, September 14, 1997, Saint George Melkite Church, Mil will give a clear picture of the different demographic and urban developments that happened to waukee, Wisconsin; Irene Nicholas and the Young Women's Christian Association of the USA the Saint George neighborhood and the Syrian community during these years. The neighborhood International Institute, The Syrians of the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (n.p.: YWCA Inter of Saint George belonged to tract 25 in the census of 1940. The total population was 4,837. Of this national Institute, 1929), 5-9. number, 4,288 identified themselves as US natives while 545 considered themselves foreign-born. 19. Nicholas, The Syrians of the City of Milwaukee, 5-9. There was only one African American living in the neighborhood. Those who occupied dwelling 20. Arrieh interview; "Syrians Top Bond Quota," The Milwaukee Journal, June 4, 1945. units numbered 1,217, while the rest owned homes. The majority of the population was listed as 21. Naff, Becoming American, 128, 140. Germans, Hungarians, Yugoslavs, and other Europeans. The Syrians were not listed in the census. 22. Stamm, A History of St. George, 27. This is not surprising because Syrians or Arabs were mainly listed under Turk, Asian, European, 23. Alixa Naff, "Arabs in America," in Arabs in the New World: Studies on Arab-American Greek, or others to avoid the stigma carried with the label Arab. The major occupations for the Communities, eds. Sameer Y. Abraham and Nabecl Abraham (Detroit: Wayne State Uni population that lived around Saint George were clerical and sales jobs (26.40 percent), opera versity Center for Urban Studies, 1983), 14; Khalaf, "The Background and the Causes of tives (11.94 percent), professionals (14.88 percent), craftsmen, foremen, and kindred workers (11.94 Lebanese/Syrian Immigration," 24. percent), service workers [not domestic] (14.20 percent), and laborers (4.71 percent). According to the United States Census of Housing in 1940, the neighborhoods were almost exclusively white 24. Arrieh interview; Stamm, A History of St. George, 23-27; Philip M. Kayal and Joseph M. before the 1950s. Although some Syrians held clerical and professional jobs, the majority were still Kayal, The Syrian-Lebanese in America: A Study in Religion and Assimilation (New York: engaged in commerce and shopkeeping, with a few in industrial jobs. In 1950, the total population Twayne Publishers, 1975), 54. of downtown increased to 5,516. However, it was still a primarily white neighborhood. Occupa 25. Paul Stamm, "The Melkites ofWisconsin," 10; "A Peculiar People That Has Settled tional patterns did not differ markedly from those in 1940. The change is marked in 1960, as the in Milwaukee." Some Syrians were industrial workers. Esa Saffori was employed at Allis- total population decreased to 4,516 and its composition started to change. The nonwhite popula Chalmers as a molder in the 1927. He lived at 701 West Walker Street with his wife and seven tion was 9.5 percent, and the African American population reached 7 percent. The census shows children. Elias Faris, who arrived in 1913 from Lebanon when he was thirteen years old, that the professional class disappeared completely. The German and other European population worked as a day laborer. By 1950s, he was a grinder worker and mill operator for International numbers decreased. For example, there were only 52 Hungarians by 1960.John Gurda, The Latin Harvester for $ 1.85 an hour. Other Syrian immigrants worked in factories or firms, including Community on the Milwaukee's Near South Side (Milwaukee: Milwaukee Urban Observatory, Frank Ayoob, Mike Malik, and some members of the Herro family. There was a small num University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 1976), 6, online facsimile at: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ ber among the immigrants who were skilled laborers. Abrcm Baho worked as a carpenter in turningpoints/search.asp?id= 1261. Milwaukee when he first immigrated in the beginning of the twentieth century. 26. Arrieh interview. Marshal had a law office in one of these properties on Wisconsin and 50. Saint George Melkite Church, Parish Directory, 2003-2004. Even after the Syrian commu 27th Street until the 1990s. nity left the neighborhood for the Milwaukee suburbs, a significant number came from a long 27. Philip Kayal, "Arab Christians in the United States," in Arabs in the New World, 47-48; distance to worship at Saint George. The church membership list included names with address Michael Suleiman, "Early Arab-Americans: The Search for Identity," in Crossing the Water, es in Port Washington, Delafield, New Berlin, Brookfield, Hales Corners, Franklin, Greendale, 441. The Arab community dislikes identifying itself as "Arab" because of the widely-held Greenfield, Menomonee Falls, Sussex, Glendale, Grafton, and other areas in the periphery. misconception that all Arabs are Muslims. During this period, the perception of Muslims in 51. Othman, "History and Assimilation," 126. the American society was negative and associated Arabs, Islam, and Muslims with the Otto 52. Arrieh interview. SUMMER 2013 49 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY Memories of Lauerman Brothers Department Store BY MICHAELLEANNAH A Wisconsin Historical Society Press Book Excerpt ^y I \hen my father spoke of "the store," no one misunderstood. He meant Lauermans. When Mom said, "Your father is at the I 1 I store," we knew he wasn't out buying groceries. Around our house, when someone spoke of "the store," we saw the words ^^^^ in capital letters: The Store. But the word store can't begin to capture the essence of Lauermans Department Store. The usual image of a turn-of-the- twentieth-century "general store" is hardly a match for the magnificent building in the heart of Marinette, Wisconsin. On the store's fiftieth anniversary, in 1940, the Marinette Eagle-Star stated: "It is difficult to find in cities twice the size of Marinette, a store [that] has four floors and blankets an entire city block." Lauermans was by far the largest retail building north of Green Bay. To the people of northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula, it was a virtual palace, a sight to behold. Drawing near made one's heart skip a beat. People everywhere speak wistfully and with near reverence about the department stores of their youth, and Lauermans is no exception. Indeed, people love talking about Lauermans, and once they start, they don't want to stop. The Christmases, the Friday nights, the normal, humdrum Tuesday afternoons—all are fondly recalled. THE DEPARTMENTS, FROM TOP TO BOTTOM To the Third Floor, Please . . . Third Floor: Furniture, door coverings, draperies, print shop, Like most young boys in the days before World War II, Howard business office. Schleihs loved exploring the gigantic department store called Second Floor: Ladies' ready-to-wear, hosiery and lingerie, Lauermans. His enthusiasm did not extend, however, to the top children's clothing, linens, yard goods, gift wrap, music. floor of the store. "The third floor was forbidding," Schleihs remembers. "Kids had no need for furniture or carpeting, so I Main Floor: Men's clothing, jewelry, drugs, religious items/ rarely went up there. Nothing small was sold up there. It seemed gifts, crockery, cards and stationery, cameras, office and school supplies, shoes, candy, lunch counter. Basement: Electrical and appliances, paint and wallpaper, sporting goods, hardware, housewares, toys. That's the way it was during Lauermans' last two decades, but in its long history the store saw many changes in layout. A tobacco counter once had a place in the store. Lamps were separate from furni ture. There was a ribbon department. And a team of clerks handled nothing but gloves and neckwear, back in the days when stylish travelers asked for such things as driving gloves and auto scarves. As customer demand changed, so did the department configuration at Lauermans. Each floor has its own history. Let's go for a ride in the elevator Dunlap Square in Marinette, with Lauermans on the left.The store's sign changed and take a look at what's happening in the different often until the late 1950s, when Lauermans ceased to use one at all. The Marinette departments. Going up! Hotel, at right, was torn down in the late 1960s. 50 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY so cavernous and empty, devoid of salespeople or customers. We would take one look from the elevator and head back down." The top floor of Lauermans may not have been interesting to a kid, but it was hardly empty and devoid of activity. The control center of the store—the business offices—occupied most of the space on the Main Street side. Much of this area, including the owners' private offices in the far corner above Liberty and Main, was off limits and out of sight to the customers. Weekly managers' meetings took place in F. J. Lauerman's spacious office. Informal meetings with fewer participants were called as needed. Frank Lauerman didn't spend much of the day lingering in his office, however; there was too much to do elsewhere in the store, particularly in the offices just outside his door. Lauermans' "office boys" had a surprising amount of responsibility. Besides running errands for the big shots ("Take this roll of quarters to Jim Lauerman." "Go get the morning's receipts from the toy department"), they did the engraving for the jewelry department, counted checks, helped with the advertising, and at the end of the day went from register to Lauermans office workers in the early 1950s. Payroll manager Charles register and read the tills. All this seems like a lot to entrust to Bilodeau is in the foreground; behind him and to his left is Loretta. teenagers working part-time. In a row behind Loretta are Helen Shefky, Anne Burke, and Estelle "When I was seventeen or eighteen years old," says former Duhaime. To Helen's right is Florence Cleary, and standing between employee Mary Falkenberg, "I had to count the money and them is Bernadette Weber. In the far-left background is office lock the safe. I remember wondering, Are you nuts? Are manager/comptroller Jesse Legault. you kidding me?' But they were instilling responsibility in young people, many of whom stayed with the store for years boats in the Yacht Basin." Henry Lauerman Jr. says the Blue and years. There were many ways to steal in that office, and Room was comparable in its day to the Empire Room at the someone once did. When he was caught, office manager Lloyd Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. With the velvet wallpaper, Dufresne said, 'No, that's our fault. We put that chance in the ornate ceiling, and the heavy draperies in various shades of front of him when he wasn't ready for it.' " blue, the opulence of the Blue Room was something to behold. One of Falkenberg's daily duties was to go with office Rita Sadowski remembers going to the third floor with her manager Ralph Keller at day's end to collect the cash from all of childhood friends "just to watch the rich people eat." the many departments. "We went from register to register and Next door to the Blue Room was the third-floor soda put the money in a shoe box. We'd return to the office with eight fountain, where a customer or Lauermans employee could or nine thousand dollars. Was this heartland America or what?" take a seat at the counter or at one of the tables to enjoy a bit Elsewhere on the third floor was the grand ballroom of refreshment. By the end of the 1950s, the quick-serve lunch called the Blue Room. High school graduation banquets, counter on the first floor had expanded sufficiently to accom fashion shows, and other social gatherings took place there. modate all in need of nourishment, and the third-floor lounge Civic groups such as the Rotary and the Lions Club used the was converted into a linoleum display room. The Blue Room Blue Room for their weekly meetings. (There was also a Gold eventually became a showroom for the carpeting department. Room, the former stock room for the jewelry department, Lauermans boasted of 100,000 square feet of retail space, located on the second floor of the wholesale building, across roughly a quarter of which was on the third floor—the area Vine Street and connected to the main store by second- and that seemed so "cavernous and empty" to the young Howard third-floor walkways and a basement-level tunnel. The Gold Schleihs. The furniture did seem to go on forever up there. A Room fell into disrepair and was later used for general storage.) remodeling in 1935 brought changes in the positioning of the Howard Schleihs, whose grandfather manned the tobacco furniture, allowing for fifty to seventy-five living room suites counter at Lauermans from 1906 until his retirement in 1936, in suggested settings, twenty-five to thirty bedroom suites, and remembers the Blue Room as a "tea room salon, with an many pieces of dining room furniture as well. upscale air, whose entry credential seemingly catered to the Yes, Lauermans' third floor may have seemed cavernous. upper-middle-class, middle-aged professional, or widowed Beds and sofas and chairs and tables need plenty of room. female. It didn't hurt if a member of your family had his thirty- For a child, the place may have indeed been forbidding and five-foot Chris-Craft moored next to one of the Lauerman frightening. But Howard Schleis's childhood memories aside, SUMMER 2013 51 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY many folks remember pleasant aspects of Lauer mans' top floor—a warm greeting from Clem LAUERMAN LUNCH Bellemore in the furniture department or a smile PLEASE PAY WHEN SERVED from carpeting salesman Wally Rademacher, for ****** „ . r H E S k.A**AAAM4A^ S A * D2AJL instance—and others who worked there. ——-~~~ . W SUNDAES Baked Hum ,'.'. . W Chocolate 20* Let's Make a Stop on the H»m Salad •••"'• ... 25* Egg Salad ' . . W Pineapple 20* Second Floor . . . sh 25 Cherry 2(¥ Ton* Fi • • " ' ' . . . • * Marsbmallow 20* Lettuce & Tomato . • • w Strawberry 25* The removal of the grocery department from the Liver Sausage ••'... 25* Choco-Marshmallow 25* store's basement in the early 1960s opened up floor Cheese ..•••" ' . . 20* Hot Fudge 25* space that allowed for the reorganization of several PeWOt B on Toast 5* Extra departments. In the ensuing years the toy department SODAS Cheese & Crackers . • • • was moved from the second floor to the basement, and w Toast fcCoilee . . • • • w AH Flavors 20* stationery, office supplies, and crockery went down Hot Dog • • • 25* MALTS one flight to first, swapping space with yard goods and Ch»H " s notions. As a result of these moves, other second-floor PAST RlE Malted Milk 25* Milk Shake 25* departments, such as ladies' ready-to-wear and music, * " 5* Doughnut ' ... 10* FROSTED MALT had room to expand. Sweet Roll . . 15* People remember the elaborate doll display Cake 20* Regular 10* pie ... 25* Large . 20* in the second-floor toy department, and the model Pie and Cheese trains. "When FX. [Leannah] took over the toys," ( over ) ( over ) says Jim Lauerman, "he always had model trains running on great big long tables. At Christmastime, the toy department pushed into the crockery area." The base Imagine: a sandwich and a drink, topped off with a frosted malt cone, ment toy department of later years is not remembered for train all for about a half a buck. This lunch counter menu from the mid- displays—there wasn't room. 1960s promised these and other delights for hungry shoppers. Over the years, the second-floor music department was forced into more changes than any of the other departments. Before radios and TVs existed, the big movers in Lauermans' The second floor bustled more than the third; there were music department were musical instruments—pianos, espe more departments, and therefore more clerks. Traffic was heavy cially—and sheet music. Phonographs and record players, in as customers and employees crisscrossed paths, chatting and all their changing forms and styles, also graced the shelves. laughing. Many of the store's most congenial employees spent Some people remember the recording booths in which one their hours on the second floor. Though clerks in all depart could cut a song onto a disk. ments freely dispensed help and advice to customers willing to listen, the women in ladies' ready-to-wear perhaps did it best. "I relied on Helen Rademacher in the women's department Women's to help me shop for my wife," says Menominee resident Larry Famous Qualify Munsingwear Ebsch. "She knew my wife's colors, her sizes, her tastes." More than one woman—actually more than three or NYLONS four—remembers being a self-conscious girl trying on her first brassiere in a Lauermans dressing room, only to be horrified On Sale! when a well-meaning elderly clerk barged in to ask, "Well, how does it fit?" BOTH SEAMLESS I FULL FASHIONED STYLES The kind you love io give, or get, for grfts, and to wear on every occasion when you want to be really well groomed. Main Floor! Famous for style, famous for quality, yet they're sale priced. BOTH SEAMLESS J. FULL FASHIONED STYLES The managers on the first floor had offices in lofts or mezza Reg, $1.35 Jl 1Q Reg. 1$1,550 nines that provided bird's-eye views of the goings-on below. In Sale MJ9I o I 7 pprr . Sala-*e .- M.2ItA9/ pr. BOX PRICE, $3.45 BOX PRICE; $3.75 the store's earliest days, the business office was in a first-floor (second floor) loft. The loft that became Chuck Boyle's office space above men's clothing was built in 1912 and at the time provided This 1961 ad directed shoppers to Lauermans'second floor for manager Austin M. Wilson additional space for jewelry stockings, "for when you want to be really well groomed." engraving and other tasks related to his "art goods" and "fancy 52 wisconsinhistory.org WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY work" departments. That balcony area was used in the 1940s their preferences for extra mayonnaise on their sandwiches by tailor Andrew Payant and his wife for doing alterations. and lots of ketchup with the fried potatoes. The linen department moved in the 1960s from the first "They'd run specials on meals at the lunch counter," floor to second, but some will always think of that department recalls Glen Nordin. "The line ran halfway down the block as the domain of Joseph Kopetsky, manager of several first- with people waiting to get in. This old guy says to me, 'They've floor departments in the '30s, '40s, and '50s. Kopetsky did got Swedish meatballs today. The best goddamned meatballs much of the hiring for Lauermans in those years. His fluency you ever ate.' I can see that guy yet with his big mackinaw on, in Polish, German, and Bohemian came in handy when immi standing in the cold." grants entered the store with questions about the merchandise. For a number of years my father's office was in the loft Clarence Watkins, head of the sewing machine depart above the shoe department, adjacent to the lunch counter. ment, was adept at stitching monograms on handkerchiefs. We at home knew of his fondness for burnt toast, and the His specialty was taking a person's signature and stitching it lunch counter crew came to know of it too. When the smell of perfectly into the fabric. burning bread wafted into the upper air currents, Dad would A large, mahogany-paneled telephone booth stood near jump up from his desk, lean over the rail, and shout, "Don't the Dunlap Square entrance until its removal in the 1950s. The throw that away! I'll be right down!" After a while he didn't simpler pay phone that replaced it was eventually taken out as have to call to them anymore. They knew. By the time he got well, as it didn't get much use. According to Frank Lauerman down they'd have it buttered for him. III, "People usually just asked a clerk and were allowed to use the phone behind the counter." Continue your tour of Lauermans, including a trip to the Nestled between the school supplies and the shoes was basement and much more, in Something for Everyone: the religious items and gifts department. Boxed rosaries and Memories of Lauerman Brothers Department Store by crucifixes were found inches away from the "gifts," which Michael Leannah, recently published by the Wisconsin comprised everything from judge's gavels to incense burners Historical Society Press. to little plastic boxes with naughty rubber body parts springing out when you opened them. Over in the shoe department, the kind and patient clerk lovingly removed a customer's shoe before bringing out the ever-present Brannock devise, an iron gadget with sliding parts that measures the length and width of a person's foot. The clerk then fitted various styles until a satisfactory pair was Til Wit wZTlZTtl found, and the customer left well satisfied. And she got to keep s.—•-* J the metal shoe horn. p fa 1 The lunch counter livened up the east end of the first floor. With a steady stream of shoppers and employees stopping for refreshment, there weren't many lulls in the day over there. Regular customers could count on the waitresses knowing MEMORIES OF Lauerman Brothers Department Store ."pBiir.^'rt, ^P^II ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael Leannah has had a long career in the public schools of Milwau kee and Sheboygan, Wisconsin. His sto ries for children have been published in magazines in the United States and in Australia. His radio plays have won national awards and have been performed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. In 2007 he edited Well! Reflections on the Life and Career of Jack Benny. Leannah grew up in Marinette, Wisconsin, within walking distance of Lauermans Department 1 li?t m W*TP Store. He lives with his family in Sheboygan. M* ^5V IN i A MICHAEL LEANNAH SUMMER 2013 53 WISCONSIN HISTORICAL William Best Hesseltine Award S O C i E T Y Wisconsin Historical Society Judy Nagel, DePere WISCONSIN Board of Curators William O'Connor, Madison magazine of history Lowell Peterson, Appleton The Ruth and Hartley Barker Director: Jerry Phillips, Bayfield Ellsworth H. Brown Fred A. Risser, Madison Brian Rude, Coon Valley Officers Walt Rugland, Appleton President: Ellen Langill Michael Schmudlach, Brooklyn President Elect: Conrad Goodkind Dale Schultz, Richland Center Treasurer: Sid Bremer Sam Scinta, Onalaska Secretary: Ellsworth H. Brown Thomas Shriner, Jr., Shorewood John Thompson, Madison Board of Curators William Van Sant, Bayfield Betty Adelman, Mukwonago Aharon Zorea, Richland Center Dave Anderson, Wausau Jon Angeli, Lancaster Ex-Officio Board of Curators Angela Bartell, Middleton Laura Cramer, President, Laurie Davidson, Marinette FRIENDS of the Society Norbert Hill Jr., Oneida Lane Earns, Provost & Vice Chancellor John 0. Holzhueter, Mazomanie for Academic Affairs, UW-Oshkosh Gregory Huber, Wausau David Stoeffel, President, Frederick Kessler, Milwaukee Wisconsin Historical Foundation Carol McChesney Johnson, Terry Thiessen, President, Black Earth Wisconsin Council for Local History Will Jones, Madison Steve Kestell, Elkhart take Honorary Curators Chloris Lowe Jr., New Lisbon Thomas Barland, Eau Claire Wisconsin Historical FOUNDATION Volume 96 of the Wisconsin Magazine of History is now Wisconsin Historical Foundation Rhona E. Vogel, Brookfield complete with this summer's current issue. Once again we ask Board of Directors G. Lane Ware, Wausau our readers to vote for the best original article of the year. Michael L.Youngman, Milwaukee Officers David A. Zweifel, Monona President: David G. Stoeffel, Whitefish Bay Directors Ex-Officio Autumn 2012 Vice President: Christopher S. Berry, Conrad G. Goodkind, Milwaukee, Middleton President-Elect, Wisconsin Historical Oneida Language Preservation, Treasurer: John R. Evans, Verona Society Board of Curators by Clifford Abbott and Loretta Metoxen Secretary: Loren J. Anderson, Elkhorn Ellen D. Langill, Waukesha, President, Wisconsin Historical Society Board (Not Like Butter): W. E. Hoard and the Crusade Board of Directors of Curators Diane K. Ballweg, Madison against the Oleo Fraud, by John Suval Renee S. Boldt, Appleton Wisconsin Historical Real Estate Stephen F. Brenton, Verona Foundation Malibu of the Midwest, by William Povletich Robert C. Dohmen*, Mequon Board of Directors Dennis R. Dorn, Portage President: Bruce T. Block, Milwaukee C. Frederick Geilfuss II, Milwaukee Vice President and Treasurer: Michael R. Gotzler, Madison David G. Stoeffel, Whitefish Bay Winter 2012-2013 Scott T. Kowalski, Madison Director: Gary J. Gorman, Fitchburg James R. Lang II, Lake Mills Fhe Silver Man: John H. Kinzie and the Fort Winnebago Mark D. Laufman, Madison Wisconsin Historical Foundation Indian Agency, by Peter Shrake Thomas J. Mohs, Madison Co-Directors Catherine C. Orton*, Mauston Fhe Legend of the Christmas Ship, by Larry Peterson Peter Ostlind, Madison Wes Mosman Block, Chief Operating Gregory W. Poplett, Madison Officer Wisconsin's League Against Nuclear Dangers: Linda Prehn*, Wausau Diane L. Nixa, Chief Advancement Jeffrey D. Riester, Appleton Officer Fhe Power of Informed Citizenship, by Nancy C. Unger Sarah E.Traas, Neenah *terms effective July 1,2013 54 wisconsinhistory.org Spring 2013 THANK YOU! Fhe Kindergartners of Oshkosh, by Wendy Strauch-Nelson The "Girl-Man" of Milwaukee: The Lives of Cora Anderson, by Matthew J. Prigge The Roots ofWisconsin Genealogy, by Michael Edmonds It is with deepest thanks that the Wisconsin Historical Society recognizes the following individuals and organizations, who contributed $10,000 or more between April 1,2012-April 15, Summer 2012 2013. Their extraordinary generosity greatly helps the Society Stargazers: Building the Washburn and Yerkes Observatories, share the history ofWisconsin and the nation. 1870 - 1900, by Rachel S. Cordasco Anonymous (2) Building a Community among Early Arab Immigrants in Ruth and Hartley Barker Advised Fund through Incourage Milwaukee, 1890s-1960s, by Enaya Othman Community Foundation Wisconsin's Historic Waterways: Rueben Gold Thwaites's Caxambas Foundation Letters from the Fox, 1887, by Anne Biebel Pleasant and Jerry Frautschi The Mark Jung Family Kohler Trust for Preservation You may vote in one of three ways Ruth DeYoung Kohler 1. complete an online ballot on the Wisconsin Historical Estate of Norma J. Kolthoff Society website at www.wisconsinhistory.org/wmh/ Ralph and Virginia Kurtzman hesseltine/ballot.asp Navistar Old World Wisconsin Foundation 2. send an email to [email protected] State ofWisconsin 3. mail a postcard with the name of the writer, the article title, and your name to Hesseltine Award, Wisconsin Magazine of History, 816 State Street, Madison, Wl 53706. Voting ends August 30, 2013. John Arnold Bemis Manufacturing Company Drs. Allan and Margaret Bogue Voting Ends August 31, 2013 Tom and Renee Boldt Edwin E. & Janet L Bryant Foundation The Hesseltine award was established in 1965 in memory CNH Case New Holland of historian and Wisconsin Historical Society past president Culver's William B. Hesseltine. The winner will receive a $100 prize Mr. James P. Danky and Ms. C. I. Schelshorn and will be announced in the Winter 2013-2014 issue. Dohmen Family Foundation Ray and Kay Eckstein Charitable Trust The Evjue Foundation, Inc. the charitable arm of The Capital Times John J. Frautschi Family Foundation Mrs. Peter D. Humleker, Jr. WE WANT TO HEAR WHAT OUR READERS THINK! Kohler Co. Robert and Dorothy Luening Email us at: [email protected] Sally Mead Hands Foundation Comment on our facebook page: Tom and Nancy Mohs www.facebook.com/Wisconsin.Magazine.of.History Gifts in memory of Martin C. Perkins Follow us on Twitter: @WI_Mag_History Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation Write to us at: Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation Wisconsin Magazine of History Dave and Maggie Stoeffel 816 State Street Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Wisconsin Council for Local History SUMMER 2013 55 1 **" Curio •"* ogs have long been known as man's best friend. They have been used for companionship and transportation; as guides and assistants; and for tasks Din law enforcement and the military. But bar owner, Ernest Thierstein of New Glarus, came up with a novel task for his German shepherd, Fido. Thierstein trained the dog to clear the empty bottles from patron's tables. In this photograph taken in November 1946 byjohn Newhouse for the Wisconsin State Journal, Fido removes an empty from the table where (seated from left to right): John Marty, Henry B. Hefty, Caspar Zentner, and J. Henry Zentner play cards. The man seated at left on the radiator is unidentified, but may be Ernest Thierstein. The dog pictured was a second-generation bottle clearer. His father, also named Fido, performed the trick as well. John Newhouse was a reporter and photographer for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1943 until 1974. A collection of his photographs documenting daily life and events in and around Madison are housed in the archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WISCONSIN HISTORIC SITES & MUSEUMS Be sure to catch some of the biggest events of the season! You Are Here: Connecting Maps & Meanings Cultures Wisconsin Historical Madeline Island Museum Museum On exhibit through July 20-21 November 9 Summer Carriage Classis Performance Villa Louis Season September 7-8 Circus World May 18- September 2 The World 23rd Annual Civil of Little House War Weekend Old World Wade House Wisconsin September 28-29 July 1-31 PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ELIASON FAMILY For a jmplete listing of more than 100 events, exhibits, and workshops, visitwisconsinhistory.org/calendar Remember—Society members receive discounted admission. WISCONSIN HISTORICAL H^. *3S88WS? In the late 1880s, agents for the Columbian World's Exposition toured the world in search of performers for the Midway Plaisance. Some residents of the tiny town of Ain Bourdai in modern-day Lebanon accepted the offer. Upon their return, the performers told of the wonders they had seen, which led many of the villagers to seek their fortune in the New World where they formed a community in Milwaukee's Third Ward. One emigrant carried with her, in a rolled carpet, the icon of Saint George that once hung in the Catholic church in Ain Bourdai. The painting now resides in Milwaukee's Saint George Melkite Church, where it has served as a channel for prayer and a connection to the ancestral homeland of many of the parishioners. Read more about Arab immigrants to Wisconsin in Enaya Othman's article, "Building a Community among Early Arab Immigrants in Milwaukee, 1890s-1960s." WISCONSIN magazine ^/history • ••v WISCONSIN rlAJ" HISTORICAL tl0#3* SOCIETY