V > :.A''>V''w^s*lV'V!/r?^^''(AJ^\l*^'^i';lv;'Vl'J '' , 'M'^ •'';u./";'^^!^. WV''' Wisconsin I Magazine ^ of History

Reuben Gold Thwaius CLIFFORD L. LORD The Historian and the American Urhan Tradition CHARLES N. GLAAB "Culture and Business" JOHN LANKFORD Badger Colonels and the Civil War Officer T. HARRY WILLIAMS The Federal Government and History LESLIE II. FISHEL, JR. Circle and Polygon m Wisconsin Architecture RICHARD W. E. PERRIN Proceedings of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Annual Meeting

Published by The State Historical Society of Wisconsin / Vol. XLVII, No. 1 / Autumn, 1963 THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN

LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR., Director

Officers WILLIAM B. HESSELTINE, President HERBERT V. KOHLER, Honorary Vice-President JOHN C. GEILFUSS, First Vice-President GEORGE HAMPEL, JR., Treasurer E. E. HoMSTAD, Second Vice-President LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR., Secretary

Board of Curators Ex-Ojjicio

JOHN W. REYNOLDS, Governor of the State MRS. DENA A. .SMITH, State Treasurer ROBERT C. ZIMMERMAN, Secretary of State FKED H. HARRINGTON, President of the University ANGUS B. ROTHWELL, Superintendent of Public Instruction MRS. W. NORMAN FITZGEKALD, President of the Women's Auxiliary

Term Expires, 1964 THOMAS H. BARLAND GEORGE F. KASTEN CHARLES MANSON FLOYD SPRINGER, JR. Eau Claire Milwaukee Madison Racine M. J. DYRUU MRS. VINCENT W. KOCH FREDERICK L OLSON DR. WILLIAM STOVALL Prairie du Chien Janesville Wauwautosa Madison JIM DAN HILL MRS. RAYMOND J. KOLTES FREDERIC SAMMOND Superior Madison Milwaukee

Term Expires, 1965 GEORGE BANTA, JR. ROBERT B. L. MURPHY STANLEY STONE CEDRIC VIG Menasha Madison Milwaukee Rhinelander GEORGE HAMPEL, JR. FOSTER B. PORTER MiLO K. SWANTON CLARK WILKINSON Milwaukee Bloomington Madison Baraboo PHILIP F. LA FOLLETTE WILLIAM F. STARK FREDERICK N. TROWBRIDGE ANTHONY WISE Madison Pewaukee Green Bay Hayward

Term Expires, 1966 SCOTT M. CUTLIP EDWARD FROMM MRS. HOWARD T. GREENE E. E. HOMSTAD Madison Hamburg Genesee Depot Black River Falls W. NORMAN FITZCERALD ROBERT A. GEIIRKE GEORGE HAMPEL, JR. ROBERT L. PIERCE Milwaukee Ripon Milwaukee Menomonie MRS. ROBERT E. FRIEND JOHN C. GEILFUSS WILLIAM B. HESSELTINE JAMES A. RILEY Hartland Milwaukee Madison Eau Claire SAM RIZZO Racine

Honorary

Honorary Life Members WILLIAM ASHBY MCCLOY, Winnipeg PRESTON E. MCNALL, Madison MRS. LITTA BASCOM, Madison DOROTHY L. PARK, Madison MRS. LOUISE C. ROOT, Prairie du Chien

Fellows VERNON CARSTENSEN MERLE CURTI The Women's Auxiliary

Officers MRS. W. NORMAN FITZGERALD, Milwaukee, President MRS. JOSEPH C. GAMROTH, Madison, Vice-President MRS. MILLARD TUFTS, Milwaukee, Secretary MRS. ALDEN M. JOHNSTON, Appleton, Treasurer MRS. CHESTEH ENGELKING, Green Bay, Assistant Treasurer MRS. SILAS L. SPENGLER, Menasha, Ex-Officio VOLUME 47, NUMBER l/AUTUMN, 1963 Wisconsin Magazine istory

WILLIAM CONVERSE HAYGOOD, Editor

PAUL H. HASS, Associate Editor

Reuben Gold Thwaites 3 CLIFFORD L. LORD

The Historian and the American Urban Tradition 12 CHARLES N. GLAAB

"Culture and Business": The Founding of the Fourth State Normal School at River Falls 26 JOHN LANKFORD

Badger Colonels and the Civil War Officer 35 T. HARRY WILLIAMS

The Federal Government and History 47 LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR.

Circle and Polygon in Wisconsin Architecture: Early Structures of Unconventional Design 50 RICHARD W. E. PERRIN

Proceedings of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Annual Business Meeting of the State Historical Society 59

Book Reviews 82

Contributors 100

Published Quarterly by The State Historical Society of Wisconsin

THE WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY is published not assume responsibility for statements made by contribu quarterly by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 tors. Second-class postage paid at Madison, Wisconsin State Street, Madison 6, Wisconsin. Distributed to members Copyright 1963 by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin as part of their dues (Annual membership, $5.00; Family Paid for in part by the Maria L. and Simeon Mills Editorial membership, S7.00; Contributing, $10; Business and Profes­ Fund and by the George B. Burrows Fund. Wisconsin news sional, $25; Life, $100; Sustaining, $100 or more annually; papers may reprint any article appearing in the WISCON­ Patron, $1000 or more annually). Single numbers, $1.25. SIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY providing the story carries Microfilmed copies available through University Microfilms, the following credit line ; Reprinted from the State Histori­ 313 North First Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Communica­ cal Society's Wisconsin Magazine of History tor [insert the tions should be addressed to the editor. The Society does season and year which appear on the Magazine]. Varieties of History, 1963

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(Above) The opening of an exhibit of the paintings of Edwin Dickinson in the Museum's new first-floor Graphics Gallery; (top left) rural children welcome the Historymobile to their area; (left center) Eugene Klee shown restoring a battered carrousel horse; (bottom left) Bill Wilson patiently reassembles the fragments of an aboriginal skull unearthed at Price Site I in Richland County; (below) Ed Carpenter, Curator of the State Farm and Craft Museum at Cassville, fires the forge in the blacksmith shop. (Photos by Justin M. Schmiedeke)

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- •A.i.-.; V/t\\ REUBEN GOLD THWAITES

By CLIFFORD L. LORD

On the occa.sion of the fiftieth anniversary of in the public schools. Later—though he never the death of the Society's second director, his many-sided career is reappraised by one of went to college—he took graduate courses his successors at Yale in English literature, economic his­ tory, and international law. He early joined the fourth estate, first while at Yale, then at Oshkosh, later as city and then managing T YMAN COPELAND DRAPER, first sec- editor of the Madison Wisconsin State Jour­ -*-' retary of the State Historical Society of nal. From that position, aged thirty-two, he Wisconsin (1853-1887), spoke frequently and became assistant secretary of the State His­ lovingly of "rescuing from oblivion the he­ torical Society of Wisconsin, and two years roic deeds of the pioneers." Some such serv­ later, in 1887, began a distinguished twenty- ice is long overdue his successor, the Society's six-year career as its secretary. second and most distinguished secretary, Reu­ A short (5'6"), rotund man, he coupled ben Gold Thwaites. Dead just fifty years this a genial and cordial exterior and a highly de­ fall—October 22—he is today remembered veloped skill as a raconteur with an iron will almost exclusively for his editorial labors, which drove him to prodigies of effort and which surely were notable. But he had three accomplishment and made him bring peremp­ other claims to fame. He was a prominent torily to heel those who outraged his sensi­ and accomplished librarian. He was one of bilities or fell short of what he expected. Staff the founders of the Conference of Historical members in whom he was momentarily dis­ Societies, from which grew the American appointed, outsiders who tried to hoodwink Association for State and Local History. And him or capitalize on the Society's high repu­ he was a figure of revolutionary significance tation, quickly felt the lash of his tongue or in the historical society movement, the father pen. Otherwise he was a cheery man of great of the progressive (or "western") historical charm who made close friends easily; of a society. In many ways this was his major contagious and infectious enthusiasm which contribution to American society, yet it is won men to his cause; of enormous drive today substantially unrecognized. which wrought great works. Self-effacing, Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, May 15, shying from personal publicity, he brought 1853, shortly after his parents migrated from new dynamics and new perspectives to the England, he moved at the age of thirteen with historical society movement. his family to Omro, Wisconsin. There he Thwaites started quietly enough. There helped on the farm and completed his course was little hint of radical innovation in the WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 first years after he took over from Draper. the task at hand. For his publication pro­ He concentrated on the library and on his gram he established an assembly line. He first major editorial effort. He was preoc­ personally selected and edited the material cupied also with the delicate maneuverings for the documentaries, wrote and rewrote which sired the splendid new building which the drafts of his books. For most volumes, is one of his monuments and which still Annie Nunns typed the manuscript, Louise serves the Society well as its headquarters. Phelps Kellogg edited copy and supplied foot­ His reports and notes for speeches indicate notes, then Miss Nunns and later Daisy Bee- that his philosophy of public service was form­ croft read proof and saw the books through ing over these years, but at the outset—and the press. On major projects like the Jesuit indeed throughout his remarkably productive Relations he had a corps of other assistants, years in Wisconsin—he carried to new heights in that instance Victor Palsits as biblio­ the traditional functions of the historical so­ graphical advisor, Emma Blair as assistant ciety as it had existed until that time. editor, and three translators. He also enlisted He quickly established his place as one of others to work on his projects. He persuaded the foremost historical editors of his genera­ the Wisconsin legislature to observe the fif­ tion with the Jesuit Relations (73 volumes, tieth anniversary of the Civil War by estab­ 1896-1901) and followed this with Early lishing a War History Commission which Western Travels (32 volumes, 1904^1907). published ten volumes of Civil War material. In his years with the Society, he edited 170 He enlisted the Sons of the American Revo­ volumes and wrote fifteen others. Some were lution to finance the publication of three vol­ published by the Society, some by commercial umes of Draper manuscripts of the Revolu­ firms. The secret of this tremendous output tionary period. In one way or another, those and the secret of all his work was the appli­ 185 volumes and as many articles and pam­ cation of then-modern business methods to phlets and reports appeared in print.^

^ His major editorial works in addition to the Jesuit Relations and Early Western Travels were 8 volumes of The Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1904-1905) ; 10 volumes of the Wisconsin War History Commission; 10 volumes o£ the Collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society; 26 volumes of the Proceedings of the Wisconsin His­ torical Society. His own books included: Down Historic Waterways (1888) ; The Story of Wisconsin (1890); The Colonies, 1492-1752 (1891); Our Cy­ cling Tour in England (1892) ; On the Storied Ohio (1897); Stories of the Badger State (1900); His­ tory of the University of Wisconsin (1900, the Semi­ centennial volume) ; Father Marquette (1902) ; Brief History of Rocky Mountain Exploration (1904); France in America (1905, American Na­ tion series) ; Wisconsin (American Commonwealth Series, with Kellogg, 1909) ; and School History of the United States (1912). He also published at least 81 articles, addresses, pamphlets and reports, and edited 7 Handbooks and 70 Bulletins of Information for the Society. His scholarship has been ques­ tioned in minor details, his editorship in others. But his two histories of Wisconsin are still the best available, despite two later efforts; his history of the University was standard until the two-volume Curti-Carstensen work appeared a decade ago; the Jesuit Relations and Early Western Travels are monumental and gained him national stature as an historical editor; the output is overwhelming, the content impressive. In addition, for the West the Wisconsin Historical Society, like the Massachusetts Society for the East, was named special area advisor Society's Iconographic Collection to Albert Bushnell Hart in the preparation of the American Nation series. Reuben Gold Thwaites (1853-1913). LORD : RUEBEN GOLD THWAITES fX^HE development and operation of a li- Chien, then the Fox River Valley, then—for -*- brary, even more than editing and publish­ transcripts of items already in depositories ing, was the accepted major function of the elsewhere—to Detroit, Canada, and ultimately traditional historical society. Here, too, Europe. As early as 1897, he began collect­ Thwaites made a proud record, stepping up ing transcripts of European archives signifi­ the growth of the Wisconsin Society's li­ cant to the upper Mississippi Valley, was one brary by methodical, mechanized collecting of the influential group in the American His­ from Draper's maximum of 2,000 titles a torical Association which sparked the co­ year to 10,000. Partly such growth reflected operative foreign archival guide and tran­ the greater number of works being published, script programs of the Historical Manuscripts but chiefly it mirrored Thwaites' application Commission (1895),' the Public Archives of good organization and modern business Commission (1899), the Carnegie Institu­ methods (including the introduction of the tion's Bureau of Historical Research (1902), typewriter in 1888) to the multiple tasks at and the Library of Congress. He organized a hand. He introduced staff specialization, as­ co-operative program among the historical signing special responsibilities to each of his societies of the upper Mississippi Valley to eleven librarians. He systematized ordering, assist and supplement this work in the French class by class, area by area, year by year. Archives* and later in the archives in Wash­ He systematized exchanges of publications ington.^ And after the American Historical with other institutions—and did a huge busi­ Association sponsored an inventory of the ness.'' Relying largely on gifts, he indefatig- Wisconsin archives—conducted by Carl Rus­ ably solicited potential donors. Estates were sell Fish and his young assistant, Solon J. canvassed, duplicates were welcomed for ex­ Buck"—he guided the first Wisconsin archival change purposes, donors were listed in the law through the Wisconsin legislature.' Nat­ Society's annual Proceedings. urally the Society which he headed was desig­ He changed from a catalog of new ac­ nated the Wisconsin state archives. cessions, printed every three years, to a card The remarkable development of the library catalog. He instituted the publication of clas­ under his leadership, the almost incredible sified lists of the library's holdings and the publication program, his contribution to the collecting of both Wisconsin authors and of European transcript program and to the col­ labor materials, the latter in co-operation with lection and preservation of Wisconsin news­ Professors Richard Ely and John R. Com­ papers, manuscripts, and state archives surely mons. He systematically collected Wisconsin free Thwaites of any suspicion of neglect of newspapers which Draper had ignored, en­ the traditional functions of the historical listing the aid of the Wisconsin Newspaper society. Indeed one is tempted to echo a Association in depositing old files with the long-time colleague on the board of the Socie­ Society and in locating files where none were ty: "Energy, thy name is Thwaites.'"^ Clearly known. He doubled the size of his library in his first thirteen years, trebled it before he died. " Thwaites was a member of this commission, 1900-1906. He began systematically to track down Wis­ ' See Annual Reports of the American Historical consin manuscripts, to which Draper had Association, 1904-1913 passim, but especially 1908, paid little attention, taking to the field for 149-153; 1909, 291; 1910, 43. ^ The Washington project began as a search for originals first in Green Bay, then Prairie du Wisconsin materials conducted by Leo F. Stock. It was later changed from a transcript to a card index program and made a co-operative project of the midwestern societies under Newton Mereness, who ultimately launched the publication of the Terri­ " Annually major exchanges were effected with torial Papers. On Stock see SHSW Proceedings, the Boston Athenaeum, the Boston and Madison 1909, 20; 1910, 35-39. Public Libraries, the Minnesota Historical Society, " The Fish-Buck report appears in the Annual Re­ the state libraries of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illi­ port of the American Historical Association, 1905, nois, Colorado, and New York, the Enoch Pratt Li­ 377-419. brary, and the libraries of Oberlin College, the Uni­ 'Chapter 88, Wisconsin (Session) Laws of 1907. versity of Nebraska, Drew Theological Seminary, and "L. S. Hanks to Thwaites, February 21, 1913, Washington University. SHSW Archives, 27/1/3, Box 17. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 he was well established as one of the leading see the forest. The Outlook noted his work librarians and historical editors of his genera­ with the local historical societies," but only tion and, indeed, his century. his close friend, Frederick Jackson Turner, recognized what emerges as his chief claim But this is not his chief claim to fame, for to lasting fame. Writing in 1912 to Frederic in addition Thwaites took the Wisconsin So­ Paxson, Turner said, "To a degree that can ciety far beyond the previously established hardly yet be recognized, he [Thwaites] has boundaries of historical society operation. In changed the conception of the western [his­ place of the nineteenth-century club of the torical] society."" The archives of the Society like-minded elect, he substituted an institution and the growing knowledge of the history of whose doors were opened to all who were the historical society movement in the United interested. To service to scholarship he added States fully substantiate the clarity of Turner's service to the public—which his action in perception and the accuracy of his judgment. opening the catalog to the public, the stacks to students, and the Society's rooms in the Capitol to University seminars in English T TNTIL Thwaites' time, the historical so- and American history had forecast. In so *-^ ciety in America had been quite homo­ doing he revolutionized the nature of the geneous. The Massachusetts Historical Society, Society. Broad public participation was sub­ founded in 1791, and all that came after it stituted for the limited fellowship of a few for a full century—the New-York Historical cronies. And the horizons of historical activ­ Society of John Pintard, the Pennsylvania ity expanded enormously. Believing in the Historical, the North Carolina Historical and importance and the value of local history, Philosophical, the early societies west of the Thwaites could enlist in common cause all Appalachians, including Wisconsin—were of sorts of other organizations, other divisions a type. They established historical and some­ of government, and could even create other times general libraries. They collected manu­ vehicles to assume responsibility for aspects scripts. They edited and published collections of a program of burgeoning scope. He devel­ of documents and the papers of their mem­ oped a new and different type of historical bers. They established what quite correctly society—a type which now characterizes all were termed "cabinets of curiosities." but a handful of the 1,750-odd societies in Membership was open chiefly to the socially the country. His concepts and philosophy in elite, to gentlemen scholars, and to scions of this field have been of extraordinarily wide the best families (or first settlers). No ladies, influence. His practices are today so common it goes without saying, were admitted. In that their recital seems redundant. Yet at the a number of instances, as in Massachusetts, turn of the century this was all new. By the there were no dues, only occasional assess­ time he died, a new type of historical society ments. In others, dues were fixed at rates had emerged—so logically and so imper­ deliberately calculated to restrict membership ceptibly that his role has never been fully to the relatively well-to-do. Meetings were appreciated. I, myself, was long innocent on the whole infrequent. Affairs were quietly of his importance. When I succeeded to his arranged by a self-perpetuating coterie of office in 1946, I—like most young American insiders. The libraries were open only to historians—knew Thwaites' name as editor members. of the Jesuit Relations and the Early Western Such organizations have performed an enor­ Travels. It was not long before I became mously useful function in preservation and aware of his extraordinary magnetism for publication. Their tradition is today a vital, the survivors of his staff, who spoke of him important, basic half of the modern historical with awe and reverence. His faculty friends at the University of Wisconsin remembered him with affection. But they, like his asso­ ciate, Louise Phelps Kellogg, writing his bio­ •'Outlook, November 8, 1913. graphical sketch for the Dictionary of Ameri­ ^"Turner to Paxson, February 19, 1912, in SHSW can Biography, were too close to the trees to Archives, 27/1/3, Administration, General Corre­ spondence, 1914-1930, Box 70. LORD : RUEBEN GOLD THWAITES society. Until the days of Reuben Gold Thwaites, this was the whole of the American historical society. In Wisconsin, Draper, an unusually aggres­ sive and imaginative collector and a shrewd legislative operator, had built a remarkable library—one of the first major collections assembled without a major benefactor. By operating with ingenuity, by using small state appropriations beginning in 1854, push­ ing exchanges, "depositaries," and gifts, and by making profligate use of honorary and corresponding memberships, he built a library of roughly 118,000 titles, put together a justly famed collection of Revolutionary and Colo­ nial newspapers, had his library designated a federal depository, established a small and reasonably select cabinet of curiosities, and built the well-known manuscript collection which he was to bequeath to the Society. But the Wisconsin Society had a remarkably small membership. Frequently a year or two Society's Iconographic Collection went by without any effort to collect annual The State Historical Society rooms in the south dues. Affairs were run by Draper and his wing of the Capitol building, about 1880. intimates. Collecting was opportunistic and a bit haphazard. It was, in short, like all the others, a gentleman's club with a purpose." University Extension, and established corre­ Thwaites, in evolving the progressive so­ spondence courses. This was an era of great ciety from such a base, was, it must be remem­ democratization, when a society, economy, bered, a contemporary of, participant in, and and culture of the few began to change radi­ intellectual contributor to the Progressive Era cally and dramatically to the benefit of the in Wisconsin—a period of ferment and many. Nowhere did the excitement of this reform, a period in which faith soared in the new age rise higher than in Wisconsin. In perfectability of mankind and in the essential this atmosphere, Thwaites conceived a great soundness of political democracy. The emer­ interest in general, popular (he called it gence of the social conscience, the concepts "public") education. of employee rights and benefits and social A key agency was the free public library, welfare, the pillorying of transgressors both open to workingman and aristocrat alike. political and economic, and the development And so Thwaites became an active organizer of the Social Gospel were touchstones of the in Wisconsin of the local committees neces­ age. Faith in salvation through education sary to qualify towns for Carnegie library ruled unchallenged. High school attendance grants and a frequent dedicatory speaker at increased notably. As the elder La Follette the opening of the resulting buildings. He initiated the "Wisconsin Idea" in state gov­ was a founder and later president of the Wis­ ernment, the University of Wisconsin, under consin Library Association, a founder and Charles Van Hise, proclaimed its boundaries lifetime member of the Wisconsin Free coterminous with those of the state, revived Library Commission. He became president of the American Library Association, 1899- 1900: served on its council for four years; was given the librarians' then highest award, election for life to the American Library " On Draper, see William B. Hesseltine, Pioneer's Institute. Mission: The Story of Lyman Copeland Draper (Madison, 1954). At the same time, he saw the museum not •r:

Society's Iconographic Collectio Members of the American Library Association atop Lookout Mountain at Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1889: 1. G. C. Connor. 2. Unknown. 3. Fannnie Hull. 4. George T. Little. 5. C. A. Cutter. 6. Edward J. Nolan. 7. Reverend Jenks. 8. Mr. Lemcke. 9. Abby L. Sargent. 10. Samuel S. Green. 11. Herbert E. Davidson. 12. Eulora Miller. 13. John M. Gould. 14. Unknown. 15. Miss Winsor. 16. Miss Cutler. 17. Rutherford P. Hayes. 18. Justin Winsor. 19. Mrs. Winsor. 20. Melvil Dewey. 21. Myra F. Southworth. 22. Mrs. Saunders. 23. Miss Plummer. 24. Fanny Peters. 25. Reuben Gold Thwaites. 26. Unknown. as a cabinet of curiosities, but as a vehicle in vain for funds, public or private, to realize equal to the free library in its effectiveness his vision. "We are missing a golden oppor­ in general education. Perhaps its exhibits, tunity in the education of the masses. We telling the story of strange lands and people, can spend no less on the library . . . but there or natural phenomena, or flora and fauna, should be a fund for the development of the were of a less profound intellectual order museum as well."" than the source materials for the scholar in It was not until 1907 that he finally the library, but to the general public the persuaded the legislature to supply the essen­ showcase in the museum could be made more tial funds. Then he quickly hired a profes­ attractive and stimulating than the book in sional, Charles E. Brown of the Milwaukee the library. Public Museum and key figure in the Wis­ As early as 1891 he applied his emerging consin Archeological Society. Brown applied philosophy to his own institution: "To the to the museum the businesslike methods of world, the library is by far the [more] valu­ accessioning, cataloging, and systematic col­ able; it is a great workshop for scholars, and lecting in one field after another of Wisconsin they are at the core of civilization. The history which Thwaites had brought to the Society, however, can do excellent missionary library. To this he added up-to-date museum work among the masses, by making its techniques: the introduction of lights inside museum more attractive and by having spe­ cases, tints on the walls, rearrangement of cial regard to is possibilities as a factor in exhibits topic by topic to tell a story—not public education.'"^ For some years he sought quite as it would be told today, but this was

' SHSW Proceedings, 1891, 66. ^= SHSW Proceedings, 1892, 68. LORD : RUEBEN GOLD THWAITES

1908. Equally importantly. Brown and whole state was to be organized for Clio. Thwaites used every effort to bring people The schools would need Wisconsin materials into the museum—special exhibits for his­ for their libraries, recently created by law. torical anniversaries or special occasions such Local history was a laboratory for the teacher as conventions held in Madison, special pro­ as well as the scholar, and the sources were grams for children, talks by both men in close at hand. Essay contests, exhibits, and schools all over the state. Attendance soon collecting programs offered fine opportuni­ reached 100,000 a year—a figure which has ties for student participation. Historical sites not since been equalled in Madison—in a day should be marked with appropriate monu­ when travel was far more difficult than today. ments, as they had been in New England since Brown also furthered the public education 1875: the major Fox-Wisconsin portage, the role of the museum by circulating experi­ important Indian trails, Perrot's fort, trading mental exhibits in the schools and by visiting posts and other landmarks of the French, local historical societies with encouragement Indian, and pioneer periods. Manuscripts and and advice as they built their own exhibits archives were to be gathered by the carload. and collections. Histories of localities, counties, and organiza­ tions were to be compiled. County and local historical societies, similar to some already ' I ^HWAITES' welcoming of the public and existing in the East, would be created and -'- the University student to his library and carry on local projects in conserving, advanc­ his interest in the free public library and the ing, and disseminating history. They would public museum as instruments of public edu­ work on archeology, the historic Indian tribes, cation forecast the new dimensions he was pioneer settlement, historical monuments, meanwhile adding to the historical society. foreign-born settlers, and military history; The immediate occasion was Wisconsin's they could co-operate with the schools whose approaching semicentennial celebration of advanced students could be of great help in statehood, scheduled for 1898. By then writing sketches, collecting material, and in­ Thwaites saw local history as a subject of terviewing pioneers. Local historical research great importance for the general public. How and preservation projects would be sponsored else, in a nation grown too huge for intimate in the colleges and the University. There comprehension, could the common man would be pageants and carnivals and com­ achieve that familiarity and understanding memorations—state, county, local—"to re­ which were essential to true patriotism? How mind the present generation of the men and could the immigrant more readily come to the deeds of the past."" May 28, Statehood understand and feel at home in his new Day, was to be the key day in the counties; land? And local history was important in its June 7, anniversary of the swearing in of own right: sometimes it had a way of trip­ the first state officers, the date for the state­ ping giants. He felt that Europeans were wide historical observance in Madison; June way ahead of Americans in appreciating its 27—July 2 the occasion for a major industrial significance and its potential. "carnival" in Milwaukee. For the semicentennial he developed an A state commission headed by the Super­ extensive program. Certainly the anniversary intendent of Public Instruction was estab­ would arouse widespread public interest. This lished by law,^^ and the schoolchildren were he designed to turn to the Society's ends. He put to work. County commissions were saw clearly that there were a great many peo­ established in many counties which might ple deeply interested in history who would nev­ well become the nuclei of county historical er produce a scholarly monograph. They could, societies. The legislature approved the estab- however, do much in local preservation, chronicling, and popularization if brought together in local societies. And when the legislature met, they well might—in return for friendly sympathy and guidance—effec­ " For Thwaites' grand design for the semicenten­ nial, see SHSW Proceedings, 1897, 54-56. tively help the parent organization. The '° Chapter 289, Wisconsin (Session) Laws of 1897. WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

ings as an exclusive, almost an aristocratic retreat for the learned alone, and carried on its work of self-popularization. . . . More and more is the Society commending itself as a practical assistant to intellectual activity among all classes.""

TN THE remaining years of his life, Thwaites -*- saw burgeon the program he had enunci­ ated in 1897. Another thirteen local societies came into being. Green Bay, best of the lot, restored the oldest structure in the state— a wattle house dating from 1763—established a museum, started a children's program in the local library, began publication of a good historical quarterly. Others followed suit. Semicentennials, diamond jubilees, and other observances flourished. Thwaites prodded the Federation of Womens Clubs into establish­ Society's Iconographic Collection ing a Landmarks Committee which erected Thwaites (third from right) at the unveiling of a monument commemorating the founding of the St. several markers a year, as did the Archeo­ Francis Xavier Mission at DePere in 1671-1672. logical Society in which Charles Brown remained the key figure. When the Federa­ tion set up history study clubs, Thwaites lishment of local historical societies auxiliary issued Bulletins of Information for their and reporting to the state society and author­ guidance and made available loan collections ized municipalities to appropriate tax monies of appropriate Society books through the to local historical museums." But the out­ state-wide travelling library services of the break of the Spanish-American War, April Free Library Commission. The State Society 25, diverted all energies and efforts, and the acquired its first historic site—that of the semicentennial petered out. The schools com­ blockhouse of Fort Blue Mounds, a militia pleted their year's work in June. A few coun­ fortification of the Black Hawk War—and ties held Statehood Day observances; a few began with the Federation of Womens Clubs more belatedly held theirs July 4. Curtailed a campaign for the preservation of the First observances were held in Madison and Mil­ Territorial Capitol that bore first fruits eleven waukee. In August the war ended. years after Thwaites' death. The membership Thwaites immediately began to pick up the of the Society increased tenfold. The num­ pieces. He initiated a new series of technical ber from Milwaukee came to exceed that of pamphlets, the Bulletins of Information, for Madison, and out-of-Madison board members the instruction of local societies and museums. began to play key roles in the Society's Local societies were organized under his per­ activities. sonal supervision and encouragement at Green All this was something new in historical Bay and Ripon in 1899. And the Society societies. Few of the specifics were original began to hold its annual meetings in various with Thwaites. But he combined an instinc­ parts of the state—in Green Bay in 1899, in tive eclecticism for good ideas with an enor­ Milwaukee in 1901. At the century's end mous energy and drive in putting them into Thwaites could report that "This Society operation in his state through his Society in [has] moved away from its traditional moor- one big purposeful program. He involved

'Chapters 118, 111, Wisconsin (Session) La of 1897. SHSW Proceedings, 1899, 9.

10 LORD : RUEBEN GOLD THWAITES everyone he could in these projects: the legislature, the local historical societies, the Archeological Society, the Sons of the Ameri­ can Revolution, the schools, the libraries, the Federation of Womens Clubs, and a large membership. And if Thwaites had any ulterior motive, he saw it realized: the legis­ lature ultimately began to respond handsomely to the Society's needs. It took ten years, but beginning in 1907 the appropriations to the ,fcpr--- Society increased rapidly. So did the endow­ ment. Furthermore he carried the doctrine of public education and public participation not only throughout Wisconsin, but also from 'i^ii^3aHi state to state and coast to coast, speaking, exhorting, working effectively within the learned and professional societies and with Society's Iconographic Collection his fellow historians, librarians, and historical Mrs. Thwaites made this 1897 photograph of her husband at work in his office in the State Capitol, society leaders. Within the American His­ shortly before the Society moved to its new building torical Association, he launched the Confer­ in 1900. ence of Historical Societies which in 1941 became the American Association for State best-known man in Wisconsin outside political and Local History, He travelled extensively life. But the most appropriate tribute came abroad, absorbing historical practices and from the lips of Frederick Jackson Turner. points-of-view as he journeyed, as well as Returning early the following year from Har­ collecting rare books and transcripts. He was vard to the crowded Assembly Chamber at the first great democratizer of the historical the Capitol to deliver the memorial address society, adding this to the traditional program to his close friend, at ceremonies presided not at its expense but to its great enrichment. over by Governor McGovern and attended by By 1910 his example had already proved the State Supreme Court, the University contagious in the Midwest. His peers kept Regents, and many members of the legisla­ close watch on new developments in Wiscon­ ture. Turner put it this way: sin. Today his influence is felt in large "Thwaites was . . . the builder of a new measure or small by nearly every historical type of state historical society. . . . Other society in the land. And most of them are men will succeed to [his] office and, if they totally unaware of their debt. do their full duty, . . . will open new avenues Thwaites died suddenly at the height of his of progress to this Society and will explore effectiveness in 1913. Librarians, as noted, new fields of history. Happy, thrice happy, had awarded him their two highest honors. they, if in the times to come their names shall Historians had elected him to the top position be spoken with the respect and affection with among teachers of American history, the which we speak the name of Reuben Gold presidency of the Mississippi Valley Historical Thwaites."" Association. The University of Wisconsin had conferred an honorary LL.D. The Wisconsin ^* Turner, Reuben Gold Thwaites, A Memorial State Journal on his death called him the Address (Madison, 1914), 58-59.

11 THE HISTORIAN AND THE AMERICAN URBAN TRADITION

By CHARLES N. GLAAB puts on the mortarboard of the interpreter— and no respectable history can be without "interpretation"—he constructs "forces" or "movements" to explain change. But these, 11 ''HE writing of history is a most conserva- too, more often provide justification than -'- tive craft; for the historian, whether he explanation. Whether he choses to pit liberal likes it or not, is charged with perpetuating against conservative, section against section, traditional common-sense ways of looking at class against class, or those within the con­ collective experience. If he refuses this re­ sensus against those without, the past devised sponsibility and tries to look at society from by the American historian is shaped by strug­ outside the existing framework of social tra­ gle. And viewed by society's lights, it is ditions, then he becomes something else—a moral struggle, for in the end that which is behavioral scientist, perhaps—and few his­ "progressive" and in accord with American torians are willing to follow that path. traditions always triumphs over that which is not. But in this system, "progressive" is The historian is, in a sense, a secular little more than what society concedes has theologian, who justifies society, rather than happened and acquiesces in (i.e., social the universe, to man. As storyteller, he por­ good) and the "unprogressive" little more trays the heroes of the past in their archetypal than the opposite ( i.e., social evil). Still, it social roles as chieftains, warriors, builders, is probably this element of righteous conflict or prophets. (It is comforting to find them in their dialectic that leads historians ar­ thus in the texts; the difficult psychological rogantly to proclaim: "No, history does not complexities of public behavior and leader­ have to be dull!" ship simply become irrelevant.) When he Traditional national history may be popu­ lar, but there are certain subjects involving fundamental social change that are difficult AUTHOR'S NOTE: This paper is based on informal lectures delivered October 14, 1960, and October to examine by its canons. The urbanization 26, 1962, to the Second and Fourth Annual Institute of the United States supplies a good example. for Teachers of High School History, sponsored by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. In re­ This would seem, on the face of it, to be a writing these, no attempt has been made to provide development of enormous consequence, and the detailed qualification and amplification of ex­ we are assured that it is every time we pick treme statements that proper scholarship requires. The lectures were originally intended to stimulate up a magazine or newspaper. Since American discussion of questions in American historiography, cities have been growing by leaps and bounds not to answer them. Portions of the research on which this article is based were supported by the for over 150 years, the topic would appear University of Wisconsin (Ford) Urban Program. to demand historical treatment. But the story

12 GLAAB : URBAN TRADITION of large numbers of people moving about Channing's History of the United States, in time and space does not provide very published in 1921, contained an excellent promising material for dramatic treatment; assessment of "The Urban Migration" of the it is difficult to infuse the process with con­ years 1815-18-48. A formal interest in the flict and value. At least partly because of history of American cities really dates, how­ this difficulty, national historians in the past ever, from the early 1930's with the start of largely ignored the growth of cities, and publication of volumes in the famous History American urban history, which is formally of American Life series. This series repre­ concerned with the subject, is still in its sented an ambitious attempt to write the infancy. social history of the United States, and in Only very recently, in fact, has the urban shaping the design of the study the editors historian been accorded a limited degree of fixed on urban life as one of the important recognition in the establishments of Amer­ dimensions of the American social experi­ ican history. Formerly, anyone who labeled ence. Arthur M. Schlesinger, one of the edi­ himself as such was usually considered an tors, entitled his own volume on the years antiquarian in disguise, who might have the from 1878 to 1898, The Rise of the City. proper academic credentials but who debased Although only a portion of his work was the craft by searching for ancestors in a actually devoted to the subject of urbaniza­ favorite city. Lately, he has been regarded tion, Schlesinger found the growth of cities more as an enemy agent from the camp of to be the unifying theme of the period. From the social sciences who comes to history a variety of original sources he provided an armed with secret weapons of precise defini­ account of population movement during the tion and statistics, seeking to undermine the twenty-year period and described in rich authority of a tried and true humanistic detail the pattern of life in the rapidly grow­ discipline. The urban historian himself has ing American cities.' His volume proved the never been sure if either of these views is most influential in the series in generating accurate, nor has he been sure of what role further research. he ought to be playing in the community of In the bibliographical essay for his work, scholarship. Still, the city is very much with Schlesinger noted explicitly the lack of his­ us; it has become intellectually fashionable torical interest in urban topics. "The Amer­ to defend something termed "the urban way ican city has not yet been studied generically," of life." The writing of history reflects cul­ he wrote, "nor do there exist any adequate tural imperatives, and historians, in rather social histories of particular cities."" In the uncertain fashion to be sure, have been forced next few years, scholars began to fill this gap. to incorporate urban themes into their inter­ By the late 1930's a number of studies of pretations. And urban history, even in its individual cities had appeared: Holyoke, undeveloped state, is at least important enough Memphis, portions of New York's history, to provide a long footnote in any history of and the beginning of Bessie L. Pierce's multi- American historical scholarship to this point. volume history of Chicago. As a result of this interest Blake McKelvey, in a 1952 bibliographical article which still provides A MERICAN historians have never, of the only general survey of scholarly writing -^*- course, neglected the city completely. in urban history, could cite the publication Among the great nineteenth-century histori­ after 1930 of forty volumes of urban biog­ ans, even James Ford Rhodes, for all his raphy (the standard term to describe a schol­ allegiance to the tenets of conventional politi­ arly history of an individual city) and an- cal history, considered some aspects of urban development in the years after the Civil War, and John Bach McMaster, in his multi- volume account of the life of the people in ' (New York, 1933). For sections of Schlesinger's the ante-bellum period, occasionally provided work dealing with urban themes, see particularly descriptions of the growth of individual "The Lure of the City," 53-77, and "The Urban World," 78-120. towns and cities. The fifth volume of Edward -Ibid., 44S.

13 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

other "dozen good books of urban history fleeing the city for the suburbs in the years on a broader scope.'"' after World War II. As Eric E. Lampard During the same period, general American observes in a recent searching" critique of historians began to take some account of the urban history, an "urban-industrial transfor­ developments described in urban histories, mation" has now become "part of the furni­ but these were rather artificially woven into ture displayed in every up-to-date textbook an established synthesis. The leaders of the of United States history.'" There is little evi­ movement for a "New History"—among them dence, however, that the substantial body of Charles A. Beard, James Harvey Robinson, writing in urban history has influenced in and Frederick Jackson Turner—had earlier any significant way the general historian's focused attention on history as an instrument interpretation of the American past. of social reform, on the clash of economic Nor can one really be quite sure what interests in the past, and, most influentially urban history is. Unlike the urban branches perhaps, on the creative force of the Great of the social sciences, neither its method nor West—Turner's "frontier"—in shaping the its subject matter has been well defined. unique qualities of American civilization. There are no textbooks to provide a frame­ As the study of American history became work for inquiry. Only a handful of univer­ a part of graduate instruction, conflict be­ sity courses in the subject are taught under tween classes, between interest groups, or be­ a variety of names, "The History of the tween geographic sections became funda­ American City," "American Urban History," mental dichotomies absorbed by students as or "The History of Urban Society in the readily as they acquired a respect for evi­ United States." The contents of these courses dence and the exact procedures of the German vary more than the labels. Is urban history seminar method. Urbanization was fitted to the history of cities, the history of urbaniza­ this fixed scheme of interpretation. In the tion as a process, or the history of anything texts, a dramatic post-Civil War rise of the that takes place in an urban setting? The city became an aspect of the triumph of in­ question has not yet been answered. Many dustrialism over agriculture. A commercial- studies seem customarily to be classified as urban East threatened the values of an older urban history simply because they have some­ America represented by an agrarian-rural thing to do with cities and can not conveni­ West. The city had created new social and ently be fitted into one of the more formally political problems—the slum, the political established categories of American history. machine, the boss, the downtrodden immi­ Traditionally, the urban historian has con­ grant. Economically, the rise of the city fined himself rather narrowly to the history exemplified the growing power of a class of one city, to the history of a few cities of exploitative capitalists, dealing in traction treated comparatively for a limited period of franchises, corrupting city governments, and time—usually in regard to commercial or oppressing workers and immigrants. These transportation rivalry—or to specialized as­ problems aroused the populace to support a pects of urban development, particularly ur­ vast body of desirable social and regulartory ban politics and reform. Critics have fre­ legislation. A generation of reformers, the quently enjoined him to broaden his horizons, leaders of the Progressive Movement, were to try to use urbanization as the basis for thus able to preserve old values through new a new synthesis of American history, or to methods; in the cities particularly, to employ indicate more precisely what he is attempting the cliche, Hamiltonian means proved neces­ to contribute. But this has had little effect. sary to preserve Jeffersonian ends. But then Historians in general are little inclined to fret urbanization drops from the story, not to about weaknesses in their method, and the return again until Americans are described urban historian is no exception. Although

' Blake McKelvey, "American Urban History To­ * Eric E. Lampard, "American Historians and the day," in the American Historical Review, LVII: Study of Urbanization," in the American Historical 919-929 (July, 1952). Review, LXVH: 52 (October, 1951).

14 GLAAB : URBAN TRADITION a number of urban biographies and compara­ ian tradition; we should, we are told, abandon tive city histories represent the tradition of the myth of the evil city and get on with local history at its very best, the urban his­ building a better world in an era in which torian admittedly has seldom been moved to the super-city has become reality. examine broader themes that might reason­ This argument has been ^iven scholarly ably be considered a part of his subject. substance in a recent study by a distinguished philosopher and his wife. They find that NE theme embedded in our historio­ intellectuals from Jefferson to Frank Lloyd O graphy which probably bothers anyone Wright have been opposed to the city, and who looks into the history of American cities assert that the city planner and urban re­ is the alleged anti-urban bias of nineteenth- former of today have accordingly been left century American culture. The texts tell us without a mythology or a mystique to sustain that the American of that era hated the city, their efforts.' A recent article, based on an that he grew up a good agrarian committed examination of some 6,000 volumes of verse to the mythology of the yeoman in the garden. published between 1876 and 1905, comes to Yet, if one reads urban biographies or looks a similar conclusion about the attitude toward into the local sections of a nineteenth- the city of an important segment of the in­ century newspaper—even one from a town tellectual community. American poets of the or city located in the heart of the agricultural period, the author writes, were nearly united hinterland—he is confronted by exuberant in their opposition to the city. They "con­ pronouncements extolling the city as the structed a myth of the city formidable in its exemplar of American growth and progress. detail and frightening in its intensity. . . . If he goes a bit further and examines the Pealing the great knell of doom, the poets census returns for the century, he can find pointed out the city's materialistic greed and evidence to support the view that Americans assigned it to everlasting damnation."* rushed to the cities as fast as they could get Historians of American scholarship have there. The contradiction represented here long emphasized that much of the early study merits much more attention than it has of the city—particularly by the pioneer urban received." sociologists—rested on the assumption that This is not to say that there is any short­ the city represented an abnormality in so­ age of writing on the question of the Amer­ ciety, a deviation from a normal order of ican attitude toward the city. In recent years, life. Similarly, it has been argued that the a school of writers has developed which appeal of Frederick Jackson Turner's "Fron­ stridently advances the view of the city as tier Hypothesis" lay not in the originality of a positive good." According to its doctrines, his conception but in the fact that he suc­ mostly directed against certain varieties of cinctly and poetically crystallized a generally urban planning, the city is the center of held nineteenth-century American prejudice diversity and vitality in a culture. Congested against the urban-industrial society we had streets are colorful and organically self- become. The more extreme examples of the policing. Those who propose renewal schemes recent revisionist historical writing concerned with high-rise residential buildings and space with political reform in the twentieth century for grass and trees are in effect trying to appear to be designed to root out and destroy destroy great cities and must be considered any alleged anti-urban bias in past scholar­ anti-urbanists. These schemes succeed be­ ship. The rather shrill efforts to refurbish cause Americans hold to an outmoded agrar­ the city political boss and to give proper

'Although lacking in historical depth, Anselm Strauss, Images of the American City (New York, ' Morton White and Lucia White, The Intellectual 1961), is a significant attempt to examine this topic Versus the City (Cambridge, 1962), especially 231- through the use of techniques of social psychology. 239. ' For a prominent recent book in this vein, see " Robert H. Walker, "The Poet and the Rise of the Jane Jacobs, The Death and Lite of Great American City," in the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, Cities (New York, 1961). XLIX: 98-99 (June, 1962).

15 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

credit to the urban immigrant masses and Hunter Creek unaware of minutes or hours their leaders for their support of reform until the evening chill catches us by sur- often read more like pro-city tracts than 5:11 prise. dispassionate pieces of scholarship. In short, It seems clear, then, that a body of senti­ the urban tradition and conceptions of this ments which could be termed anti-urban tradition radically influence the way we for­ supplies at least a veneer overlaying our es­ mally regard our national experience." sentially urban culture. Yet even a casual There is little difficulty in finding everyday effort to disentangle these sentiments and to examples of anti-urban attitudes in our cul­ look at their development historically reveals ture. In politics, of course, the rhetoric of serious difficulties in trying to sustain the agrarianism persisted long after we had be­ prevailing simple view that Americans have come a nation of cities. Recent politicians as always been opposed to the city. From the diverse as the Columbia University-trained writings of Americans about their cities North Dakota Senator, William Langer; the emerges nothing as formal as a doctrine of Kansas Citian, Harry Truman; and that model anti-urbanism, but rather a number of am­ of urbanity. Dean Acheson, have all, on one biguous, contradictory notions that vary occasion or another, declared themselves to through time and from place to place. be just simple country boys.'" Although this Before one can even begin to delineate the type of appeal seems finally to be disappear­ nature of these sentiments, several fairly ob­ ing, still very much with us is an anti-urban vious things, often ignored in the glib pro­ celebration of the bucolic to be found in nouncements on the subject, should be pointed magazine and newspaper writing. There is out. First, it is necessary to distinguish be­ a need, these pieces argue, for everyone to tween the sharply varying sentiments about escape from the frenzy of the city, at least the city to be found in formal literature, occasionally, in order to seek serenity in popular fiction, and promotional writing. the country. In a recent article on the West, Which of these types of materials more ac­ Eric Sevareid, the journalist and television curately reflects the "national mind" involves commentator, writes of the possibility of self- the kind of interesting epistemological ques­ renewal in the empty spaces of the mountains tion that intellectual historians like to wrestle and prairies: "It's crowds and close quarters with but can not resolve. Secondly, much that make most of us feel lost and little; you writing that seems on the surface to be anti- can't increase the density of human beings urban in tone does not assert a contrary without increasing the individual sense of agrarian position or even necessarily an anti- anonymity. . . . There must be millions of urban position. It may represent a protest us who can't sit still for an hour in the city, against aspects of the social scene that are even on a holiday, even in the park, without associated in a general way with the city— getting jumpy, but who can sit beside a Catholicism, the New Immigrant of the late nineteenth century, materialism, the power of business, the devolution of democracy— ° An excellent summary of the development of but not, if carefully read, against the city scholarly study of the city is provided by William itself or what might be termed urban ideals Diamond, "On the Dangers of an Urban Interpreta­ tion of History," in Eric F. Goldman, ed., Historio­ and values. Thirdly (and this point is closely graphy and Urbanization (Baltimore, 1941), 67-108. related), historians have tended to read For the relation of the Turner hypothesis to works dealing with the city from only one nineteenth-century thought, see Henry Nash Smith, Virgin Land (Vintage ed., New York, 1957), par­ period—the late nineteenth century—when ticularly 291-305. J. Joseph Huthmacher, "Urban reformers of varied persuasion were grinding Liberalism and the Age of Reform," in the Missis­ sippi Valley Historical Review, XLIX: 231-241 (Sep­ out vast quantities of material on these sub­ tember, 1962) is an example of the attempt to supply jects. Much of this writing was polemical, an urban reinterpretation of the Progressive Era. even inflammatory, in tone, since it was de- " See R. Richard Wohl, "Urbanism, Urbanity, and the Historian," in the University of Kansas City Review, XXII: 55 (Autumn, 1951) for an incisive statement on the presence of rural anachronisms in " The Saturday Review, XLV: 45, 91 (October 20, our present-day culture. 1962).

16 GLAAB : URBAN TRADITION

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17 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 signed to bring about major social changes. time but usually not too seriously, that the The reformers lashed out at the evil city, city is unnatural and corrupts man, that one to be sure, but only in relationship to other must get close to nature occasionally to re­ problems they saw in American society. They store his inner resources. Benjamin Rush, seldom proposed doing away with the city; the great scientist and physician, expressed they only proposed to reform it along lines an enduring sentiment when he wrote in not inconsistent with the classical ideal of 1801 of the pleasure he received from culti­ the city in Western civilization. Moreover, vating twelve acres of ground a few miles literature from a time of crisis is not always from Philadelphia. There he could retire the best gauge with which to measure funda­ two or three afternoons a week to "forget for mental attitudes that underlie a society. a few hours the bustle, the sickness, the Finally, what is one to make of the vast selfishness, and scandal of Philadelphia." He body of writing in defense of the city— could listen to the "songs of the little especially promotional material in which the feathered tribes who jump from twig to twig city served as a principal indicator of ma­ over my head and sometimes peck their food terial growth and general American progress? at my feet." He could enjoy the fragrant If one were to judge only by quantity—tak­ flowers and fruit trees that he had planted ing into account newspapers, gazetteers, local and cultivated. "My care of them," Rush history, promotional tracts, and the like— continued, "will not be repaid with persecu­ then writing in praise of the American city tion, for they have never grown in the city of would outweigh writing that condemned it. Philadelphia."^ With little more distortion than is involved Nineteenth-century novelist s—C h a r 1 e s in some of the learned discussions of Amer­ Brockden Brown, Hawthorne, Melville, icans and their myths, it would be possible James—utilized the city as a symbol of re­ to show the existence of an "urban myth" in straint, knowledge of evil, and corruption our past and to construct a learned mono­ opposed to the innocence, freedom, and ex- graph focussed on the question: "Why did pansiveness of the American forest or gar­ a people, planted in a wilderness with the den. The anti-urban tones in the writings of possibility of organizing a workable civiliza­ the Transcendentalists were based on this tion based on the freehold and an agricultural kind of conception of the polarity of nature economy, so quickly embrace an ideology and society; the city often provided the most which had at its heart a belief in the growth convenient example of man's denial of nature. of cities?" It should be noted, however, that the pre­ valence of these anti-urban sentiments in The question is absurd and is intended only literature and philosophy has little relation to point up the danger of talking readily to how people reacted to the developments about national traditions and mythologies taking place in the early and mid-nineteenth after examining too few sources or only one century. We read Thoreau today and are kind of source. Nevertheless, it may be worth­ moved by the power of his protest against while to sort out a few themes running the machine and the city. But in his time through the writing about cities in the early his was figuratively as well as literally a and mid-nineteenth century—a period when voice in the wilderness. His contemporaries people began to become aware of their in­ did not read Walden, but rather the enthusi­ fluence in American life—as a means of astic paeans to the telegraph, the iron horse, suggesting some of the lines along which the growing cities, and the expanding fac­ inquiry into the nature of the American urban tories to be found in Hunt's Merchants' Maga­ tradition might proceed. zine or their local newspapers. A second basic strain in writings about the UCH of the nineteenth-century writing cities—the credo of agrarianism—is in some M that could be termed anti-urban stems from a formal literary convention at least as old as Vergil's Georgics. This is the view, ^^ L. H. Butterfield, ed., Letters of Benjamin Rush which most everyone expresses from time to (Princeton, 1951), H: 836.

18 GLAAB : URBAN TRADITION

respects equally formalistic. Thomas Jeffer­ son provided its main elements. "I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries," he characteristically wrote to James Madison in 1787, "as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe."" But in Jefferson and his colleagues this view was often somewhat casual. Jefferson, practical man that he was, came to terms with cities. It was only as the position of the farmer weakened in the nineteenth century that agrarian sentiments hardened into a doctrine of agricultural fundamentalism. The more agriculture declined, the more vigorously was opposition to the city expressed. Agricultural newspapers of the nineteenth century are filled with warnings to country boys about the fate awaiting them in the city largely because migration from the farm was one of the prinicpal reasons for the deteriorating position of the farmer. By the 1850's, to question in a farm journal that the city was anything but absolute evil was to expound This engraving from a Police Gazette of July 26, 1879, heresy. The pursuits of agriculture, wrote portrayed one of the pitfalls awaiting country boys who emigrated to the city. a correspondent to the Prairie Farmer of Chicago in 1850, "are so connected with broad and fertile prairies," said William Jen­ every thing around us which tends to en­ nings Bryan in his famous 1896 Cross of lighten and enoble the mind, improve the Gold speech. "Burn down your cities and condition of society, and promote the com­ leave our farms, and your cities will spring mon welfare—and its influences have so up again as if by magic; but destroy our direct a bearing in all its ramifications, upon farms, and the grass will grow in the streets individual and national felicity, that it would of every city in the country.'"' But, after all, seem as if a man must come from some other the agrarian crusade failed. So to what planet who could find any thing to say in extent can anti-urbanism in the agrarian sense its disparagement." City life, he went on, really be said to reflect national sentiment "crushes, enslaves, and ruins so many thous­ when it had no effect on the fundamental ands of our young men, who are insensibly course of national development? An argu­ made the victims of dissipation, of reckless ment which evolves in defense of a declining speculation, and of ultimate crime. . . ."" economic interest in society does not neces­ Anti-urban sentiments were a fundamental sarily constitute community ideology. part of the rationale sustaining the great farmer movements of the late nineteenth OTH the romantic and the agrarian sides century. "The great cities rest upon our B of anti-urbanism found expression in the

" Paul L. Ford, ed.. The Writings of Thomas ^" For a discussion of the agrarian myth in Ameri­ Jefferson (New York, 1894), IV: 479-480. can culture, see Richard Hofstadter, The Age of "TAe Prairie Farmer, X: 18-19 (January, 1850). Reform (Vintage ed., New York, 1960), 23-59.

19 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 books about city problems written by well- forever warning, instructing and inspiring to known late-nineteenth-century religious critics virtue."" such as Josiah Strong, William A. Stead, There is a substantial body of nineteenth- Samuel L. Loomis, and Charles L. Brace. century writing which argues not that the They disliked one or another aspect of exist­ city itself is evil but that the American city, ing urban life—the Jew, the Catholic, the with its extremes of wealth and poverty, its extremes of wealth and poverty, the irreligion materialism, and its exploitation, represented and materialism, or the way children were a denial of Christian principles. This point treated. Still, they often recognized that large of view received thorough exploration in a cities were here to stay and were concerned philosophical prelude to an 1857 govern­ with making them better places in which to mental report of the results of a systematic live. To call their position either pro-urban investigation of the slums of New York. The or anti-urban says very little. Amory D. writers argued that man was a gregarious Mayo in Symbols of the Capital, one of the creature who yearned for neighborhood. first and one of the more obscure of these Theorists of all ages had conceived of noble clerical examinations of urban life, attacked cities. Even the Bible had "coupled the forms the city in formal agrarian terms: "The of earthly splendor with the more spiritual majority of successful dwellers in town are excellences of a New Jerusalem." The city scarred in body and twisted in mind by their could be the site of "intellectual and moral prolonged stimulation of all the powers of beatitude." If desolate nature was "sym­ life, and in grasping the prize of ambition bolical of savage or barbarous life," then its have lost their own best resources of enjoy­ polar opposite ought to be found where art, ment. . . . All dangers of the town may be luxury, and industry existed in profusion. summed up in this: that here, withdrawn "Yet here," the writers continued, "in reality, from the blessed influences of Nature, and where pleasure wreathes perennial flowers, set face to face against humanity, man loses and magnificence runs wild with varied his own nature and becomes a new and arti­ forms; here, in sad refutation of Utopian ficial creature—an unhuman cog in a social speculation, the leper crouches in dumb machinery that works like a fate, and cheats despair, the beggar crawls in abject misery, him of his true culture as a soul. The most the toiler starves, the robber prowls, and the unnatural fashions and habits, the strangest tenant-house—home of all those outcast be­ eccentricities of intellect, the wildest and most ings—rises in squalid deformity, to mock pernicious theories in social morals, and the civilization with its foul malaria, its poison- most appalling and incurable barbarism, are breeding influences, its death-dealing asso­ the legitimate growth of city life." Yet Mayo ciations."" understood the appeal and the reality of the The metaphor of the American city as New city. He saw young people flocking there Jerusalem was a favorite. If Americans were and being challenged by the experience. If God's chosen people—and this was a vital they survived the ordeal, he thought their part of nineteenth-century assertions of doc­ faith and character would unquestionably be trines of progress—the prophetic vision strengthened. Moreover, an ideal city, a mon­ could include a spiritual capital. "While the ument to Christian principles, was conceivable beginning of things was a garden in the if there were only a way of removing the paradise of Eden," said the Reverend James poor and the exploiters of the poor. "But," Cooper in describing the American experience he wrote in a more realistic vein, "we cannot as Christian saga, "the end of things, as build cities 'to order'; they are and will be the huge receptacles for all varieties of hu­ manity, and represent the worst as surely as the best in our American character. All the "Amory D. Mayo, Symbols of the Capital; or. Civilization in New York (New York, 1859), 50-51, teacher of Christianity can do it to take men 55. and women in towns as he finds them, and, " State of New York, Report of the Select Commit­ spite of disheartening influences, keep on tee appointed To Examine Into the Condition of Tenant Houses in New-York and Brooklyn (Assem­ bly Document 205, March 9, 1857), 9-10.

20 GLAAB : URBAN TRADITION prophesied in the Book of Revelation, is a vanced this type of etiology generally argued city, magnificent and populous, the New that the city provided an unwholesome, un­ Jerusalem."" natural atmosphere for human life. Miasmas which induced both physical and moral dis­ A S the various investigations of urban life ease (and the two were not rigorously -^*- in the period indicated, the nineteenth- demarcated) were inextricably associated century American city was a monstrously with an urban environment; their effects unhealthy place in which to live. Insuffici­ could be alleviated through introducing the ently emphasized in speculations about the purity of the country to the city. When urban tradition is the fact that much of the Jefferson spoke of cities as "pestilential" or protest against the city rested precisely on as "sores" he was only in part employing this point. When one-third of the children in metaphor and in a sense was reflecting the New York tenements in the 1860's died be­ best scientific opinion of his day. In this fore they were a year old and one-half before instance, as in others, his statements have the fifth year," is it any wonder that men of too frequently been interpreted outside the good will lashed out at the evil city? This context of his times. Benjamin Rush, a firm was humanitarianism, not anti-urbanism. believer in miasmatic theories of disease, Moreover, it was largely city dwellers who made this point about cities explicit in a were struck down by the dreaded nineteenth- letter to Jefferson: "I consider them in the century epidemics of cholera and yellow fever. same light that I do abscesses on the human Ebenezer Hazard, who had survived the Phil­ body, viz., as reservoirs of all the impurities adelphia yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in of a community.'"^^ As President, Jefferson spite of the massive bloodletting prescribed devised a plan to remove disease-causing by his physician Benjamin Rush, was ex­ vapors from New Orleans: "Such a constitu­ pressing ecological not agrarian doctrines tion of atmosphere being requisite to originate when he observed that the plague ought to [yellow fever] as is generated only in low, check "the prevailing taste for enlarging close, and ill-cleansed parts of town, I have Philadelphia, and crowding so many human supposed it practicable to prevent its genera­ beings together on so small a part of earth." tion by building our cities on a more open Perhaps, he wrote, all Americans would learn plan. Take, for instance, the chequer board to reject the "fashions of the Old World in for a plan. Let the black squares only be building great cities."^" building squares, and the white ones be left open, in turf and trees. Every square of These sentiments related closely to prevail­ houses will be surrounded by four open ing scientific conceptions of the nature of squares, and every house will front an open disease. Not until the 1880's was the germ square. The atmosphere of such a town would theory of disease generally accepted in the be like that of the country, insusceptible of United States. Before that time many diseases, the miasmata which produce yellow fever. particularly those that were epidemic in I have accordingly proposed that the enlarge­ nature, were regarded not as entities but as ments of the city of New Orleans, which must dynamic conditions whose manifestations immediately take place, shall be on this plan. varied in terms of a range of moral, climatic, But it is only in case of enlargements to be and environmental factors."' Those who ad- made, or of cities to be built, that this means of prevention can be employed.'"^ Until the 1860's, by which time it was " Quoted in F. J. Kingsbury, "The Tendency of recognized that an epidemic was not neces­ Men To Live in Cities," in the Journal of Social Science, XXXIII: 12 (November, 1895). sarily a scourge of God and that cholera, at " Gordon Atkins, Health, Housing and Poverty in New York City, 1865-1898 (Ann Arbor, 1947), 30. '" Quoted in John H. Powell, Bring Out Your Dead (Philadelphia, 1949), 276. ^'^ For an imaginative exploration of the relation­ ''''Butterfield, ed.. Rush Letters, II: 824. ship between social attitudes and theories of disease "" Andrew A. Lipscomb and Albert E. Bergh, eds., in the nineteenth century, see Charles E. Rosenberg, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (Washington, The Cholera Years (Chicago, 1952). 1904), XI: 66.

21 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 least, could be checked through proper sani­ each side of the way be lined with trees, tary practices, each year of plague produced with two or three trees to every building, warnings to abandon the unhealthy cities, so that the people may be supplied with A physician wrote, for example, that the electricity and oxygen in abundance from 1849 siege of cholera could be considered Nature's own laboratory.'"" Regardless of one of the "greatest reforms the world has the particular environmental theory of disease ever known," for it might teach Americans advanced, parks were considered an urban "to forsake large cities . . . and to choose public health measure of fundamental im­ the country's wholesome air, with its quietude portance. and competence."^ The first investigations of urban life in America reflected this view A NOTHER little-examined aspect of the that the atmosphere of the city sapped the -^~*- nineteenth-century urban tradition is the moral and physical vigor of its residents. The influence of sectional considerations in shap­ famous 1845 report of John H. Griscom, a ing views expressed about cities. Writers in pioneer in the public health movement, ar­ the American West frequently argued in good gued that the foul air of New York caused Jeffersonian terms that the cities of the East an individual's blood to become burdened were corrupt, sinful, and dangerous to repub­ with impurities, preventing it from imparting lican virtue. They were the counterparts of to the "system the qualities demanded by the evil cities of Europe, which Americans nature for the due maintenance of health had rejected. But the Western city set in and strength." All that was necessary to space was another matter: it was the potential demonstrate this was a stroll in the country. center of a great new civilization, the modern The contrast between an atmosphere filled successor to the metropolises of the ancient with "animal and vegetable exhalations" and world, the symbol of a thriving society. Even the air of grassy plains, rivers, and mountains in the South, the traditional bastion of agrar­ needed "no epicurean lungs to detect it." The ianism, there was continual demand before "superior corporeal activity" and the mental the Civil War that the region develop its own stimulation imparted by these latter surround­ great cities in order to avoid further exploita­ ings provided "prima facie proofs" of the tion by the business interests of the North. country's superiority.'^ This damning of cities elsewhere while de­ It is usually argued that the effort to in­ fending those closer to home sometimes took troduce trees and parks to the city in the an odd turn. A Southern writer in 1866 pub­ nineteenth century was an outgrowth of the lished a long poem in De Bow's Review, the romantic enthusiasm for nature aroused by famous New Orleans magazine, attacking the the writings of John Ruskin, William Cullen city for its filth and noise, its knavery, its Bryant, Andrew Jackson Downing, and others. materialism, its fraud, its licentiousness: This is probably true in part. But the move­ ment was also based, as the writings of the Athwart the glare of theatre or ball. most famous of nineteenth-century planners, The shadowy forms of vice and misery fall. Frederick Law Olmsted, clearly demonstrate, To drunken orgies, gay saloons entice. on the belief that parks and trees would be Grey-headed seniors leer at flaunting a means of improving the health of the city. vice . . . Parks would serve as "lungs" or "ventilators," •K « * absolving or dispelling the impurities of the Riot and drunken rowdies haunt the street. urban environment. A physician who wrote about the 1849 cholera epidemic speculated that the principal cause of the disease was insufficient electricity in the air, a result of the unnatural congestion of cities. Accord­ ^'•The Spirit of the Age (August 11, 1849), 91-92. ingly, the answer to epidemic was clear: "If ^ John H. Griscom, The Sanitary Condition of the cities must exist let many and large spaces be Laboring Population of New York (New York, 1845), 12. devoted to parks, and let all the streets on '""The Spirit of the Age (August 4, 1849), 71.

22 GLAAB : URBAN TRADITION

Mob matched with mob in brutal conflict continual westward movement of world pop­ meet. ulation along an isothermal zodiac and the Then in the coarse debauch of midnight formation of cities where yearly temperature crown conditions were most favorable for civiliza­ The day's exploits, and care and conscience tion. In developing these themes, prophets drown. employed a rich imagery which portrayed the cities of the West as the successors of the But he or his editors must have been aware great cities of the ancient world. Thomas that these many stanzas of diatribe might Hart Benton in his advocacy of a trans­ offend the numerous readers of the magazine continental railroad spoke of the "Tyres, who lived in cities, for appended to the poem Sidons, Balbecs, Palmyras, Alexandrias" was the following formal footnote: "The destined to spring up along his proposed description of city life, here given, applies route to the west, and a Kansas City pro­ to the great cities only of the United States moter predicted that cities "greater than and Europe."^' Babylon, Nineveh, or Thebes" would tower Ironically, it was the great interior garden above the green hills along the line of his of America, whose existence sustained the projected mid-continental railroad to run hopes of those who wished the United States from Galveston Bay to Lake Superior.^ to remain an agrarian republic, that produced However, if the cities of the American West the most elaborate visions of an urban future were to be the successors of the existing for the nation.''^ A group of promoter-in­ great cities of the world, this raised a prob­ tellectuals, including Daniel Drake, Jesup W. lem—recognized by many of the promotional Scott, Robert T. Van Horn, and William writers—of the inevitable decline of these Gilpin, who borrowed ideas freely from one new metropolises. Many simply dismissed this another, shaped a rationale in support of possibility as too far in the future to be Western cities that permeated the newspapers, worthy of serious consideration, but an gazetteers, and commercial journals of Cin­ ingenious writer in De Bow's Review, by cinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City, and tying his theory to prevailing conceptions other aspiring interior cities. The view that of epidemics, even supplied a plausible ans­ the cities of the West would inevitably be­ wer to this prophetic dilemma. In the past, come larger and greater than those of the Peking, Canton, Constantinople, Naples, Vien­ Atlantic Coast was defended with two some­ na, Madrid, London, and Paris had succeeded what contradictory economic notions—first, Babylon, Nineveh, Memphis, Tyre, and that internal commerce provided the only Carthage. But the fate of ancient cities was sound means of sustaining population growth now being prepared for these present world and hence large cities would inevitably be capitals. "Most of these great cities, are," concentrated in the interior of a nation and, he wrote, "in their oldest portions, at the secondly, that Western cities, because of their heart, exhibiting evident signs of decay. Like strategic location along the natural paths of ancient trees, while at the heart they are world commerce, could expect to become the wasting away, they add circle to circle of future great international trading capitals. outward growth; now gaining in progress of Western writers also relied heavily on the growth on the measure of interior decay, and German geographer Alexander von Humboldt, again failing to increase outwardly as fast whose geopolitical theories emphasized the as the interior portions waste away." This decay was chiefly the result of the impure exhalations of a great city caused by the accumulation of filth at its interior. But the metropolises of the American West would '""De Bow's Review, Series 2, I: 502-504 (May, 1866). ^ For a more detailed discussion of this theme, see Charles N. Glaab, "Visions of Metropolis: William Gilpin and Theories of City Growth in the American West," in the Wisconsin Magazine of His­ tory, XLV: 21-31 (Autumn, 1961). -'Ibid., 27, 30.

23 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

not face this problem. Because of the pattern a city central to a continent of resources, of the magnificent Mississippi River system, whose productive energies are greater than these natural impurities could be continually those possessed by all the world besides, and and safely carried away, and a long life could upon which is destined to reside a population thus be predicted for the future great cities greater than now exists on the globe ... a of the world.'" city destined to become the all-directing head Any final word from the West should be and the central moving heart of the great left to the most flamboyant and exuberant family of man—a city from out whose throb­ of the Western city prophets, Logan U. Reavis bing life and comprehensive brain will go of St. Louis. Reavis combined the views of forth new laws and new principles of civiliza­ Humboldt, Scott, Gilpin, and anyone else who tion for the better government of states and had anything to say on cities into an involved nations—a city destined to control the com­ defense of the future of St. Louis and dedi­ merce of more than one hundred thousand cated the better part of a journalistic career miles of railway, reaching with equal facility in the 1860's and 1870's to trying to get the to every extremity of the continent, to gather national capitol moved there. Reavis in to­ the surplus products of more than one hun­ day's terms was a dedicated "urbanist"; he dred populous states, and to whose central castigated those who saw more beauty in the life more than one hundred continental cities, quiet of the country than in the energy and populous and powerful, as all the present vitality of the city. And his was a nineteenth- existing cities of the globe, will contribute century vision of megalopolis: "Thus have prosperity and greatness—a city which . . . I written a new word—a new prophecy of will flash upon the mind of the human race, and the world will behold in America the city of prophecy—the Apocalyptic City—

'De Bow's Review, XXX: 20-25 (January, 1861). 'The New Jerusalem, the ancient seer Of Patmos saw.""^

A FEW gleanings from nineteenth-century -^*- writing about cities do not really permit any elaborate conclusions about the nature of the American urban tradition—in spite of the tendency of historians of late to generalize about the character of a movement or an aspect of thought on the basis of one or two literary products. They do suggest, however, that the concepts of "city" and "urban" are sufficiently vague to have lent themselves to a variety of uses in our past, and certainly these uses ought to be explored more fully than they have been before one speaks authoritatively of either the prevalence of urbanism or anti-urbanism in our culture. Historians of the past, reflecting little more in our national consciousness perhaps than a vague nostalgia over a lost opportunity to create a better civilization in a new world,

aijtllL CullcLtiUll "' Logan U. Reavis, Saint Louis: The Future Great Logan U. Reavis, the prophet of St. Louis. City of the World (3rd ed., St. Louis, 1871), 215.

24 GLAAB : URBAN TRADITION undoubtedly exaggerated the importance of the "agrarian myth" and fixed it in our his­ toriography. There would be no difficulty in assembling the evidence to show that nineteenth-century Americans passionately '^^^'I'^MJ^ embraced their urban destiny. However, historians prefer to re-examine and reinterpret well-established sources and to ponder again old questions within a re­ r, ( ceived framework. Frederick Jackson Turner, who did so much to shape this framework, was bolder than this. He recognized that there was another side to his hypothesis, and late in his career suggested the need for an "urban reinterpretation of our history."'^ The urban historian wisely has not attempted to design this kind of new strait jacket for fashionable scholars to wear, but instead has confined himself to limited subjects—one city's biography or the history of a few cities treated comparatively for a short period of time. Because his work has lacked ostenta­ tious "interpretation," his substantial contri­ butions, particularly in adding another dimen­ sion of understanding to the confining national synthesis, have been generally Illustrated Edition. ignored. ^-rz^ ^ '' l.H!i But the United States is now the land of the city and the super-city and since the historian is as much concerned with finding The title page from Logan Reavis' 1875 book sug­ a "usable past" as a real one, we shall gests the flamboyancy of nineteenth-century urban undoubtedly see more in our future general promotion. histories about the urban side of the Ameri­ can experience. One can hope that our national historians in developing these urban ficially imposed on our past. Any such simple themes will at least read the solid works in conception reflects only slightly the complex­ urban history that have been written and be ity of the historical reactions of Americans guided by their spirit of caution and dis- to the growth of their cities. passion. It would be unfortunate if urban history were merely to become a means of arguing the other side of a supposed urban- "" Quoted in Arthur M. Schlesinger, "The City in American Civilization," Paths to the Present (New rural dialogue, which earlier historians arti- York, 1949), 210.

25 XULTURE AND BUSINESS'

The Founding of the Fourth State Normal School at River Falls

By JOHN LANKFORD in the St. Croix valley, "the New England of the north-west.'"' From the beginning the thrifty Yankees TOURING the late 1840's the St. Croix were attracted to the valley of the Kinnickin- -L^ River valley became the focus of settle­ nic in what is now Pierce County because of ment in northwestern Wisconsin, and by 1860, its several falls, natural power sites for eco­ even the western counties along the Missis­ nomic activity in a day and region which sippi and St. Croix were filling up.^ The depended upon water power to turn the intrepid Yankee, on the move since his exodus wheels of gristmills and the blades of saws. from England in the 1630's, populated New Once the land was cleared and the mills England and, after the Revolution, fanned were in operation, business and civic leaders out through upper New York and into the of the community turned to the second aspect old Northwest Territory. Wisconsin was but of the Puritan ethic—the pursuit of culture. a way station in this migration, for the Accordingly, in 1856, sixty-three of the descendants of the Puritans moved from Back town's founding fathers subscribed for $2,350 Bay and the Harvard Yard across America worth of stock in the River Falls Academy." by foot, horse, and rail, leaving in their wake A group of seven men, including Deacon the elements of New England culture: the William Powell, his son, Oliver S. Powell— Congregational Church, the Puritan ethic later a representative in the state legislature with its reverence for business and culture, and described as "the head man of the and, at a later date, a devotion to the prin­ neighborhood"—Charles B. Cox, leading ciples of the party of Lincoln. So it was miller in the Kinnickinnic valley, and George with the men who followed Connecticut-born W. Pratt, a farmer and talented amateur Joel Foster in the settlement of Pierce County musician, owned the largest portion of the

NOTE: The writer wishes to express his indebtedness ^ For a cartographic representation of the peopling to the Board of Regents of the Wisconsin State of Wisconsin, 1850-1920, see Walter H. Ebling, "The Colleges for research appointments which allowed Development of Agriculture in Wisconsin," in The him to carry on a study of the history of the Wis­ Wisconsin Blue Book, 1929 (Madison, 1929), 52-57. consin State College, River Falls, during the sum­ " Joel Foster, quoted in the Centennial Edition of mers of 1962 and 1963; and to Dr. Walker Wyman, the River Falls Journal, August 5, 1948. former chairman of the department of the Social ' "River Falls Academy Book," July 1, 1856-March Sciences at River Falls, now president of Wisconsin 12, 1866, 1-2, Manuscript Collection B, Area Re­ State College at Whitewater and general editor of search Center, Wisconsin State College, River Falls. the forthcoming Centennial History of the Wiscon­ All citations to manuscript material refer to collec­ sin State College System. tions of the Area Research Center, River Falls.

26 LANKFORD : RIVER FALLS

attend to pass away the time. Unless they BBSyr'""' ^^^^1 propose to engage in study EARNESTLY, they would do better to stay away. We intend to

••KR make it an uncomfortable place for IDLERS."" •MS M8B» ' While the school did not succeed as a money- making venture, it did provide an education "J based in part on the traditional academy P 1 curriculum and served as a cross between if«Ck*i *.- -I a common school and a high school.' The P" 1.-' differences in education level and ability be­ tween the students must have been wide. As Mrs. Elmiria Powell of River Falls, a former student at the academy, recalled, "There were no special courses of study. We took up whatever we liked best, varying from the 'three R's' to Latin."" The River Falls Academy did not, however, long meet the demands of the community. The founding fathers desired a higher level of educational institution. In their quest they were mightily aided by the arrival of Professor Allen H. Weld. Born in Braintree, Vermont, and educated at Dartmouth and A.R.C., River Falls Yale, Weld taught in several Eastern acade­ mies and by the time he removed to Wiscon­ Professor Allen H. Weld. sin in 1858 had written a series of best- stock. True to the pattern of settlement, these selling Latin and English texts." Weld was men were all of New England origin.* induced to settle in the St. Croix valley at In October of that year Connecticut-born the prompting of his cousin. Professor George Benjamin Wilcox, a graduate of an Eastern W. Pratt. university and formerly instructor at the Wil­ In 1868 Weld was appointed to the Board son Collegiate Institute in New York, was of Normal School Regents by Governor appointed principal of the academy and the Lucius Fairchild. According to local tradi­ institution opened its doors."' High purpose tion. Weld's appointment came as a complete was evident from the first announcement of surprise. Previous to his appointment as the academy's trustees: "We wish it distinctly regent. Weld had divided his time between understood that we want the patronage of his farm and service as a teacher in the first no student of either sex, who may desire to graded school in the area and later as St. Croix County Superintendent of Schools." "Upon entering into the duties of this office '' For biographical information on the Powell [member of the Board of Normal School family see Augustus B. Easton (ed.). History of the Regents], he became very much interested St. Croix River Valley (2 vols., Chicago, 1909), 1:619-622; on C. B. Cox see Edward D. Neill, History of Washington County and the St. Croix Valley (2 vols., Minneapolis, 1881), 2:252, 264, 268-269. The 1860 manuscript census for River '•Ibid., March 24, 1858. Falls lists George W. Pratt's birthplace as Massachu­ ' For a picture of the intellectual life of a Wis­ setts. The general preponderance of Yankees during consin academy at about this time see John Q. the first phase of settlement in western Wisconsin Emery, "Albion Academy," in the Wisconsin Maga­ is demonstrated by Merle Curti's path-breaking study zine of History, 7:301-321 (March, 1924). of Trempealeau County, The Making of an Ameri­ "Quoted in Charles McKenny (ed.). Educational can Community: A Case Study of Democracy in History of Wisconsin (Chicago, 1912), 78. a Frontier County (Stanford, 1959). See especially ' WPA manuscript biographical sketch, in the pp. 62-64. Manuscripts Library, State Historical Society of ^ For a laudatory description of Professor Wilcox Wisconsin. see the River Falls Journal, October 6, 1858. '"Easton, History of the St. Croix Valley, 2:629.

27 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

Area Research Center, River Falls View down a street in River Falls during the 1870's. in the normal school system, and after in­ often required a long journey in private vestigating the question, felt that one school conveyances, there being at this time no should be located in the St. Croix valley, railroad nearer than Eau Claire, and steam­ believing that in this region, rapidly grow­ boat travel being interrupted in winter.'"" ing and early settled by men and women of Other areas in the state, however, were intelligence and culture, . . . such a school interested in securing the next normal school would be of vast benefit to that locality and for themselves. The Hudson "buzzards," as the state at large." Weld had great personal the editor of the Prescott Journal called them, ability and charm. Further, his suggestion favored first La Crosse and then their own fell on ground already prepared to receive river city as the site of the next normal." the seed. The Puritan ethic demanded educa­ While Morris B. Kimball, editor of the Pierce tion for the young. It was a hallmark of County Herald, felt that Prescott had certain civilization, and a kind of insurance policy." natural geographic advantages to offer in In January, 1870, over 1,000 residents of competition for such an institution, he finally the St. Croix River valley petitioned the admitted that the citizens of the town were legislature to consider establishing the next not interested in securing a normal school.''' state normal school in the valley.^" At this In July, 1870, the Pierce County Herald threw time Professor Weld redoubled his efforts its editorial weight onto the scales of public on behalf of River Falls as the specific site opinion for River Falls as the site of the for the proposed institution. "To this end proposed institution. Eau Claire, Stevens he bent his most earnest efforts for several Point, Menomonie, Grand Rapids, and New years, making it a point to be present at Lisbon were all in the race for the school at every meeting of the board, though to do so one time or another.

^^ Ibid. On the New England tradition in educa­ " Judge Allen P. Weld, "Early Schools," in Miscel­ tion see, for example, Frederick Rudolph, The Amer­ laneous Manuscripts Collection, typescript of copy ican College and University: A History (New York, deposited in cornerstone of North Hall, River Falls 1962), especially chaps. 1 and 5. Campus, June 17, 1914. '" Petition from the Residents of the St. Croix " "Jealousy vs. Rivalry," reprinted from the River Valley to the State Legislature at Madison, Prescott Journal by the Pierce County Herald, March January 24, 1870, in Miscellaneous Manuscripts 31,^ 1870. Collection. ''• Pierce County Herald, January 20, 1870.

28 LANKFORD : RIVER FALLS

The advantages offered by the town of willing to make to accomplish our effort."" River Falls were both tangible and intangible. However, the community leaders realized that As editor Kimball summed the matter up, this was a faint hope and knew that ultimately "River Falls is as beautiful an inland village it would be the town of River Falls, and as can be found in the State, pleasantly situ­ immediate towns surrounding the village and ated on the banks of the Kinnickinnic river, perhaps the county, which would pay the which affords an excellent water power, near bill. the dividing line between the counties of In March of 1870 the state legislature Pierce and St. Croix; here is a quiet, orderly passed an enabling act which would allow village, with churches, schools, and the ad­ the towns of River Falls and Clifton in Pierce vantages afforded by society of a commend­ County, and Troy and Kinnickinnic in St. able order."" Croix County, to issue bonds to the total of At the July, 1870, meeting of the State $20,000 for financing the normal school.^" Board of Normal School Regents, "Proposals Residents purchased the bonds more readily and petitions for the location of the Fourth than had been expected, and as a result, it Normal School were presented from River seemed as if River Falls was to be the home Falls and Grand Rapids, and it was voted to of the next state normal school. give notice to any localities wishing to com­ In August of 1871 a delegation from the pete to submit their proposals before May Board of Regents visited River Falls. "It was next."" The editor of the Pierce County a fine day," reported lawyer Abner Morse, Herald fulminated, "This looks a little as an ex-Vermonter who would soon reopen the though the reasonable claims of the com­ River Falls Journal after serving as a corre­ munity entitled to the location of a Normal spondent for the Pierce County Herald. "Our School were weighed in the balance against citizens took some pains to 'circulate' them money considerations and found wanting. If [the Regents] about the country. They the Board of Regents propose to ignore all climbed the mounds—they climbed high considerations except that of money and sell buildings on top of them. They ascended the School to the highest bidder, Milwaukee, the 'scaffold'—the one erected for an observa­ La Crosse, Madison, and other cities may tory on Foster Heights,—^they descended to well pass in their checks and let villages that the valley, even the lowest valley of the Kin­ cannot pay a princely sum stand back.'"" nickinnic. They were delighted, at least they The crusty editor was in large part right. appeared to be. . . .'""^ By the time the The Board of Normal School Regents and the regents visited River Falls, the field of com­ Normal School Fund could not stand (or petitors for the new normal school had been did not wish to stand) the original appro­ narrowed down to La Crosse and River Falls.^" priations for new schools. It was left up to the competing communities to provide the f I ''HE final battle to secure the normal for money for construction of the first building -*- River Falls came at a meeting of the Board of a new normal and to donate the land on of Regents early in 1872. Competing loca­ which it would stand. The letter accompany­ tions were ready to offer more than the ing the petition of 1870 to the state legisla­ $20,000 raised by River Falls and the sur­ ture begged the local assemblyman to see rounding towns. A delegation composed of if the state might not appropriate the neces­ Assemblyman 0. S. Powell, C. B. Cox and sary funds. "Times are so hard we could Regent Allen Weld was on hand and immedi- not sell the bonds of the towns without greater sacrifice perhaps than they would be

" H. S. Commings to Charles D. Parker, assembly­ man from St. Croix County, January 29, 1870. Mis­ cellaneous Manuscripts Collection. '^ Wisconsin Statutes, Chap. 431, Local Laws, 1870. ^ Abner Morse, "River Falls Local," in Pierce "/6irf., July 11, 1870. County Herald, August 3, 1871. ^Ubid., July 28, 1870. "" Editorial in Polk County Press, quoted by Pierce ^"Ibid. County Herald, August 10, 1871.

29 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 ately pledged an extra $5,000 to make up the difference. They returned to River Falls and called a meeting at the Agricolitan Hall on Saturday, February 10. Cox was chairman and Abner Morse served as secretary. Regent Weld spoke to the assembly concerning the crisis and described the pledge made to the board. "Those who were present who were voters in River Falls, by unanimous vote, resolved to request the Board of Supervisors [of Pierce County]" to issue bonds to cover the extra $5,000.'^ Committees were appointed to carry the news to other towns in the county and to press the matter before the county board. The campaign to secure support from the county board was directed in large part by Osborn Strahl, an Ohio-born Quaker farmer who settled in Troy Township in 1850. Ac­ cording to Warren D. Parker, first president of the River Falls normal school, Strahl's campaign had beneficial results. A "house- Falls to-house canvass" was conducted, Parker Osborn Strahl, a leader in the movement to secure a state normal school for River Falls. remembered. "That all-winter, fireside search" for funds produced not only financial results, would bring "to our doors a powerful means but also "The daily conferences performed for a higher and better development. It the further beneficent service of establishing establishes within our borders an important permanent friendship for the school."^' center of educational effort, a focus of benign The February meeting at Agricolitan Hall and elevating influences, moral, intellectual, seemed unsure as to whether the county board and social. It is an institution not for a day would entertain the request for funds. Abner or a year, but for all time and for all.'"" Morse reported that "There could be no harm In the drive to swing public opinion be­ in asking [for the money from the county], hind the request for a county bond issue for and it might be deemed not only a duty, but $5,000 to meet the demands of the Board a privilege with many, and perhaps all, to of Regents, both aspects of the Puritan ethic cast their might to secure an institution at were exploited. Not only would the new once so important, so valuable, and so ex­ school "tend to elevate the character of the ceedingly necessary to the educational inter­ public schools and raise the tone of educa­ ests of the County, the Valley and even the tional sentiment" in the area; it would also state.""' Public opinion as expressed in the give "notoriety to our domain" and invite letters to the editor section of the Pierce "examination of our soil and resources," County Herald supported the request made encourage "settlement" and tend "to enhance to the board. An anonymous writer, who the value of property." The writer estimated signed himself "Vox Populi," reminded the that about $40,000 would "be expended upon residents of the county that the normal school our own soil" for labor and materials used in constructing the new building for the normal. This would increase the wealth of ^ Abner Morse, "Proceedings of a Meeting of the county. Further, "An annual appropria­ Those Interested in the Normal School Location," tion from the Normal School fund of not Pierce County Herald, February 15, 1872. '^ Letter from ex-President Warren D. Parker, in Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection, typescript of copy deposited in cornerstone of North Hall. -' Pierce County Herald, February 15, 1872. -"''Ibid., February 22, 1872.

30 LANKFORD : RIVER FALLS less than $12,000" would be spent in the reported favorably on the measure. The issue area "for the support of the school." This was then drawn between those who did not annual appropriation ensured the "stability wish to be rushed into passing such legisla­ and permanency" of the school and guaran­ tion and would rather postpone it until the teed a continual stream of funds into the fall meeting of the board, and those who area.''' The editors of the Pierce County were for taking action at once. Supervisor Herald recognized the basic democratic Lusk moved the adoption of the resolution, nature of the normal school, for it would but his suggestion was countered at once by ensure a supply of competent instructors for a motion to table the matter until the autumn the common schools, which they dubbed "the meeting. The postponing faction lost by a Poor Man's College." But further, the canny vote of 10 to 8 and the resolution authorizing frontiersmen, with an eye to easing the tax the bond issue passed by the same vote."" burden and increasing land values, remarked: After the passage of the bond issue, there "The Normal School will bring a fund— followed a cooling-off period in which the yea—a mine of wealth to our country, which attention of the residents of River Falls and will share with us the burden of future taxa­ Pierce County turned to other matters. The tion; it will bring along hundreds—yes, only real problem which remained was the thousands of first class settlers who will dot selection of a site upon which to erect the down here and there all over the country; normal school building. Joel Foster, one of it will furnish better, and consequently the biggest land speculators in the area, cheaper teachers than we now have, and it refused either to sell or to give the local will, in and of itself, be a model after which normal school site committee a desirable tract our schools will be fashioned.'"'" of land in River Falls. Other land specula­ The close connection between business and tors who had their eyes on future land values culture was summed up by loquacious Abner rather than civic duty acted in the same Morse in his column for the county newspaper manner."' After much discussion, a ten-acre in mid-June of 1872. Contrasting the work tract of land called the "Brackett site," but toward securing a normal school and the owned by Abner Morse and 0. S. Powell, activities of local promoters toward securing was accepted by the committee at a price of railroad connections for River Falls, he re­ $1,000. Osborn Strahl, "that indefagitable ported that "One enthusiastic individual was worker, and co-worker in public enterprises, heard to remark, while he waved the 'gesture and especially those that pertain to the cause imperial,' 'Ere long, gentlemen, the snort of of education," led the movement to subscribe the iron horse, chiming with the glad and funds necessary to purchase the site."" happy tintinnabulations of the Normal School By the beginning of 1873 the funds raised bell shall echo and re-echo among the hills by the towns and the money from the county and valleys, telling of culture and business, bond issue had been placed with the state of education and advancement, and singing treasurer and the site was ready. Abner sweet songs of the future of this beautiful Morse, now at the helm of the revived River land of the north.' "~' Falls Journal, demanded to know when the On June 17, 1872, the Pierce County Board state would begin work."" It was not that met in special session to consider a resolution simple, however, for delegates from the Board committing the board to issue $5,000 worth of Normal School Regents again visited River of bonds at 7 per cent interest. The resolu­ Falls and inspected the land selected for the tion went to the committee on finance, and location of the school. While they would on the morning of June 20 the committee have preferred other sites to the Brackett

'"Ibid., March 7, 1872. '"Pierce County Herald, June 27, 1872. "" Ibid., May 30, 1872. "^ Morse, "River Falls Local," in ibid., June 6, 1872. "'' Abner Morse, "River Falls Local,' in Pierce '"' River Falls Journal, December 13, 1872. County Herald, June 13, 1872. '"Ibid., February 7, 1873.

31 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 tract, various legal and economic difficulties are losing the use of our money, without ruled out all other choices. enjoying the benefits that would accrue to our village, the county, and the Valley with A FTER what amounted to three years of the prestige of the Normal School Building -'-^ hard work, politics, and suspense, the in progress.""" In December the River Falls River Falls Journal triumphantly announced Journal announced that a plan for the new on the second of May, 1873, that "Our citi­ normal building had been selected by the zens will be pleased to ascertain the fact that regents. The editor of the Madison State there is no longer any question about the Journal reported, "We have examined the location of the Fourth Normal School of the plan adopted, and consider it a vast improve­ State." Swelling with civic pride and perhaps ment on either of those previously con­ the profits from the sale of the Brackett tract, structed.""' On January 20, 1874, the Board Abner Morse waxed eloquent: "The whole of Regents announced that they would accept county—yea, the two counties, and, finally sealed bids for the new building until Febru­ the entire St. Croix Valley, is rejoicing at ary 20th. Work was to begin in the spring our success, and congratulations are received of 1874 and the structure was to be ready from every quarter. Accept our thanks, kind for occupancy on August 1, 1875. Perhaps friends, and may you reap your full share as a result of the promised normal school, of the blessings that may flow from the a visitor from Lake City, commenting on the establishment of this benevolent institution economic life of the village of River Falls, in our midst.'"''' observed that "Real estate is lively and busi­ The indefagitable Osborn Strahl was not, ness expansion the order of the day.""" however, completely satisfied. A meeting Construction must have gone according to held at the Agricolitan Hall in River Falls schedule, for the crusty and impatient editor under his leadership voted to donate and plant of the River Falls Journal had no criticism to shade trees along the street (now Cascade St.) make during the fall and winter of 1874- in front of the new building. Strahl then 1875. On the 4th of July, 1875, the new reminded his fellow citizens that the economic normal school took on a place of prominence and cultural life of the county and, indeed, in the public celebration. Eighth on the list the St. Croix valley, would receive a new of traditional toasts (doubtless drunk in impetus. The money to build and staff the lemonade and sarsaparilla) came the follow­ new school would circulate in the region and ing, "Our Normal Schools: Like cities set state appropriations would continue to upon hills, they cannot be hid. The light strengthen the economy. "This institution they radiate is potent to dispel the darkness will be no portable Collegiate Institute, but of ignorance. We trust that the one in our stand almost as the distant hills; with stead­ midst will soon shed a glistening ray which fast endowment its running expenses will add shall grow brighter and broader with the to our financial circulation from year to growth of future generations." The newly year, and in its inmates and attaches the appointed president of the River Falls normal, cause of education and refinement will secure Warren D. Parker, was toasted as "the master a rich acquisition, and generations upon gen­ builder." Filled with civic pride and the erations yet to tread these fertile plains will frontier habit of dealing in superlatives, the reap the rich harvest of works begun by us toastmaster suggested that "The state [Uni­ today,—the delays and expenses of starting versity at Madison] has no building which recur not again— the benefits are exhaust- will compare with this in beauty and general less.""= utility.""" Delays were not, however, done with. In the fall of 1873 Abner Morse snapped, "We

"° River Falls Journal, October 17, 1873. "'' Editorial from Madison State Journal, reprinted in ibid., December 5, 1873. ^ Ibid., May 2, 1873. "^ River Falls Journal, January 20, 30, 1874. ^ Letter from Osborn Strahl in ibid.. May 16, 1873. '"River Falls Advance, July 9, 1875.

32 LANKFORD : RIVER FALLS

Area Research Center, River Falls The fourth state normal school building, pictured shortly after its completion in 1875.

The River Falls Advance for August 24, and then a chorus from Mozart's Twelfth 1875, carried a general invitation from Regent Mass. William Starr, president of the Board Weld and President Parker inviting the "citi­ of Normal School Regents, presented the new zens of River Falls and vicinity" to the dedi­ building to President Warren Parker, who cation of the fourth state normal school to then made a brief address. Then followed take place on Thursday, September second a reading after which the choir sang an ode at 2 P.M. composed especially for the occasion by Pro­ fessor Pratt: While rain marred the formal ceremony, editor Morse viewed the dedication as "an Beyond the reach of mortal sight. occasion long to be remembered. It was," Fair science wings her lofty flight. he believed, "a day of pride for this place, But comes to earth her sons to bless. for Pierce county, and for the St. Croix Val­ With beams of light and righteousness. ley. It was a day of rejoicing, but not of tumult—a day of praise and thankfulness, She buildings her temples mid the spheres. expressed in actions, words and song." Her glory crowns the circling years; The festivities took place in the "Grand Planets and suns around her shine. Hall" of the normal school building. The Filling the earth with light divine. audience was held "as with a magic spell from the opening anthem to the closing We come with joyous hearts to-day. chorus." Professor George W. Pratt directed And round her altar homage pay; the choir. The afternoon began with an an­ And while our lips her praises sing, them which was followed by an invocation Oitr hands a richer gift shall bring.

33 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

We rear for her this Temple shrine; not one of whom failed to touch a rich vein With wreaths of love the gift we twine; of wit or wisdom, or of both." The main The Goddess, pleased, accepts the prize; address of the day was reserved for Edward Pointing in beauty to the skies. Searing, State Superintendent of Public In­ struction, and the dedication concluded with "And next in order came a feast of rich the choir singing "Achieved Are Thy Glorious things in the brief addresses made by the Works," from Haydn's Creation.'" different members of the Board of regents. T^HAT the village of River Falls should -*- have secured the fourth state normal school is testimony to the strength and vitality of the New England tradition, and to the political wisdom and economic power of leaders of the community. Competing with such cities as Eau Claire and La Crosse, with populations in 1875 of 8,440 and 11,012 respectively, the village of River Falls with its 1,916 inhabitants seemed a pitifully small force to place in opposition to the larger urban areas. The Welds, Morses, Coxes, Strahls, and Powells were strong-willed Yan­ kees, with a reverence for education and a belief that by securing such a school the gen­ eral economic level of the community and the county would be improved. "Business and culture" were but sides of the same coin to them. Both were necessary for insuring adequate growth and development in the St. Croix River valley, "the New England of the north-west."

'"River Falls Journal, September 3, 1875.

Interior view of the chapel in the state normal school at River Falls, from a photograph probably taken at the time of the building's dedication. A.R.C, River Falls

34 BADGER COLONELS AND THE CIVIL WAR OFFICER

By T. HARRY WILLIAMS The colonels of regiments came into the army with various motives. Some entered iiiT govern at will nearly a thousand men, because of a sense of duty or patriotism; -*- each one of whom leaps to perform my some, because they were carried away by bidding, and some, perhaps many, of whom emotion in the surcharged atmosphere follow­ would count it small cost to spill his blood ing Sumter; and some, because they were for me," wrote one regimental commander to ambitious and saw in a military career pub­ his wife. ''A soldier is always guarding the licity for some other kind of career. Many, door of my tent, a line of soldiers always it may be suspected, acted because of a com­ surrounds it, all my individual wants are bination of reasons. And they were a various supplied, the most of my wishes anticipated." lot. Some soon found they were not com­ Around him in the tent, this officer con­ petent to command but never realized or tinued, were weapons, uniforms, a bottle of admitted it, and if not detected from above whiskey, pipes, and manuals on tactics and and discharged, they blundered their way regulations. It was all "a paradise of delight," to the very end. In the first year of the he imprudently declared. "No woman to war it was possible for unqualified men to bother me. . . . Nary baby to keep awake attain responsible command posts. Colonels o'nights. The fact is, camp life to a field and other field officers and company officers officer is a bachelor's paradise." His reac­ were usually elected to their position by the tions, although playfully put for the benefit vote of the troops or, more rarely, appointed of his correspondent, were typical of those by the governor. A great deal of historical of other volunteer officers suddenly trans­ nonsense has been written about this sup­ ported from civilian life to the ways of war. posedly inefficient, haphazard, too-democratic It was a new and strange world they found manner of choosing officers. Actually the themselves in, a man's world, and at the election method was the only available way start most of them were utterly captivated to obtain quickly the large number of troop with it. The change was "almost magical," leaders required. The North raised during another officer observed, and he, like many the war a total of over 2,000 volunteer regi­ others, was not quite sure how he had got ments of all arms, and colonels and lesser there.' officers had to be inducted immediately." There simplv was not time to resort to a more military, aristocratic, and leisured sys­ tem of selection. NOTE: This paper was originally delivered at the 117th Annual Meeting of the State Historical Society Election sometimes produced good of Wisconsin, Three Lakes, Wisconsin, June 20-21, choices—the men knew the candidates and 1963. ^ Walter George Smith, Life and Letters of Thomas Kilby Smith (New York, 1893), 179-180; Milo M. Quaife, ed.. From the Cannon's Mouth: The Civil War Letters of General Alpheus S. Williams (Detroit, " William F. Fox, Regimental Losses in the Civil 19,59), 18. War (Albany 1889), 1.

35 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 selected shrewdly. Sometimes it descended ment in such a capacity. But precious few to a personal or political contest—the men of them got out of the regular service. For picked the aspirants who promised the most one thing, the War Department resisted the or talked the best. Regardless of the type of transfer of its best personnel, and even if man elevated, the election system invested this attitude had not existed a regular officer regiments and even larger units with a could not have secured a state commission uniquely democratic cast. Officers who had unless offered one by some governor. Of been elected often seemed to feel that they the 508 West Point graduates in civil life, could hold their place only if they continued 115 re-entered the service and 393 accepted to please their constitutents. One Ohio commissions from their states in the volun­ colonel orated to his regiment at the begin­ teers.' Many of the latter began as colonels ning of the campaign: "I am, by your choice, but were soon jumped up to general grade. to lead you. I am but a machine in your By any computation, then, most of the 2,000 hands. ... If you see fit to place confidence volunteer regiments, probably 1,600, had to in me, obey my commands, and follow me be commanded by men with no professional where I may lead, I shall feel proud of the military background. The Civil War is always command of the Seventh Regiment."" A gov­ considered a West Pointers' affair, and this ernor could, of course, make the same wrong is true in the largest sense. In the sixty kind of decision as a regiment; could, for biggest battles, graduates of the academy example, throw a colonelcy to an individual commanded both armies in fifty-five, and in who had no other recommendation than the remaining five a graduate commanded political influence. But he was more likely one of the opposing armies. No civilian gen­ to exercise some discretion and name at least eral demonstrated the capacity to direct an some men of ability or standing. army of combined arms, nor did a civilian Both modes of selection violated every often command a corps, the largest unit in an known principle of military procedure. But, army. But many civilians led brigades and surprisingly, they worked. They brought in even divisions, and they dominated the regi­ at the start, along with some misfits, a large mental commands. On the regimental level number of capable men who became regi­ the Civil War was a civilians' war, and this mental commanders immediately or who be­ was of moment for commanders of larger gan in secondary roles and worked their way units, for generals commanding armies, and up. Only a society of immense innocence for directors of the highest strategy. The could have sanctioned such methods of pro­ regiment was the basic unit of an army. If viding military leadership, and only one of the regiments operated right, the army could infinite vigor and diversity could have pro­ operate; it could even sustain its identity duced such abundant and able officer ma­ against bad leadership at the top. In the end, terial with these methods. These men were much of the effectiveness of a Civil War army the good colonels, and without them the came down to the personal qualities of its nation could not have officered its armies. colonels. An overwhelming majority of them were civilians. In 1861 there were in the regular \YWISCONSIN colonels and regiments army, after the departure of Southern sympa­ '" played a large role in the war. The thizers, about 440 graduates of West Point. state made a full and fair military contribu­ These men would have made admirable train­ tion by any standard. Approximately 91,000 ing directors for the volunteer hosts, and an act of Congress authorized their employ­

' Marvin A. Kreidberg and Merton G. Henry, History of the Military Mobilization in the United * Lawrence Wilson, Itinerary of the Seventh Ohio States Army, 1775-1945 (Washington, 1955), 115- Volunteer Infantry (New York, 1907), 41. In the 116; William Addleman Ganoe, The History of the second year of the war a system of examinations United States Army (New York, 1924), 252-253; R. was instituted that made it possible to weed out in­ Ernest Dupuy, The Story of West Point (Washington, competent officers. 1943), 212-213.

36 WILLIAMS : BADGER COLONELS

men served in the federal armies; and al­ though this figure included some duplicates, it still represented a respectable proportion of the total population of 775,000. The num­ ber of service deaths ran to over 11,000 or twelve per cent of the total, most of whom, as was common in the war, died of disease. These Badger soldiers were enrolled in fifty- two infantry regiments, four cavalry regi­ ments, and one heavy artillery regiment." Many competent and colorful volunteer officers emerged from civilian life to lead these units, and some of them would rise from the grade of colonel to that of general and from regimental command to the direc­ tion of larger organizations. Among the com­ bat or line officers stand out the names of Edward S. Bragg, sometimes called "the little colonel," Lucius Fairchild, who would lose an arm in the conflict, C. C. Washburn, Halbert E. Paine, Harrison C. Hobart, Hans C. Heg, Lysander Cutler, John C. Stark­ weather, Thomas E. Allen, and Rufus Dawes, Society's Iconographic (.oUcction who though from Ohio commanded a Wis­ Lucius Fairchild, "Gallant Colonel" of the Second consin regiment. Frank A. Haskell, remem­ Wisconsin. bered today as a compelling chronicler of Gettysburg, saw both line and staff service per cent lost, the 26th, the 7th, and the 36th. and was finally killed in action. Joseph Bailey Badger regiments were not necessarily made survives in the general history of the war up of any better material than those from because his engineering skills floated the other states. But they did have one real Union navy through the shallows on Red superiority. Wisconsin, practically alone River in a dangerous moment of the retreat among the Northern states, did not create from Mansfield in 1864. new units to take the places of decimated Wisconsin regiments compiled a proud old ones. Instead, it funneled recruits into combat record. They stand high on any list the existing regiments and thus preserved a of battle units. A roll of 300 "fighting regi­ core of veterans in all its organizations." ments" discloses the names of ten Badger A regiment consisted of ten companies and outfits. Ten Wisconsin regiments appear on averaged in size from 900 to 1,000 troops a register of units who lost 10 per cent or and officers. This was its number when it more of their number killed in action or marched off to war, but it was never as large mortally wounded. On an even more exclu­ again. Battle losses, disease, and desertion sive catalog, of the forty-five regiments that took their toll, and since other states did not lost 200 or more men in battle, are three follow Wisconsin policy, the strength of most Wisconsin units: the 7th, third on the list, regiments steadily declined. By the end of the 6th, and the 2nd. Still another evaluation, 1862 the average strengths were down to which judges rank according to the percent­ 500 or 600, and later some regiments shrank age of the total number killed, contains four to an even lower total.' The command organ­ Wisconsin regiments in a roll of thirty-three: ization for a regiment was simple but ade- the 2nd, which is first with a figure of 19.7 "Fox, Regimental Losses, 3, 8, 14, 392-401. '' Francis A. Lord, They Fought for the Union iHarrisburg, 1960), 60; Bell Irvin Wiley and Hirst "Frank L. Klement, Wisconsin and the Civil War D. Milhollen, They Who Fought Here (New York, (Madison, 1963), 78-79. 1959), 34.

37 WISCONSIN MAG.4ZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

quale for the purpose. Regimental headquar­ other in our national blue; but when paraded ters comprised a colonel, a lieutenant colonel, together one of them was not there.'"" The a major, and a staff of twelve commissioned citizen soldiers had a sharp eye for the stuffed- and non-commissioned officers. The guid­ shirt officer or the pretentiously solemn order. ing spirit of the system, the man who had to They were likely to laugh at such instructions oversee everything all the time, was the as those contained in an official pamphlet colonel. He had to educate his subordinates isued to the Ohio volunteers: "Be regular in and the men under him, and in the process the calls of nature'; "Swearing profanes the he was likely to get something of an educa­ name of God of battles. . . . The habit is tion himself. unmanly, useless and degrading"; "Drink­ ing—unless under medical advice, is your /~~iNE of the first facts a regimental com- greatest curse"; and "Lewdness makes beasts ^-^ mander had to learn was that his men of men," followed by the ambiguous exhorta­ were citizens first and soldiers second. Be­ tion to "Be as pure as when at home."" On cause they were civilians who happened to the other hand, they were in some things as be wearing uniforms, they could behave in careless or helpless as children and had to ways undreamed of at West Point and create be watched over as children. The good regi­ situations never treated in the textbooks. One mental commander knew this and acted colonel out of the Academy found that in accordingly. The records of any regiment will his unit were two companies known as the show that the colonel had to attend to even Montgomery Guards and the Sarsfield Guards. the most elementary detail—order the prep­ On the day before a parade a Sarsfield aration of sanitary sinks, prohibit the dis­ lieutenant came to ask the colonel how the charge of firearms in camp, and force the men should turn out, as Montgomery or men to wear only their prescribed uniform. Sarsfield Guards. Patiently the lieutenant He had, in fact, to act very much like a explained the problem: "I am a lieutenant father. The men, in turn, cherished a kind of the Sarsfield Guards and orderly sergeant of father image of their commander, the man of the Montgomery Guards, and the captain to turn to in any crisis. The nature of the of the Montgomery Guards is orderly ser­ relationship is pathetically epitomized in the geant of the Sarsfield Guards." Even when action of a young Wisconsin soldier stagger­ this colonel recorded the incident after the ing up to his colonel at Gettysburg, showing war, his bafflement was obvious: "And so his wounded breast, and crying: "Colonel, the two companies, in the most friendly man­ won't you write to my folks that I died a ner, were made up of each other, and when Wler. 5510 paraded at different times were beautiful to Before he could do anything else, a colonel behold, one clad in hibernian green and the had to make his men like him. This was diffi­ cult, because he had to seem democratic and human, a man like themselves, and yet re­ main distant enough to preserve an aura of authority. He had to view every man under him as an individual and to consider every man's problems as individual ones. He had to show his men that he cared for them on

^' Joshua H. Bates, "Ohio's Preparations for the War," in Sketches of War History, 1861-1865. Papers Read Before the Ohio (^ommandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (Cincinnati, 1888), I : 129-130. " Henry B. Carrington, Ohio Militia and the West Society's Iconographic Collection Virginia Campaign of 1861 (Boston, 1904), 23. " Rufus R. Dawes, Service with the Sixth Wiscon­ John C. Starkweather and Halbert E. Paine. sin Volunteers (Madison, 1962), 161-162.

38 WILLIAMS : BADGER COLONELS

the field and off, to visit and comfort them when sick or in hospitals. A colonel had to be able to mingle with the men on a familiar basis without inviting liberties. In effect, he had to act like a superior civilian. He had to command without seeming too professional or military, too stiff and distant. It was a role that many West Pointers never under­ stood, and these men, with all their technical skills, simply could not command volunteers. The citizen-soldiers could be persuaded and pleased and then led, but they could not be driven. If the colonel was liked and trusted. he could lead. If he was not, he might as well get out. In the last analysis, the disci­ pline of a regiment depended largely on the personality of the colonel. The intelligent civilian leader was better fitted in almost every way to arouse the devotion of his men Society's Iconographic Collection than was the average West Pointer. W. T. Clark, assistant adjutant general of the XVII But winning devotion was only the first Corps. step in a colonel's procession to leadership. the maximum effect of their numbers. In The colonel who was liked just because he short, he had to think as well as to act. The was folksy and kind would not last. Sooner problem was perfectly described by one or later he would find himself in the situa­ officer: "Now the regiment becomes a ma­ tion for which he and his unit existed, battle, chine, and now comes the hour of trial for and it was here that he would make or break its commander—he must ascertain where the himself. The first quality that a regimental enemy is in the best way he can—he must see commander had to exhibit in battle was fear­ and think for that whole regiment, must lessness, sheer physical courage displayed in direct every movement, and watch every move­ the most spectacular fashion. The men would ment of the enemy. . . . He must be cool follow an officer who led them and try to when all others are excited, must stand when execute his orders, not because of his rank, all others are disposed to run." What this but because they accepted his leadership. But officer was saying was that the regimental even a general who showed signs of fright commander must have the apparent ability would lose control of his troops. A regimental to see through the terrain ahead of him and commander had always to be in the front to know what was coming. It has been called of battle where his men could see him. Such the gift of great infantry officers.'" In part, an officer—like Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wis­ it meant only studying the ground and en­ consin crying at Gettysburg: "Align on the visioning what might happen and preparing colors! Close up on the colors! Close up contingent plans. But a colonel could not do on the colors!"— could inspire men to per­ these and other things unless he knew some­ form impossible feats of valor." thing about the art of war. The final quality But a colonel had to do much more in of a good colonel, and perhaps the most im­ battle than strike brave poses or shout inspir­ portant one, was that he had to be a tech­ ing commands. Not even the most headlong nician in a highly specialized subject. If he exhibition of courage would in itself carry knew nothing about the subject, as was the the field. A colonel was the director of an organized unit of several hundred men, and he had to so dispose those men as to attain '- Paul M. Angle, ed.. Three Years in the Army of the Cumberland: The Letters and Diaries of Major James A. Connolly (Bloomington, 1959), 78; John J. Pullen, The Twentieth Maine (Philadelphia, 'Ibid., 168. 1957), 111.

39 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

and one or more books on tactics. The tactical manuals were many but essentially the same in content. In 1855 the War Department had adopted William J. Hardee's Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics. The book, really three com­ pact volumes, was reprinted freely and pirated variations appeared abundantly in 1861. The War Department sponsored a uniform re­ vision of Hardee, and this work, compiled by Silas Casey, was published in 1862 in three small volumes. Entitled Infantry Tactics, it was universally called Casey's Tactics and it became the most widely used manual of the war. Volunteer officers found it invaluable. Interestingly enough, its detailed instructions did not refer to the regiment as a tactical unit. Casey, like Hardee and other writers before him, called the basic unit a battalion. But as his battalion comprised ten companies and was identical in size with a regiment, it was easily adaptable to the requirements of the volunteer forces." Society's Iconographic Collection First a colonel had to master his manuals; Thomas Scott Allen of the Fifth Wisconsin. he was a pupil educating himself. But even as he studied he had to become a teacher case with every civilian officer, he had first and impart his knowledge to others. The to educate himself, and he had to do this effect of the volunteer system was to ensure not in an atmosphere of academic leisure but that practically all the officers of a regiment in the heat and haste of war itself. would know nothing about war or their jobs. The colonel just out of civilian life had to The civilian colonel who was learning his learn about many new and strange things— business had to instruct other civilians— military rules and regulations, military admin­ civilian lieutenant colonels, majors, and staff istration, and, most puzzling of all, tactics. officers; civilian company commanders, per­ The only way he could learn them was by haps the most important of all, because they studying the books. "Study the Army Regu­ had the closest disciplinary contact with the lations," a regular officer advised a civilian, men; and civilian non-commissioned officers. "as if it were your Bible!" The serious and Finally, under the supervision of the colonel, ambitious colonels needed no prodding. "I all of these had to instruct 1,000 civilian study, I tell you," one told his wife, "every soldiers. And so the regiment became a huge military work I can find.'"" Fortunately there school, with faculty members teaching each were plenty of books available, most of them other and each trying to stay a lesson ahead pocket-sized manuals that could be carried in of his students. The mechanics of instruction a saddlebag or tucked away on a tent table. were effectively simple. A typical colonel's A colonel's basic library would probably con­ order read: "On Monday, next, and until sist of Regulations for the Army of the United further orders, the company officers of the States, 1861, H. L. Scott's Military Dictionary 23rd Reg't, not otherwise on duty will assem­ or a similar compilation, perhaps a translated ble at 3 P.M. for recitation in Infantry Tac­ edition of Napoleon's Maxims or Jomini's tics and instructions in matters relating to Art of War to provide a sampler of strategy. military discipline. It is to be understood

'" Jacob Dolson Cox, Military Reminiscences of the Civil War (New York, 1900), I : 20; Willard M. " For a good discussion of the manuals, see Lord, Wallace, Soul of the Lion (New York, 1960), 44. They Fought for the Union, 39-52.

40 WILLIAMS : BADGER COLONELS

Charp;e bayonet Ordered arms Present arms Right shoulder arms

Unfix bayonet Guard against cavalry Guard against injanlry Ground arms

Load Prime To fire kneeling

These illustrations of the Union manual of arms appeared in Volume 1 of Silas Casey's Infantry Tactics, a book which volunteer officers found "invaluable" in turning raw re­ cruits into well-disciplined fighting men.

41 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 that this is not a matter of choice, but that T^HE routine for this drilling was rigorous. the attendance is required by order. . . ." -*- Reveille was at 5:00 or 5:30 in the morn­ Another colonel, who had to whip a regiment ing. A typical regiment in 1861 would engage into shape quickly, organized what in a later in squad drill for an hour before breakfast, era would be called an accelerated program: in company drill in the morning, and in drill "Officers recite in three classes on alternate with arms and regimental drill in the after­ evenings at my quarters—non-commissioned noon. This schedule was typical of many officers recite at company Headquarters regiments in the first year of the war; later divided into convenient sized classes.'"" The it would be cut to a morning and afternoon classes were concerned with regulations, period. One colonel detailed in his diary the tactics, and training; but at the same time duties of an average day. In the morning a colonel had to oversee a vast amount of he supervised company drill. At two in the administrative detail that would continue to afternoon the officers recited tactics to him demand attention after the education work and then went out to take over squad drill. had ended. To provide an orderly and perma­ "Daily drills—daily recitations in tactics— nent control of this area, a colonel would take the starch out of some, and others are set up a "council of administration" consist­ learning fast. And now I superintend,— ing of the next three senior officers. The select an officer to drill the others in the council dealt with all kinds of matters and morning, one squad drill, company drill, and lifted a heavy routine load from the colonel, Battalion regimental drill in the after­ leaving him in the formative period of a noon. ... I drill the sergeants daily, in regiment's life time to prepare it for the length of step, time and preserving distance.'"" fundamental mission of combat.'" The first form of drill to which the recruit In the writings of Civil War colonels, was introduced was squad drill or the "school whether these be official orders, private of the soldier." Here he learned such funda­ letters, or diaries, there is one word that mentals as how to stand at attention and occurs and recurs. It is drill, and no infantry salute and face right and left. He learned officer could give his men too much of it. how to load and fire a musket. As prescribed Colonels drilled their outfits when they were in the manuals and as actually practiced, a breaking them in and continued to drill them soldier had to go through nine motions before throughout the rest of the war. "You will he could discharge his weapon. The process remember," one officer recalled to his men was complicated and had to be thoroughly after the war, "whenever I had the oppor­ drilled into the recruits. Once mastered, how­ tunity, I drilled the regiment thoroughly. I ever, it became second nature. A veteran took it out, exercising it in firing, in move­ soldier could fire two or three shots a minute ments, and even taking it through the brush from a standing position. Generally the men and timber so as to give them practice in went through the motions without using real conditions they might meet." The men had or even blank cartridges. In squad drill the not liked it, he reminded them, but it had recruit also got his first taste of the intricate paid off when they got into battle. One movements which Civil War armies employed Wisconsin colonel, as late as 1863, still put to move to battle and to move in battle, and his unit through three drill evolutions a day." he received increasingly larger doses of these in the next two stages to which he progressed, the "school of the company" and the "school of the regiment." Now the recruits learned ^•' Manuscript Regimental Order Book, Twenty- to move from a column of fours, the march­ Third Ohio Volunteers, National Archives, October 18, 1861; J. Warren Kiefer to Mrs. Kiefer, November ing formation, to a line of battle consisting 12, 1862, Kiefer Papers, Division of Manuscripts, of men in two ranks, one behind the other. Library of Congress. " Regimental Order Book, Twenty-Third Ohio, June 21, 1861. " Grenville M. Dodge, in Fifteenth Anniversary, Fourth Iowa Veteran Infantry (Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1911), 10; Dawes, Service with the Sixth '" Jacob Ammen, MS. Diary, July 24, 1861, Illinois W isconsin, 150-151. State Historical Library, Springfield.

42 WILLIAMS : BADGER COLONELS and to change from the line back to the All moved and controlled by a single mind column. to the same end—that was the grand purpose These movements as described in the of the ceaseless drill in tactics. And the end manuals seem incredibly involved—and so was to place men where they could fight, to they were. But they were the only means by place them there in such a way that their which an army could place itself in a posi­ commander could move them as he desired tion where it could fight. The practical prob­ and have them perform as he directed. The lem was immense. For example, a division evolutions of the manuals may seem complex of three brigades and twelve regiments march­ and merely ceremonial to the modern mind, ing along a narrow road might stretch out but they had definitely a combat mission. for a mile and be only eight feet wide. As They were the only method that Civil War it approached the battlefield, it had to swing commanders knew to position and move men into a completely different formation, throw­ in battle while maintaining one of the im­ ing itself forward in a series of movements mutable principles of war—control or unity over all kinds of terrain to form a line. But of command. A regiment in line of battle it might sometime happen that after engag­ formed in two ranks, one behind the other. ing in battle an army had to maneuver on The men stood side by side with an interval the field, had, for example, to roll forward of approximately twenty-four inches between to another position. Then its units had to them; the distance between the men in the shift from the line to a column of fours front and rear ranks was thirty-two inches. again. This was accomplished by the elabo­ If its ten companies were at full strength, rate "marching by the flank," one of the a regiment, with an interval of three yards most difficult movements for recruits to between the companies, would take up a space master. At the command to march to the of 300 yards. A brigade would occupy 1,300 right or the left, depending upon the situa­ yards, and a division attacking in a column tion, the two lines faced in the indicated of brigades, a common assault formation, direction. The men in the rear rank side­ would advance on a front three-quarters of stepped one pace and each even-numbered a mile wide. In short. Civil War units and man advanced to the right or left of the man armies fought in close order rather than in front of him to make a column of four. extended order formations, although some If each soldier remembered his number, of the pre-war manuals had hinted at in­ which was not always the case, the unit creased use of wider arrangement. Close moved off smoothly.'" order was resorted to because, for one thing, it seemed the easiest way to instruct quickly In the "school of the regiment," companies the hosts of volunteers. For another, it learned to execute these and other movements promised to accomplish most readily one of as part of the regiment. Training beyond the great objectives of a Civil War army, the the regimental level was relatively rare and delivery of mass firepower. Massed men seems to have been limited to the brigade. would produce mass fire—it seemed as simple One brigade commander who did drill his as that. But above all, close order was em­ regiments described the process in a passage ployed because it would provide control by that shows how generals hoped to move their a single mind, the mind of a general over units in battle: "Would you not like to see an army, the mind of a corps or a division four or five regiments closing up into mass, or a brigade commander over his unit, and then deploying into line of battle, then mov­ finally, down where the whole chain ended, ing rapidly to the front in 'echelons' forming the mind of a colonel over a regiment."' squares all in one grand oblong parallelogram, then separating into squares of single regi­ ments, oblique and direct; in short, taking " Lord, They Fought for the Union, 25-30, 33; Wiley and Milhollen, They Who Fought Here, 38-43. all manner of offensive and defensive positions "" Quaife, ed.. From the Cannon's Mouth, 34-35. and all moved without confusion or disorder ""Wiley and Milhollen, They Who Fought Here, and controlled as by a single thought to the 243-248; John K. Mahon, "Civil War Infantry Assault Tactics," in Military Affairs, XX'V : 61-63 (1961).

43 :.'M

'.'J-4-Hi-

-%•:

TT did not work out that way at all. If the eighteenth century, with the attackers -*- there is one thing that is characteristic of moving forward in a succession of rigid lines Civil War battles, it is that nobody, from the that were supposed to remain parallel to the commanding general through every grade to very moment they hit the enemy. That was the colonels, had anything like full control the way it was supposed to be, but it hardly of what happened. In fact, in many engage­ ever was. As the attackers approached the ments the opposite of control seems to pre­ defenders and came under heavier fire, they vail—armies break apart in the hands of lost their formation. The lines ran together their commanders and operate on their own and became finally a bunched mass. At best, or not at all. The tactical system failed to a frontal assault would shock the defenders function as it was supposed to for three big and perhaps drive them. More often, it was reasons. First, it was adopted from a Euro­ repulsed or contained. pean school of warfare and could not be Third, and perhaps most important, the one readily adapted to the American scene. The factor that might have enabled the attackers Europeans who wrote the drillbooks from to overcome the handicap of terrain and which the Americans drew their tactics en­ possibly that of firepower was lacking. The visioned a battlefield as a gigantic chess­ communications system was inadequate even board. The regiments and the larger units for as close and small a unit as a regiment. and possibly even the whole army would be The problem of tactical communications drawn up on a flat and open space. Every is an old one in warfare, and in modern soldier in a regiment would be under the times was not satisfactorily solved until World visual control of his colonel, every regiment War II and the advent of field radio. After under its brigadier, and every brigade under the Civil War, as the firepower of armies its divisional commander. And they would grew ever greater, the tactical formations be­ remain under sight and under control in came more and more dispersed. Dispersion battle. The system broke down, and control along with it, in the American terrain. A evaded some of the impact of firepower but commander lined his men up and sent them increased the difficulties of command and plunging ahead into woods, gullies, and control. All kinds of liaison devices to enable ravines, and that was the last he saw of them an officer to keep in touch with his men as a unit. were tried out and were in use by the time of World War I. Communications were im­ Second, the formations in the drillbooks proved in that conflict but not really effec­ did not allow for the advance in weapons and tive except in static situations. Control of firepower. A defending force could pour out fluid situations became possible only in a greater volume of fire than in any previous World War H, when every company and war. Yet infantry assaults continued to be platoon leader might carry a radio, and even made much in the old storybook style of then it did not always work. At the time of

44 REGIMENT IN LINE OF BATTLE

This outline key to the drawing on the facing page, adapted by Paul Hass from Casey's Infantry Tactics, illustrates the relative positions of officers and enlisted men under ideal conditions. the Civil War technology had augmented the farther to the front and to the right and left. fire capacity of armies with better weapons, Nearest to the colonel was the junior major, but it had made no contribution to tactical who directed the skirmishers moving out communications. Commanders still had to ahead of the main attack. The adjutant and try to control their units or men with tradi­ the sergeant major, posted on the respective tional methods. It is commonly said that the flanks, assisted the lieutenant colonel and the close attack formations of the war repre­ senior major. When all was ready or when sented a lag of tactics behind technology— the orders came down from above, the regi­ that military conservatism prevented a shift ment stepped off, in the phrase of the drill to looser arrangements—and this is in part books, "with life." As the line advanced into true. It is also true, however, that the com­ battle, the colonel was supposed to remain munications lag made any change looking to thirty paces in rear of the regiment, but as dispersion utterly impractical. The com­ a matter of fact he was likely to be anywhere mander of so small a unit as a regiment had and everywhere, leading charges, exhorting trouble controlling his men in a compact the men, and giving orders directly instead of formation. He would have had no control through his officers. at all if the formation were extended. With When the regiment was standing in line the crude communications system at their dis­ and as it moved off, it was under compara­ posal, it was remarkable that the Civil War tively good control. Even a full-strength unit colonels did as good a control job as they did. drawn up in two ranks could not take up A regiment in line of battle would be drawn very much space, and it was possible for the up in two ranks as shown in the schematic colonel, unless there were a lot of competition drawings. Two paces behind the rear rank from artillery fire, to address his orders by stood the "file closers," a thin line of lieu­ voice command. But this phase was as a tenants and sergeants whose function was to fleeting moment. As the men drove into direct the men and to restrain any of them woods and gullies and the racket of battle who later might break for a place of greater swelled in volume and the lines ran together safety. To ensure that the line of battle and or the companies became separated, voice the alignment of the regiment were absolutely control was lost. A colonel or another field straight, men bearing staffs and flags and officer acting for him could, of course, issue known as "markers" took up prescribed posi­ orders to knots of men, and if the regiment tions. The field officers—colonel, lieutenant happened to be halted by fire in a sheltered colonel, and majors—were supposed to be area, the colonel might be able to make him­ on horseback in battle. The colonel took a self heard by all the men. But as a rule, once position thirty-five paces behind the "file battle was joined, unit control by voice was closers" and opposite the center of the regi­ impossible. The only way that the colonel ment. The other field officers took posts could exercise any kind of direction of the

45 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

{Lejtj Harrison C. hobart of ttie Iwenty-first IViscon­ sin; (right) Lysander Cutler of the Sixth.

"change direction to the right" or "left" and whole regiment was through the "field music," "rise up" and "lie down." Sometimes the composed of the company buglers and drum­ calls could not be heard amidst the din, and mers who for battle were assembled in a spe­ sometimes a call for one unit might be heard cial group and posted near the colonel. The and obeyed by another. Still they worked field music, not to be confused with the regi­ surprisingly well and offered a colonel his mental bands, which existed for ceremonial best medium of communication."" purposes and were discontinued in July, 1862, The system would not work unless every­ was the field radio of the Civil War. By body knew what was expected of him. In­ bugle call or drum beat the colonel might deed, the whole business of a Civil War make his orders known to his men scattered regiment—battles, marches, administration— all over a field and beyond sight of his eye."'^ would not work unless everybody knew his Casey's Tactics prescribed twenty-six gen­ particular business: the colonel, the regi­ eral bugle calls for all troops, twenty-three mental officers, the company commanders, special calls for skirmishers, fifteen drum and the enlisted men. As a part of the learn­ beats for all troops, and twenty for skir­ ing process, all the parties concerned had to mishers. These signals included such gen­ develop a certain trust in the competence of eral orders as the "long roll," to assemble the others. Judged by the record they made for action; "come for orders," to summon from the beginning of the war and through­ sergeants and corporals; "double quick time"; out its duration, the colonels and the regi­ ments of Wisconsin must have learned their "retreat"; and such special instructions as lessons exceeding well. ""Silas Casey, Infantry Tactics (New York, 1862), I : 14, II : 104-105, 148-149, 153-156, 177-178. ^'Ibid., I : 15, 228-230.

46 The Federal Government and History

TN testimony before a congressional commit- ferson were in process of publication. Since -*- tee, Mr. Justice John M. Harlan recently then, almost a score of projects have begun remarked that the Constitution of the United or been announced, all concerned with the States is the "great instrument of govern­ publication of the papers of "important his­ ment . . . because it was the product of a torical figures": the Adams family, John C. leadership that possessed the genius in a re­ Calhoun, Henry Clay, Benjamin Franklin, volutionary climate, to temper but not to cut James Madison, Woodrow Wilson, and others. adrift from, the lessons of history." By all Without exception these projects are subsi­ odds, this is the classic example of history's dized by private, corporate, and foundation abiding position at the core of our American grants. experience. If since that time our leaders have These men are the luminaries of American not always possessed the genius—a fact over history, and so bright is their light in our his­ which we have little control—we as a people tory that it blinds us when we seek out other can make sure that they and we possess the and lesser stars—men and women and insti­ lessons of history. tutions whose candle power is lower but whose There has been a movement on foot in lives have been of incandescent import. We Washington and across the land to grant funds may pay lip service to these lesser lights, but to a federal agency, the National Historical who will subsidize the publication of their Publications Commission (NHPC) to assist papers? Will Time, Inc., underwrite the pub­ in the publication of the documentary sources lication of the La Follette family papers, as of our history. At this moment, HR 6237 has they have done for the Adams family? Is been passed by the House of Representatives there a Midwestern Harvard or Princeton or and is under consideration by the Senate. American Philosophical Society who will com­ This is an important bill which deserves sup­ mit itself to the publication of the papers of port, but not without questions. an Ignatius Donnelly or a Louis Sullivan? The NHPC has existed as an idea since the The answer to these and comparable questions beginning of the century. Written into the which can be raised about the many other 1934 act which established the National prominent figures is a bleak one. Archives, the NHPC remained dormant until Since editing the papers of these less famil­ President Harry S. Truman, in May, 1950, iar persons is a program of tremendous scope urged the Commission to study the possibility and countrywide interest, both the questions of making available the public and private and the answer become a national equation papers of "our important historical figures." which rests upon an historical "given." A At that time only the papers of Thomas Jef­ prominent journalist-historian recently ex-

47 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 pressed this premise to an assembly of archi­ nothing to sustain the historical societies in vists and historians when he asserted that local their proper function of preserving, control­ history is national history, because national ling, and making accessible the sources that history is constructed from a myriad of speci­ are so indispensable." With the other hand, fic events and ideas which have strong and Mr. Boyd is less charitable. ". . . Only a ineradicable local roots. In fine, how to make few, led by the Massachusetts Historical So­ generally available the papers of these lesser ciety," he writes, ". . . have been able to lights is a problem which calls for national withstand the temptations to wander into other and local wisdom. paths." HR 6237 is a tentative solution because it He goes on to chastise those of us who have authorizes an annual sum of up to $500,000 paid attention to museums, historic sites, and to be allocated to "Federal agencies, and . . . the general public, saying in effect that a good to state and local agencies and to nonprofit research institution can not cater to both schol­ organizations and institutions, for the collect­ ar and citizen. By their incorporation into ing, describing, editing and publishing (includ­ this otherwise far-seeing report, Mr. Boyd's ing microfilming and other forms of reproduc­ views take on the stature of policy. Will the tion) of documentary sources significant NHPC, in its role of dispenser of grants, see to the history of the United States" with the only those historical societies which fit Mr. advice and recommendations of the NHPC. Boyd's definitions? Will the grants be avail­ able only to the "few, led by the Massachu­ TT will come as no surprise that I endorse setts Historical Society"? Let the few, in­ ••- this NHPC program. The Society's interest cluding the inestimable and justifiably famous in the assistance which it might provide is ap­ Massachusetts institution, make their appli­ parent. Just to take one example, it is dis­ cations, but let not the decisions discriminate couraging to try to raise private funds for the against those societies which believe that re­ collecting of materials, that is, money to sup­ sources for scholarship are not eviscerated port the tape recording, collection, and pro­ by a concern for the public's interest in his­ cessing of every scrap of evidence which re­ tory. lates to a particular person or period or event. This kind of activity is of limited interest to There is another hint which raises a ques­ foundations and not much more attractive to tion. The body of the NHPC's 1963 report, corporate and private sources of funds. While as does the 1954 report, argues persuasively certain exceptions stand out (the generous but for federal attention to national historical still incomplete response to our request for figures. The appendix in both reports which support of a Natural Resources History pro­ lists possible candidates for this attention in­ ject, for example), this has been the general cludes men and women in all fields of endea­ pattern. The NHPC program should help. By vor and from all areas of the country. The direct or matching grants, the NHPC pro­ questionable hint—I admit to being premature gram will offset this deficiency. in mentioning it—lies with those works which My personal support of this program does are in progress or are planned. I seem to de­ not come without questions, however. There tect a primary concern for political leaders, have been hints from the NHPC that the pro­ for political leaders of the ante-bellum period, gram, if activated, might be too narrowly with an emphasis of those whose roots go construed. The first such hint comes from back into the eighteenth century. Naturally that portion of the 1963 NHPC report which in the beginning there should be a preoccupa­ quotes at length a letter from Princeton's Ju­ tion with men of these characteristics. Of the lian P. Boyd, pre-eminent scholar and the projects reported under way or about to be­ judicious editor of the Thomas Jefferson pa­ gin, only the Rutherford B. Hayes, Andrew pers. With one hand, Mr. Boyd, a member Johnson, U. S. Grant, Woodrow Wilson, and of the Commission, offers historical societies Franklin D. Roosevelt papers do not fall in the solace of having become "the underprivi­ this category, and all of these men were Presi­ leged stepchildren of our society," adding that dent. There just does not seem to be any or­ "philanthropic foundations have done little or ganized effort to date, "encouraged by the

48 FISHEL : GOVERNMENT AND HISTORY

Commission," to move beyond the Civil War gested that the next four be undertaken (Wis­ and below the position of President. I just consin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Oregon) and hope that the posture of these first, and much- that the editor or editors be charged with needed projects, does not limit the further ef­ the responsibility of recommending a viable forts of the NHPC when its grant program is approach for the remaining territories. We activated. believe that a microfilming project is also ne­ cessary, but the manner in which it can be 1%/fY third concern is with a related area, carried out deserves further study. The break­ -"-'-*- the continuation of the edited series of down by territory may not be the most useful the Territorial Papers. This was a project of way to microfilm; proper indexing and cross- the National Archives, under the editorship of referencing will be essential if scholars are the late Clarence Carter. Mr. Carter's death to use the papers effectively. raised again the whole subject of whether the This is related to the NHPC because it Territorial Papers should continue to be pub­ might well be the guiding agency in this pro­ lished in edited form, and a committee was ject and expend some of its anticipated funds appointed jointly by the National Archives along with allocated National Archives monies and the American Historical Association to for this project. The publication of an edited study the matter. The committee has apparent­ series of the Territorial Papers may well die ly submitted a preliminary report still to be cir­ unless the National Archives and the NHPC culated to interested institutions. The report provide the necessary leadership. The micro­ takes the position that the remaining Territori­ filming project may well drown in a sea of al Papers, beginning with Wisconsin Territory paper unless the National Archives and the (1836) and running chronologically by the NHPC take the lead in organizing it. date of the establishment of a territory, are These three questions are neither alarums so bulky, so much larger in scope, and so dif­ nor false scents. Hopefully, the first two will ferent in character from the previously edited never materialize and the third might well be papers, that editing will be too costly and too satisfactorily resolved before spring. That time-consuming. The committee favors micro­ they exist as traces of discomfort should not filming everything as an alternative. override the more significant potentialities of This is not a happy conclusion, as even the HR 6237. Here for the first time is the pos­ members of the committee will admit. Histor­ sibility that the nation's history will be re­ ians and laymen need to have available edited cognized with substance by the nation, and that versions of the Territorial Papers in order to all of the people will contribute to a greater understand the scope and depth of what they and wider knowledge of all of the people. contain. Those of us who are interested in seeing the edited series continue have sug­ L. H. F., JR.

49 CIRCLE AND POLYGON IN WISCONSIN ARCHITECTURE:

Early Structures of Unconventional Design

By RICHARD W. E. PERRIN Of all polygonal forms the octagon ap­ pears to have had the widest application, in­ cluding famous architectural expressions such as the Temple of the Winds at Athens, built about 300 B.C., and a thousand years later TDUILDINGS of round and polygonal form in structures such as the octagonal churches -'-'sometimes appear to be oddities because at Wittigshausen and Gruenfeldshausen"— of the great preponderance of rectangular both in Bavaria and both in Romanesque style. architecture. Nevertheless, they have been In America, earliest Dutch settlers in and produced during virtually every epoch of his­ around New York were the first to make use tory from the time man first began to build of the octagon for their church buildings. It and are to be found in nearly all parts of was an architectural form obviously better the world.' In primitive construction it was adapted to preaching than the traditional quite expedient for crude huts to assume a church with its long narrow nave and side round or many-sided shape, since the struc­ aisles. At least twenty small octagonal church­ tural members could thus be made to sup­ es were built in the Hudson River Valley be­ port each other—as in the case of the Indian tween 1680 and 1750, and there were also wigwam—and wind, weather, and water tight­ some in New Jersey." All of them have dis­ ness could be more easily achieved. Building appeared. An excellent reconstruction will be in the round or polygonal plan was found undertaken in the Richmondtown Restoration naturally suitable to a wide range of build­ on Staten Island, where the Department of ing purposes, some of which were frankly Parks of New York City will reproduce the old utilitarian and functional and others were Port Richmond church—built in 1715 and symbolic, casual, or purely decorative. Key examples of round and polygonal buildings destroyed by the British in 1778—according range broadly from ancient Greece and Rome to descriptions, floor and seating plans, and to medieval and Renaissance Italy, from By­ related documents that have survived and zantine Russia and northern Europe to co­ which show it to have been a typical colonial lonial America and through the nineteenth Dutch Reformed church of eight sides sur­ century to present-day Wisconsin. mounted by a belfry.'

"Russell Sturgis, Dictionary of Architecture and Building (MacmiUan, New York, 1901), 11:227. "Carl F. Schmidt, The Octagon Fad (Carl F. ^ Turpin C. Bannister, "The Architecture of the Schmidt, ScottsviUe, New York, 1958), 2. Octagon in New York State," in New York History, ' Richmondtown Restoration (Department of Parks, XXVI: 43-50 (January, 1945). New York City, 1956), 8.

50 PERRIN : CIRCLE AND POLYGON

Diversity in Form and Function (Upper left) West elevation of round barn with domed roof located northwest of Bruce in Rusk County; (upper right) the famous Uclagon House at Watertown, built by John Richards in 1854- (Mow) Old Pleasant Valley octagonal schoolhouse, Ozaukee County.

Hexagonal tower on the P. T. Chadbourne place in Fond du Lac County, originally attached to a Victorian Italian villa. Once used as a library, this charming little structure is now in ruinous condition. (All photos by the author)

51 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

In colonial America the Dutch, of course, reform, elevate and improve mankind"'—pur­ were not the only ones to employ the octagon suits perhaps not altogether incompatible with in their buildings. At Williamsburg, Virginia, his earlier theological training. Fowler's lec­ for example, the Public Magazine as well as tures and publications eventually made him a the towers of Bruton Parish Church, of the wealthy man, and he began to dream about Governor's Palace and of the Capitol itself building a country house along the Hudson. are fully octagonal." Thomas Jefferson, too, This led him into another field—architecture— admired the octagon as a building form. which at that time was certainly receiving its Aside from his Monticello, with its half- share of public attention. Much of the current octagon bays terminating three of the four literature repudiated both Gothic Revival and wings and an octagonal dome surmounting Greek Revival with equal vigor. Among such the whole, he designed and directed the con­ writings was Lewis F. Allen's Rural Archi­ struction of numerous other multi-sided struc­ tecture, published in 1852, in which profes­ tures, indicating his liking for breaking away sional architects of the day were roundly de­ from the foursquare form. One of the most nounced and the point repeatedly made that interesting of these was a small country retreat shape, arrangement and accommodation of composed of six main rooms which he built the building were infinitely more important in 1820. He called it Poplar Forest. It was than modes and styles of exterior finish. a place where he could find solitude and re­ These principles, Allen felt, embodied his laxation unobtainable at Monticello, which conception of good taste. Whether such prin­ was always overrun by guests. Straightfor­ ciples were applied to houses, barns, or any ward in plan, this little octagonal house was other kind of structure, they demanded both ingeniously conceived. Movable screens were a fitness to the purpose for which a thing was so arranged that a single room could become intended and a harmony between its various two, each with its own fireplace. Thus, out parts—and any product of good taste would of the best of Jefferson's classicism emerged be both pleasing to the eye and satisfactory a house of such surprising flexibility that to the mind." it could be said to have anticipated house planning of the present century." TT IS hardly possible that Allen's pronounce- As the nineteenth century moved forward, -*- ments were missed by Orson Fowler. Re­ numerous octagonal structures of various form, of course, was in the air during the kinds were designed and built in many places, mid-nineteenth century, including social re­ but it remained for Orson Fowler to rationa­ form whose object it was to eliminate the lize and popularize the octagon mode of build­ slums which were already forming in the ing in America. While a theological student congested Eastern industrial centers and to at Amherst, Fowler and his classmate, Henry provide good, comfortable homes within the Ward Beecher, became interested in phre­ financial means of working people. This, too, nology, a very popular pursuit of the times. was evidently something which aroused the Following graduation in 1834, Fowler aban­ sympathy of Orson Fowler. He very probably doned the ministry for a career on the lecture saw or heard about octagonal plans on his platform with phrenology as his main subject, lecture tours before he began building his augmented by physiology, hydropathy, ag­ own house near Fishkill in 1848 and certain­ riculture and "all those progressive measures ly before the first edition of his book, A which [according to Fowler] are calculated to Home for All, was published in 1849.

^ Samuel Chamberlain, Behold Williamsburg, A " 0. S. Fowler, A Home For All, or The Gravel Wall Pictorial Tour of Virginia's Colonial Capital (Hast­ and Octagon Mode of Building (New York, 1854), ings House, New York, 1951), 16, 41, 119, 161. 193. ° Clay Lancaster, "Some Octagonal Forms in South­ " John A. Kouwenhoven, Made in America, The ern Architecture," in The Art Bulletin, XV1II:105 Arts in Modern Civilization (Doubleday, New York, (June, 1946). 1948), 70.

52 PERRIN : CIRCLE AND POLYGON

At any rate, his well-known visit to Wis­ that whatever appendage, however beautiful consin occurred in 1850, of which he says: where it is useful, therefore deforms instead ". . . Near Jaynesville, Wise, I saw houses of adorns where it is useless, is too plain built wholly of lime, mixed with coarse gra­ to require additional illustration, and its ap­ vel and sand found in banks on the western plication to these finified carvings and cor- prairies and underlying all prairie soil. I nicings of the cottage style, too palpable to visited Milton, to examine the house put up excite anything but disgust in those of cor­ by Mr. Goodrich, the original discoverer of rect tastes.'"" this mode of building and found his walls Continuing with his premise of superiority as hard as stone itself, and harder than brick to be claimed for the octagon form. Fowler walls .... He erected a blacksmith's shop, asserted that "Nature's forms are mostly and finally a block of stores and dwellings; spherical. She makes ten thousand curvi­ and his plan was copied extensively. And he linear to one square figure. Then why not deserves to be immortalized, for the super­ apply her forms to houses? Fruits, eggs, iority of this plan must certainly revolutionize tubers, nuts, grains, seeds, trees, etc., are building, and especially enable poor men to made spherical in order to inclose the most build their own homes. All the credit I claim material in the least compass. Since a circle is that of appreciating its superiority, apply­ incloses more space for its surface than any ing it on a large scale, and greatly improv­ other form, of course the nearer spherical ing the mode of putting up this kind of a our houses, the more inside room for the . outside wall, besides more comfortable". . . . What Joseph Goodrich had unwittingly The beauty of a house is scarcely less import­ done was to rediscover Roman concrete and ant than its room. True, a homely but con­ give it one of the earliest uses in modern venient house is better than a beautiful but times. Being so easily adapted to octagonal incommodious one, yet beauty and utility, so houses as it had been to Goodrich's hexa­ far from being incompatible with each other, gonal building. Fowler at once set out to sell are as closely united in Art as in Nature; the idea to his countrymen. But that was not that is, they are inseparable. . . . Form im- all. In addition to such virtues as strength, bodies an important element of beauty. Yet tightness, light, warmth, dryness, ventilation, some forms are constitutionally more beau­ good room arrangement, livability, and above tiful than others. Of these the spherical is all, economy in his houses. Fowler laid down more beautiful than the angular, and the an esthetic philosophy which antedated by smooth and undulating than the rough and many decades the pronouncements of our projecting. . . . This is not one of those fancy latter-day avant-garde with its "form follows matters which allow a diversity of opinion, function"—"less is more"—and so on. "And but a fixed ordinance of Nature, and passes here," said Orson Fowler, over one hundred no enviable sentence on the tastes of those years ago, "let me develop the law which who claim to possess as great a preponder­ governs this whole subject of taste and beauty. ance of good taste as of property, besides their Nature furnishes our only patterns of true other prerogatives. . . . Since the octagon ornament. All she makes is beautiful; but, form is more beautiful as well as capacious, mark, she never puts on anything exclusively and more consonant with the predominant for ornament as such. She appends only or governing form of Nature—the spherical what is useful, and even absolutely necessary, —it deserves consideration.'"^ yet so appends it as that all necessary ap­ pendages add to beauty .... Everything ISCONSIN builders of the mid-nine­ in nature is the perfection of beauty, yet is Wteenth century took Fowler's advice and, any single useless ornament found through­ aside from New York and Massachusetts, out all her works? . . . But the law of things.

"' 0. S. Fowler, op. cit., 75, 76. " 0. S. Folwer, op. cit., 82. ' O. S. Fowler, op. cit., 20. '- 0. S. Fowler, op. cit., 88.

53 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 produced more octagonal buildings than any taining that an octagonal barn can be par­ other state." Curiously enough, there was titioned to greater advantage than a square seldom more than one octagonal house in one, he reasoned that in a barn there was any given town, but it was generally some­ needed "a common center in and around which thing of a showpiece. Polygonal barns, on to work. This form will turn the heads of all the other hand, were often found in close the horses and cattle, and openings to all proximity. Just a few years ago, along High­ the bays and bins toward this center, so way 141 south of Port Washington, there that one can pass from bay to stall, and from were fourteen octagonal barns in a stretch every part to every other, with half the steps of about as many miles. Unfortunately, they required in a square one.'"" He further urged have been disappearing at an alarming rate, that the barn be built into a knoll or a bank, owing to the rapid urbanization now taking so that the main floor could be reached by place. As eight-sided and other polygonal wagon and the lower level used to quarter buildings slowly fade from the scene, they the animals. He also urged farmers to build are going the way of the covered bridges, big barns, which they generally did if they log houses, and mills which for many years used the octagonal plan. His final suggestion, were a part of the Wisconsin landscape. and certainly a very radical one for its day, To what extent the octagonal barns in this was never heeded, which was to have a part group, and elsewhere in Wisconsin, can be of the roof made of glass. This, he said, would related to Orson Fowler's doctrine has not not cost much more than shingles, would give been clearly established. Most of the Ozau­ cattle sun in winter, facilitate the drying of kee County barns, especially the ones near potatoes, corn, and hay indoors and "would Lake Michigan, were built by Ernst Clausing, be found useful for a great many ends of whose father Frederick Clausing had come which we do not now dream." to Wisconsin from Saxony in 1848. The Surviving octagonal, polygonal, and round dates of their construction seem to have been barns may still be found in widely scattered in the decade 1890 to 1900—therefore, at locations throughout Wisconsin. Of the oc­ least forty years after Fowler's influence was tagons, in addition to the Clausing-built Ozau­ at its height. The antecedents of these barns kee County specimens, the Ewer barn near may easily have been northern European" Cornell in Chippewa County, and the Stoltz rather than American, but their rationale barn between Vesper and Wisconsin Rapids was certainly well stated by Fowler. Main- in Wood County are exceptionally good. The Stoltz barn resembles those of the Clausing group in size, bilevel arrangement, and hip­ roof treatment. The foundation is laid of local brown sandstone ashlar and the super­ structure sheathed with vertical boards and battens. The roof is crowned with a glazed cupola and a weather vane in the form of a trotting horse. The Ewer barn built in 1921 has a hipped gambrel roof and typifies an­ other kind of design in which the original 'V. silo was located inside and in the center of the barn. Between Lake Delton and Mauston, on the Clarence Smith property, a ten-sided barn

" Bertha Kitchell 'Whyte, "Octagonal Houses and Barns," in the Wisconsin Magazine of History, XXXIV:42, 44 (Autumn, 1950). The Kicl.hucjcr barn in Mcguun, Ozaukee County, " Bertha Kitchell Whyte, Wisconsin Heritage is typical of those built by Ernst Clausing around (Charles T. Branford Company, Boston, 1954), 118. the turn of the century. 1=0. S. Fowler, op. cit., 174.

54 PERRIN : CIRCLE AND POLYGON pr

Exterior and interior views of the twelve-sided Whitney barn near Pittsville in Wood County, showing the double gambrel roof and radial arrangement of the rafters.

built in 1916 may still be seen. It, too, has scent, was the builder. Using slightly squared a hipped gambrel roof and a silo in the cen­ pine logs of about twelve-inch caliper, his ter, and was built from timbers reclaimed framing technique, and especially the join­ from an older barn in the vicinity. Another ing of the corners was typically East Ger­ exceptionally interesting specimen is the man." Stanchions and stalls were also made twelve-sided barn on the Wallace Whitney of pine poles, and the flared gambrel roof farm near Pittsville in Wood County, which was framed of similar small-diameter logs. was built in 1912 and has obviously enjoyed The building is topped by a small louvered excellent maintenance throughout the years. cupola, also fourteen-sided. Unfortunately, Unlike most other barns which have a high this most unusual barn is becoming ruinous. foundation or basement treatment at the low­ The wood shingles on the roof disappeared er level, the Whitney barn is set flat on the some time ago and even the provisional tar ground. The first floor is only slightly above grade level and is used for stabling the cat­ " R. W. E. Perrin, "German Timber Farmhouses tle. The second floor opens up into an enor­ in Wisconsin: Terminal Examples of a Thousand- mous hay mow. In the center is a huge, dou­ Year Building Tradition," in the Wisconsin Magazine of History, XLIV:199-202 (Spring, 1961). ble-walled brick silo. The roof is formed of continuous rafters to form the double gam­ brel, which resembles the hull of a ship, in­ verted. Four hipped-roof dormers admit light to the upper level. Each leg in the duo- decagonal plan of this barn is eighteen feet in length, giving the barn an approximate diameter of sixty-eight feet. One of the most curious polygonal barns in Wisconsin—and certainly one of the most photogenic—is the fourteen-sided log barn on the Jerome Chiviok place east of Phillips in Price County. Situated on Musser Flowage of the Big Elk River, and secluded even now, this most unusual barn is an almost incred­ ible piece of work, considering the date of its construction, between 1895 and 1900, when this part of Wisconsin was still very sparsely populated timber country. Henry Fourteen-sided log barn in Price County, built by Rademacher, an early settler of German de­ Henry Rademacher about 1895.

55 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

T TNLIKE the somewhat indefinite relation- ^ ship between Wisconsin barns and Orson Fowler's theories, the octagonal houses of the state were very evidently more directly derived from his ideas. Examining the two best-known and widely discussed examples, the Richards house at Watertown and the Elder- kin house at Elkhorn, discloses almost mir­ rored similarity with plans appearing in A Home for All. The Richards house, usually dated 1854, very closely resembles Fowler's "Superior Plan for a Good-Sized House" (The Best Plan Yet)," with the exception of a spiral staircase and other minor differences Trautwein round barn, located west of Racine. to be found in the Watertown structure. The Elderkin house, considerably smaller and built about 1855, rather faithfully follows paper is now coming off. Unless saved what Fowler called "Howland's Octagonal promptly, the barn will disintegrate in a very Plan.""' Apparently, Howland translated Fow­ short time. While it is unlikely that Henry ler's ideas into architectural drawings, as Rademacher ever heard of Orson Fowler and Fowler refers to him as "our engraver, who the Octagon fad, he did transplant to fron­ has quite an architectural taste and talent, tier Wisconsin a functional barn, executed and to whom we refer our readers for any with excellent craftsmanship, of a type he additional drawings and plans." Being much undoubtedly had seen or heard about in the larger than the Elderkin house and much old country. The silhouette of this Price more pretentious, the Richards house em- County barn bears a similarity to the East German Rundscheitnen of the early 1800's that is too close to be coincidence.'' 'O. S. Fowler, op. cit., 161 (Fig. 30). As to round barns, there are several good '0. S. Fowler, op. cit.. Ill (Fig. 21). examples still in existence near Deerfield in Dane County. The best of them are on the Gangstad and Christianson farms. Both have a high stone masonry base and a timber-frame superstructure covered with shiplap siding. A large stone silo forms the center in both cases, extending almost ten feet above the roof line, enclosed in a round, vented cu­ pola. Just west of Racine, a similar although somewhat larger round barn may be found. It is referred to as the Trautwein barn and was built around the turn of the century, as were the Christianson and Gangstad barns. Somewhat more modern and covered with a very unusual domical roof is a round barn northwest of Bruce in Rusk County. A re­ cent windstorm inflicted heavy damage to this structure, completely deforming the domed roof.

" Karl Baumgarten, Zimmermannswerk in Meck­ lenburg—die Scheune (Akademie - Verlag, Berlin, The octagonal Elderkin house at Elkhorn, showing 1961), Plate 4a. the fine scroll-sawed treillage of the veranda.

56 PERRIN : CIRCLE AND POLYGON

to West Salem in 1866 to become the town's first physician he also moved his house. A two-storey frame building, this house has a two-storey veranda of attractive design—a feature which, according to Fowler, "al­ lowed one to choose sun or shade, breeze or shelter from it." Octagonal schoolhouses were also built in Wisconsin, although few in number. Per­ haps the best of these was the old Pleasant Valley School situated on the Covered Bridge Road, just north of Cedarburg in Ozaukee County. Now converted to dwelling use, this wood-frame structure built just fifty-seven \lary Bird octagon house at Sharon in Walworth County. years ago very closely reflected the Fowler plan for an octagonal schoolhouse and the bodied a number of other Fowler ideas, among precepts to which he devoted an entire chap­ them a cistern roof with a hot water coil in ter in his book. According to Fowler, "as in the kitchen stove, a dumb-waiter, ventilat­ magnetic and electrical experiments we must ing flues, and a furnace. The hot-air risers complete a circle; so that several minds may and the chimney were formed by the hollow may act in concert it is requisite that they brick walls of the central stairwell. The Elder­ form a round and face a common center. kin house, on the other hand, possesses what The more so where, as in school, all eyes has been called "that pert originality which are often to be directed simultaneously to­ distinguishes the best examples.""" Neither ward the same object—the teacher.""' house, incidentally, has grout walls. Both are built of brick. While no accurate census was ever taken of octagonal houses in Wisconsin, at least twen­ ty have been noted. Most of them were built in the 1850's, and, therefore, during Fowler's ' 0. S. Fowler, op. cit., 151. time. Interestingly, most Wisconsin octagon houses were built by people who had mi­ grated to the state from New York, or at least from New England. Many of the houses have sustained alteration, and a few are in ruinous condition or abandoned. One rather inter­ esting, although little-known survival, is the Mary Bird house at Sharon in Walworth County. Quite small and of wood-frame con­ struction, the Bird house, like the Elderkin house, displays originality of treatment despite conformity of plan. At West Salem, in La Crosse County, stands another octagonal house which was built in 1857 by Dr. Horace Palmer of Vermont. Originally this house, and another built by Monroe Palmer, stood in Neshonoc, but when Dr. Palmer moved

"° Walter Creese, "Fowler and the Domestic Octa- The Zech house in Sauk County embodies the circular gon," in The Art Bulletin, XVHI: 100 (June, 1946). motif in almost every detail.

57 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

1865 and the builder is believed to have been John Macy, who was an early railroad mag­ nate in Wisconsin. He lost his life when his ship went down in Lake Michigan off Port Washington. According to an old print, the hexagonal tower was originally connected to the house, a Victorian Italian villa, by an en­ closed bridge. The little tower had been built as a library and some of the bookshelves are still in place. Now nearly ruinous, this quite exceptional structure deserves to be preserved.

/^ IRCULAR and polygonal buildings, in- ^-^ eluding the Octagon Style, never succeed­ ed in establishing a general pattern, but Fow­ ler's ideas were certainly involved in the sig­ nificant movements of the nineteenth century that marked the advance of rational archi­ tecture. These influences have been at work The original Milton House in Rock County, built by over the years and are still at work as may Joseph Goodrich in 1844 and greatly admired by be seen, for example, in the duodecagon Orson Fowler. House of Tomorrow at the Chicago World's Fair of 1933, presumably based upon the Wisconsin even has a few round houses, spirit and idea of the Richards House at Wa­ the most outstanding of which is the Zech tertown;"" in Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion house, located between Leland and Denzer House erected in 1940;"" and most certainly in Sauk County. Built around 1910, this house in Frank Lloyd Wright's last completed work, is circular in plan, has a continuous hood the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annuncia­ above the first floor windows, a hipped roof, tion at Milwaukee, built in 1961—a perfect and a round monitor on top. To complete the example of the circle being employed as the circular motif, there is a circular picket basic building form. Finally, and at the pres­ fence with round gate posts around the place, ent writing, there is under construction a wig­ and even the chimney on the house is round. wam-shaped church—Benediction Lutheran Concerning other polygonal forms, the hex­ Church at Milwaukee—which will have six agon also deserves to be mentioned in con­ sides. Very shortly, a high-rise apartment nection with Wisconsin buildings. Among building of twenty storeys will be erected in the earliest, of course, is the Milton House Milwaukee for occupancy by elderly persons. at Milton in Rock County. Its grout walls The plan of this building will be in the form were built in 1844 by Joseph Goodrich and of a twenty-sided star—probably the ultimate it was part of the group of buildings viewed in polygonal design. and so admired by Orson Fowler a few years later. A small wooden hexagonal tower struc­ ture, located on the P. T. Chadbourne place "" Wisconsin Library Association, Wisconsin, A between Eden and Fond du Lac, is another Guide to the Badger State (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, interesting specimen of the six-sided poly­ New York, 1941), 179, 517, 518. ""Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Native Genius in Anonymous gon. The estimated date of construction is Architecture (Horizon Press, New York, 1957), 41.

58 Proceedings of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Annual Business Meeting of The State Historical Society of Wisconsin

1962-1963

Director's Report

UST recently I was reminded of the time- provide information which could mean the J honored definition of an archivist as a difference between profit and loss. For those dead file clerk. When the laughter dies away, firms which need a national and state-wide those of us who are concerned with historic perspective—a look back before looking files begin to question whether that jibe comes ahead—our newspaper collection is both use­ too close to the mark. My own wondering ful and used. Our unique and complete collec­ and wandering has convinced me that it has tion of the reports of the United States Patent no relevance to the staff of this Society. Our Office is an invaluable resource for those com­ files are far from dead and our staff is very panies whose prosperity depends upon scien­ much alive. Columned statistics of attendance, tific and technological advance. Our state manuscript holdings, books purchased and archives hold information which business and circulated, dollars spent, do not tell the whole legal minds find essential to the solution of vital story. There is a philosophic and prag­ particular problems. Not since the beginning matic liveliness in ideas and functions. of industrial America has industry been so Last year in this space I tried to show that history-conscious; even on the levels of com­ history, and this historical society, are in the pany history and biography, industrial leaders mainstream of western and particularly Ameri­ seek information and inspiration. The Society can culture. In a thoughtful Founders' Day welcomes the opportunity to serve industry address in January, University President to the best of its ability. Fred H. Harrington focused on a related The uses and usefulness of history and the theme when he elaborated on the uses and use­ Society to government are perhaps better fulness of history. In practical terms he sug­ known. When Governor Terry Sanford of gested that history has functions to perform in North Carolina recently told a group of archi­ business and governmental matters as well as vists and historians that his state studies the in educational and personal areas. As an or­ past but does not live in it, he was talking for ganization devoted to history, these become Wisconsin as well. At all levels of government, our functions, too. municipal, county, and state, there is an en­ Wisconsin's business executives are becom­ larging appreciation for the maintenance of ing increasingly aware of the importance of government archives, for the preservation of history in the decision-making process. Many historic buildings, for better museums of companies have created their own archives or history, for more local history in the school are making plans to deposit their archival ma­ curriculum. Milwaukee County has now ap­ terials with the Society so that they will be propriated funds to its county historical so­ available for company use and, at the appro­ ciety for the hiring of a professional staff, a priate time, for scholarly research. A healthy step which many other counties have already archive can save valuable space and time and taken and still others are seriously considering.

59 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

In the absence of an organization, Vernon untold treasures in book or manuscript, arti­ County is operating its own historic museum. fact or work of art can only provide the ma­ In a fine spirit of co-operation, Douglas Coun­ terial for your discovery. The discovery itself ty and the city of Superior have joined to belongs to each individual. Some may find provide outstanding quarters for the local so­ why history is important from a search of ciety, with the result that attendance records their family genealogy, while others discover were shattered before the new museum was it from our pioneer cabin exhibit. The learn­ even half completed. ing process only begins with the completion of These examples can be multiplied, but there an exhibit; the rest is up to the viewer. As is a dark side to the picture. In the South to­ one wise Smithsonian Institution executive day, according to Jonathan Daniels (who told me a short time ago, "You can't get edu­ should know), "history is a cash crop." In cated while you are standing up." History in its most dramatic forms—restorations, out­ a museum exhibit or a manuscript or a book door dramas, rides and shows—it attracts needs time for reflection and thought. We visitors by the millions. In less dramatic form have the roots but you have to dig to dis­ it attracts by the hundreds of thousands. We cover them. in Wisconsin have been slow to learn this elementary lesson. We have staggered along, more complete report of all the divisions dropping pennies for history, then wondering A of the Society during the past year fol­ why we do not harvest a "cash crop." We lows this introductory statement, and I urge should be investing thousands of dollars in you to read on to gain a fuller understanding our historic sites, both to preserve what only of how the Society operates. I would like to a nonprofit historical institution can preserve comment on a few of the events which seem and to attract a larger slice of the tourist dol­ to be noteworthy. Statistics are always tricky lar into the state. At the state level, the alloca­ and, like the gas gauge on a car, the direc­ tion of just a fraction of the cigarette-tax sup­ tion from which you look controls what you ported program to conserve natural resources see. If I state that the staff gave 120 speeches would boost state-operated historic sites up to during the last year (July 1, 1962-June 30, the point where they could become a "cash 1963) this has little meaning until you realize crop." In all probability these sites already that it refers to less than a dozen staff mem­ do more than their share, per dollar invested. bers who also put in a full week or more of At the local level, too, more support for his­ work fifty-two times a year (minus vacation). tory would bring comparable results. You have to know, also, that these 120 speeches Dollars are not the ultimate goal of those were given all over the state from Ashland to of us who are concerned with history. We talk Janesville, from Green Bay to Eau Claire. dollars because this is the language people un­ Remembering, then, that figures are only a derstand, but our hearts and minds are con­ part of the story, you might be interested in cerned with history itself. Our greatest re­ some others: sponsibility is not the attraction of visitors but the preservation of the elements of his­ tory for, and the transmission of historical Our Sellery Room was the locale of 262 knowledge to, our communities. We want to meetings during the year; collect and communicate, preserve and pro­ mulgate, take in and teach. We do this not We worked with 36,000 children during the because history is a "cash crop," but be­ year, half of them in our Junior Historian cause the knowledge of ourselves is the be­ and High School programs, the other half ginning of wisdom. "Know thyself" was writ­ on visits to our museum in groups for spe­ ten on the ancient Greek columns of the Tem­ cial events; ple of Apollo in Delphi and has been rephrased in the great literature of every language. His­ tory is self-knowledge; it is everybody's roots. Our Historymobile II, during its first year "If the roots are deep," runs a Chinese pro­ of operation, traveled over 5,000 miles and verb, "no fear that the wind will uproot the was seen by 256.000 visitors from August, tree." Without roots, we die. 1962, to May, 1963; At bottom, history's usefulness is personal; what can you discover from history that Our manuscript librarians processed almost makes you wiser, happier, more sensitive, a one million pieces and 2,300 manuscript larger person, a better citizen? The Society's volumes during the year.

60 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963

If these merely whet your appetite for sta­ volunteer officers and advisory committee tistical data, you'll find fuller tables in the members of the Wisconsin Council for Local written reports which follow. On the other History have kept the Council moving ahead hand, if numbers leave you numb, there are rapidly by scheduling a series of successful other ways of informing you about the Society regional meetings, by voluntarily urging the during the past year. support of the Society's budget, and by fo­ The Society was honored twice. The Ameri­ cusing state attention on the problems and can Association for State and Local History progress of local historical societies. At five presented us with an Award of Merit for the state colleges, Eau Claire, River Falls, Stevens activities of our Mass Communications His­ Point, Oshkosh, Whitewater, and at the Uni­ tory Center; and the Art Directors Club of versity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, faculty mem­ Milwaukee gave us a First Award for the bers and administration officers have helped publication of a booklet about ourselves, sub­ our Area Research Centers to become active. titled Since 1846. It is an understatement to The collections in all six ARC's are growing say that we are pleased, since even an institu­ with the addition of valuable regional archival tion likes to be recognized. These honors are and manuscript materials, and students and a tribute to the many individuals in the Socie­ faculty scholars are beginning to use the re­ ty whose exceptional work made recognition sources. possible. We invited a labor specialist, Mrs. Dorothy Exceptional staff work has become a com­ Kuhn Oko of New York, to study our labor monplace of the Society. Take, for example, collection, and her first visit led to a second the Autumn, 1962, issue of this Magazine visit of two-months' duration, sponsored joint­ which incorporated a photographic essay by ly by the Society and the University. Her Paul Vanderbilt, Curator of our Iconographic excellent report arrived after the year under Collections, in conjunction with a scholarly review had ended, but it will bear significant essay on young Frederick Jackson Turner by fruit in the months and years ahead. We also Ray Allen Billington, then of Northwestern invited the newspapers of this state directly University. Each could stand by itself, but and through the Wisconsin Press Association in historical context they provide a fuller and to assist us in the financing, preparation, and richer picture of nineteenth-century Portage scheduling of Historymobile II. As a result, and the youth of one of the nation's greatest the exhibit it carried was more successful in teachers. Or look at the furniture exhibit on attracting notice and visitors than any of its the fourth floor of our building—a new dimen­ predecessors. In short, our staff and the many sion in history and the decorative arts which, people who have worked with us have culti­ through written interpretation, artifact selec­ vated the roots which are your history. tion, and exhibit design reaches into the past No annual summary can afford to sing only for a more telling and livelier view. Or, final­ hymns of praise. We had our share of the ly, the exceptional work not only of the staff blues. During the past year we have had a but also of a member of our Board of Cura­ number of staff losses in key positions, and tors, M. J. Dyrud, whose persistence and re­ we are just beginning to fill in the gaps. search made possible the discovery of the While we have lost time in simultaneously tak­ Rolette House in Prairie du Chien, an attrac­ ing up the slack and seeking new people, it tive structure of the 1840's which had been is reassuring to know that the Society is still hidden by a grotesque and run-down Victo­ a training ground for young men and women rian frame hotel which had been built around who move on to larger responsibilities. Even it. The Rolette House now stands exposed, in those areas where we have remained at ready for restoration as part of our still-infant full strength, however, the load of work in­ but developing fur trade complex on the Mis­ creases almost geometrically. In particular, sissippi River. I call attention to the work load of the Busi­ Not only our staff but our friends all over ness Office, which has required evening and the world have helped make this past year a weekend hours. The business staff, and par­ memorable one. Almost half of the sixty-four ticularly Mrs. Lois Elsener, Miss Monica Wisconsin Peace Corpsmen to whom we sent Staedtler, and Mrs. Mary McCann, have given diaries have agreed to use them and deposit us extra time unstintingly and without com­ them with the Society and a few have already plaint. The Comptroller, Leonard W. Behnke, done so. This should be a useful collection sets the example not only for his staff but for of materials relating to the impact of the all of us. He has, with quiet efficiency, kept United States on underdeveloped areas. The the Society's accounts under control and been

61 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN. 1963 a constant source of wise counsel to me. Women's Auxiliary of the State Historical So­ Mr. Behnke's tasks have not been simplified ciety. Special mention should be made of the by the increasing paperwork required by state bequest of the late Mrs. Grace C. Conover, operation. As the state grows, the need for whose thoughtful legacy of $500 continues an information grows with it. The Society's bud­ important precedent of supporting the Socie­ get requests were thoughtfully considered in ty by bequest. all categories by the governor and the legis­ I want to close this annual summary with lature, and the budget, as passed, permitted a few personal words. In the year just com­ small increases in critical areas. While we pleted, the Board of Curators asked me to take were allowed two new positions, this did not stock of the Society and report my findings fill needs which have been developing for the to them. The preliminary report has been last ten years, not only in the Business Office, completed and accepted; the Society is moving but also in the Museum, School Services of­ with alacrity along the lines established by fice. Sites and Markers office, and the libra­ the Board's Planning Committee in 1957. ries. The task of matching state income with When the final report has been completed it expenditures is an almost superhuman one, will suggest directions for the immediate fu­ yet the very human needs, the roots, can be ture, subject to the approval of the Board. As overlooked only to the peril of the Society I went over the inventory of the Society's ac­ itself. tivities I became curious about, among other things, my own peregrinations during the past year. You might be interested to know— N classic versions of the blues song, the and these are rough figures—that the Society's I music and lyrics contrapuntally suggest Director took more than sixty trips, traveled happier moods. Similarly, there are in our low over 20,000 miles for the Society, made seven­ spots touches of optimism. For every over­ teen speeches, three radio broadcasts, and two load, we have staff who are equal to the bur­ television appearances. I report these figures den. For the lack of new positions in the with some amazement, but my wife, I know, budget, we did receive other budgetary in­ will not be surprised. Wherever I go, from creases, and there is hope that more help will big city to small farm, from New York to be forthcoming when the 1965 legislature Florida, from Superior to Kenosha, I discover meets. For the people who have moved on, that the Society is known and generally appre­ we have new people whose enthusiasm and ciated. fresh views can only enrich and enliven the Society. My job is not just to travel and talk, but to make sure that the Society's purposes are And for state-wide support in that language met and strengthened in the interests of Wis­ which is universally understood, the Society consin's citizens. In fulfilling my responsibi­ has every reason for gratitude. As you can lities, I have had the willing support of the see by the donor list which is a concluding Board of Curators and its Executive Commit­ part of this issue of the Magazine, our friends tee. Of this group I would name two men who have responded generously. I want to ac­ by their own wish have never held titled of­ knowledge particularly the gifts of $13,482 fice but whose strength and counsel are al­ from Mrs. Emily Baldwin of Wisconsin Ra­ ways ready when needed: Frederic Sammond pids, the gift of $500 from the Gisholt John and Fred H. Harrington. The officers of the A. Johnson Foundation, Madison, the gift of Board deserve more than the usual recogni­ $1,000 from the Wisconsin Society for Jewish tion for giving of their time and energy so Learning, Milwaukee, the gift of $2,500 from willingly. President William B. Hesseltine Consolidated's Civic Foundation, Wisconsin combines the approach of a scholar with that Rapids, the gifts of $1,000 each from of an enthusiast. Vice-President John C. Geil­ Messrs. Cyrus and Gordon McCormick, New fuss offers the astuteness of a legal mind and York, and the gift of $250 from the Schlitz civic leader. His counterpart, E. E. Homstad, Foundation, Milwaukee. Additional gifts were is a devoted friend whose historical interests made for Society purposes to the Wisconsin complement his devotion, and Treasurer History Foundation, including $23,000 from George Hampel, Jr., has brought clarity and Messrs. Cyrus, Gordon, and Fowler McCor­ understanding to his fiscal functions. The So­ mick of Chicago and Mrs. Gilbert Harrison ciety needs and deserves this kind of leader­ of Washington, $2,500 from Mrs. Charles P. ship. Vogel and Mrs. Joseph E. Uihlein, Sr., Mil­ waukee, $6,125 from the Banta Company Respectfully .submitted, Foundation, Menasha, and $600 from the LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR. Director

62 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963

1813-1840, and the Greenville (Mississippi) Delta Democrat-Times, 1943-1955. Through the Anna Mashek bequest we secured micro­ film of two leading Midwestern Czech news­ papers published in Chicago, Spravedlnost, Divisional Reports 1917-1940, and Svomost, 1932-1936. Two notable private collections were pre­ sented to the Society, namely, the Carl Schurz Library, collected and preserved by Mr. Paul Steinbrecher of Chicago; and the library of Mr. George I. Haight of Evanston, Illinois. Library. During the fiscal year, steady These have not been processed, but will growth was recorded in the building of the eventually add many significant titles to the Library's collections. Due to staff shortages, collection and will also replace others that but little was accomplished in searching deal­ are worn or mutilated. ers' catalogs for out-of-print items; however, Under the new Depository Library Act of a thorough job of collecting currently pub­ 1962, the libraries of the State Historical So­ lished materials was accomplished and some ciety and the University of Wisconsin were notable advances were made in acquiring re­ jointly designated a Regional Depository for search materials. Wisconsin of U.S. government publications. Subscription was entered for acquiring mi­ The Society pioneered the movement for croprint of the famed collection of antislav- such regional depositories, and since 1954 ery pamphlet materials in the Oberlin Col­ the two libraries have acted in this capacity lege Library. A survey was made of the field on a trial basis. The experiment proved so of church journalism and subscriptions were successful that it has now been given con­ entered to fifteen additional journals to in­ gressional approval and has been extended sure coverage of all the leading ecclesiastical to the nation as a whole. bodies of the United States. In addition, mi­ As may be noted in the accompanying sta­ crofilm was acquired of back files of the tistical tables, the Service Statistics have con­ Christian Evangelist, 1866-1958, organ of tinued to grow, although, owing to a decline the Disciples of Christ, and of the Telescope- in "reserved book reading," the growth was Messenger, 1834-1946, organ of the Evan­ not so large as in recent years. Since the gelical United Brethren. The newspaper col­ year 1956-1957, the over-all use of the li­ lection was strengthened by the acquisition brary has increased by 80 per cent, without of the Richmond (Virginia) Daily Dispatch, any increase in staff to care for the increased 1852-1875, the Albany (New York) Argus, work load.

Acquisitions 1956-57 1957-58 1958-59 1959-60 1960-61 1961-62 1962-63 Bound volumes 3,873 4,633 3,862 4,381 4,354 5,233 4,178 Pamphlets 3.458 2,972 3,144 2,900 3,503 3,821 1,808 Reels of Microfilm 1,987 1,607 1,675 1,505 1,565 1,609 1,805 Microprint and microcards .... 8,466 6,092 13,075 13,984 9,147 10,012 14,760

Persons Served Stack and carrel admissions .... 20.767 23,714 26,583 27,804 31,330 34,937 38,130 Reading room service 10,998 10,598 11,615 13,507 14,545 19,613 16,129 Borrowed for home use 8,566 10,365 12,836 14,683 15,108 16,763 17,609 Correspondence 975 1,188 1,159 1,180 1,339 1,281 1,347 Total 41,306 45,865 53,076 57,174 62,322 72,594 73,215

Circulation Statistics—Books and 1 :els of Microfilm Reading room use 24,108 20,702 20,617 25,756 28,636 41,107 37,686 Home use 15,345 18,136 20,922 24,125 27,579 30,500 33,180 Total 39,453 38,838 41,539 49,881 56,215 71,607 70.866

63 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN. 1963

Archives and Manuscripts. During the Almost all the state records processed were past year the Division of Archives and Manu­ records of the state colleges at River Falls scripts has made some notable gains in the and Whitewater. They were received in cha­ integration of its functions and personnel. otic condition and required considerable work Frank DeLoughery is now responsible for to identify and process. It was found neces- accessioning and storage of both manuscripts sory to work out an extension of our catalog­ and archives. Josephine Harper, in charge ing system, flexible enough to accommodate of the Archives-Manuscripts Reading Room, the variations in structure of the colleges and is now handling practically all the reference yet compatible with our present system for work for both manuscripts and archives. all state departments. The materials pro­ Three new Area Research Centers were cessed have been returned to the Area Re­ opened at Eau Claire State College, White­ search Centers at the participating colleges water State College, and the University of where they are already being used in pre­ Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The center at Oshkosh paration of the centennial histories of River State College has moved into the new library Falls and Whitewater state colleges. building and the collection put into excellent The archives of Whitewater State College condition. The extensive re-processing and are the richest of any yet discovered at the re-shelving of the collection at Stevens Point state colleges. Included are the records of State College has been completed, and the several literary societies beginning as early collection at River Falls State College has as 1868, the presidents' correspondence from also been put into excellent condition. Dur­ 1894 to 1946, and faculty minutes beginning ing the past year the material at River Falls in 1907. contributed significantly to the teaching pro­ During the year we processed 59 series of gram for history majors, as well as to re­ local records, consisting of 2,354 volumes, 60 search on the history of the college and other archives boxes, and 8 record center boxes. faculty projects. The first loans of manu­ Most of these materials are at the Area Re­ scripts from our collections in Madison went search Centers. to the centers at River Falls and Oshkosh, thus A total of 614 requests for archival refer­ implementing one of the most significant fea­ ence were serviced this year, which is a slight tures of the Area Research Center concept. decrease from last year's total of 697. The Three sessions of the Graduate History decline may be attributed primarily to the Symposium, sponsored by the Society, were sharp decline in requests for certificates of presented this year: "Pragmatism and Social Civil War service, which we noticed during Theory," with papers by Jack Wilson and the year. The table below indicates the pur­ David AUmendinger; "Origins of the Jack­ poses for which archives were used during son Party," consisting of papers by Haywood the year. Strickland and Tom Barton; and a final pa­ per by Ron Radosh on "The Corporate Ideol­ ogy of Samuel Gompers and the A.F.L. in Reference Requests by Types, 1962—1963 the 1920's." Administrative 231 Historical or other scholarly research 192 Archives. The Committee on Public Rec­ Legal research 39 ords met four times during the year. It gave Genealogy 140 continuing authority for transfer to archives Miscellaneous 12 of 164 record series, with estimated annual Total 614 accumulations totaling 1,071 cubic feet. In addition, 83 record series, containing 336 cubic feet were ordered transferred to ar­ Moss Communications History Center, chives on specific (noncontinuing) authoriza­ The Center's progress within the past year tions. We processed 64 series of state rec­ has been substantial and encouraging. The ords, totaling 133 cubic feet of which 55 number of new contributors is growing stead­ were destroyed because they had insufficient ily, and the additions to collections of several research value to warrant preservation, while of our previous donors have enhanced the the remaining 78 cubic feet were added to research value of the mass communications the collections. We also processed additions inaterials. A new brochure, completed in to 10 previously established series of state March, has been a valuable aid in approach­ records totaling 22 cubic feet. ing prospective donors.

64 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963

Meetings have been held with members of Ozanne were conducted by the co-ordinator of the Materials and Repositories Committee of the collection, and Professor Ozanne's stud­ the Association for Professional Broadcasting ents have made extensive use of the collec­ Education to explore ways and means in tions this year, primarily the records of the which that organization and the Center can McCormick companies. be of mutual assistance. Sol Lesser, president Daily registrations of persons using the of the newly initiated Hollywood Museum, McCormick Collection totaled more than 800. has suggested that the Center and the Museum work out a co-operative arrangement to bene­ Manuscripts Library. During the year fit both projects. The Broadcast Pioneers' 322 collections have been received for exami­ Board has approved the Society's request that nation, copying, or permanent acquisition. Of the Center become a third repository for these, 101 were received for the Mass Com- copies of the taped reminiscences of Pioneer inunications History Center. Among the ma­ members. terials which have been cataloged are 156 The executive director of the Public Rela­ manuscript collections, 22 recordings total­ tions Society of America has agreed to ask ing 50 reels or discs, and 35 microfilm col­ his governing board to grant some type of lections totaling 556 reels. In bulk these new­ financial help to the Center as an expression ly cataloged collections, which include an es­ of interest and support. The possibility that timated 1,181,500 unbound pieces and 2,581 the Center may be able to obtain additional volumes, increase the estimated size of our and continuing funds is more promising now processed manuscript collection to 5,162,500 than at any previous stage of its history. At unbound pieces and 10,536 volumes. Of the its 1962 annual meeting, the American Asso­ collections processed this year, 31 have been ciation for State and Local History presented prepared for the Area Research Centers and the Center with an Award of Merit. 13 have been completed for the Wisconsin Theatre Research Centre. McCormick Collection. In the fall of Use by students, scholars, and the general 1962 Gordon McCormick gave $2,000 to public continues to increase, with the result begin processing the papers of his father, that during the peak seasons of research the Cyrus H. McCormick, Jr., which consist of Archives-Manuscripts Reading Room fre­ more than 200 file drawers of correspondence quently becomes overcrowded. In the past and other materials. Students are currently year the Division has been visited by scholars working to replace worn folders and clean from Austria, Canada, England, Germany, the papers, after which they will be boxed Iraq, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, and and inventoried. the Soviet Union, as well as by researchers Orientation sessions for students of Pro­ from thirty states and the District of Colum­ fessors William A. Williams and Robert W. bia.

Total Manuscript Collections Processed 1960-61 1961-62 1962-63 Unbound pieces 3,385,000 3,981.000 5,162,500 Volumes 7,491 7,955 10,536

Patronage: Annual Registration by Locality Wisconsin 331 403 411 Other States 109 136 127 Foreign 5 8 13 Total 445 547 551

Patronage: Persons Served Manuscripts 2,096 2,167 2,530 Maps 299 327 383 Archives 81 223 222 Correspondence 427 497 591

65 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

Research Division. Work in the Research the Society for the continuation of The Ter­ Division has largely centered on the study of ritorial Papers of the United States, a series industrialization and urbanization of Neenah which was suspended on the eve of the pub­ and Menasha in the Fox River Valley up to lication of the records pertaining to Wiscon­ the time of their incorporation as cities in sin. The usual consultations with research 1873 and 1874. The project is supported in workers, critical readings of manuscript ar­ part by the Ford Foundation under its Ur­ ticles, evaluation of personal and business rec­ ban Studies Program. ords, and allied work detailed in previous re­ An important phase of the work has been ports, has continued. consulting with industrial firms in the Lower Fox River Valley in order to learn what rec­ ords have been preserved and can be made Historymobile. The new Historymobile II available for the study; what company his­ was equipped and launched in time for the tories have been prepared or are under con­ 1962 State Fair from which it went on a tour sideration ; what individuals have personal lasting from August 10 to May 15, the first information that will contribute to the study; time in its ten years of operation that the and what arrangements can be made for the Society's traveling museum has been on the permanent preservation of such records—eith­ road during the winter months. Winter travel er in the company's safekeeping, in the near­ proved no problem to the Historymobile cura­ est Area Research Center, or in the Society's tors, Mr. and Mrs. Jake Tschudy, who this building in Madison. Another aspect of the year completed their eighth annual tour with study is a program of research in contempo­ the unit. rary newspapers, private manuscripts, com­ The 1962-1963 exhibit, "Newspapers Make pany and government archival collections, History—1833-1962," was sponsored and and secondary publications for basic material financed in part by the Wisconsin Press Asso­ on the industrial development of the two com­ ciation and the Daily Newspaper League of munities. A third aspect is the actual writ­ Wisconsin whose members also co-operated ing of the history. generously in giving the exhibit widespread During the year, Marcia K. McGill has giv­ state and local publicity. In the course of its en full time to the project; since September tour, the Historymobile traveled 5,739 miles there have been two student assistants. Be­ within the state, visited 223 towns, and was ginning the first of the calendar year Alice open to the public 245 days, during which Smith has devoted virtually all of her time time the exhibit was viewed by a record- to research and writing. Working together breaking total of 256,443 persons. the staff have prepared sets of notes on all The current exhibit, which begins its tour the records they have been able to find, print­ in August, 1963, is entitled "Wisconsin: ed or unpublished, through the year 1859 Wilderness—Territory—Frontier State." It is and a large portion of those through 1869, the first of a three-part series prepared by the and have completed the first draft of the Museum staff which over a three-year period manuscript history to the time of the Civil will depict Wisconsin's history from the earli­ War. est times to the present. Mrs. McGill read a paper on '"Men, Capital, and Industry: Neenah and Menasha in the 1850's" at the Spring meeting of the Eco­ School Services. In July Donald Ander­ nomic Historians of Wisconsin at Oshkosh son became editor of Badger History and and also assisted in the preparation of an and director of the Society's Elementary article on the project for the May issue of School Program. Mr. Anderson replaces Then and Now. She has worked with the Doris Piatt who for the past fourteen years Society's director and Field Services in pro­ has been closely identified with the Wiscon­ moting the search for and the collecting of sin junior historian program and who is now business records in the Fox River Valley. the Society's Co-ordinator of Radio and Tele­ Besides her work on the Neenah-Menasha vision. project. Miss Smith has prepared for publi­ During the year Badger History and Thir­ cation in the September issue of The Busi­ tieth Star were both given new formats. Thir­ ness History Review an article on "Business tieth Star, in particular, was radically Manuscripts in the Possession of the State changed, becoming bi-monthly instead of Historical Society of Wisconsin," and drafted monthly, with an increase from eight to six­ a proposal to be circulated in the name of teen pages. The main articles were written

66 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963

for 9th grade civics, 11th grade United States a week, and Miss Piatt has been asked to ar­ history, and 12th grade social problems class­ range forty programs for next year. She was es. also involved in a total of 124 radio shows and Staff members continued to promote the 161 television programs. She and Mr. Fox school program, speaking before 1,200 teach­ gave a series of eight lectures at a U.W. Ex­ ers at fall institutes, attending state and re­ tension evening course entitled "It Happened gional teacher's conventions and state meet­ Here—Wisconsin's Place in U.S. History." ings of administrators and supervisors. Let­ Both are on the Education Committee of the ters and sample materials were also sent to American Association for State and Local His­ more than 600 teachers who requested infor­ tory. mation. Despite the promotion, however, junior membership declined, and a new plan Museum. During the past year, considera­ of promotion is being developed. Regional tions regarding the Museum's physical layout junior historian conventions were held in and the uses thereof were of primary concern. Baraboo, Superior, and Green Bay. The The staff made a detailed analysis of the en­ Governor's Award Day was held in Madison tire fourth floor, together with sub-analyses of with Governor John Reynolds and State Sup­ critical work and storage areas and important erintendent Angus Rothwell in attendance. reserve collection categories. In view of the Approximately 3,000 children took part in difficulty of developing additional areas for these meetings and more than forty awards these housekeeping functions, the reorganiza­ were presented. The Governor's Commission tion and improvement of existing allocations on Human Rights joined the Society in spon­ was indicated. At the same time, plans were soring a high-school essay contest commemo­ made for the renovation of major corridors rating the centennial of the Emancipation and galleries. Two such projects were com­ Proclamation. pleted. The fourth-floor lead-in gallery was In late October, thirty high-school teachers, redesigned and renovated to create the elegant whose expenses were paid by the Edward A. exhibition, "A Century of Furniture," and Uhrig Foundation of Milwaukee and the Serv­ the first-floor gallery, reserved for temporary ice Center for Teachers of the American His­ exhibitions, was redecorated, equipped with torical Foundation, attended an institute on large, uniquely designed modular panels urban problems and were addressed by eight suited to essentially two-dimensional exhibits, specialists in the field. Thurman Fox was and renamed the Graphics Gallery. named to the state social studies curriculum The exhibit research section of the Museum committee and was assigned to the history planned and supervised the installation of the sub-committee, which will formulate a se­ exhibits for both the 1962-1963 and the 1963- quential pattern for the teaching of history 1964 Historymobile. An over-all exhibit plan from kindergarten through grade 12. and a design for a projection theater were In her new role, Doris Piatt launched radio developed for the Stovall Hall of Health at and TV programs to emphasize Wisconsin the Museum of Medical Progress in Prairie history and the Society's activities. Her bi­ du Chien. In the Society's Museum a new weekly series, "Wisconsin Windows," fea­ exhibit on firefighting, "The American Fire- tured holidays, sites' openings, and centen­ inan: His Tools and Trade," was designed nials of the Civil War, Girl Scouts, and the and installed, and a temporary exhibit on Emancipation Proclamation. In addition, gambling, "You Can't Win," was a major special programs were filmed in and around gallery attraction during the midyear period. the Society building. Arrangements were Smaller temporary exhibits were prepared on made for WHA-TV to produce a firearms barber bowls, lusterware, chinaware, Georgian series written by Walter Dunn, former cura­ silver. Hawks Inn, the Liberty Bell, the presi­ tor of the Society's Museum. TV and radio dents of the University of Wisconsin, and the tapes of "Remembering the Civil War" were Emancipation Proclamation. A special exhi­ produced for the Wisconsin Civil War Cen­ bition of Colonial and Revolutionary arms was tennial Commission. The radio tape has been based principally upon a unique private collec­ used by fifteen stations outside of Madison as tion of British firearms and edged weapons well as by two within the city. In September borrowed for the purpose. "A Child's World," Miss Piatt instituted a weekly program on a provocative exhibition of children's draw­ WHA entitled "Wisconsin Writers," which ings and photographs of children, was well re­ proved to be most successful. In the last four ceived, as were traveling exhibitions of the months the station used the program twice best-designed books of 1961 and of the paint-

67 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 ings of Edwin Dickinson, both of the latter there a late Classic Hopewell village site was being secured through rental. located. Fourteen houses were excavated, the Several new activities and programs marked greatest number of Hopewellian houses ever the development of the educational section of found at a site in the eastern United States. the Museum. A series of gallery talks was In the fall and spring, sites were excavated developed and offered by special arrangement in Waukesha and Buffalo counties, and work with visiting school groups. An experimental under contract with the National Park Ser­ offering was a series of summer children's vice took place in the Eau Galle Reservoir programs. A co-operative program was orga­ area in Pierce and St. Croix counties. Special nized with the Girl Scouts whereby partici­ projects of the Anthropology Section included pating Scouts worked towards the Museum the continuation of the study of osteological Aide bar. The popular Saturday history pro­ remains from Price Site HI under a National grams for children, initiated last year, were Science Foundation grant and codification of continued in two series for fall and spring. Wisconsin archeological sites listed in the School supervisors of the state were queried Charles E. Brown manuscripts, financed about the demand for small, portable travel­ through the Charles E. Brown Fund. ing exhibits on a wide range of historical subjects, and their favorable response led to preliminary planning of pilot exhibit units. Museum Attendance, 1962—1963 The external service operations of the Mu­ seum continued and staff members made an Group Sunday Film Total increased number of trips for collections, talks, Attend- Individual Attend- Attend- Groups ance Visitors ance ance and other appearances, and for aid to other state agencies, to our own sites, and to nu­ 467 18,240 35,285 1,929 55,454 merous local history museums. Under this program, observational or working services Office of Local History. The primary re­ were rendered to the historical societies of sponsibility of the Office of Local History Lake Mills-Aztalan, Watertown, Whitewater, is to provide technical services and informa­ Stoughton, Fort Atkinson; and Ozaukee, Ver­ tion to the county and local historical socie­ non, Douglas, Fond du Lac, Washington, and ties affiliated with the State Historical So­ Langlade counties. ciety of Wisconsin. Services range from the dispatch of letters in response to uncompli­ The resources of the Iconographic Collec­ cated questions, to extended field trips dur­ tions continued to be used with increasing ing which new societies may be organized or frequency and pertinence in both our own inactive societies reorganized. With the ap­ and outside publications. Six new display se­ proval of the articles of incorporation of the quences were prepared, and paintings were loaned to exhibitions in Racine, Oshkosh, Juneau County Historical Society by the Green Bay, and San Francisco. A selection of Board of Curators in June, the number of the curator's field photographs, combined with affiliated societies has risen to seventy-seven, older photographs from the collections, was with a combined membership of 10,104. exhibited at Cornell University. Internal The first annual meeting of the Wisconsin printing operations, transfers, and seventy-one Council for Local History was held in con­ gifts added over 12,000 pictures, and extensive junction with the Annual Institute for Local cataloging and captioning was accomplished. History in October. Subsequently five re­ The curator spoke at the annual meeting of gional meetings of the Council were held the American Association for State and Local during the year. Through action initiated at History at Buffalo, New York, and made the Winnebagoland Region meeting, the Coun­ several public appearances locally. cil directly supported the addition of three Survey and excavation under the Highway new members to the State Historical Society's Salvage Program continued to be the major staff in letters to members of the Legisla­ archeological activity of the Museum. Twen­ ture's Joint Finance Committee. In other ac­ ty-three highway projects were surveyed dur­ tion the Council endorsed revisions in S.59.07 ing the summer, and four of the ten sites lo­ to improve statutory definition of the role cated were recommended for excavation. Dur­ of local historical societies. ing the summer of 1962 six sites were exca­ The Local Museum and Exhibit Aid pro­ vated, four in Monroe County and two in gram provided assistance to twelve affiliated Grant County. The Millville site in Grant societies during the season ending in the fall County was the most significant excavated, for of 1962. Five local projects under this pro-

68 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963 gram were completed by June 1963, and three Editorial Division. On January 15, 1963, others will be completed by fall. In response the Society's several publication programs to requests for aid in the marking and cata­ were reorganized and consolidated into the loging of local collections, a set of mime­ Editorial Division, comprising the Wisconsin ographed cataloging instructions has been pro­ Magazine of History, a newly created Publi­ duced and is being distributed. cations Office, and the former Book Publi­ William J. Schereck, Sr., Supervisor of cations Division( renamed the Society Press). the Office of Local History, also serves as A number of personnel changes accompanied executive secretary of the Wisconsin Council the reorganization. The editor of the Maga­ for Local History and as clerk of the State zine assumed the additional post of director Historical Society's Awards Committee which of the new division. Miss Kathryn Schneider, determines the recipients of the Reuben Gold formerly assistant supervisor of the Office of Thwaites Trophy, given to the year's out­ Public Information, became supervisor of the standing affiliated society, and of the Local Publications Office. Paul H. Hass was pro­ History Awards of Merit, given to individ­ moted to the dual position of assistant book uals prominent in local historical activities. editor and associate editor of the Magazine. Miss Grace Argall was made administrative In addition, Mr. Schereck writes the news­ assistant. On the resignation of Dr. 0. letter. Exchange, a quarterly devoted to the Lawrence Burnette, Jr., Dr. Peter J. Coleman interests of local societies and museums. was named editor of the Society Press. Dr. Burnette, who resigned June 15, 1963, Office of Public Information. During to join the faculty of Birmingham-Southern the fiscal year the Office of Public Informa­ College, made many innovations during the tion was divided. Miss Kathryn Schneider be­ six years in which he directed the Society's coming Supervisor of the Office of Publica­ book program. They included a highly suc­ tions and Justin Schmiedeke remaining as cessful effort to bring income and manufac­ Supervisor of the Office of Public Informa­ turing costs into balance, the development of tion. an efficient system of book promotion, and Relationships between the Society and the the inception of the Logmark and Midwest media were drawn closer during the year History programs. During his tenure the So­ by Wisconsin newspaper sponsorship of the ciety published twenty regular titles, among Historymobile, which featured the theme, them such important books as the Dictionary "Newspapers Make History — 1833-1962." of Wisconsin Biography, A Soviet View of The number of news releases produced by the American Past, and the Guide to Wisconsin the Office increased 23 per cent during the Newspapers, 1833-1957, and eighteen titles year, while news articles about the Society in in the Logmark Editions. the state and national press increased 220 per cent in number and nearly 400 per cent in The Society Press. During the year the column inches. Several Society news stories Editorial Committee of the Board of Curators received national circulation, notably the His­ was reconstituted as a policy-making body, torymobile story which was distributed na­ and an Editorial Board, composed of leading tionally as an illustrated feature story by the historians from nine different universities and Associated Press. Society news stories were colleges, was formed to guide the editor and carried in 97 per cent of the Wisconsin daily his staff in the day-to-day operations of the and weekly press. Society Press. The office continued to serve as the prin­ These changes reflect the expanding scope cipal source of news and promotion photo­ and level of the book publication program. graphs for use in Society publications and for During the fiscal year, the Society Press re­ distribution to newspapers and magazines. ceived for consideration more than twice as Three illustrated feature stories appeared in many manuscripts as were received, on the magazines with state-wide circulation: "New average, during a like period in the five years Archeology Digs" in Wisconsin Tales and ending on June 30, 1963. Sales also increased Trails and "Historymobile H" and "History- substantially. They reached $15,000 in the mobile Record" in the Wisconsin Press maga­ fiscal year, almost one-third higher than the zine. average of the five-year period from 1959 to The office devoted its efforts to promo­ 1963. Encouraging though these statistics are, tion of Society activities and events and in­ the key to the success of the program con­ tensified its promotion of the Society's his­ tinues to be the ability to attract good manu­ toric sites. scripts.

69 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

The History of the Midwest Project under­ design and production of Badger History and written by Lilly Endowment, Inc., has already The Thirtieth Star. begun to make a valuable contribution to the In addition, it was used by staff members attainment of this goal. The first title in the as a publishing service which would handle Midwest Series, Charles N. Glaab's Kansas any or all phases of the publication of printed City and the Railroads: Community Policy in or mimeographed materials needed by a Socie­ the Growth of a Regional Metropolis, pub­ ty office or division—copy writing, editing, lished in December, 1962, has been very favor­ design and layout, finished artwork, and print­ ably received by the critics. To date, thirteen ing. In the first six months, the office pro­ research grants have been made and two manu­ duced twenty-one pieces which included bro­ scripts have been submitted for consideration. chures, booklets, programs, posters, award cer­ The third series of Logmark Editions was tificates, and other miscellaneous items requir­ published in co-operation with the University ing editing or design. of Wisconsin History Department in the spring Of the above pieces, several were new to of 1963. Initiated in 1961 as an experiment the Society, such as brochures on the Society in publishing specialized studies in very limit­ Museum and on the historic sites program. ed editions, the Logmark program has more Others were redesigned versions of materials than met expectations and on balance has been the Society has had in the past. In all cases, accepted by the scholarly community. In Mav, attractive design which would suit the pur­ 1963, the Logmark Committee made minor pose of the piece and the over-all purposes of changes in procedures and voted to continue the Society was a main consideration. the program indefinitely. In June, the office was fortunate to hire a During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1963, part-time artist with several years of experi­ the Society Press published eight titles: ence in commercial art who should be able to handle an increasing volume of work. The of­ Charles N. Glaab. Kansas City and the fice also has the part-time services of a jour­ Railroads: Community Policy in the nalism student to assist in writing copy for Growth of a Regional Metroplois (Lilly Society publications. Program title) With an eye to a more integrated publica­ Frank L. Klement. Wisconsin and the Civil tions program, the Publications Office began War (CWCC reprint from 1962 Blue to develop a style sheet for Society publica­ Book) tions, discussed future co-operation on over­ Ping Chiu. Chinese Labor in California, lapping functions with the Society Press and 1850-1880 (Logmark) the Office of the Magazine of History, and Daniel M. Fox. Engines of Culture: Phi­ began to create a central file for all artwork lanthropy and Art Museums (Logmark) and engravings used by the Society. Henry B. Hill (trans.). My Travels in Outside of its regular functions, the Office America, by Henry Herz (Logmark) also developed and co-ordinated a new pro­ Arthur L. Jensen. Maritime Commerce of gram to replace History Weeks—the Open Colonial Philadelphia (Logmark) House of History. This involved planning a William B. Kaldis. John Capodistrias and three-day program of activity which, it was the Modern Greek Stale (Logmark) hoped, would acquaint more of the public Theron F. Schlabach. Pensions for Profes­ with the wide range of the Society's programs, sors (Logmark) and influence them to become members.

Publications Office. This office, estab­ lished in January, 1963, grew out of a need Historic Sites and Markers. Due to the to co-ordinate the Society's increasing num­ nature of historic sites operations, records ber of publications and the need to relieve the are kept on a calendar rather than a fiscal professional staff of specialized editorial, lay­ year basis. Attendance at the four sites op­ out, and production problems. erated directly by the Society totaled 86,745 During the first six months of its existence, as compared with 84,165 in 1961. Villa it began to fill these needs by assuming re­ Louis, Old Wade House and Stonefield showed sponsibility for the publication of the Wis­ net gains from admission fees of $2,506.73, consin Calendar and Wisconsin Then and $2,440.89 and $2,314.14, respectively. The Now; for the editing, design, and printing of Museum of Medical Progress closed the year Exchange, Museum Monthly, the Wisconsin with a substantial deficit and continues to Teacher Newsletter, and Staff; and for the languish because its mission has not been

70 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963 clearly defined and its present theme contains gional, rather than of state-wide interest and little popular appeal. significance. In Prairie du Chien a major development A third field of interest lies in a program occurred at the Rolette Home. The additions of markers or exhibits within the I-System to the structure during its Glynn Hotel era rest areas. Progress here has been slow be­ were removed and in early 1963 the founda­ cause both state and federal highway au­ tion was stabilized, the grounds were cleaned, thorities are involved. The Office of Re­ leveled, and seeded. A portion of the work source Development is assisting in the I- was financed from the Historic Sites Fund System project. During its 1963 session, the established in January, 1963, and additional Minnesota Legislature passed a bill follow­ support came from the Crawford County ing the pattern of the Wisconsin Resources Board. Law, frequently referred to as the $50,000,000 The Brisbois Home took on a new but resources bill. The Minnesota law specifical­ more original look with the installation of ly earmarked $80,000 per biennium for the twenty-one of the old-type twelve-pane win­ acquisition and development of historic sites dows to replace the more modern double- and, thereby, enables the Minnesota State sash. Of the total cost of $572.50, the Society's Historical Society to qualify for matching Women's Auxiliary provided $500. aid from the federal Outdoor Resources pro­ At Villa Louis, the most important activity gram. This item is included in this report was the return of Cal Peters, artist and diora- because this office has pleaded annually since mist of Palm Springs, California. Mr. Peters 1958 for a greater measure of support for refurbished the dioramas he constructed at the historic sites program, which offers the Villa Louis twenty years ago and began work Society one of its best opportunities to be of on a 4 X 10 foot painting depicting the Miss­ service to the entire population of the state. issippi River front, from the Ben Schaub The Wisconsin sites and markers program property to the Rolette Home. has enjoyed a reputation amongst the leaders After two years of preliminary negotia­ in this field during the last ten years but is tions real progress was made on the Wesley very likely to lose this position unless more fi­ Jung Carriage Museum project when the Leg­ nancial support is made available. islature designated Old Wade House as the official museum for horse-drawn equipment related to transportation. Stonefield continued to be the busiest of the sites in terms of construction, with a Office of Field Services. During the year print shop, blacksmith shop and church find­ staff members made forty-eight field trips, ing their respective places in the pioneer vil­ in the course of which 338 prospective donors lage during the fiscal year. Equipment for were visited. In addition, six speeches and one the church was provided from one source TV appearance by the field staff, plus many when on June 23, the United Presbyterian hundreds of letters and telephone calls, helped Association of Dover and Yorkville, in Ra­ to inform the public of the Society's collect­ cine County, made available a complete ing program and resulted in the acquisition church interior for the building financed by of important collections of manuscripts, photo­ the Banta Company Foundation of Menasha. graphs, and artifacts for our Madison head­ Activity in the realm of historical markers quarters and for the various historic sites and followed three patterns. At its January, 1963, Area Research Centers. meeting the Wisconsin Historical Markers Commission approved nominations for mark­ Present and past political leaders continue ers to commemorate the first tax-supported to ask the Society to become the depository school bus transportation. Port Wing; the for their papers. Among the papers acquired first R.E.A. farm electrification project, Rich­ are the voluminous files of former Senator land County; Mabie Brothers Circus, Dela- Alexander Wiley and former Governor (now van; Fort Blue Mounds and Stephen Babcock, Senator) Gaylord Nelson; the files of the two- Dane County; and the Beef Slough, near Al­ time candidate for President on the Prohibi­ ma. Secondly, as the number of sites eligible tion ticket, Wisconsin-reared Eugene Chafin; for the Official Marker diminishes, the His­ and the papers of several other of Wisconsin's toric Sites Committee has given increasing elected representatives to state and national of­ attention to the development of an auxiliary fices. marker program for sites of local and re­ Another extensive manuscript collection

71 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

which enriches our business history records field service task during the fiscal year. The is the complete files of the Appleton Woolen field staff is assisting the Wisconsin Nurses Mills of Appleton. These records are especial­ Association to collect nursing history items ly noteworthy in that they contain an almost for displays at the Museum of Medical Pro­ intact record of the firm's correspondence gress, to be constructed by our museum staff. from shortly after its founding in the 1860's Funds for the exhibits are being raised by to 1953. Such completeness will offer business the nurses in a state-wide campaign. With historians, economists, and labor relations stu­ plans under way for the reconstructed cheese dents a most valuable and accurate view of and dairy plants to be opened at the 1890's this important Wisconsin business concern. Village at Cassville in 1964, Field Service is Development of special museum collections already collecting equipment for eventual use at Madison and at the sites was a continuing there.

Justin M. Schmiedeke The staff, 1962-1963.

72 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963

"Sit Bona Librorum et Provisae Frugis in Annum" Horace, Epistles

A reading room table, glimpsed through the bannisters of the third-floor balcony. she to consult each of the 38,000 bound news­ papers housed in the Society's subterranean stacks, this student would have to walk almost half a mile. The volumes shown above, if reduced to microfilm, would occupy only one of the two-volume shelves. Although a few deteriorating volumes are filmed each year and added to the Newspaper Section's collection of 40,000 reels of microfilmed state and national papers, the cost of microfilming the Society's entire bound collection is estimated at a staggering $5,000,000.

•«- S

Mrs. Esther Nelson irons the wrinkles from a More than a million books and pamphlets in the newspaper before filing it on a shelf. When field of .American history are available in the Library enough copies have accumulated to fill a reel, for the use of students and the general public. (All they will be microfilmed. photos by Justin M. Schmiedeke)

73 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

Historical Society and Museum of Calumet County to the Calumet County Historical Society; • Accepted gifts and grants from individuals and organizations totaling $22,302.25; • Voted Awards of Merit in the following categories: to George Fiedler, Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois, Digest of Board Action for his book. Mineral Point: A History; to the Burlington Standard Press for devoting At Wisconsin Rapids, October 6, 1962 its own centennial series largely to local his­ tory; to the Nekoosa-Edwards Paper Com­ • Approved the articles of incorporation of pany, Port Edwards, for its co-operation with the Friendship Rural School Historical So­ the South Wood County Historical Corpora­ ciety, the Jefferson County Historical So­ tion in the establishment of a company ar­ ciety, and the Marquette County Historical chives-museum in the company's new office Society; building, and for the historical articles in • Voted Local History Awards of Merit to the company's monthly publication; James Auer and Jay Joslyn for their produc­ • Voted State Historical Society Civil War tion of the Menasha Historical Society's film, Centennial Awards to the following: News­ "The Heart of a City"; to Wilbur W. Deppe, papers—Milwaukee Journal (Special Merit) ; Baraboo, for his many contributions to the La Crosse Tribune; Plymouth Review. His­ Circus World Museum; to Mrs. Marcia Grin- torical Societies—The South Wood County dell, Platteville, for her long and devoted Historical Corporation; the Waukesha Coun­ service to the Grant County Historical So­ ty Historical Society (Special Mention). Oth­ ciety; and awarded the Reuben Gold Thwaites er Organizations—Marquette University; the Trophy to the South Wood County Historical Milwaukee Civil War Round Table; the Madi­ Corporation; son Civil War Round Table; • Approved an official marker for the Mabie Circus at Delavan. • Voted a resolution of appreciation to the Milwaukee law firm of Foley, Sammond, and Lardner for its services, specifically in regard At Madison, January 26, 1963 to the Historic Sites Foundation and the Cir­ cus World Museum, and generally for advice • Accepted gifts and grants totaling freely given on legal problems facing the So­ $19,894.15; ciety. • Voted that a Historic Sites Development Fund be established; • Voted termination of the affiliation of the following defunct societies: Pardeeville His­ torical Society, Vernon County Historical So­ ciety, and Vilas County Historical Society; • Approved three new official markers: Beef Slough, in Buffalo County; Fort Blue Mounds, Dane County; and Stephen Babcock, near McFarland; • Approved the affiliation application of the Hartford Historical Society and also the re­ stated articles of incorporation of the Made­ line Island Historical Society.

At Three Lakes, June 20-21, 1963

• Approved the articles of incorporation of August Derleth discusses trends and traditions in the Juneau County Historical Society and Wisconsin literature at the annual meeting. accepted the change in title from the Royal

74 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963

Mrs. Howard T. Greene, Genesee Depot William B. Hesseltine, Madison James A. Riley, Eau Claire Clifford Swanson, Stevens Point

Election for the term ending in 1964 Minutes of the Annual Meeting Floyd Springer, Jr., Racine (To fill the unexpired term of Fred H. Harrington.)

Election for the term ending in 1966 -l HE ANNUAL business meeting of the Robert L. Pierce, Menomonie Society was held at the Northernaire, Three Sam Rizzo, Racine Lakes, June 22, 1963. President Hesseltine called the meeting to order at 1:00 P.M. There being no further nominations from Following the reading and acceptance of the floor, Mrs. Koch moved and Mr. Swanson the Treasurer's report. Director Fishel briefly seconded that the report of the Nominating reviewed some of the year's major activities Committee be unanimously accepted. The and called attention to others which rarely membership so voted and President Hessel­ receive public attention. In this connection tine declared the slate elected. A resolution he pointed out that during the year the was then offered and approved expressing Society's meeting room, named in honor of appreciation to the Northernaire staff, the George Clarke Sellery, was the site of 262 Women's Auxiliary, and others who had con­ meetings, attended by 9,500 persons; that the tributed to the success of the meeting. Society's station wagon and trucks had traveled 117,000 miles; that 471 tape record­ Since there was no further business to ings had been lent to individuals, organiza­ come before the membership, the meeting tions, and schools; that the staff had given a was adjourned by President Hesseltine at total of 120 speeches throughout the state 1:30 P.M. and had worked a total of forty-five days on programs of assistance to local societies and Respectfully submitted, museums; that the junior historians program LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR. and high school program had enrolled approx­ Secretary imately 18,000 boys and girls; that 18,000 children had been taken on guided tours of the museum and another 3,500 had attended its special programs; and that within this period the manuscripts library staff had processed 991,000 individual pieces and 2,300 manuscripts volumes.

In the absence of Mr. Manson, Mrs. Koch presented the following nominations for the office of Curator:

To succeed themselves for a three-year term ending in 1966 Scott M. Cutlip, Madison W. Norman FitzGerald, Milwaukee Mrs. Robert E. Friend, Hartland Edward Fromm, Hamburg lustin M. Schmieden Robert A. Gehrke, Ripon Professor Frank Klement receives from Society Presi­ dent William B. Hesseltine the Special Civil War John C. Geilfuss, Milwaukee Centennial Award given to Marquette University.

75 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

PUBLIC FUNDS STATEMENT July 1, 1962 to June 30, 1963

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Statute Legislative Balance Title Number Purpose Appropriation Expenditures 6-30-63 General Administration .... 20.430-010 Salaries 1480,352.00' 1477,341.96 $ 3,010.04 Materials & Expense 60,655.16= 56,697.22 3,957.94 Capital 5,295.00 5,171.31 123.69 Maintenance & Capital .... 20.430-020 Maint. & Capital 16,006.21" 12,979.42 3,026.79 Books & Museum 20.430-030 Capital (Collections) 40,000.00 40,000.00 Heat (Sum-Sufficient) .... 20.430-040 Heat 6,945.03 6,945.03 — $609,253.40 1599,134.94 110,118.46*

'Basic Salaries |4C0,540 - Prior year continuing balance $453.16 New Pay Plan $16,950 " Prior year continuing balance $2,156.21 Cost of Living Adjustment $2,862 ' Lapsed to State General Fund $3,068.07 Continuing $7,050.39

PRIVATE FUNDS (20.430-410. Non-Trust) Special Projects—July 1, 1962 to June 30, 1963

Balance Balance FUNDS 7-1-62 Income Expenditures 6-30-63 $ 3,732.37 $ 25.00 $ 23.72 $ 3,733.65 League of Women Voters Bldg. .. 168.01 667.35 334.57 500.79 4,938.00 100.00 5,038.00 (15,629.17) 49,935.33 47,716.91 (13,410.75) 67,241.59 80,371.41 57,101.00 90,512.00 23.50 23.50 4.62 515.00 519.14 .48 1,860.16 85.22 250.00 1,695.38 ( 9,611.90) 85,977.72 84,144.90 ( 7,779.08) *(See detailed table below) $52,727.18 $217,677.03 $190,090.24 $80,313.97

PRIVATE FUNDS (20.430-410. Non-Trust) Historic Sites Funds July 1, 1962 to June 30, 1963

Balance Balance 7-1-62 Income Expenditures 6-30-63 Circus Museum—Reserve (2%%) $1,539.79 f 2,520.93 $ 1,467.63 $ 2,593.09 ( 1,431.27) 1,454.97 23.70 Historic Sites Development Fund 3,019.58 11,845.16 1,861.29 13,004.45 ( 7,682.84) 13,010.04 14,444.15 ( 9,116.95) 270.00 122.00 148.00 ( 2,742.52) 8,422.19 7,575.19 ( 1,895.52) ( 4,281.53) 31,453.83 36,029.33 ( 8,857.03) 2,000.00 ( 2,000.00) ( 303.11) 19,269.60 22,621.61 ( 3,655.12) ($9,611.90) $85,977.72 $84,144.90 ($ 7,779.08)

76 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-196?)

PRIVATE FUNDS (20.430-420. Trust Funds) Endowment Funds—July 1, 1962 to June 30, 1963

PRINCIPAL INCOME Balance Expend­ Balance FUNDS 7-1-62 Income itures 6-30-63 $ 14,000.00 $ 1,765.34 $ 372.91 $ 16.24 1 2,122.01 374,782.83 6,502.98 11,846.60 13,094.07 5,255.51 18,745.00 16,987.85 5,654.93 7,762.38 14,880.40 Mary Stuart Foster Bequest 128,756.28 1,642.90 3,433.67 3,556.59 1,519.98 119,846.34 4,846.55 3,325.06 6,664.99 1,506.62 Hollister Pharm. Lib. Fund 42,180.13' 18,137.13 625.35 846.75 17,915.73 1,200.00 760.89 32.61 1,01 792.49 23,594.69 2.848.68 629.68 2,397.75 1,080.61 Mills Editorial Fund 29,428.00 1 -489.26 784.55 2,224.24 49.57 Anna R. Sheldon Mem. Fund .... 2,700.00 230.69 71.32 60.57 241.44 15,100.00 1,532.14 403.48 276.67 1,658.95 increased by $625.34 (Vn net $770,333.27 $56,744.41 $27,180.16 $36,901.26 $47,023.31 income for year)

PRIVATE FUNDS (20.430—420. Trust Funds) Special Projects—July 1, 1962 to June 30, 1963

Balance Balance FUNDS 7-1-62 Income Expenditures 6-30-63 Advancement of Education $ 406.02 $ — $ 12.38 $ 393.64 ( 523.03) 525.42 2.39 Howard K. Beale Mem. Fund 1,025.91 56.25 969.66 250.00 250.00 Charles E. Brown Mem. Fund .. 673.19 .50.00 477.59 245.60 12.44 25.00 39.74 ( 2.30) 42.85 5.00 42.85 5.00 11,482.54 450.00 11,032.54 250.00 250.00 D. C. Everest Fund ( 1,179.48) ( 1,179.48) Martin A. Fladoes Mem. Fund .... 95.00 95.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 ( 3,022.38) 14,001.22 15,494.44 ( 4,515.60) 2,866.83 1,105.00 3,971.83 — 45.65 45.65 ( 462.57) ( 462.57) 520.62 ( 520.62) Anna M. Mashek Fund 1,000.00 1,000.00 2,000.00 1,537.40 462.60 Miscellaneous Unrestricted Funds 359.07 521.53 534.44 346.16 National Science Foundation Grant 3,864.73 2,390.27 1,474.46 Natural Resources History Project 5,000.00 426.94 4,573.06 310.00 150.00 160.00 50.00 100.00 48.00 102.00 Waldo E. Rosebush Mem. Fund .... 100.00 100.00 School Services Awards Fund .. 14.07 143.00 138.12 18.95 Schwarztrauber Biography Fund .. 5,000.00 1,500.00 3,500.00 State Awards Day Luncheon 220.00 220.00 Stonefield Development Fund 90.08 100.00 222.55 ( 32.47) Stonefield Development Fund — Bank 667.69 250.00 220.50 697.19 Stonefield Development Fund — 35.00 500.00 500.00 35.00 2,.382.26 152.79 71.56 2,463.49 5,152.70 7,710.32 ( 2,.557.62) Wisconsin Council for Local 25.00 25.00 Wisconsin Society for Jewish 149.07 1,000.00 654.31 494.76 $14,967.40 $42,894.20 $37,488.02 $20,373.58

77 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 The Staff*

Office of the Director

LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR., Director RICHARD A. ERNEY, Associate Director BERNADETTE WILHELM, Administrative Assistant CHARLES N. GLAAB, Director, Urban History Section DAVID P. THELEN, Research Assistant

Division of Administrative Services

JOHN C. JACQUES, Business Manager

Business Office Maintenance LEONARD W. BEHNKE, Comptroller ARTHUR O. FURSETH, Supervisor LOIS I. ELSENER, Assistant to Comptroller PEARL 0. BOSTAD MONICA J. STAEDTLER, Purchasing Agent FLORENCE J. COLLETTI GREGORY A. GMEINDER Clerical Section JOHN HIGHLAND MARY M. MCCANN, Sales Supervisor CLARENCE H. KNUDSEN LOIS J. BLILIE RAYMOND P. NEWEL VERA FRIEND JOSEPH PECK RUTH E. HAYES ANTHONY W. SCHAEFFER MARY E. PALTZ MATILDA SEVERSON ROBERT F. SYVRUD WILLIE JO WALKER JAMES TSCHUDY Secretaries Receptionists BEVERLEY A. JACOBSON MARDELE E. MOODY SUSAN D. LUETH KATHERINE E. MOORE DELORES C. PROSSER

State Relations Division Office of Field Services Office of Sites and Markers WILLIAM K. ALDERFER, Supervisor RAYMOND J. SIVESIND, Supervisor RONNIE L. PERKINS^ HOWARD W. KANETZKE, Assistant Supervisor' Villa Louis Office of Local History FLORENCE A. BITTNER, Curator WILLIAM J. SCHERECK, Supervisor GEORGE ADNEY

Office of School Services Stonefield EDWARD D. CARPENTER, Curator THURMAN 0. Fox, Supervisor MELVIN L. HOUGHTON DORIS H. PLATT, Co-ordinator, Radio and TV HOPE A. LOVELAND DONALD N. ANDERSON, Assistant Supervisor Wade House Office of Public Information FAY S. DOOLEY, Curator JUSTIN M. SCHMIEDEKE, Sitpervisor EDITH WEBB

* As of June 30, 1963. lege, until September, 1963. ' Exchange Co-operative student from Antioch Col- " Also assigned to School Services.

78 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963

Editoral Division WILLIAM C. HAYGOOD, Director Society Press Wisconsin Magazine of History PETER J. COLEMAN, £JJtor WILLIAM C. HAYGOOD, Edttor PAUL H HASS, Assistant Editor p^^^ H. HASS, Associate Editor GRACE ARGALL, Administrative Assistant Publications Office KATHRYN SCHNEIDER, Supervisor

Museum Division JOHN W. WINN, Acting Chief Curator and Curator of Collections PAUL VANDERBILT, Curator, Iconographic Collections CHARLES H. KNOX, Curator of Exhibits JOAN E. FREEMAN, Curator of Archeology DAVID W. MCNAMARA, Curator of Research JOAN C. MORGAN, Curator of Education JOAN WESTBURY, Registrar GLENN E. BEHRENS JAKE TSCHUDY (Historymobile) LOUIS L. DURST IRENE TSCHUDY (Historymobile) CHERYLE M. HUGHES JAMES S. WATSON JOSEPH B. BRANDON'' MAUREEN O'MARA

Library Division BENTON H. WILCOX, Librarian MARGARET GLEASON, Reference Librarian

Acquisitions Section Services Section T^TT^T r r^To^,T A • •,• J u • RUTH H. DAVIS, Services Librarian JOHN G. COLSON, Acquisitions Librarian ,. T.T -r. VERENA M. BARLOW JEROME P. DANIELS ELLEN BURKE ETHEL M. FOSS J"^^ E. JOHNSON Catalog Section DwiGHT E. KELSEY HERBERT J. TEPPER, Catalog Librarian BIAGINO M. MARONE J^"TH H. POHLE 1 RANGES L. SAUNDERS ESTHER J. NELSON S. JANE SCHANTZ

Division of Archives and Manuscripts State Archivist'

Archives Manuscripts and Maps DENNIS R. BODEM, Assistant Archivist JOSEPHINE L. HARPER, Manuscripts Librarian Mass Communications History Center MARGARET R. HAFSTAD BARBARA J. KAISER, Director FRANCIS A. DELOUGHERY HELEN MANFULL JANICE L. O'CONNELL

McCormick Collection LuciLE 0. KELLAR, Librarian

\ Research Division ALICE E. SMITH, Director M.\RCIA K. MCGILL

' Co-ordinator, Highway Salvage Archeology Project. '' Position vacant because of the appointment of ' Resigned May 21, 1963. Richard A. Erney, former State Archivist, to the Associate Directorship of the Society, May 15, 1963.

79 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN

LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR., Director

Officers WILLIAM B. HESSELTINE, President HERBEHT V. KOHLER, Honorary Vice-President JOHN C. GEILFUSS, First Vice-President GEORGE HAMPEL, JR., Treasurer E. E. HOMSTAD, Second Vice-President LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR., Secretary

Board of Curators Ex-Officio JOHN W. REYNOLDS, Governor of the State MRS. DENA A. SMITH, State Treasurer ROBERT C. ZIMMERMAN, Secretary of State FRED H. HARRINGTON, President of the University ANGUS B. ROTHWELL, Superintendent of Public Instruction MRS. W. NORMAN FITZGERALD, President of the Women's Auxiliary

Term Expires 1963 SCOTT M. CUTLIP EDWARD FROMM MRS. HOWARD T. GREENE JAMES RILEY Madison Hamburg Genesee Depot Eau Claire W. NORMAN FITZGERALD ROBERT A. GEHRKE DR. GUNNAR GUNDERSEN CLIFFORD SWANSON Milwaukee Ripon La Crosse Stevens Point MRS. ROBERT E. FRIEND JOHN C. GEILFUSS WILLIAM B. HESSELTINE Hartland Milwaukee Madison

Term Expires 1964 THOMAS H. BARLAND JIM DAN HILL MRS. VINCENT W. KOCH FREDERICK I. OLSON Eau Claire Superior Janesville Milwaukee M. J. DYRUD E. E. HOMSTAD MRS. RAYMOND J. KOLTES FREDERIC SAMMOND Prairie du Chien Black River Falls Madison Milwaukee GEORGE F. KASTEN CHARLES MANSON DR. WILLIAM STOVALL Milwaukee Madison Madison

Term Expires 1965 GEORGE BANTA, JR. ROBERT B. L. MURPHY STANLEY STONE CEDRIC A. VIG Menasha Madison Milwaukee Rhinelander GEORGE HAMPEL, JR. FOSTER B. PORTER MILO K. SWANTON CLARK WILKINSON Milwaukee Bloomington Madison Baraboo PHILIP F. LA FOLLETTE WILLIAM F. STARK FREDERICK N. TROWBRIDGE ANTHONY WISE Madison Nashotah Green Bay Hayward

Honorary Honorary Life Members WILLIAM ASHBY MCCLOY, Winnipeg PRESTON E. MCNALL, Madison MRS. LITTA BASCOM, Madison DOROTHY L. PARK, Madison MRS. LOUISE ROOT, Prairie du Chien

Fellows Curators VERNON CARSTENSEN (1949) HJALMAR R. HOLAND, Ephraim MERLE CURTI (1949) SAMUEL PEDKICK, Ripon

The Women's Auxiliary Officers MRS. W. NORMAN FITZGERALD, Milwaukee, President MRS. JOSEPH C. GAMROTH, Madison, Vice-President MRS. MILLARD TUFTS, Milwaukee, Secretary MRS. ALDEN M. JOHNSTON, Appleton, Treasurer MRS. CHESTER ENGELKING, Green Bay, Assistant Treasurer MRS. SILAS L. SPENGLER, Menasha, Ex-Officio

80 PROCEEDINGS : 1962-1963

Sustaining Members

1962—1963

Allen-Bradley Company, Milwaukee Inland Steel Products Company, Milwaukee AUis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, International Harvester Company, Milwaukee Milwaukee Kohler Company, Kohler American Appraisal Company, Milwaukee Marathon Foundation, Menasha American Exchange Bank, Madison Marine Foundation, Inc., Milwaukee American Family Mutual Insurance Company, Oscar Mayer & Company, Madison Madison Menasha Corporation, Menasha Appleton Wire Works, Appleton George J. Meyer Manufacturing Company, Bergstrom Paper Company, Neenah Milwaukee Brandenburg Foundation, Madison Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee Brotz Family Foundation, Sheboygan Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee Bucyrus-Erie Foundation, Inc., Mirro Aluminum Company, Manitowoc South Milwaukee Nelson Muffler Corporation, Stoughton Capital Times, Madison Nordberg Manufacturing Company, Cutler-Hammer Foundation, Milwaukee Milwaukee Employers Mutual Insurance Company, Parker Pen Company, Janesville Wausau Rhinelander Paper Company, Rhinelander Evinrude Motors, Milwaukee Riverside Paper Corporation, Appleton The Falk Corporation, Milwaukee Rockwell Standard Corporation, Oshkosh First Wisconsin Foundation, Inc., Milwaukee Schlitz Foundation, Inc., Milwaukee First Wisconsin Trust Company, Milwaukee A. George Schulz Company, Milwaukee D. J. W. Frautschi Foundation, Madison A. 0. Smith Foundation, Milwaukee Gateway Transportation Company, La Crosse Thilmany Paper Company, Kaukauna General Casting Corporation, Waukesha Voigt Charitable Foundation, Racine General Telephone Company of Wisconsin, Madison Wausau Paper Mills Company, Brokaw Gilbert Paper Company, Menasha West Bend Aluminum Company, West Bend Hardware Mutual Casualty Company, Western Printing Company, Racine Stevens Point Wisconsin Power & Light Company, Madison Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Hoard, Jr., Fort Atkinson Wisconsin State Journal, Madison

Patrons

Mr. and Mrs. John Wilson, Ojai, California

81 REVIEWS

Nye, Capper, and the Midwestern Mood: A Review

By LAWRENCE H. LARSEN

Gerald P. Nye was born in 1892 in Hor- ing, rose to a position of leadership in the tonville, Wisconsin. He grew to manhood NPL. In 1925 the governor of North Dakota and graduated from high school in nearby appointed him to fill a United States Senate Wittenburg. At the age of eighteen he em­ seat left vacant by death. Nye remained in the barked upon a journalistic career and between Senate for twenty years, failing to be re-elect­ 1911 and 1925 edited weekly newspapers first ed in 1944 because he neglected to mend his in Wisconsin, then Iowa, and finally in North fences at home. Following the failure of a Dakota, a state which was over 90 per cent comeback attempt in 1946, he chose to settle rural in population when he arrived there permanently in Washington, D.C., and to turn in 1915. Within a short time he became em­ his back entirely on North Dakota politics. broiled in the affairs of the Nonpartisan In the decade prior to Pearl Harbor Nye League (NPL), an agrarian reform move­ gained national attention for his "isolation­ ment which worked through the Republican ist" views and his scathing denunciations of primary. "Wall Street," "the Eastern power," "big Nye, a vigorous, intense, outspoken, and business," "international bankers," and "mer­ ambitious personality, well-versed in the art chants of death." He led the Senate munitions of stirring crowds with spellbinding oratory investigation ("the most vicious feature of and endowed with a skill at political in-fight- all the disclosures as a result of this investi­ gation has been the revelation of a partner­ ship . . . which our Government—your Gov­ ernment and mine—has in the business of Senator Gerald P. Nye and American For­ selling American munitions of war"). He eign Relations. By WAYNE S. COLE. (The Uni­ played an important role in the enactment versity of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1962. of the neutrality acts, opposed the drift of Pp. 293. Illustrations, bibliography, notes, in­ Franklin Roosevelt's administration towards dex. $5.75.) "internationalist" policies of "collective secur­ ity," and championed the America First Com­ mittee ("We have been condemned as pro- Arthur Capper: Publisher, Politician, and Hitler and pro-Nazi, as British haters and as Philanthropist. By HOMER E. SOCOLOFSKY. plotters of a Fascist regime. . . . Our sin, (University of Kansas Press, Lawrence, 1962. of course, was that we wanted and still want Pp. 244. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, to keep America out of war"). index. $6.00.)

82 BOOK REVIEWS

World War II brought to a sudden end Nye's efforts to influence foreign policy, but not before he had succeeded in gaining a hearing and in stamping himself as a leading exponent of a "lost cause" which, no matter what its merits or drawbacks, did offer an alternative policy to that followed by the administration and approved of by a majority of the American people. Wayne Cole, a thorough researcher and a competent stylist who a few years ago wrote an excellent study of America First, unfortu­ nately decided not to write a full-scale biog­ raphy. Instead, he uses Nye only as a start­ ing point for trying to explain the rise and fall of American "isolationism." He states, ^^ "The central hypothesis of this study is that important roots of isolationism may be traced to needs, desires, and value-systems of major segments of the American agricultural society. SiH-ictv^ li'onoKnipliii f.ilkction Agrarian radicalism of the Great Plains and Senator A'ye at the height of his isolationist crusade. Middle West exerted fundamental influences on Nye's foreign policy views. This study of Senator Nye also analyzes the transition of American isolationism from liberalism to interesting, is unsound history. In a sense, conservatism. . . . Crusades for the farmer the same can be said about the reasons given against 'Wall Street' and 'big business' had for the shift of American "isolationists" from aligned him with liberals. But when the a "liberal" to "conservative" position. Cole's urban masses and their liberal spokesmen evidence consists mainly of interviews with began to play larger roles in the dominant Nye, which show how one man's views political coalitions, Nye's continuing sympa­ changed over a period of time. This is not thy for the farmer moved him into accord enough on which to draw conclusions on with conservatives. . . . Not everything in a broad scale. Still, the idea that shifting Nye's foreign policy views fits into an political coalitions had a great deal to do agrarian frame of reference. Even those of with the changing emphasis of Upper Mid­ his views that may be explained in agrarian west political leaders is certainly worthy of terms can also be explained partly in other intensive investigation. ways. Nevertheless, the Senator's approach to American foreign relations becomes much A very strong case is made for the fact more meaningful in the light of the agricul­ that Nye was greatly influenced by his agrar­ tural value-system and interests that he repre­ ian heritage, although only a fool would run sented. In this sense, Gerald P. Nye was in in North Dakota and not claim to be a friend the same tradition as Thomas Jefferson and of the farmer. Cole, however, goes on to William Jennings Bryan." conclude that this demonstrates a link between Nye's views on foreign affairs and those of Cole fails to prove his premises. He is the voters in North Dakota—that the voters especially weak in trying to show the con­ cared what Nye did on the subject and that nection between Nye, Jefferson, and Bryan. they voted accordingly. This is impossible He attempts to find a basis for comparison to substantiate. During the 1920's, 1930's, in several pages of generalizations, in which and 1940's foreign policy had little to do he claims all three were "continentalists" who with North Dakota election campaigns. evaluated "national interests" in terms of an Rather, personality and economic issues agrarian frame of reference. Cole's conclu­ played the major roles. The great number sions are undocumented and fail to take into of North Dakota newspapers carried little consideration the time factors involved, the information about foreign affairs and a man changing patterns of thought, the rise of off in \^ ashington enjoyed virtual freedom industrialization, and the differences in the of action. In 1938 Nye, at the pinnacle of philosophies of Jeffersonians, Populists, and his national power, barely won a primary Nonpartisan Leaguers. Such conjecture, while victory over William Langer, his long-time

83 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN. 1963 foe in North Dakota politics. Nye lost the only political defeat. He won the next two farm vote—including all fourteen of the so- contests for the governorship and in 1918 called Russian-German counties, considered moved on to the United States Senate where by analyst Samuel Lubeil and others to be he served until his retirement from public the most "isolationist" counties in the state— life in 1949. by a substantial margin, and won only because In the Senate, Capper, a so-called "moder­ he carried urban Fargo, Grand Forks, Bis­ ate progressive" and self-styled friend of the marck, and Minot. The farmers may have farmer, compiled a rather inconsistent rec­ approved of Nye's activities in ferreting out ord. He agreed with the principle of the "merchants of death," but they voted against League of Nations, opposed the Versailles him at the polls. Perhaps, unlike many his­ Treaty, led the Farm Bloc, worked closely torians, they had failed to read the various with Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, monographs available on the agrarian and endorsed the early New Deal, campaigned for ethnic bases of "isolationism." Alfred Landon, joined the "isolationists," Cole's study, despite its limitations, is a supported the war effort, and voted for the significant one. It casts needed light on the United Nations resolution. The author ex­ motivations and values that drove Nye ahead plains Capper's actions by stating, "Ever on the national scene. It also represents a alert to mirror 'grass roots' sentiment, he valuable addition to the growing collection successfully braved the dissident winds of po­ of soundly researched works on "isolation­ litical vagary for more than a generation." ism" in the middle and upper Midwest. How­ Capper was careless of dress, did not spend ever, the book would have been much better his money lavishly, seldom overtly pushed if Cole had written it as a biography and left himself into the foreground, and lived very out value judgments that go beyond his simply. After his wife died in 1925 he re­ evidence. sided for years in a small two-room hotel apartment in Washington. Still, he gave sub­ stantial sums of money to charity, enjoyed "It would be difficult to visualize the de­ recounting his contacts with well-known peo­ velopment of Kansas during its first Century ple, delighted in talking" to pretty girls, and without a man such as Arthur Capper," writes loved to attend parties. the author of this sympathetic and well-re­ Arthur Capper represents an important searched biography, adding, "Yes, 'Capper and addition to the growing list of biographies Kansas' have become synonymous terms." of twentieth-century Midwestern political Capper was born in Garnett, Kansas, in 1865. leaders. The book is all the more valuable He died in Topeka, Kansas, in 1951. In the because the author does not fall into the trap intervening eighty-six years he became a of repeating the usual undocumented hocus- foremost citizen of his state and gained a pocus about the psychological basis of the measure of national fame. He was best known agrarian mind, which has recently become a nationally as a newspaper publisher and as convenient "crutch" used to cover shoddy a Republican politician who paid little atten­ research concerning the actions and motives tion to party discipline. of Midwestern "progressives" and "isolation­ A life-long Quaker and prohibitionist. ists." Unfortunately, the author does insist Capper was a political reporter when he on including material that seemingly has no bought his first newspaper in 1893. There­ particular significance. He never explains after, he displayed a talent for purchasing why it is important to know that Capper and consolidating properties. By the 1930's stayed for a time in New York City at 47 he controlled over half a dozen farm journals, West 12th Street; that his first car, a Win­ several dailies, various other publications, and ston, was the "fifth or sixth" automobile in a few radio stations. Through his holdings, Topeka; that a year after entering the Senate most of which were centered in Kansas and he moved to a seat in the fourth row on the Republican side; that he sat at the captain's surrounding states, he became known to table on his first ocean voyage with "Judge countless millions of farming families. and Mrs. Joseph Sabath and Commander and When he entered politics he was already a Mrs. Leahy"; and that he crowned "Miss successful businessman, identified with the Secretary, 1939." Because of the inclusion progressive Republican faction in Kansas poli­ of such detail and a rather cumbersome style, tics. In 1912 he ran for governor, only to featured by a lack of well-written transitions, lose a disputed election by a razor-thin mar­ the book in places lacks continuity. gin of twenty-nine votes. It was his first and

84 BOOK REVIEWS

This is a useful book in a useful series. No doubt another editor might have chosen other PROGRESSIVES AND POPULISTS authors and other selections—something from the political writings of Robert La Follette might have been included rather than a sec­ tion on La Follette by Lincoln Steffens, for The Progressive Years: The Spirit and example. However, what has been chosen is Achievement of American Reform. Edited good sound reflection of Progressive thought with an introduction by OTIS PEASE. (George as it was early in the twentieth century. Braziller, New York,' 1962. Pp. xiv, 496. $8.50.) GLENN E. THOMPSON

This is the third volume in the six-volume Washington, D.C. series of readings called "The American Epochs Series," under the general editorship of Frank Freidel of Harvard University. It is a worthy companion to the two works already The Progressives and the Slums: Tenement published as parts of this project, John C. House Reform in New York City, 1890-1917. Miller's The Colonial Image: Origins of By ROY LUBOVE. (University of Pittsburgh American Culture and William B. Hesseltine's Press, Pittsburgh, 1962. Pp. xvi, 284. Notes, The Tragic Conflict: The Civil War and Re­ appendices, index. $6.00.) construction. Eventually the series will be filled out by New York City's housing problem began volumes on the American Enlightenment, in the 1840's, but the Jacksonian entrepre­ edited by Adrienne Koch; on the Jacksonian neurial ethos, with its prevalent laissez-faire period, edited by Clement Eaton; and on the doctrine, and the failure of Gothamites to Gilded Age, edited by Sigmund Diamond. All grasp the peculiar nature of housing, resulted are intended to provide basic documentary in little or no regulation. Such pioneer wel­ source materials in substantial quantity, not fare associations as the Association for Im­ bits and pieces of selected readings. proving the Condition of the Poor and the To this end, the Pease work contains fifteen Council of Hygiene were the first sources selections by twelve different writers of the of protest against the city's deteriorating Progressive era. The giants are well repre­ housing conditions. They transmitted to their sented, including Jane Addams, Lincoln successors an environmental philosophy of Steffens, Finley Peter Dunne, Theodore housing reform which assumed that improved Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Walter Lipp- housing would affect not only the health mann. Selections average about forty pages but also the moral fiber of the poor. It in length and each is preceded by a brief and would contribute also to Americanization and lucid commentary about the author and his the reunification of a divided urban com­ work. Useful suggestions for further reading munity. Thus housing reform became a key are appended to the book. to social control. For the most part nineteenth-century hous­ The fight against poverty and privilege, ing reformers urged a program of restrictive labor in a middle-class society, the national legislation and model tenements ("business progressive vision, the growth of imperialism, philanthropy" tempered by justice). In the and contemporary American social and po­ 1890's Jacob Riis added a new ingredient to litical analysis are the main sections into the philosophy of housing reform—the re­ which the readings are divided. They are construction of the tenement neighborhood. logical divisions and, given the editorial de­ When Lawrence Veiller, the first full-time cision to present long selections, one cannot professional housing reformer, appeared on quarrel much with the relatively small number the scene in 1899 the cast was complete. of topics covered. Veiller's historical contribution was in meth­ The twenty-two-page introduction is highly od, not theory. By adding the ideal of scien­ interpretive and provides a needed context tific housing reform based on expert knowl­ for the writings of the Progressives. Mr. edge and strong centralized organization. Pease is a skilled writer in his own right and Veiller '"transformed the housing movement obviously is thoroughly familiar with the from a well meaning but sporadic and in­ Progressive years in American history. effectual pastime of a few moral-minded in-

85 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 dividuals into a disciplined campaign." Later Moreover, Folks recognized the need for responses to the urban housing problem expertise in housing reform. He offered to through the indirect approaches of the Eng­ the Assembly an alternative resolution which lish garden city ideal, Germany's zoning pro­ called for a commission staffed by competent gram, and land and tax reforms were un­ technicians, and when the resolution was successful. given a public hearing on October 21, 1898, Both lay and professional housing reform­ Folks summoned to City Hall New York's ers generally were conservative. They over­ leading architects, engineers, and heads of estimated the potentialities of the model tene­ various charitable societies to speak on be­ ment and thereby may have retarded the move­ half of the measure. Thus, some of Veiller's ment to make all of them model ones. More­ contemporaries anticipated his aims and over, most reformers aimed only at the elim­ technique. ination of poor housing and never evolved Despite a few shortcomings. Professor a public philosophy of the city and urban Lubove's systematic analysis of the origins, housing. In the final analysis, the movement nature, and influence of New York housing suffered from the fact that housing reformers reform is an excellent historical study. Based never really accepted the tenement as a fact; on a wealth of manuscript material, including their ideal was urban decentralization. many sources in the Columbia University The book is eminently successful in pro­ Oral History Project, the book is written viding an understanding of the dynamics of with clarity and grace. The Progressives and housing reform. It also succeeds in shedding the Slums is a significant contribution to the new light on the so-called Progressive Move­ knowledge of an important and long neg­ ment. By demonstrating that housing re­ lected aspect of American social and in­ form was a slow growth which spanned near­ tellectual history. If this technique of study­ ly a century, and was conceived by its advo­ ing the local history of a particular move­ cates as a technique of social control, it is ment is used as a model, it may provide a clear that Progressivism in New York City new and more fruitful approach to the anato­ was not merely a mass movement aimed at my of American reform. the extension of democracy, nor a mug- wumpish reaction to a status revolution. Yet, WALTER I. TRATTNER here lies the basic weakness of the study. Northern Illinois University The author continually speaks of "the Pro­ gressives," "the Progressive Movement," "the Progressive Era," and "the Progressive Gen­ eration," when, in view of recent scholarship (including this work) these terms, unless The Tolerant Populists: Kansas Populism and clearly defined, are meaningless. At best, Nativism. By WALTER T. K. NUGENT. (Uni­ there were many progressive movements, versity of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963. Pp. often contradictory, always ill-defined. In x, 256. Notes, bibliography, index. $6.00.) short, the title is misleading and the reader is given a limited, monolithic concept of Until recently the farmers who formed the Progressivism. People's Party were thought to be liberal and In addition, an important omission leads humanitarian battlers for the Lord. McCar- the author to attribute too much credit to thyism, however, produced a sizable body Lawrence Veiller. Veiller's career as a hous­ of literature which challenged this assump­ ing reformer was not launched until the tion. The Populists, it seems, were really appointment of a municipal building code neurotic protofascists and nativists who paved commission in January, 1899. Yet, for five the way for McCarthyism. Richard Hofstadter, months prior to that date a small group of the most significant revisionist, argued that Aldermen, led by Homer Folks, battled the the Populists felt haunted by a conspiracy of Tammany majority in the Municipal Assem­ international bankers, and this led them to bly over the resolution which created the Anglophobia and anti-Semitism. The "fact" commission. Months before Veiller was as­ that they were willing to "sell out" their sociated with housing reform Folks and principles by fusing with the Democrats others complained (as Veiller later did) that proved that the Populist Movement was, at the Tammany-sponsored resolution created a bedrock, a misty-eyed and unprincipled at­ commission composed almost entirely of tempt to revert to days when farmers were spokesmen representing the building interests. in the saddle.

86 BOOK REVIEWS

A recent study of Populism in Kansas however, basically alter the validity of shows that the statements of the revisionists Nugent's central contention that the Populists must be drastically altered. In The Tolerant were relatively not very nativist. Populists, a work based upon his Ph.D. dis­ Nugent devotes several pages to capsule sertation at the University of Chicago, Walter biographies of immigrants associated with T. K. Nugent shows that the Kansas Populists the Populists. While this technique is valu­ were more receptive to immigrants than were able in showing the extent to which immi­ most of their contemporary opponents. grants were welcomed into the fold, it is Nugent, who teaches at Kansas State Univer­ somewhat disconcerting to be told four times sity, has restored the earlier view of John D. that one Andrew Shearer was born in Scot­ Hicks that Populism was a political response land. to hard times. This reviewer would have appreciated a Since immigrants formed 10.4 per cent of discussion of Breidenthal's activities as state Kansas' population, it is understandable that banking commissioner for eight years. Nugent the Populists tried to win the immigrant vote. asserts that he "did an able job" during the There were countless instances of English­ Panic of 1893. What did this mean? In men, Canadians, Germans, Irishmen, Bohem­ view of the fact that Breidenthal, Nugent's ians, and Frenchmen actively participating hero, later built a banking empire, his actions in the People's Party of Kansas. Populist as Populist banking commissioner deserve newspapers repeatedly praised the progres­ attention. sive institutions of other countries. Such lapses, however, are quite minor. Like Hicks, Nugent points out the signifi­ They by no means prevent The Tolerant cant schism between the overwhelming major­ Populists from being by far the most balanced ity of Populists who favored fusion with book which has yet appeared on this subject. Democrats and the more flamboyant, radical, and occasionally neurotic minority which DAVID P. THELEN favored "The-Middle-of-the-Road" and op­ University of Wisconsin posed fusion. This later group was probably given too long a hearing by Hofstadter and by Norman Pollack in The Populist Response to Industrial America, at the expense of the REGIONAL HISTORY more typical fusionists, whom Nugent ad­ mires. Nugent implies that Kansas Populist A Pre-Columbian Crusade to America. By chairman John W. Breidenthal, a fusionist HJALMAR R. HOLAND. (Twayne Publishers, who was steadfast in his principles, was a Inc., New York, 1962. Pp. 203. Illustrations, much more representative Populist. notes, maps, index. $4.50.) The Populists, Nugent argues, viewed most things in economic terms. They were justified A Pre-Columbian Crusade to America is in opposing the absentee English landlords the latest in a long series of books and articles and Anglo-Jewish bankers whom they be­ debating the authenticity of the so-called lieved to have a stranglehold on their lives. Kensington rune stone, which was found in Only a very few Middle-of-the-Roaders ex­ 1898 near Kensington, Minnesota. In an tended this complaint to ethnic groups; the inscription of more than 200 runic characters, fusionists never did. On such non-economic the stone declares that thirty men came to that issues as expansionism, immigration restric­ spot from Vinland in the year 1362. The tion, prohibition, and woman's suffrage, the defenders of this inscription, of whom Mr. Populists generally occupied a middle ground Holand has been the leader, maintain stoutly between Democrats and Republicans. that it is an important, in fact unique, docu­ Nugent's arguments lean very heavily on ment in the history of the early exploration local newspapers. A revisionist might ques­ of North America. On the other hand, a tion whether even newspapers of this period number of scholars have denounced the in­ reveal subconscious anxieties. On the other scription as a fake. There is no middle hand, the peculiar position of the Populists ground. as a third party, drawing its members from Hjalmar Rued Holand first saw the Ken­ the two older parties, raises another question sington rune stone in 1907, and made the about relying on newspapers: Were they proving of its authenticity his chief occupa­ not possibly more radical than the majority tion for the rest of his life. These efforts of Populist voters? These questions do not, resulted in his writing five books, the last

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University of Wisconsin recently; while he agreed that there is evidence of such an expedition, he also shrugged off the sugges­ tion that it involved the Kensington stone, stating that the slim bits of information co­ incided conveniently with the Kensington hypothesis but proved nothing. In later chapters, Holand discusses in de­ tail the finding of what he describes as "moor­ ing stones"—stones with deep holes in them and located along waterways. He believes that their location along the natural water route from the Hudson Bay proves them to be of Norse origin. Another chapter concerns itself with a number of artifacts, chiefly im­ plements, which again are ascribed by Holand to the visiting Norsemen. The final two chap­ ters deal with a stone inscription—found by a leading French explorer in 1738 in central North Dakota, but since lost—and with the light-skinned Mandan Indians of that area. Holand believes that the stone inscription must have been runic, and that the Indians Society's Iconographic Collection have Norse blood. The late Hjalmar R. Holand, photographed in 1898, In 1942, Professor Einar Haugen in his the year in which the Kensington Stone was Voyages to Vinland doubted that the case discovered. had been proved one way or other. Many believe that Professor Wahlgren in 1958 of which is under review. No more volumes settled the case, once and for all, by declaring the inscription to be a fake. Now, Holand will be coming from Holand's pen, for he has again gone over the evidence for the died on August 8, 1963, at the age of ninety. affirmative. In the death of Holand, the In his introduction Holand calls A Pre- stone has lost its greatest advocate, but there Columbian Crusade his most important book, are others ready to carry on the debate. because it takes into account a number of Those who believe in the inscription will recent discoveries; and, while he does not want to read carefully Holand's new book; say so directly, it attempts to refute the sharp the skeptics, too, should look it over. This criticisms of Professor Erik Wahlgren in his volume, thorough as it is, will not resurrect The Kensington Stone: A Mystery Solved, any converts from among those who call the published five years ago by the University inscription a fraud. of Wisconsin Press. In this last book Holand begins with the historical framework which makes possible GERHARD B. NAESETH the plausibility of the Kensington stone, then University of Wisconsin proceeds to a discussion of the circumstances under which the stone was found. The latter area is important because Wahlgren was clearly suspicious of those who had uncovered the stone. Another area of serious dispute concerns the runic characters themselves. Holand takes up two chapters with linguistic and runic problems. A fascinating chapter reviews all that is Yl'1^XR:l>I.TIM+:ft.-MfxgTlK-. known concerning an expedition to the New World, which included one Nicholas of Lynn. The reviewer mentioned Nicholas of Lynn to a leading British cartographer from the Brit­ ish Museum, Raleigh Skelton, who visited the

88 BOOK REVIEWS

pendence on Congress. Moreover, from the beginning Washington represented a dream— GENERAL HISTORY and herein the author finds her central theme—of a city which would provide the intellectual, esthetic, and cultural focus of Washington: Village and Capital, 1800-1878. a new republic. Among the best portions of By CONSTANCE MCLAUGHLIN GREEN. (Prince­ the book are those that describe the attempts ton University Press. Princeton, New Jersey, to achieve this through such agencies as the 1962. Pp. xi, 445. Illustrations, notes bibliog­ Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Insti­ raphy, maps, index. $8.50.) tute, and the various unsuccessful projects for a national university. Often during Washington's early years this Pulitzer Prizes in history often go to works dream was dim and faded. The brilliantly that examine dramatic themes and events in conceived, ambitious physical plan of the the history of American wars, diplomacy, city was not realized; Washington in the and politics. The award for 1963 was granted nineteenth century was the "city of magnifi­ to a much different kind of book—to this cent distances." Efforts to provide perma­ scholarly study in urban history which ex­ nent economic foundations achieved little. amines Washington during its early years During the Civil War period, Washington to not as a setting for the events of national Northerners was more an embodiment of the history but as a community with its own enemy than a symbol of nationalistic senti­ distinct history. Mrs. Green's study of the ments. But in the postwar years, the compre­ Capital, which will be completed with a second hensive building program of Boss Alexander volume carrying the account to 1941, will Sheppard, the failure of schemes to move the undoubtedly assume a high rank among the capital to the Mississippi Valley, the assump­ studies of individual cities that American tion by Congress in 1874 of greater respon­ urban historians, with only limited recogni­ sibility for the District of Columbia, and the tion, have been turning out during the last decision in 1876 to undertake the building twenty years. Perhaps Mrs. Green's well- of the Washington Monument at national ex­ deserved prize will stimulate interest in a pense all led by 1878, where Mrs. Green genre of American scholarship likely to be­ closes her account, to the hope that Jeffer­ come more important as Americans increas­ son's goal of a "capital rivalling in beauty ingly tend to live in cities and seek historical the great cities of Europe, a symbol of comprehension of this experience. national ideals as evocative of patriotism as Constance Green, who has written histories the flag," was within sight. of Holyoke, Massachusetts, Naugatuck, Con­ Any history of a city is necessarily selec­ necticut, and a group of sketches of individ­ tive; there are no clear standards as to what ual cities entitled American Cities in the topics ought to be included in an urban Growth of the Nation, has been an able biography and how much emphasis they defender of the value of local history and of should receive. Many may regret Mrs. urban biography—the attempt to capture the Green's decision to say little about architec­ personality of a city through detailed his­ tural developments, since these do bear such torical examination of its development and a close relationship to the attempts to make growth as a community. This is particularly Washington a city representing national difficult to do with a national capital; an ideals. Although the material is rewarding, artificial creation of a national state, it does an unusual amount of space seems to be not follow the evolution and stages of develop­ devoted to the history of Negro-white rela­ ment of a city that exists because of its eco­ tionships in Washington. Problems of disease, nomic function. The history of Washington epidemics, and public health, which in other does illustrate themes common to the develop­ nineteenth-century cities produced significant ment of nineteenth-century American cities: reflections on cities and on the nature of the real estate as a motive force in urban growth; urban environment, receive only slight atten­ transportation rivalry with other towns and tion. But these are not important matters. cities; and the problem in a laissez-faire Mrs. Green's design for developing the life culture of gaining necessary community sup­ history of an American city is reasonable port for collective urban services. But much and often ingenious. This is a work of great of the city's history hinges around an unique scholarship, thoughtfully organized and pleas­ circumstance—its political and economic de­ antly written in an elegant, slightly old-

89 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 fashioned style particularly appropriate to with only vague ideas concerning the mechan­ describing social life in a capital which many ics of the process. This resulted in a period world travelers and diplomats came to with of postwar drift while the administration contempt, but to their own surprise often struggled to find a program which would learned to love. guarantee the pacification of Cuba and also A book, particularly a scholarly book, be acceptable to a majority of congressmen. should not be judged by its cover, but in this Annexation was a distinct possibility, but instance an exceptional piece of bookmaking factors such as the Teller Amendment and the should be noted. The typography, the mag­ fear of a Cuban insurrection prompted the nificently reproduced illustrations, and even adoption of less rigorous measures. the attractive dust jacket make this a book Some Americans advocated complete with­ worth looking at as well as reading. drawal of all influence, but in the last analysis the real question was over the degree and CHARLES N. GLAAB nature of control and not over control per se. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Healy clearly shows that the real battle over policy was fought between different kinds of imperialists, since the advocates of absolute Cuban sovereignty were defeated in April, The United States in Cuba, 1898-1902: Gen­ 1898, when the attempt to include recognition erals, Politicians, and the Search for Policy. of the Provisional Government of Cuba in By DAVID H. HEALY. (The University of Wis­ the resolutions authorizing intervention was consin Press, Madison, 1963. Pp. xii, 260. defeated by Congress (with strong executive Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. backing). This point needs to be stressed $5.00.) since a recent study of Manifest Destiny uses the fact that there was no debate over the This study of United States-Cuban rela­ Teller Amendment to try to prove the lack tions between 1898 and 1902 is the most de­ of interest in controlling Cuba. The same tailed account to be published since Russell book also contends that racism was not a H. Fitzgibbon's Cuba and the United States factor in American policy during this period, (1935), but Professor David Healy has gone while Healy clearly shows that racism was well beyond any of the earlier works. The an important element in American attitudes major contribution of this volume is the in­ toward Cuba and the need for some kind of tensive analysis of the occupation based upon control by the United States. an impressive amount of research in the In describing the conflicts over Cuban National Archives and in private manuscript policy Healy does a good job of presenting collections. Utilizing the papers of such par­ the roles of various individuals. Of particu­ ticipants as Whitelaw Reid, Theodore Roose­ lar interest is the power struggle between the velt, Elihu Root, James H. Wilson, and American generals in Cuba which finally led Leonard Wood, Healy has added new material to the removal of John R. Brooke and the to our understanding of this period. His use elevation of Leonard Wood. The role of of published Cuban sources is another valu­ Elihu Root as an important architect of the able aspect of this book. Cuban program is discussed in detail, and The basic theme presented in this study Healy's analysis of the authorship of the is that between 1898 and 1902 officials of Platt Amendment should be about the last the United States government worked out a word that needs to be said in regard to that program to insure the protection of American controversy. interests in Cuba. This program, according This reviewer feels that the author's con­ to Healy, was a pragmatic compromise dic­ centration on controversy tends to obscure tated by a variety of conflicting interests, the rather general agreement over the basic ideas, and personalities. The Platt Amend­ goals of American policy. Most of the argu­ ment was the end product of this decision­ ments described by Healy were over the making process, and "represented a middle tactics to be used in achieving the basic course between altruism and annexationism." objectives. This is due, in part, to the fact This compromise also met the "minimum de­ that he seems to assume that the reader has mands" of both Cuba and the United States. some background knowledge of the foreign- In elaborating this theme the author shows policy thinking of the 1890's. The decision that the McKinley administration went to war to pacify Cuba, and the tactics developed to with Spain for the pacification of Cuba, but control the island, were related to broader

90 BOOK REVIEWS definitions of the national interest, and some ates to the old faith and sought political sal­ additional background discussion would have vation in the Republican party. In those states clarified the relationships between these. It where some semblance of the Federalist or­ is also possible to raise an objection to Healy's ganization remained. Federal leaders sought contention that the "original support" for to regain political influence by amalgamating a reciprocity treaty came from Cuba. Several with factions of the Republican organization groups in the United States were actively whenever Republican disintegration began to pushing for such an agreement and the treaty create rivalries intense enough to erupt into reflected to a considerable degree their efforts intra-party warfare. Those Federalists who and interests. acted as individuals often met with more suc­ This is a valuable study, and the University cess than those who acted as groups, for of Wisconsin Press is to be congratulated for throughout these years to brand an opponent showing increasing interest in such books successfully as Federalist or tainted with Fed­ relating to Latin America. eralism was most effective political propa­ ganda. ROBERT F. SMITH What accounts for the slow, painful, but University of Rhode Island nevertheless steady demise of Federalism? The author has two explanations: First, the Federalist belief in the need for an "ordered, structured social system" clashed with the The Twilight of Federalism: The Disintegra­ growing faith in individualism that was to tion of the Federalist Party, 1815-1830. By mark the nineteenth century, and the Fed­ SHAW LIVERMORE, JR. (Princeton University eralist notion that man could not govern him­ Press, Princeton, 1962. Pp. x, 292. Notes, self clashed with the increasing democratiza­ bibliography, index. $6.00.) tion of politics. Second, Federal fortunes declined because of "antiquated and inept The Twilight of Federalism deals with the political techniques." Federalist party both on a national level and It is unfortunate that a book of such scope in the individual states north of the Mason- suffers from several serious defects. The Dixon line from 1815 to 1830. Historians author was never able to solve successfully have hitherto neglected this subject, dismiss­ the difficult problem or organizing a com­ ing it with assertions that the Federal party plex chapter of history that deals now with was dead by 1816, and that Federalists and the nation, now with states and smaller lo­ Federalism played possum until the Whig calities. The result is often confusing. The party revived both in the 1830's. By docu­ author frequently runs through the states menting convincingly his "assumption that one by one without providing the reader with Federalists simply could not have vanished generalizations that would help make sense after the Hartford Convention," Professor out of the disjointed picture. The shifting Livermore has outlined an important segment emphasis from one state to another with no of American political history. justification (save an occasional meaningless As the author points out, the Federal party, statement like "the fast-moving events in New though no longer a threat in national politics, York state merit particular attention") leaves "remained a major political force in both the reader with the impression that source the middle and New England states." Fed­ materials alone determined the structure of eralists continued to fight Republicans in the book. those states where they were still a majority For some reason. Professor Livermore did or close to it. As time went on, however, they not make use of voting statistics. Consequent­ constantly lost ground to the Republicans, ly, he gives the mistaken impression that Fed­ who became such undisputed masters every­ eralists were as politically active after 1815 where that Federalists eventually ceased party as they had been until then. Even a cursory warfare. examination of voting statistics would have Pleased with the Republican drift toward revealed the extent to which participation in Hamiltonian principles, Federalists were all political warfare dropped to a mere fraction the more obsessed with a desire for office and of what it had been during the years of ac­ frustrated by their continued proscription. tive two-party competition. As defeat followed defeat both nationally and Furthermore, the author is so selective in locally. Federalists sought to obtain office by his research materials that his insight into other means. Many individuals became apost­ state politics is necessarily severely restricted.

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His reliance on the Connecticut Mirror, for 1860's, less emphasis was placed on divine example, supplemented though it is with the imposition and more on man's responsibility Baldwin, Daggett, and Welles manuscripts, for the "predisposing causes," and physicians causes him to make several important errors increasingly viewed cholera as a specific dis­ in describing Connecticut party politics. Had ease, the result of imbibing some specific he done more detailed research. Professor poison. The public was quicker to credit Livermore might have realized that in Con­ contagion as a cause than were the physicians, necticut, at least. Federalists were not so back­ whose practice and knowledge were unim­ ward in political organization as he describes pressive and whose status declined in general them. Indeed, a strong case can be made in the Jackson era. that it was the Federalists who taught Repub­ In view of the presumed relationship of licans the virtues of a powerful political ma­ environment to the disease, municipal gov­ chine. Finally, the book is marred both by ernments, during the epidemic years, took sloppy proofreading and careless note-taking. more than customary responsibility for public Despite its defects, the book remains an health and sanitation. In the earlier epidemics important one. It corrects superficial general­ this was the work of politically constituted izations of historians concerning Federalism boards of health (usually the mayor and after the War of 1812 and suggests the need aldermen) who tried, often belatedly, to clean for more research on the same subject. the streets, abate nuisances, and impose quar­ antine regulations. The impending epidemic of 1866 served as the catalyst which led the ALAN W. BROWNSWORD New York Legislature to create early in 1866 Long Beach State College the Metropolitan Board of Health for the New York City area, a reform which had been agitated by the New York Citizen's Association since the early 1860's. The ac­ complishments of this board, with its more professional membership and wide powers, The Cholera Years: The United States in was credited by contemporaries with mini­ 1832,1849, and 1866. By CHARLES E. ROSEN­ mizing the incidence of cholera in New York BERG. (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, in that year; and it served as a model for 1962. Pp. X, 257. $5.95.) boards in other cities. This realistic admin­ istrative development, as the author points In a society as yet unaware of the destruc­ out, reflects the currently emerging awareness of urbanism as a compelling feature of Ameri­ tive potential of the atom, the great bugbear can life. of the urban dweller was the threat of epi­ demics such as those caused by yellow fever, Mr. Rosenberg exhibits an impressive smallpox, and cholera. Cholera epidemics coverage of the contemporary sources for his occurred in the United States in 1832, in subject and shows notable skill in presenting 1848-1849, and in 1866. Mr. Rosenberg has medical details in terms understandable to used the contemporary reactions to these the lay reader. The work would have bene­ crises as a means of illuminating aspects of fited from tighter organization and more care American society in these years. He focuses in distinguishing between contemporary opin­ primarily on the implications of the changing ion, as paraphrased by the author, and his attitudes concerning the cause of the disease, own views and interpretations. The book the status of the medical profession, and the contains much of value for students of the extent and character of municipal responsi­ history of New York City because of the bility for public health; but in the process he extent to which Mr. Rosenberg draws his contributes useful information on urban life, examples from the experience of New York. the practice of medicine, the role of the However, in crediting the Metropolitan Board church, and the outlook of Americans in of Health with cleaning the city's streets for general. the first time (p. 210), he underrates the marked accomplishment in this connection Most Americans in 1832 regarded cholera during the mayoral administration of William as God-sent scourge, aggravated by unsanitary F. Havemeyer in 1849. conditions such as filthy streets and airless tenements which constituted "predisposing causes" that put the morally or socially sus­ BAYRD STILL ceptible in a position to succumb. By the New York University

92 BOOK REVIEWS

Political Parties in a New Nation: The Amer­ accept. Included in Hamilton's scheme were ican Experience (1776-1809). By WILLIAM funding, assumption, a chartered Bank of the NiSBET CHAMBERS. (Oxford University Press, United States, and high tariff duties. New York, 1963. Pp. 231. Bibliography, But one must not forget, as Professor index. $4.50.) Chambers seems to have done, that Republi­ cans, or rather those who later became Re­ publicans, did not object so much to funding Political Parties in a New Nation is, accord­ as to the manner of funding the national ing to the author, the result of "a conjunc­ debt. And it is even quite easy to make out tion of the analytical concern of political a case for Republican desires for a high science and the narrative address of history." tariff, for it was the Republicans not the Whether or not the two subjects, history and Federalists who wanted to end dependence political science, can be as neatly divided as on England for imported goods. Hamilton, Professor Chambers implies, it is obvious on having committed himself to the assumption a first reading of his book that, effectively of state debts, needed the finances brought combined, those subjects can be used to pro­ in by a revenue tariff. He was not interested vide a new approach to a topic which his­ in severing commercial connections with torians have been considering for many years. England. One thinks immediately of comparing the One other weakness of the book might be book with Joseph Charles' The Origins of the pointed out. Too much is made of Hamilton's American Party System, a work of history economic schemes and not enough of his which first appeared in published form in political actions. For in the final analysis 1955. Charles, by analyzing congressional it was Hamilton who blocked President voting, found that political parties were fairly Adams' efforts to save the Federalist party. well established at the time of the fight over In general the strongest parts of this book the appropriation of money to implement the are those which deal with the functions of Jay treaty. Professor Chambers does not political parties. Professor Chambers does dispute Charles' findings. He incorporates effectively show how parties get out the vote, them into his own thesis. For him the sum how they stimulate popular participation in total of a political party is much more than affairs of government. And he does effec­ a united vote in Congress; a political party, tively show that by 1800 political parties for him, is an organized group which carries were respectable. They had not been in 1790. out six major functions: nominating, elec­ tioneering, shaping opinion, mediating among JEROME J. N-4DELIIAFT groups, managing government, and supply­ University of Wisconsin ing connections between the branches of gov­ ernment. In fulfilling these functions, politi­ cal parties advance democracy by bringing more people to the polls, and by providing Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff. By STEPHEN voters with significant choices as to candi­ E. AMBROSE. (Louisiana State University dates and programs. Faction politics, Pro­ Press, Baton Rouge, 1962. Pp. vi, 226. Por­ fessor Chambers asserts, did not serve democ­ traits, maps, bibliography, index. $5.00.) racy so well. It was not until the rise of the Federalists and Republicans in the 1790's In this brief book Stephen E. Ambrose re­ that the electorate could choose between assesses Federal military leadership during parties with distinct programs. the Civil War and successfully burnishes the That political parties can, and did in the reputation of Henry Wager Halleck, long one late 1790's, offer distinct programs can not of the nation's most unappreciated soldiers. be denied. Professor Chambers rightly points In 1861 army officers and Washington's out the Federalists' affinity for England and political leaders considered Halleck the fore­ the Republicans' sympathy for France. But most exponent of the art of war in America. he is not on such sure footing when he His Elements of Military Art and Science attempts to describe the differences between (1846), based upon theories of limited war­ the parties before 1795. He believes that fare laid down by Swiss military writer Baron Hamilton, the leader of the Federalists, had ,\ntoine Henri Jomini, had been a major in­ a far-seeing economic plan for the advance­ fluence on American military thought for al­ ment of America, a plan for industrial advance most a generation. Lincoln appointed him which the Republicans could not immediately Commander of the Missouri Department to

93 BOOK REVIEWS succeed Fremont. After the reduction of Forts Edward Kern and American Expansion. By Henry and Donelson, Halleck's command was JOSEPH V. HINE. (Yale Western Americana enlarged; he organized and directed cam­ Series, Vol. 1, Yale University Press, New paigns in Missouri, the Upper Mississippi, Haven, 1962. Pp. xx, 180. Illustrations, notes, and in Kentucky and Tennessee. bibliography, index. $6.00.) Lincoln, impressed by victorious operations in the Department of the West, called its com­ mander to Washington as general-in-chief to serve as military adviser to the President and This is a short book based on a very large Secretary of War in July, 1862. From that amount of research and presenting an account date until the end of the war, Halleck was of the work of Edward Kern and two of his manager of the Northern effort. older brothers, Ben and Dick, all of whom Although Grant became general-in-chief in took some part in American explorations of 1864, he joined Meade and stayed in the field the 1840's and 1850's. The first part of the with the Army of the Potomac. Halleck book deals with the work of the Kerns in "switched his title—he became chief of staff— explorations of continental United States, but not his residence nor his duties. He mostly the Southwest; the second tells the stayed in Washington and did exactly what story of Edward's two voyages to the Orient he had been doing for the past two years' with the Ringgold-Rodgers and the Brooke (p. 161). Expeditions. Ambrose fully analyzes Halleck's persuasive Edward Kern, a Philadelphia-born illus­ influences in shaping up at least three major trator, served as artist and cartographer on military developments during the war: First, Fremont's third expedition and played a small although Halleck had advocated Jomini's part in the California confusion which teachings (pp. 23, 56, 64, 75, 91), he modi­ brought on Fremont's court-martial. Edward fied them when he realized that Lee's army returned to Philadelphia after the California and not Richmond was the true objective in venture and, when Fremont organized his the East (p. 144) and further rejected them fourth expedition, he recruited two of his with the acceptance of Sherman's idea of total older brothers to join up. All three brothers war (p. 183). survived the starving time in the mountains Second, Halleck worked for the profes- in the winter of 1848-1849, but when they sionalization of the Federal Army at the ex­ reached Taos they had had enough of Fre­ pense of State Militia, the transformation mont. They refused to go on. Ben, the eldest, under nationally trained professionals con­ and old Bill Williams were killed by Indians stituting a major revolution (p. 209). Halleck the following spring when they returned to campaigned for a more efficient army despite the mountains to bring out equipment they demands of politicians (pp. 103-105), was had cached there. Edward and Dick found responsible for setting new standards, and jobs as artists and mapmakers with the Topo­ greatly improved logistics (p. 187). graphical Engineers and during the next few Third, Halleck helped to develop the com­ years helped with surveys in the Southwest. mand system while he sat in Washington and Their task completed, they returned home, Grant operated with the army in the field. but in the spring of 1853 each had a new Here Halleck served as liaison between Lin­ assignment. Dick got a job with Captain coln and Grant, and between Grant and the John Gunnison's Railroad Survey party and department commanders. Without Halleck, was killed with Gunnison and other members Ambrose insists. Grant would have found it of the party in an Indian attack in the fall impossible to travel with Meade in Virginia of 1853. Edward got attached to the Ringgold- (p. 164). For the first time in American Rodgers Expedition to the North Pacific and history the general in the field was relieved Orient which left the U.S. in 1853 and of supply and transportation problems. returned in 1855. In 1858 he returned to This book is a welcome contribution to the Japan with the Brooke Expedition and after growing list of biographies of Civil War gen­ their ship was wrecked, he returned to the erals, among whom Halleck may now take his United States on a Japanese-owned steamship rightful place. that brought an official Japanese party to this country. This ended Edward Kern's wander­ ings. He served briefly in the Civil War and EDWARD J. MORGAN returned to Philadelphia where he died in Wisconsin State College—Whitewater 1863, then just past forty.

94 BOOK REVIEWS

The author thinks that the nineteenth cen­ brought about by industrialization and urban­ tury was a wandering time for Americans, ization. as indeed it was, and that "for the Kerns as The second theme, an internal one, is the for the country the fever was the result of path of thought and policy followed by pri­ a contagious Romanticism." Edward Kern vate citizens who attempted to make charity survived the dangers of exploration in the more efficient. Charity reformers tried to western United States to accompany the discipline private charity in the fear that Ringgold-Rodgers and Brooke maritime ex­ indiscriminate giving, whether private or pub­ peditions west across the Pacific. Thus, the lic, would result in the pauperization of the author suggests, his life was, in a modest poor. However, the most lasting result of way, a "camera lucida of American expan­ their efforts has been the professionalization sion. . . ." Although some may feel that the of social work. The three sections of the author pushes a little hard the notion that book—"English Origins," "Lady Bountiful in the mid-nineteenth-century American was the New World," and "From Lady Bountiful more restless and more of a wanderer than to Public Welfare"—reflect these two develop­ other men at other times, this study stands as ments and the cross-cultural nature of the a carefully prepared, economically presented study. account of three wanderers, artist-scientists Within each section some chapters are if you please, the story of whose wanderings centered on the development of techniques helps to illuminate a period of vigorous that have become dominant avenues of social American expansion in the West and the work. Casework (the intensive examination Pacific. of merit, need, and results in each application for and granting of aid) arose at the start VERNON CARSTENSEN as part of the effort to limit assistance to the University of Wisconsin "deserving" poor in keeping with laissez- faire views of individual responsibility. Social group work and community organization, more frequently emphasized in the twentieth century, brought to social work a recognition From Charity to Social Work in England and of the complexity of modern society and the the United States. By KATHLEEN WOODROOFE. need to work changes in the milieu, whether (University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1962. the neighborhod or the nation, in order to Pp. vi, 247. Notes, bibliography, index. make it possible for the applicant to regain $5.00.) the chance to be "responsible." One of the most intriguing portions of the The author of this slim but useful survey book deals with the manner in which in­ of a large slice of English and American creased professionalization and the good social history since the 1860's is senior lec­ times of the 'twenties brought to American turer (akin to professor) at the University social workers a renewed concentration on of Adelaide, South Australia. Although Wis- the more politically conservative technique of consinites will find no discussion of that casework, after an earlier shift to group state's private charities or public welfare pro­ work and community organization during the grams (save for a slightly misleading refer­ Progressive Era. Yet it was this concern for ence on page 86), the volume is a handy individual casework which made American beginning to an understanding of the national practitioners, unlike the British, so responsive and international setting in which charities to a different sort of radicalism—Freudian and boards of public welfare operated here psychology. during the nineteenth and early twentieth From Charity to Social Work is not a sig­ centuries. nificantly new piece of historical work. While The shift from charity to social work in­ the author has made good use of collections volves two developments. The external one is of material at the Universities of London and a shift in public attitudes and political pro­ Chicago, this volume is merely an adequate grams for the poor and afflicted. By 1911 survey of a largely oft-told story. The gen­ the National Insurance Act in England, and eral interpretation and much of the material by 1935 the Social Security Act here, repre­ on English charity organization societies in sented the first major steps toward recog­ the five decades preceding the First World nizing the obsolescence of a severely limited War has just been presented by Charles Loch style of public responsibility for the poor, Mowat in The Charity Organization Society

95 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963

(1961). No one historical work on American types of goods carried, rate structures, major social work so closely anticipates the coverage personalities in the trade and their policies, and interpretation offered here. But the and efforts to meet competition from newer reader of Robert Bremner's From the Depths: forms of transportation. He places less em­ the Discovery of Poverty in the United States phasis on technology and the economics of (1956) and American Philanthropy (1960), the steamboat trade than does Louis Hunter's or of Frank Bruno's Trends in Social Work, Steamboats on the Western Rivers: An Eco­ 1874-1956 (1957), will not be surprised at nomic and Technological History (Cambridge, most of the story. He will, however, be gen­ 1949), but provides sufficient material to erally pleased by this brief, occasionally enable the reader to understand the relation­ provocative, and usually well-written con­ ship between such developments on the Upper tribution. Missouri and their counterparts elsewhere. Tonnage figures show that in a quantitative C. MERRILL HOUGH sense steamboating on the Upper Missouri Kansas State College—Pittsburg never achieved the growth that it attained on the Upper Mississippi and in more densely settled regions adjacent to the major western rivers. Quite properly, Lass has chosen to concentrate most directly on the significance A History of Steamboating on the Upper Mis­ of steamboating to the history and economy souri River. By WILLIAM E. LASS. (Univer­ of the Upper Missouri, and in doing so has sity of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1962. Pp. been able to widen the scope of his book xiv, 215. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, without detracting from its thoroughness. It maps, index. $5.50.) constitutes a distinct contribution to the his­ tory of river transportation. This study traces the development and in­ fluence of commercial navigation on the Up­ LEWIS ATHERTON per Missouri from 1819, when the first steam University of Missouri vessel entered the waters of the Missouri, to 1936, when the last commercial navigation company on the Upper Missouri went out of existence. Fur traders and steamboat men used the term "Upper Missouri" to designate Tlie Public Lands: Studies in the History of that portion of the stream extending above the Public Domain. Edited by VERNON CAR­ the mouth of the Big Sioux, near which Sioux STENSEN. (University of Wisconsin Press, City, Iowa, was ultimately established, and the Madison, 1963. Pp. xxvi, 522. Notes, ap­ nomenclature still remains in usage. pendix, index. $6.75.) Steamboats constituted the primary mode of river transportation during the period un­ This book was planned to commemorate der review, although augmented by mackinaws the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of and ultimately replaced by gasoline packets. the founding of the General Land Office, and Especially important before railroads reached in executing their task Professor Vernon the Upper Missouri, steamboating continued Carstensen and his editorial associates have to play a significant role by co-operating with produced a useful volume. Books by B. H. the railroads and operating between railheads. Hibbard, R. M. Bobbins, and others already Ultimately, however, railroad and motor truck deal with this topic, but the nature of the competition combined with the crop failures public domain, the disposal of land over the of the 1920's and 1930's to terminate com­ years, and the influence of this resource mercial navigation on the Upper Missouri. upon American economic development can Fur traders, miners, settlers, and agencies of not be encompassed by any one writer. the federal government had all benefitted Some of the most illuminating analyses of through access to this mode of transportation, the land question have appeared in article and its story sheds much light on their history form, and their inclusion in this volume as well as on the shifting pattern of urban makes The Public Lands equally as impor­ development in the region served. tant as the earlier monographs on this Thorough research, clear and concise ex­ subject. pression, and balanced judgment are evident Many of the essays in The Public Lands throughout the volume. Lass describes the are well known. In this work, however, the

96 BOOK REVIEWS editors have selected and introduced them needs. For the non-historian it presents a to serve a particular purpose. Part One deals cross section of writing on a vital topic in with the origins of the public land system. American history. It is a good sourcebook Articles by Payson Jackson Treat and Rudolf for the undergraduate student and a must Freund explain the attitudes of the Found­ for the graduate student who is preparing for ing Fathers toward the ceded lands, the in­ preliminary or comprehensive examinations. fluence of the Revolutionary War veterans With its appendix, which includes statistical upon the early disposal of western lands, and summaries, a discussion of the public land the political and other compromises that records of the federal government, and other appear in our land laws before 1800. A comments on laws relating to the public short eassy by Earl Harrington, engineer in lands, it is also a valuable guide for those the Bureau of Land Management, explains who wish to do further research on the the history and nature of land surveys in public domain. the United States. Parts Two and Three, dealing with the STANLEY N. MURRAY distribution of the public lands, are the key North Dakota State University parts of the book. Included are an essay by Professor Allan Bogue on the Iowa claim clubs, a background article on the mineral lands acts of 1866 and 1870, and a summary of the legislation intended to put veterans on the land. Robert S. Henry's "The Railroad Land Grant Legend in American History The Middle Five: Indian School Boys of the Texts" is followed by a series of commen­ Omaha Tribe. By FRANCIS LA FLESCHE. taries on the article. Other essays deal with Foreword by DAVID BAERREIS. (University the administrative history of the General of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1963. Pp. xxiii, Land Office, the pattern of land sales before 152. Illustrations, map. $5.00, cloth; $1.65 the Civil War, state disposal of agricultural paper.) college scrip, and the handling of federally granted state lands in western livestock areas. The Middle Five makes available in modern Well-known pieces by professors Clarence format Francis La Flesche's account of his Danhof, Fred Shannon, and Paul Gates chal­ boyhood student days at the Presbyterian lenge traditional concepts about the cost of Mission School for Omaha Indians. The title making new farms and the benefits of the is taken from the name of the school "gang" Homestead Act. In addition, articles by composed of La Flesche and his closest Allan and Margaret Bogue and Professor friends. The book consists of a series of Gates analyze speculation in western land. incidents which together impart much of the Part Four of The Public Lands is devoted flavor of life in this boarding school of a primarily to the problems of safeguarding century ago. It is not a continuous story, and managing those parts of the public although most of it is obviously in chrono­ domain that were not suited for crops. The logical order. first essay, Lucile Kane's "Federal Protec­ tion of Public Timber in the Upper Great There are stories of boyhood courage, Lakes States," covers from the 1830's through humor, friendship, and sorrow. The terror the 1870's. The other two, written mainly of newly arrived children, their struggles by Marion Clawson, a recent director of the with English and other lessons, their chores Bureau of Land Management, provide some around the mission, their chapel naps, night­ reminiscenses of his term in office and ex­ time pranks, harsh discipline, and their fear plain the background and operation of the of the ghosts which were thought to inhabit Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. the attic of the school, all blend together to In his introduction Professor Carstensen form a colorful picture of Francis La Flesche's states that this volume could not possibly experiences. cover all topics in the history of the public La Flesche dedicated the work to the uni­ domain or include many excellent articles versal boy and it was his intention to show on this subject. For these reasons, one wishes that Indian children were not basically dif­ that a bibliographic essay or a listing of ferent from their white counterparts. It is additional periodical literature had been in­ doubtful that he presents a completely un­ cluded. Even so, this book will meet many biased view of the situation. La Flesche was

97 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY AUTUMN, 1963 an uncommon person who went on to re­ The Fighting Elder: Andrew Pickens (1739- markable achievements. This account of his 1817). By ALICE NOBLE WARING. (University school days must be considered an important of South Carolina Press, Columbia, 1962. reference for those who make use of his Pp. viii, 252. Illustrations, notes, maps, index. ethnographical writings because it gives in­ $6.00.) sight into his character and training. In­ cluded in the book are contrasts between the The tumultuous times in which Andrew old and new ways of life among the Omaha, Pickens lived and acted were the years of making the volume a useful document of the Revolution and the succeeding years of some aspects of the acculturation process. Indian unrest in South Carolina and Georgia. The text of the new edition has not been Mrs. Waring's purpose in writing this biog­ changed, but included in the book are a raphy of Pickens was, simply, to give a fact­ portrait of Francis La Flesche as an adult, ual account of her subject's life and era. The a photograph of the mission school, a copy author did not attempt to interpret Pickens: of one of the author's letters, and a map of she did not attempt to arrive at the motivat­ the Omaha area, none of which were in the ing force or forces in Pickens' life. original volume. The frontispiece of the The picture which emerges from this book original, an illustration of La Flesche's first is of a courageous and just General. Pickens, tearful day at school when his future com­ along with Generals Thomas Sumter and panion Brush comforted him, regretably has Francis Marion, commanded the partisan been omitted. troops of South Carolina. They fought not One function a reissue such as this one can only the British but also the Indians and serve is the addition of pertinent data, and Tories. Historians have long recognized the in David Baerreis' foreword some informa­ brutal nature of the war in back country tion about the Omaha tribe, the nature of South Carolina where neighbor did fight the school, and the instruction given the neighbor in a bloody civil war. Mrs. Waring, students is presented. Information about La in clear if uninspired prose, recounts the Flesche and his later life is also included. deeds of men like "Bloody Bill Cunningham" Since La Flesche did not date his entry into and Colonel Tarleton. Throughout the war the school, Baerreis presents an analysis Pickens tried, sometimes successfully, to re­ leading to the acceptable conclusion that strain his men from retaliatory butchering of the time of the events represented is the mid- enemy prisoners. 1860's. There may be some readers who will When peace returned to America in 1783, wish that the editors had provided still more Pickens, like so many of his contemporaries, information; for example, identifications of was not allowed to return to private life. Gray-beard and other white men who played Consistently he was appointed a commissioner a part in life at the school. Much of the cor­ to treat with southern Indians. Presidents respondence of the mission administrators is Washington, Adams, and Jefferson each sent available. Inclusion of these data in the fore­ him on such missions. The author's treat­ word could have given the reader the mis­ ment of this phase of her subject's life is sionary view in contrast to the student view­ unfortunately at the same time tedious and point of the text. The leading role played by too brief. Indian treaty follows Indian treaty the chief, Joseph La Flesche, in obtaining until years and tribes are confusingly merged students to fill the mission school in Septem­ in the reader's mind. Mrs. Waring would ber, 1860, may well have had a direct bear­ have done well had she cut some detail and ing on the enrollment of his son Francis. departed from her itention of not attempting Such supplementary material is not neces­ to interpret Pickens. A chapter contrasting sary for enjoyment of the book, for La Pickens' fair treatment of the Indians with Flesche's story stands by itself. Its republi­ the usual frontier behavior of white settlers cation is welcome because this book is well would have set the General apart and made worth reading and can be an enriching ex­ him a more interesting character. perience. The major difficulty of this book, in fact, is just that the author does not make the most of her subject's potential. Pickens is always on the verge of becoming interesting, ROGER T. GRANGE, JR. but in Mrs. Waring's account, he never quite Nebraska State Historical Society makes it. Pickens was a self-educated planter

98 BOOK REVIEWS and Indian trader whose commercial connec­ The title of the book, The Fighting Elder, tion with the politically powerful John Rut- suggests a religious motivation. But about ledge and others is barely mentioned. It is this aspect of Pickens's life, one learns little quite possible that his trade with the Indians more than that he at one time donated pews induced him to be fair in negotiating treaties to a church, an act which hardly bears re­ with them. In sticking closely to Pickens' flecting in the title. This biography, then, is public life, the author fails to give her a book to refer to for facts about Pickens. readers a total picture of a man, a man who To understand him it will still be necessary was not a typical back country settler. He to read other materials. More accurate foot­ sent two sons to college: one became Gov­ notes and a bibliography would have helped ernor of South Carolina in 1817. A grand­ to suggest those materials to the interested son reached the same office. The reader of reader. this biography can not but wish that Mrs. Waring had attempted—no matter how hesi­ JEROME J. NADELHAFT tatingly—to explain Pickens' motivations. University of Wisconsin

BOOK REVIEWS:

Ambrose, Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff, reviewed by Edward J. Morgan 93 Carstensen (ed.). The Public Lands: Studies in the History of the Public Domain, reviewed by Stanley N. Murray 96 Chambers, Political Parties in a New Nation: The American Experience (1776-1809), reviewed by Jerome J. Nadelhaft 93 Cole, Senator Gerald P. Nye and American Foreign Relations, reviewed by Lawrence H. Larsen 82 Green, Washington: Village and Capital, 1800-1876, reviewed by Charles N. Glaab 89 Healy, The United States in Cuba, 1898-1902: Generals, Politicians, and the Search for Policy, reviewed by Robert F. Smith 90 Hine, Edward Kern and American Expansion, reviewed by Vernon Carstensen 94 Holand, A Pre-Columbian Crusade to America, reviewed by Gerhard B. Naeseth 87 La Flesche, The Middle Five: Indian School Boys of the Omaha Tribe, reviewed by Roger T. Grange, Jr 97 Lass, A History of Steamboating on the Upper Missouri River, reviewed by Lewis Atherton 96 Livermore, The Twilight of Federalism: The Disintegration of the Federalist Party, 1815-1830, reviewed by Alan W. Brownsword 91 Lubove, The Progressives and the Slums: Tenement House Reform in New York City, 1890-1917, reviewed by Walter L Trattner 85 Nugent, The Tolerant Populists: Kansas Populism and Nativism, reviewed by David P. Thelen 86 Pease (ed.). The Progressive Years: The Spirit and Achievement of American Reform, reviewed by Glenn E. Thompson 85 Rosenberg, The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866, reviewed by Bayrd Still 92 Socolofsky, Arthur Capper: Publisher, Politician, and Philanthropist, reviewed by Lawrence H. Larsen 82 Waring, The Fighting Elder: Andrew Pickens (1739-1817j, reviewed by Jerome J. Nadelhaft 98 Woodroofe, From Charity to Social Work in England and the United States, reviewed by C. Merrill Hough 95 Contributors

CLIFFORD L. LORD, a native of CHARLES N. GLAAB, associate professor of his­ Mount Vernon, New York, tory at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is known and remembered and consultant to the Society's Urban History throughout Wisconsin as a Section, obtained his M.A. degree at the longtime director of the Socie­ University of North Dakota and his Ph.D. ty. A graduate of Amherst at the University of Missouri. He is the author (A.B. and M.A.) and Colum­ of Kansas City and the Railroads: Community bia (Ph.D.), he came to Wis­ Policy in the Growth of a Regional Metropolis, consin in 1946 after having taught at Colum­ published by the Society in 1962, and editor bia, having been editor of New York History of The American City: A Documentary His­ and director of Cooperstown, and having tory, published this year. Mr. Glaab is cur­ served in the Navy as a lieutenant-commander, rently collaborating with Lawrence H. Larsen, in which capacity he headed the Naval Avia­ Director of the Society's Urban History Sec­ tion History Unit. Since leaving the director­ tion, on a study of the development of Neenah- ship of the Society in 1958, Dr. Lord has been Menasha. For a photograph and additional dean of the School of General Studies and biographical information see the Autumn, professor of history at Columbia University. 1961, issue of the Magazine. He is the chairman of the Research and Publi­ cations Committee of the American Associa­ tion for State and Local History and is a member of that organization's council. A JOHN LANKFORD was born in resident of New Jersey, he was named by Washington, D.C, and was Governor Meyner to the New Jersey Tercen­ I ducated in the public schools tenary Committee, which is in charge of the iif that city. His A.B. was ob­ state-wide observances scheduled for next year tained from Oberlin College and for the New Jersey pavillion at the New and his M.A. and Ph.D. from York World's Fair. He was recently named the University of Wisconsin, by Governor Hughes to the Advisory Com­ the latter degree in 1962. While at the Uni­ mittee for the State Museum. versity he was a teaching assistant in the History Department and the recipient of a grant from the History of American Philan­ T. HARRY WILLIAMS, a native thropy Project, sponsored by the Ford Founda­ £itj3 of Illinois, holds the rank of tion. In 1961 he was appointed an instructor Boyd Professor of history at in history at Wisconsin State College, River Louisiana State University. He Falls, and the following year was named an has taught at Tulane Univer­ assistant professor in history, as well as Ar­ sity and the state universities chivist of the College and Co-director of the of Rhode Island, West Virgi­ American Studies Program. His article in nia, and Wisconsin, where he this issue is drawn from his history of Wis­ received his doctorate. His books include consin State College, River Falls, to be pub­ Lincoln and the Radicals (1941), P.G.T. lished in 1966 as part of a co-operative history Beauregard: Napoleon in Gray (1955), Ro­ of the State College System under the general mance and Realism in Southern Politics editorship of Walker D. Wyman, president of (1961), and Lincoln and His Generals, which Wisconsin State College, Whitewater. was a Book of the Month Club selection fol­ lowing its publication in 1952. Mr. Williams is the author of numerous articles in historical journals, and is currently working on a bio­ In this issue RICHARD W. E. PERRIN, Director graphy of Huey Long of Louisiana. He is a of the Department of City Development and past president of the Southern Historical Executive Secretary of the City Plan Com­ Association, a member of the United States mission, the Redevelopment Authority, and Army's Historical Advisory Committee, and the Housing Authority of the City of Milwau­ one of the few American contributors to the kee, continues his widely read series on the Cambridge Modern History. history of Wisconsin architecture.

100 LIST OF DONORS TO THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN 1962-1963

Supplement to The Wisconsin Magazine of History, }'ol. 47, No. 1, Autumn, 1963 In Appreciation

NCE again it is my pleasant privilege to oncoming generations. But perhaps the most O thank publicly the many organizations important fact is that each gift, large or small, and individuals who in the year just passed represents a concern for our common heritage have beneficed the Society and enlarged its and a trust in this Society which serves, pre­ resources. serves, and interprets it. A glance at the list which follows demon­ A solid portion of the Society's strength has strates strikingly that the Society's friends come from bequests, and I am pleased that the are not limited to Wisconsin nor even to the Society continues to be remembered in this Middle West. This year's donors resided in fashion. I would welcome inquiries concern­ thirty-seven states, the District of Columbia, ing the details of preparing a bequest to the and five foreign nations. Some contributed Society. funds to sustain special projects for which no On behalf of the Board of Curators and the state funds were available; some strengthened staff of The State Historical Society of Wiscon­ our libraries through gifts of manuscripts and sin, I express our profound gratitude and debt books; others donated artifacts to enrich our to all those whose names appear on this year's museums and historic sites. donor list. In monetary terms, the gifts received this year would be all but impossible to estimate. LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR. Time alone can appraise their true value to Director

Society's Iconographic Collection View taken in 1898 from Bascom Hill, showing the Society building under construction.

11 Donors, 1962—1963

Alabama Pasadena A. C. Ingersoll Birmingham Miss Electa Johnson* 0. L. Burnette, Jr. Mrs. F. M. Jones San Diego Mrs. F. W. McConnell Mobile Mr. and Mrs. E. G. Kern* San Francisco Don Francis Selma Bert Neville San Jose Mr. and Mrs. Seymour T. Rose Arizona Santa Ana Scottsdale Edwin W. Tomlinson Mr. and Mrs. L. Wasbotten Santa Barbara Tucson Flint Jones The Cox Library Saratoga Arkansas R. V. Gerrod

Morrilton Whittier Winthrop Rockefeller Paul Partington

California Colorado Berkeley Denver John D. Hicks* Miss Louisa W. Arps Herbert Jacobs Lakewood Canoga Park Jefferson County Bank of Lakewood John Lundblad

Goleta Connecticut Mrs. Hilda A. Meisner Hamden Mrs. Simon Kleiner Grass Valley Mrs. Frederick E. Becker Hartford Miss Mabel Johnson Linwood Miss Catherine Baker District of Columbia Long Beach Mrs. J. C. Hoffman AFL-CIO Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Los Angeles Railway, & Motor Coach Employees of Mrs. Albert Fricke America Mrs. E. Ethel Harris* American Farm Economic Association Stanley Plog American Historical Association Hon. John W. Byrnes* J. P. Cavin Monrovia David Sanders Clark Miss Alice Shoemaker Gerhard .\. Gesell Harlan V. Hadley * Indicates membership in the Society. Mrs. Gilbert Harrison Mrs. William M. Leiserson Illinois Senator Gaylord A. Nelson Peace Corps Batavia Senator William Proxmire Donald Weaver Dwight F. Rettle Grahame T. Smallwood, Jr. Chebanse S. D. Sturgis Rohr's Modern Midway Glenn E. Thompson* U.S. Department of the Interior Chicago Hon. Burton K. Wheeler Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butcher William Archie Wheeler Workmen of North America Senator Alexander P. Wiley Miss June B. Barekman Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Florida Railroad Cooperative League of the U.S. Clearwater Robert Coutts P. E. McNall* Gaylord Donnelley Mrs. John Downes Fort Myers Mr. and Mrs. Nick Gerage Jack Beater Charles S. Mack Cyrus McCormick II Fort Myers Beach Fowler McCormick Mrs. Walter J. Meek Gordon McCormick Robert McDermott Miami Miss Tillie Smitherman Mrs. Helen Pierce Fredennick A. C. Wilier

Miami Beach Crete Mrs. Clara Schuppe Mrs. Dorothy Wood Ewers Orlando Evanston Robert Willaman Mrs. Charles V. Clark Sarasota Curtis Fuller Dale Wilson Mrs. George I. Haight Mrs. Ralph Howe Tallahassee Jack D. Hunnicutt Galena Mrs. L. N. Oestrich

Georgia Jacksonville Athens Walter B. Hendrickson Ellis Merton Coulter T. H. Whitehead Joliet Paul R. Ingrassia Atlanta Mrs. Mary Givens Bryan Kankakee Walter Zwiger Iowa Lake Forest Des Moines Mrs. Willson G. Todd Mrs. K. D. Urquhart Northhrook Iowa City Miss Charlotte Gregory Dr. Milford E. Barnes

Mason City Park Ridge Mrs. Rob Roy Cerney H. H. Conlev Peoria Michigan Harry E. Roethe Roland A. White Ann Arbor Mrs. Peter Okkelberg Rockford Adolph Germer Battle Creek Battle Creek Historical Society Winnetka Mrs. Elizabeth T. Cheney Dearborn Judge George Fiedler* John S. Still H. Jerry Voorhis Detroit Indiana Elmer Steinweg Miss Hilda Steinweg Bloomington Robert Hattery Flint Mrs. Arthur R. Hogue Dale A. Riker Franklin Mrs. H. C. Hougham Hillsdale Jack C. Northrup Kentucky Manistique Lexington Mrs. J. Joseph Herbert University of Kentucky*

Louisville Marquette William E. Lortz Mrs. H. A. Clark

Madison Muskegon Mrs. John T. Windle Mrs. Lewis Torrent

Maryland Minnesota Baltimore Mrs. Alexandra Lee Levin Fairmont Mrs. Suzanne A. Lindsay Allen L. Moore E. V. McCollum Hastings Bethesda Melvin F. Ilia Miss Eunice Hoffman Irvin Hoffman Minneapolis David Minard Harry A. Bullis Mrs. Edwin Hewitt Silver Spring Harold E. Miner Paynesville Mrs. Tracy H. Marsh Massachusetts Belmont Rochester Guy Black Leslie Suprey Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Merk St. Cloud Cambridge Miss Edith E. H. Grannis Gerald Friedberg St. Paul Conway Miss Ebba Ahlstrom Mrs. Russell Barber Street Miss Maud .\hlstrom Mississippi New York Greenville Brockporl Judge Zelma W. Price Miss Gertrude Page

University Buffalo C. L. Marquette* Walter S. Dunn, Jr.

Buskirk Missouri Lisle Cottrell Columbia Frank Fletcher Stephens Dunkirk Katherine Gushing Estate Kansas City John R. Foster Mrs. Benjamin M. Powers Hancock Norborne Miss Elizabeth S. Lotterer BioLab Corporation "Minutemen'' Ithaca St. Louis C. W. Kearl Mrs. Lenore Scott Harms Lauriston Sharp New York City Montana Mrs. Sherry Abel William H. Allen Glasgow American Federation of Musicians Mrs. Ethel Henry Cook American Museum of Natural History Mrs. Smiley Blanton Nebraska Harry Disend Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick in the City Lincoln of New York Carleton L. Meek Miss Anna M. Jones* Corliss Lamont Hal Leyshon and Associates New Hampshire Arnaud C. Marts Hampton Mrs. Cyrus McCormick Anthony Bourn Museum of Modern Art Mrs. David B. Orden David Rockefeller New Jersey John Davison Rockefeller HI Laurance S. Rockefeller Haddonfield Socialist Labor Party of America Paul M. Heston Textile Workers Union of America Elmer Garfield Van Name Mrs. Anna Strunsky Walling

Maplewood North Tarrytown S. D. Stephens John W. Blatchford Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller Newark Mrs. Gunther H. Land Schenectady William Leonard Princeton Welch AUyn, Inc. E. W. Morehouse North Dakota New Mexico Ray Albuquerque Mrs. Anna Fuoter George W. Smith Donald Fuoter Ohio Tennessee Athens Harrogate Mrs. Henry Jeddeloh Wayne C. Temple

Cincinnati Memphis Karl F. Feller Wassell Randolph Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio* Texas International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal, Soft Drink & Distillery Canyon Workers L. F. Sheffy

Cleveland College Station Judge Donald F. Lybarger Mrs. John Q. Anderson Dr. Robert M. Stecher HoUis L. Townsend Livingston Vinson Allen Collins

Columbus Plainview Miss Esther Hutchinson* Lyle C. Brown Mrs. Peyton B. Randolph Marietta Dawes Memorial Library Vermont North Bennington Oklahoma L. M. Hanks Barllesville Harris Bateman Virginia

Perry Blacksburg Archie Marshall Dr. William E. Garnett Richmond Oregon J. B. Lankes Corvallis Washington Oregon State System of Higher Education Spokane Harper Joy Pennsylvania Philadelphia West Virginia Donald C. Bolles Huntington Arthur L. Thomas Pittsburgh Wilma S. L. V. Baker Wisconsin Reading Appleton Harold Moore Appleton Mills Mrs. Dorothy R. Babler Swarthmore V. I. Minahan Dr. and Mrs. E. R. Schmidt, Jr. Mrs. John Strange

Washington Arcadia Mrs. Mary McBurney Warrick Dr. Elizabeth Comstock*

Washington Crossing Argonne George N. Caylor Edward D. Colburn* Baldwin Mrs. R. H. Loveland S. J. Lakken Fred Mink Guy Obershaw Baraboo Clinton Schroeder W. W. Deppe Dale Wimer Arthur Griffin Claude Holloway Cavour Local 1324 International Association of Ralph Van Zile Machinists Mrs. E. P. McFetridge Chilton Mrs. W. S. Noble Gordon R. Wolff

Beloit Chippewa Falls Miss Sadie Bell Chippewa Falls Public Library* Roderick Brunton Mrs. Emilie Goldsworthy Clearwater Lake George A. Holmes* Mrs. S. D. Fell Mrs. Edith B. Peters Clintonville Berlin Four Wheel Drive Co. Miss Annabel Wood* Mrs. H. W. Haven

Black Earth Cobb Mrs. and Mrs. Alton Fortney Ralph Tucker

Black River Falls Columbus Enoch Locken Mrs. Julia L. Hill Durward Miller Bloomington Fred A. Stare* Mrs. Margaret Bonn John Cliff Cottage Grove Bertrand Quale Blue River R. W. Dieter Crandon Gordon Hamley Boscobel John Kronschnabl Mrs. Harold L. Nelson Fred A. Ricks Cross Plains William F. Dahmen* Brookfield De Pere Harold W. Hein* Mrs. John Fischer Brownsville DeForest Mrs. Jerome Delfeld Mrs. Frank Kruse

Butternut Delavan F. G. MacLachlan Aram Public Library* Dousman Cadott Miss Belle Adams John Kysilko Eau Claire Cassville Assemblyman Thomas H. Barland* Julius Dietrich Mrs. H. R. Curtiss Thomas Gratten Eau Claire Press Company Harvey Groom A. F. Haag Mrs. William Hauk James A. Riley* Henry Kartman Mrs. Glenn V. Rork* Edgerton Hartland Assemblywoman Carolyn J. Blanchard Mrs. Elizabeth Wheeler Colman David J. Blanchard Mrs. Neita O. Friend*

Elkhorn Holcombe Mrs. Evelyn P. Mix Dan Anderson

Ellsworth Horicon John R. Halls Walter Bussewitz H. G. Seyforth Ilortonville Ephraim Robert Given Mrs. Olga Dana* Hudson Evansville Miss Esther Burkhardt Leonard Finn* Mrs. J. K. Porter Janesville Mrs. H. C. Smith Alfred Barlass Wisconsin Regional Writers Association Mrs. Paul R. Bobolz Janesville Chapter, D.A.R. Fennimore Mrs. Vincent W. Koch* Fennimore Telephone Company E. J. Marksman

Fish Creek Juda Mrs. J. R. Buchbinder* Roger T. Douglas*

Fond du Lac Kaukauna Sister Mary Agreda Bernard George Fond du Lac Commonwealth Reporter Miss Emily Hadley Kenosha Eugene McLane Miss Charlotte M. Cyzak Pure Milk Products Company Kenosha AFL-CIO Council St. Agnes Hospital School of Nursing Peter Pirsch & Sons Co. Joseph Zuffa Fort Atkinson Emery Junior High School Junior His- Kewaunee torians Orwin Burmeister* Hugh Highsmith* Mrs. Zida Ivey* Knoxville Miss Neal Rogers* Mrs. Curt Welch

Galesville Kohler Miss Edith Bartlett* Herbert V. Kohler*

Grantsburg La Crosse State Senator Raymond C. Bice* Paul Been Mark Esch George Gilkey* Green Bay Gary Hantke Allen Peterson Joseph C. Houska Daughters of American Colonists Irvin Jauch Mrs. Dorothy Straubel Wittig* Miss Dora D. Marshall* Mrs. John Schlammes Greenhush Frank Tillman Mrs. Sarah Poole Lake Delton Hartford Jennerh D. Martin Miss Helen Wiggins Rev. Kenneth D. Martin*

IX Lake Geneva Edward M. Coffman* Miss Ruth Allen Mrs. Thomas Coleman* A. H. Collipp Lake Mills John C. Colson Sam T. Swansen John R. Commons Library Mrs. Frederick K. Conover Estate Lake Tomahawk L. S. Coryell Mrs. Isabel Ebert Mr. and Mrs. Frank Creeron Mrs. Catherine Crocker Lancaster Captain R. G. Cromey Grant County Historical Society* Mrs. Emerson Cruckson* Johnson's Hardware Frank Custer Thomas Holmes Scott M. Cutlip* W. M. Irvin Mrs. George DeCoursey Mrs. Carrie Nemitz Meinrad Deiderich Lima Center Democratic Party of Wisconsin Mrs. Beulah McComb Cox Peter R. Dennis Gilbert Doane* Lime Ridge Mrs. Robert K. Doerk E. A. Prouty Mrs. E. M. Dousman Mrs. Raymond Dvorak Lodi Mrs. Robert Dickie H. H. Gottschall William D. Dyke* Mrs. Frank Robertson Mrs. Mattie Edgerton Mrs. Lois Elsener* Madison R. W. Farrell Gordon A. Adams R. G. Feige Miss Mary E. Amend David Fellman* American Association for State and Local Leslie H. Fishel, Jr.* History Stanley F. Fjelstad American Automobile Association—Wis- Forsberg Paper Box Company cousin Division Lowell Frautschi Donald M. Anderson Walter A. Frautschi* Douglas Anderson Arthur H. Frazier* Ellen Anderson Mrs. F. E. Gastrow S. Stuart Anderson David Gay Antiquarian Society of Wisconsin Mrs. William B. Gedko Miss Grace Argall* Harold Geisse Mrs. Ralph E. Axley* Mrs. Norman Gill Miss Josephine Balaty Gisholt John A. Johnson Foundation Mrs. Ira L. Baldwin* Gisholt Machine Company Bank of Madison Martin Glaeser Barn Swap Shop Mrs. Sidney L. Goldstine Mrs. Howard K. Beale Robert Goodman Mrs. Helen Becker Lawrence F. Graber* Mrs. Donald Benn John E. Gruber* Otto Bergenske, Jr. Carl E. Guell C. J. Berst Fred H. Harrington* Mrs. Helene S. Thomas Blotz* Mr. and Mrs. Elwyn Harris* Mrs. Agnes G. Bodenstein* Peter Harstad* Mrs. Margie Brader Laura Hendrickson Louisa M. Brayton Chapter, D.A.R. William B. Hesseltine* Lester W. Carlson Mrs. W. Jerome Higgins Vernon Carstensen* Mrs. Everett Holterman William K. Chipman Andrew W. Hopkins* Civil War Round Table Aaron J. Ihde* Mr. and Mrs. Noble Clark Mrs. Carl Johnson Estate Marshall Clinard Mr. and Mrs. George H. Johnson* Ronald C. Jones* Carleton D. Sperry* Chuay Kannawait State of Wisconsin Public Welfare Depart­ Mrs. Dean E. Karls ment Miss Elizabeth Kempton* Mrs. W. T. Stephens* Mrs. Bonnie Kienitz Mr. and Mrs. James L. Stern Roger C. Kirchoff* Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky Melchior Koch Odell A. Taliaferro Miss Alison Krasno Trash and Treasure Shop B. W. Kreitlow L. Reed Tripp Mrs. Dora Kuehner University of Wisconsin Mr. and Mrs. Philip F. La Follette* University of Wisconsin Press League of Women Voters of Wisconsin William F. Vilas Estate Lincoln Fellowship of Wisconsin Walter 0. Voss Lowell Hall (University residence hall) Miss Shirley Watson W. A. Lunger Mrs. Earl Webber Madison Jewish Welfare Council, Inc. Miss Ruth Wellman Madison Literary Society F. C. Welsch M. E. Manchester Mr. and Mrs. F. L. Weston Charles Manson* James Whitaker Mr. and Mrs. E. H. McCabe Carl H. Wilhelm Mrs. Nellie McTier Joseph F. Wilhelm* Methodist Hospital School of Nursing Wisconsin Association of Supervision & Forrest C. Middleton* Curriculum Development Mrs. J. G. Milward* Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation James W. Morgan Wisconsin Press Association Mr. and Mrs. Frank Moulton Wisconsin Public Expenditure Survey Robert B. L. Murphy* Wisconsin Public Health Association Gerhard B. Naeseth* Wisconsin State Council of Carpenters Orie's Pharmacy Mrs. Edwin E. Witte Ernest H. Pett Mr. and Mrs. E. K. Witte* Mrs. Esther W. Piper Women's Auxiliary of the State Historical Miss Doris H. Platt* Society James Potter Clinton N. Woolsey Arthur W. Quan* Albert H. Wurz Albert H. Qurz Irvin G. Wyllie* Rennebohm Drug Stores, Inc. Mrs. Susan Youngclause Robert L. Reynolds* Elmer Ziegler Glen H. Ridnour Billy Zitzner Raymond Roberts Mrs. Ermon Zitzner Mrs. John E. Roth Carlisle Runge Manawa Walter E. Scott* Mrs. Irvin Lotz E. L. Schafer Stephen J. Scheinberg Manitowoc Dr. and Mrs. Erwin Rudolph Schmidt Manitowoc Board of Education Estate Jacob Muchin Mrs. Justin M. Schmiedeke Mrs. John MuUins Miss Kathryn Schneider Marinette Arlie W. Schorger* Marinette Eagle-Star* Mrs. H. J. Schubert* William L. Schultz* Mauston John G. Schutz Mrs. William Weber Mrs. Sidney L. Schwartz Mayville Mrs. Eugene Seymour Mrs. Florence E. Fell Harry P. Sharp William E. Sieker Mazomanie L. G. Sorden* Warner Thiers

XI McFarland The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Com­ E. M. Fitchett* pany Mrs. John R. Hagemann Menasha James T. Haight George Banta, Jr.* Harnischfeger Foundation, Inc.* Banta Company Foundation, Inc. Joseph Heil, Sr.* Gilbert Paper Company* Miss Irma E. Hochstein* C. Florian Merbs Miss Paula E. Hunkel* Ralph Suess Mrs. Alfred M. Jones* Miss Jean Wiley Thickens Mrs. Joseph Kretchmar George LaBudde Menomonie Mrs. F. LaCroix* Miss Ada Hosford Mrs. Herman H. Levitz Mrs. C. F. McClellan Arthur Maegli C. M. Russell The Marine Foundation, Inc.* Mary Church Terrell Club Mequon Milwaukee B'nai B'rith Council Miss Charlotte Partridge* Milwaukee County Historical Society* Milwaukee County Labor Council Merrill Milwaukee District Wisconsin Nurses Asso­ Miss Patricia Kelly ciation Merrill Publishing Company Milwaukee Jewish Council Milwaukee Jewish Welfare Fund Middleton Milwaukee Journal* Mrs. Signe Cooper* Frederick I. Olson* Mrs. Pearl Williams Cyrus Philipp* Mrs. Fred Poethig Milton Earl Pryor Milton Historical Society Miss Margaret Reynolds* Miss Agnes Ryan Milton Junction Frederic Sammond* Walter B. Cockerill* Schlitz Foundation, Inc.* Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company Milwaukee Herbert M. Schneider* Mrs. Roland Adams Martin Schreiber Amalgamated Meat Cutters & Butchers James Scribbins Workmen of North America, Local No. Mrs. O. W. Senglaub 248, AFL-CIO George B. Skogmo Mrs. A. W. Asmuth* Mrs. Stanley Stone* Miss Myrtle Baer Temple Emanu-el B'ne Jeshurun Mrs. Joseph L. Baron* Miss Ellen Rix Townley Meyer Bass Carroll Tracy S. J. Bazelon Mrs. Joseph E. Uihlein, Sr. Mrs. Frank J. Benda UAW, Region No. 10 A. P. Bertschy United Steelworkers of America, Dist. No. Catholic Interracial Council 32 Mrs. Coleburn Best William H. Upham Rev. Herman A. Block* Folding A. Utz Mrs. William M. Chester* W. L. Van Brocklin Miss Hazel Corrigan The Visiting Nurses Association of Mil­ Mrs. Theodore Dammann waukee Miss Ruth DeVoy Mrs. Charles P. Vogel* Mrs. Harry Effler Mrs. William D. Vogel* Edwin Eschrich Kenneth Von Wald First Wisconsin Foundation, Inc.* W. Norman FitzGerald* Franklin Wallick Miss Hennah Gardner West AUis Public Library* Mrs. Paul P. Gauer J. Russell Wheeler* Mrs. Malcolm K. Whyte Oshkosh Wisconsin Library Association John E. Dempsey Wisconsin Nurses Association Mrs. Glen Fisher* Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning John W. Miner Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Edward Noyes* Wisconsin State Dental Society Mrs. Percy Whittingham Osseo Anita L. Zeidler James Call, Jr. Mrs. Walter Zehetner Donald C. Zink Owen Ralph Owen Mineral Point Leonard Stoewer Palmyra Fisk Carlin Minocqua Mrs. Ellen Hoy* Pewaukee Joseph E. Ryan Mount Hope Mrs. Edna Ferguson Plainfield People's Telephone Company Mrs. Fred Hamerstrom Jack Welsh Mrs. Myrtle Welsh Platteville Roy Baker Muscoda E. R. Bardin Mac A. Mueller Estate H. L. Doeringsfeld Wendell Smith Mrs. C. A. Loveland Mrs. Elmer McNett Neenah Mrs. V. E. Nylin Mrs. James W. Bergstrom* John M. Rindlaub Mrs. Leonard Gashel* Mrs. Joseph McLaughlin Portage The National Manufacturers Bank Howard W. Latton

Nekoosa Port Wing Nekoosa Public Schools Dan Daly

New Auburn Potosi Mrs. Elmer Nelson Pete Esser

New Diggings Poynelle Mrs. Sara Mowry Mrs. Helen Thomas

New Richmond Prairie du Chien Otis Hoyt Epley R. J. Campbell Victor Paczynski North Freedom Mrs. Louise C. Root* Mid-Continent Railway Historical Museum William Steiner Frank Tornowske Oconomowoc Mrs. Chester Colley Prairie du Sac Walter Faithorn Mrs. Myrtle Ingles C. P. Fox Thomas J. Miglautsch Racine Mrs. Carl Mueller* Johnson Wax Co. Richard G. Lange Oconto Falls John Prasch William E. Goddard Llovd E. Smith*

Xlll Randolph Stevens Point Mrs. Dorothy V. Metcalf Guy Gibson* Robert F. Jacobsen Reedsburg Assemblyman Norman L. Myhra* Lawrence Olson Mr. and Mrs. Win Rothman* Raymond Specht Richland Center Frank T. Creeron, Jr. Stoughton James Olson Mrs. Giles Dow Mrs. Winton Olson Ripon Mrs. Ingolf Roe John H. Wilson* Sturgeon Bay River Falls Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Leege James Crane W. W. Lockhart Mrs. Allen Herstrum John Lankford Superior Archie Shepard Miss Julia Waggoner Mrs. Verna Sutherland Two Rivers Sand Creek Miss Berenice Zander Arnold Gilberts Union Grove Mrs. Louie Christiansen Sauk City August Derleth* Ludwig Madison Verona Mr. and Mrs. Elmer H. Gordon Mrs. Olia Thompson Seneca James George Moore Viroqua Paul A. Dahl Sheboygan Mrs. Francis Knutson Mrs. Elsie M. Christiansen K. N. Fisher Wabeno State Senator Ernest C. Keppler* J. W. Norris Sheboygan Press Charitable Fund Waldo Shullsburg Mrs. George Jentink Mrs. Mary Peebles Gratiot Orvin F. Hillary* Waukesha John R. Guy Sister Bay Lions Club of Waukesha Mrs. Anthony Wuchterl Edward Potter Sabin Mrs. Phil Wilkie Soperton Rev. G. Aubrey Young Harry McGraw Waunakee Sparta Mrs. J. R. Hickey John W. Kress Waupun Spring Green Eugene Westra* Vernon Hill* Mr. and Mrs. Carl Pope Wausau Burt Richardson G.W. Bannerman

Stanley Wautoma Ralph C. Bloom Elmer Walker Wauwatosa Windsor Chris E. Lawson Glen Wheeler

Wauzeka Wisconsin Dells D. J. Craig Mrs. Helen Raab*

West Bend Wisconsin Rapids Alex Abramov Mrs. Henry Baldwin* Miss Martha Kuechenmeister Consolidated Civic Fund, Inc. Reuben Schmidt Mrs. A. F. Gottschalk Colonel Herbert P. Schowalter Mrs. Agnes Schlotfelt

West Salem Withee Frank Nye Mrs. Martin Keskimaki Woodman Whitefish Bay Mrs. Anna Kelly Mrs. Nelson Hall

Whitehall Wyoming Miss Hallie Nordhagen Aflon Dr. Orson Lee Treloar Whitewater Dr. Stephen Ambrose Cheyenne Walker Wyman* Mr. and Mrs. Glenn W. Oliver

Foreign

Canada Ireland Percy L. Climo, St. Catherines, Ontario Daniel F. Curtin, Dublin Harvey Levenstein, Toronto, Ontario

England Japan Miss Jane Powell, Bristol Miss Helen F. Topping, Tokyo

Donors to the Mass Communications History Center

Alabama Robert S. Morris Dalton Trumbo Fairhope Writers Guild of America, West, Inc. Wendell Hall Malibu California John Frankenheimer Beverly Hills Miss Vera Caspary Pacific Palisades Morrie Ryskind Rod Serling Los Angeles Cecil B. Brown Venice Robert W. Kenny Philip Stevenson Connecticut Larchmont Walter Kerr New Canaan Mrs. H. T. Webster New York City Mason Arvold District of Columbia The Associated Press Thomas D'Arcy Brophy Art Buchwald Mrs. Marguerite Cartwright Marquis Childs Harold Clurman Lester W. Lindow J. Fred Coots Clark R. Mollenhoff Russel Grouse Edward P. Morgan David Davidson Edgar Ansel Mowrer D. K. deNeuf Mrs. Winifred Keith Pinto Pendleton Dudley Howard K. Smith David Finn Bascom N. Timmons Mrs. Ruth Goodman Goetz Al Hirschfeld Langston Hughes Illinois Joseph M. Hyman Chicago Arthur Kober Dr. W. W. Bauer Louis Kronenberger E. P. H. James Samuel Leve Herman Levin T. B. McDonald Construction Company Massachusetts Fredric March David Merrick Cambridge N. Richard Nash Edward H. Preston National Broadcasting Company Earl Newsom Mrs. Arthur W. Page New Hampshire Jean Rosenthal Arthur Schwartz Manchester Bernard Sobel Gordon Kahn Gregor Ziemer

White Plains New Jersey John Fischer Stockton Kenyon Nicholson West Virginia Morgantown New York Major Minter L. Wilson, Jr.* Barrytown Gore Vidal Wisconsin Beechhurst Cottage Grove Mrs. F. Hempe Miss Jane S. Schantz*

Harrison Madison Mrs. Judith R. Coulter John P. Hunter*

Mexico George Pepper, Mexico City New Titles from the Society Press

Moorings Old and New: Entries in an Immigrant's Log. By PAUL KNAPLUND. The distinguished autobiography of the Norwegian-born historian and University of Wisconsin professor. With a fore­ word by Merle Curti. 276 pages. Illustrated. 4.00

The Rise of the Dairy Industry in Wisconsin: A Study in Agricultural Change, 1820-1920. By ERIC E. LAMPARD. A full-length study of the role of science, technology, and education in the making of Wisconsin's primary industry, and a discussion of the dairy farmer's place in the social, political, and economic life of the state. 466 pages. 6.00

Black Utopia: Negro Communal Experiments in America. By WILLIAM H. and JANE IH. PEASE. A his­ tory of American and Canadian efforts at re-settling the free Negro, from 1820 to the close of the Civil War. 204 pages. 4.00

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN • 816 STATE STREET • MADISON To promote a wider appreciation of the American heritage The Purpose with particular emphasis on the collection, advancement, of this and dissemination of knowledge of the history of Wisconsin Society shall be and of the Middle W est.

.State Historical Society of Wisconsin 816 State Street Madison 6, Wisconsin Second class postage paid Return Requested Madison, Wisconsin