in Magazine ^ of History

William S. McCormick: A Biographical Skelcit MARY FROST KRONCKE Frank Lloyd Wright m Spring Grun, 1911-1932 ROBERT C. TWOMBLY A WisconsimU m World War I: Part III EDMUND p. ARPIN, JR. Slavery in the Americas RICHARD II. SEWELL

Published by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin / Vol. 51, No. 3 / Spring, 1968 THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN

LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR., Director

Offi THOMAS H. BARLAND, President HERBERT V. KOHLER, Honorary Vice-President JOHN C. GEILFUSS, First Vice-President E. E. HOMSTAD, Treasurer CLIFFORD D. SWANSON, Second Vice-President LESLIE H. FISHEL, JR., Secretary

Board of Curators Ex-Officio WARREN P. KNOWLES, Governor of the State HAROLD W. CLEMENS, State Treasurer ROBERT C. ZIMMERMAN, Secretary of State FRED H. HARRINGTON, President of the University MRS. EDWARD H. RIKKERS, President of the Women's Auxiliary

Term Expires, 1968 MRS. HENRY BALDWIN KENNETH W. HAAGENSEN MRS. WILLIAM H. L. SMYTHE FREDERICK N. TROWBRIDGE Wisconsin Rapids Oconomowoc Milwaukee Green Bay GEORGE BANTA, JR. ROBERT B. L. MURPHY WILLIAM F. STARK CEDRIC A. 'VIG Menasha Madison Pewaukee Rhinelander H. M. BENSTEAD FREDERIC E. RISSER MILO K. SWANTON CLARK WILKINSON Racine Madison Madison Baraboo

Term Expires, 1969 E. DAVID CRONON MRS. ROBERT E. FRIEND MRS. HOWARD T. GREENE J. WARD RECTOR Madison Hartland Genesee Depot Milwaukee SCOTT M. CUTLIP ROBERT A. GEHRKE BEN GUTHRIE CLIFFORD D. SWANSON Madison Ripon Lac Du Flambeau Stevens Point W. NORMAN FITZGER.\LD JOHN C. GEILFUSS WARREN D. LEARY, JR. Milwaukee Milwaukee Rice Lake

Term Expires, 1970 THOMAS H. BARLAND MRS. EDWARD C. JONES HOWARD W. MEAD DONALD C. SLIGHTER Eau Claire Fort Atkinson Madison Milwaukee JIM DAN HILL MRS. RAYMOND J. KOLTES FREDERICK L OLSON DR. LOUIS C. SMITH Middleton Madison Wauwatosa Lancaster E. E. HOMSTAD CHARLES R. MCCALLUM F. HARWOOD ORBISON ROBERT S. ZICMAN Black River Falls Hubertus Appleton Milwaukee

Honorary Honorary Life Members WILLIAM ASHBY MCCLOY, New London, Connecticut PRESTON E. MCNALL, Clearwater, Florida MRS. LITTA BASCOM, Berkeley, California DOROTHY L. PARK, Madison BENTON H. WILCOX, Madison

Fellows VERNON CARSTENSEN MERLE CURTI ALICE E. SMITH

The Women's Auxiliary Officers MRS. EDWARD H. RIKKERS, Madison, President MRS. GEORGE SWART, Fort Atkinson, Vice-President MRS. WILLIAM STARK, Nashotah, Treasurer MRS. CONRAD ELVEHJEM, Madison, Secretary MRS. WILLIAM H. L. SMYTHE, Milwaukee, Ex-Officio VOLUME 51, NUMBER 3 / SPRING, 1968 Wisconsin Magazine of History

WILLIAM CONVERSE HAYGOOD, Editor

WILLIAM C. MARTEN, Associate Editor

John Charles Jacques: An Appreciation 188

William S. McCormick: A Biographical Sketch 189 MARY FROST KRONCKE

Frank Lloyd Wright in Spring Green, 1911-1932 200 ROBERT C. TWOMBLY

A Wisconsinite in World War I: Reminiscences of Edmund P. Arpin, Jr.: Part Three 218 Edited by iRA BERLIN

Slavery in the Americas: An Essay Review 238 RICHARD H. SEWELL

Book Reviews 244

Accessions 264

Contributors 266

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, tors. Second-class postage paid at Madison and Stevens 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706. Distributed Point, Wis. Copyright 1968 by the State Historical Society to members as part of their dues (Annual membership, of Wisconsin. Paid for In part by the Maria L. and Simeon $5.00; Family membership, $7.00; Contributing, $10; Busi­ Mills Editorial Fund and by the George B. Burrows Fund. ness and Professional, $25 ; Sustaining, $100 or more annual­ Wisconsin newspapers may reprint any article appearing in ly; Patron, $1000 or more annually). Single numbers, $1.25. the WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY providing the Microfilmed copies available through University Microfilms, story carries the following credit line : Reprinted from the 313 North First Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Communica­ State Historical Society's Wisconsin Magazine of History for tions should be addressed to the editor. The Society does [insert the season and year which appear on the iiagazinel. JOHN C JACQUES: AN APPRECIATION

ACK IN JULY, 1951, a balding young Above and beyond these and many other B Phi Beta Kappa with a fresh Ph.D. and duties, John Charles Jacques has served the a working acquaintance with the Society join­ Society in several unique and indispensable ed the staff. He began his duties as chief of ways. He is fiercely, aggressively, and tena­ the newspaper section of the Library and de­ ciously loyal to the Society, with an unparal­ veloped a love for and knowledge of the So­ leled dedication to its mission. Let an in­ ciety's incomparable newspaper collection cautious staff member, from the top down, which he never lost. Two years later, he speak or act to the Society's detriment, let a moved into Administration as assistant to the citizen criticize the Society unjustifiably, and Society director, and there he remained, with they will quickly hear from John. But let varying titles, until he was named assistant anyone in or out of the organization offer con­ director of the Society in 1963. structive criticism and John will be the first to say thanks, the first to see that the errors His rise in the Society structure was a clear are corrected. His loyalty is a resource of acknowledgement of his inexhaustible capacity incalculable value. to work for the Society's improvement. There are many examples of this, beginning with Few institutions are favored with the sense his reorganization of the newspaper collec­ of tradition and innovation which John brings tion. When the Society began its first re­ to the Society. Rarely does he fail to relate modelling project after the University library history—the Society's history—to subjects moved to its new quarters in 1953, he was under discussion. And rarely does he fail to the key man charged with the responsibility see the need for change, as the demands upon for getting the job done. In the process he the Society change from year to year. He became intimately acquainted with every nook bridges the past and the future of the Society and cranny of the building, an acquaintance in a manner which is essential to the Society's which has since saved the administration from functioning. many a misstep. Appreciating all of this, his colleagues know John as a person of great wit and wisdom. When the Wisconsin History Foundation His tales of family travel or of his occupations was first established as a private, nonprofit before he joined the Society or of his military repository for gifts and grants to the Society, service have lightened coffee breaks and lunch he was temporarily detached from the staff hours. His facility with the analogy has be­ in order to raise money for the growing in­ come legendary; no one can come close to fant. The fact that it is now a thriving Foun­ challenging his, "It is as if . . . ." That in­ dation is due in no small part to his early troductory phrase tips off the wary to listen efforts. closely lest the point be lost. His quick re­ As a small state agency, the Society cannot partee is disarming and delightful. Younger afford a full-time personnel officer, so these staff members seeking his advice are often responsibilities have, by default, been his. bemused by his roundabout approach, but his He has spent countless hours unraveling the insights are close to the mark. His temper is intricacies of civil service, and his suggestions beautiful to behold, if you are not its object; to the state Bureau of Personnel have been well his energy is tiring to watch, if you can keep received and frequently adopted. His knowl­ him in sight. edge helped the Society to recruit and main­ Unhappily for Wisconsin and for the So­ tain the top-notch staff which has been the ciety, John Charles Jacques is retiring, forced secret of its success over the years. by illness to the Society's sidelines. The void During the last decade he has participated which this creates is impossible to measure in the preparation of the Society's budget, because it touches every one of the Society's drawing on his extensive knowledge of the activities. Few men have left their stamp so Society to shape it effectively. Still more re­ indelibly on an institution; few institutions cently, he was appointed Planning Officer, have accepted an early retirement with greater with instructions to prepare long-range plans reluctance. for the Society's development, including the I would like to add a personal word of ap­ creation of vital new programs and the dis­ preciation to a man who calls things as he solution of outmoded ones. This assignment sees them, who held me up when I tripped, is a tribute to his capacity to carry an enorm­ and who never gave less than 100 per cent as ous routine of detail without deadening the colleague and friend. John will be missed. imaginative perspective with which he views the Society's role in Wisconsin and the nation. L. H. F., Jr.

188 WILLIAM S. McCORMICK:

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

By MARY FRCST KRONCKE

TN THE light of history, William Sanderson testified in patent law cases, and participated •*• McCormick has been overshadowed by his in reaper trials at county fairs and in the elder brother, Cyrus H. McCormick, whose open fields. In 1852 he spent a few months invention of the reaper in 1831 and whose in England taking part in reaper trials in successful marketing of reapers and mowers that country. In the same years another in subsequent years made him an international brother, Leander McCormick, joined the firm figure. However, William's contributions to and, being mechanically gifted, assumed a key the C. H. McCormick Company, while less position in the technical aspects of manufac­ spectacular than those of Cyrus, were never­ turing. Cyrus began to devote himself to the theless significant, and the important role he legal side of the business, and although this played in laying the groundwork for the vast frequently took him out of town, he still held McCormick fortune has often been overlooked. the prime position in policy making. William When in 1847 Cyrus established a factory assumed duties related to the routine affairs in Chicago for the manufacture of reapers, in the factory's yearly cycle. By 1856 sales he began a campaign to bring his younger emerged as his forte. brother west to manage it. For three years William, whose temperament included a William resisted. As executor of the family touch of the irascible, described his office as estate of 1,200 acres in Rockbridge County, "dusty, dirty, unpleasant and unhealthy."^ Virginia, he led a full life raising and selling Five others shared the room. The desks were a variety of farm products, managing twelve cluttered with ledgers, letter press copy books, or so slaves,' and promoting reapers in the and the inevitable papers. Maps designating South. He and his wife, the former Mary sales territories covered the walls. Although Ann Grigsby, daughter of a prominent neigh­ the factory was situated on the confluence of boring planter, had an infant son; their fam­ the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, from ily ties were mainly in Virginia; and neither his windows he could see only the foundry was anxious to give up "the good life" of a and its dust and smoke. From here William, Southern plantation owner. But Cyrus per­ who was an inveterate letter writer, launched sisted, and in 1850, at the age of thirty-five, notable sales campaigns. William McCormick deserted agriculture for industry and took his family to Chicago. His first years in the city were devoted mainly to learning the business. He hired 'W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, October laborers, made improvements on machines, 4, 1863. This and all subsequent references to cor­ respondence are taken from original materials in either the Cyrus H. McCormick Papers or the Cyrus H. McCormick and Company Papers, Letterbooks- Domestic (designated by volume and page numbers), ^ William T. Hutchinson, Cyrus Hall McCormick in the McCormick Collection, State Historical Society (New York, 1930), 11:16, 17. of Wisconsin.

189 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

pany's expense, assemble a machine upon ar­ rival, and for added promotion, paint and varnish it.^ For his labors, he received be­ tween 8 per cent and 10 per cent of the retail price of the machine, a two-horse reap­ er costing in 1856 $145 and a four-horse model $150. If an agent sold in a territory where reapers were unknown, McCormick au­ thorized payment of 12 per cent to get him started.* The good times prior to the Panic of 1857 prompted some agents to use com­ pany funds for speculation in hogs and land. Sometimes the gamble did not work, and failure to pay a debt to the McCormick Com­ pany brought out William's strongest lan­ guage, ethical and eschatological speculations, and lawsuits and threats of lawsuits.^ McCormick was more tolerant to the farm­ er, perhaps because he had been one himself. Believing that a "good and honest" farmer's promissory note was better than an unsold machine, he encouraged credit sales. At the Hutchinson, Cyrus Hall McCormick same time he warned the agents to investigate William Sanderson McCormick chances of payment, to be firm in collections at the appointed time, and not to listen to Each March when the ice broke on the unwarranted cries of "hard times." Only in canals and rivers and the coming of spring the extreme case would he recommend a mort­ promised a bountiful harvest, William wrote gage on the farm in lieu of payment. He ad­ by hand hundreds of letters to sales agents. vised rather that "a little indulgence makes In these letters he gave directives in such friends and out of our friends we make capi­ terms as "now is the crucial time to sell," tal in effecting sales."^ His policy towards "make a decided effort," "pursue the task the farmer was to give enough leniency to vigorously," "drive the work forward," and insure sales, but to temper this with certain in the words of St. Paul, "put up the good precautions. fight." He instructed his agents to be "thor­ Caution similarly guided his ideas on ex­ ough in canvassing the ground," to be "on pansion. He tried unsuccessfully to dissuade the alert for sales," and to "keep the ball roll­ Cyrus McCormick from doubling productivity ing." He held out company production rates in 1856. Likewise he was against Cyrus' pro- before the agents and expressed a real anxiety that they would not sell all the machines on hand. To spur the agents on, he would fre­ quently mention the records of the leading ' W. S. McCormick to E. Wagoner, April 17, 1856, salesman, N. W. Jones of Scott County, Iowa, 1:25; W. S. McCormick to J. R. Heiskell, December and urge the agents to imitate Jones who in 8, 1856, 4:397; W. S. McCormick to H. D. May, 1856 was able to sell 150 machines. Through April 23, 1856, 1:116. * W. S. McCormick to Chester Weed, January 7, cajolery, personal comments on a death or 1857, 4:754; W. S. McCormick to D. Moffit, Janu­ a marriage, humorous jibes, through moral ary 28, 1857, 5:34; W. S. McCormick to S. Green, suasion and a sense of urgency, McCormick May 19, 1856, 1:548. = W. S. McCormick to E. Tranel, June 17, 1858, was able to secure the loyalty of the company's 12:548-554; W. S. McCormick to M. T. Hand, Octo­ agent army. ber 16, 1856, 3:599; W. S. McCormick to H. J. Heaton, October 8, 3:523, November 20, February 5, An agent's work was not easy. If he fol­ 1857, 5:118. lowed William McCormick's guidelines, he "W. S. McCormick to F. Barnes, February 15, 1856, 10:697; W. S. McCormick to Dear Sir, Novem­ would print his own handbills at the com­ ber 18, 1857, 9:517.

190 KRONCKE: MCCORMICK posal to build a larger plant on a new site. turn. As he wrote to his brother-in-law re­ His opposition to these and similar matters garding the farm, "I should love to make it is not hard to understand. First, he was bas­ my home again if pecuniary interests were ically a conserver. Through the years he was not in the way."'^ consistent in his efforts to preserve what had been gained. In a time of uncertain currency TJOLITICS did not play a large part in and frequent financial panic, this was not al­ -*- William McCormick's life until civil war together unwise. Secondly, because of the threatened. The presidential campaign of 1856 competition of other reaper companies, Wil­ sparked his interest, for obviously a peaceful liam McCormick feared oversupply—as he put and unified nation was important to business, it, "a glut on the market and ruined profits."'^ and McCormick deemed James Buchanan the Unable to envision the potential of the vast candidate most likely to hold the strained na­ prairie which Chicago served, he went so far tion together. In letters to agents both North as to tell Cyrus, "Neither you nor I will want and South he urged support of Buchanan. to bother with this business after a few years With Buchanan's victory his letters to South­ when every county is filled up with it."* ern friends praised the rebuke given to "Fre­ Thirdly, he thought they should be satisfied mont Sermons," "Sharps' Rifles," and "Bleed­ with profits as they stood. To Cyrus he main­ ing Kansas," and confidently predicted good tained, "2000 machines is big business and times ahead. if they can surely be made and sold, we need not seek for more."^ To gain immense wealth The election over, business did not go as was not part of his overt ambitions. Not smoothly as he had hoped. The Panic of having the relentless drive of his elder brother, 1857 and subsequent financial depression bad­ money enough for comfort and relative secu­ ly hurt the Northwestern reaper trade. Eco­ rity was satisfactory. He patterned his value nomic conditions were better in the South, system after his father, Robert McCormick, and William convinced Cyrus that they should who had labored to increase his land holdings stress sales there. William sent a few reapers so that his sons might lead the good life as at cost to friends in Virginia, created new gentlemen farmers on self-sufficient estates. agencies in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Fourthly, being a devout Presbyterian, his Missouri, and in 1859 spent the harvest season interpretation of his faith must have caused in Virginia experimenting with a machine that divided feelings on the pursuit of wealth. would be particularly suited for the soft- When he was dying his reflections on religion bladed Southern grasses. His usual letter- were mingled with regret that he had devoted writing campaign was directed almost entirely himself so exclusively to "money-making." He to Southern agents. His efforts worked all counseled his relatives not to let money cause too well. By the spring of 1861, with the Civil family disharmony, and perhaps because he War about to break. Southern debts to the himself had not time for philanthropy, urged company amounted to $75,000.'^ The nation's that money be used for good causes.

Finally, as limited as the company was in 1856, it had already occupied him to the ex­ ' W. S. McCormick to J. Campbell, May 22, 1856, tent that doctors blamed his close application 1:601. "W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, May 16, to business as the main cause for his declin­ 1856, 1:519. ing health. As a transplanted farmer he com­ " W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, May 23, 1856, 1:594. plained about being inside so much and about "W. S. McCormick to J. B. McCormick, March his restricted diet. At times he nostalgically 18, 1859, 19:494. longed to escape to Virginia, "to be myself "W. S. McCormick to J. G. Hamilton, May 30, 1859, 22:107. again—head over a Farm—beyond the reach ^^W. S. McCormick to James Shields, October 5, of scolding agents,"'" to do nothing but "make 1858, 15:24. "'W. S. McCormick to J. B. McCormick, June 11, cider by the barrel under a tree."'* Never­ 1861, 42:405-409; C. H. McCormick Company to theless his financial opportunities in Chicago J. J. McBride, April 15, 1861, 40:784, 811; C. H. McCormick Company to S. S. Sykes, May 9, 1861, effectively ruled out the possiblilities of re­ 41:465.

191 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

Society's McCormick Collection The family homestead in Rockbridge County, Virginia, which William Mc­ Cormick managed before moving to Cliicago in 1850. pending crisis represented a serious threat to reapers and all the factory employees in the the McCormicks, and they worked actively to Washington Birthday parade to proclaim use what influence they could to prevent such openly the McCormicks' stand for peace and a catastrophe. compromise.'^ Cyrus McCormick was more active in the WiUiam also briefly entered into the fray pre-war peace movement,''' but William did of newspaper battles. A short time before the his share. In the 1860 presidential campaign, election Cyrus had purchased the Democratic William supported Illinois' Stephen Douglas, Chicago Times through which he gave leader­ even though he personally favored Southern ship to the pre-war peace movements. Its Re­ Democrat John C. Breckinridge. Upon Lin­ publican rival, the Chicago Tribune, retorted coln's election and South Carolina's secession, with name-calling, branding the McCormicks William impetuously took a "peace at any as pro-Southern secessionists."^ William and price" stand. "First the Union as it is, if pos­ Leander then joined together in a public letter sible by peace and compromise—but in any defining the McCormick family position. First event peace, and no war, even if that peace is they elaborated on the benefits of the reaper attainable by a separation," he declared.'^ to the Northwest. Then they brought out what Compromise, however, was his first choice. they considered the obvious disadvantages a He circulated petitions for the Crittenden divided country would mean to the company. amendments, attended Conservative rallies, and regretted he did not think to put five

" W. S. McCormick to T. Berry, January 18, 1861, 38:394, February 23, 1861, 39:165, 166; W. S. Mc­ Cormick to J. Churchman, February 6, 1861, 39:180. "Hutchinson, Cyrus Hall McCormick, 11:41-54. Mary Ann McCormick to Nettie F. McCormick, Feb­ '=W. S. McCormick to T. H. Silver, January 30, ruary 17, 1861. 1861, 39:557. " Chicago Tribune, February 12, 1861.

192 KRONCKE: MCCORMICK

They ended by denying any advocacy of As the war progressed, he remained op­ secession.'* posed to Radical Republican measures. He While William did what he could to pre­ did not believe that slaves should be freed— serve peace and a public image in the North­ rather he held the "Union and the Constitu­ west of McCormick loyalty to a united na­ tion" to be the only legitimate war goals.^^ tion, he also worked to preserve the costly Gratification of "infernal malignant passions" friendship of Southern agents and customers. was his term for anyone who wished vigorous "We are not secessionists by a good deal but prosecution of the war. He classified wartime we are for the South having her rights," he controls as detriments to freedom of speech. informed one agent.'^ "Republicanism has Taking part in the clash of radical and con­ cooled down considerably here," he reassured servative opinion, William McCormick ex­ another.^" He sent away copies of the Chicago pected anarchy to break out in the city. "Men Times and Tribune articles, no doubt hoping may kill one another for opinion's sake," he to gain respect and to convince Southern worried.^'' friends of the "Devils" the McCormicks had As much as William opposed Radical Re­ to put up with in the name of peace. When publican views, he did not take a public stand Fort Sumter fell he wrote that he could no against them. After the war began, he con­ longer take a stand against belligerent action, fined his participation in politics to applaud­ even though he did not condone it. In states' ing the Democratic congressional victories in rights fashion, he maintained that he would 1862 and following with interest the speeches be loyal to his adopted state of Illinois. From of such Democratic leaders as New York Gov­ there he would watch the "tragic spectacle." ernor Horatio Seymour and Ohio's Clement L. For him the war was indeed unfortunate, Vallandigham.^^ Rather than fight against the and throughout the conflict he entertained few Radicals, he preferred to "swallow all their hopes for a happy ending. His Democratic prescriptions however poisonous" and to be affiliations and his pre-war stand for compro­ known solely as a "reaper man of very modest mise automatically put him at odds with the pretensions."^® There was good reason for Republican administration. He predicted that submission. The war was bringing unexpected Lincoln's government would bring "nothing financial gains. Business left neither time nor except ruinous waste of life and property . . . motivation for involvement in protest politics. perhaps disruption of states North and McCormick's pessimistic attitude toward the South."^' He interpreted the lack of enthusi­ outcome of the war contributed to his unusual asm at Chicago's recruitment meetings and the success in business. Lacking confidence in a Union Army's indecisive military campaigns government headed by Republicans, he dis­ as signs of possible "disgraceful failure." Nor trusted the currency it issued and made a for­ was he prone to underestimate Southern tena­ tune by the simple formula of investing before city and prowess. He fearfully envisioned expected inflation. thousands of Northern soldiers returning at the end of the war "dissatisfied, misused, and TN the months after Fort Sumter, William deceived," then to be led by a "Jacobin" •*• McCormick was apprehensive about pos­ leader in a "reign of terror" fired by the Abo­ sible disruption of the economic order, but litionists' hatred.^^ he had no idea of the financial revolution

" W. S. McCormick and L. J. McCormick to editor, ''•' W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, October February 19 1?], 1861, 39:84-93. 5, 1862. " W. S. McCormick to J. Henry, February 28, 1861, =* W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, March 1, 39:343. 1863, October 5, 1862, January 25, 1863, September '°W. S. McCormick to N. E. Chandler, April 1, 27, 1862, March 29, 1863, September 28, 1862, No­ 1861, 40:407. vember 9, 1862. ^W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, October =* W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, October 19, 1862. 19, 1862, April 15, January 4, January 19, 1863. '" W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, January '" W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, April 15, 19, 1863, October 14, 1862, March 1, 1863. 1863, October 5, 1862.

193 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

Society's Iconographic Collection The blacksmith shop of the Walnut Grove farm in which Cyrus McCormick built his reaper in 1831. ahead. Currency tightened as the New York the opening of 1862, the Federal Government banks, in addition to carrying on their usual had nowhere to secure funds to carry on its operations with the nation's businessmen, as­ war.^* sumed the load of lending money to a bank­ This problem was solved by the passage of rupt government that needed funds to wage the Legal-Tender Act of February 25, 1862. war. The banks could carry their double load By this and two subsequent acts on March 3, only because the government spent quickly 1862, and July 11, 1862, the government is­ the money it borrowed and this money rapidly sued its own currency with which it could pay found its way back to New York banks. How­ its debts. Once this currency was in circula­ ever, the Trent Affair upset this delicate cycle. tion it became legal tender for all debts ex­ Businessmen, William McCormick among cept tariff duties. It could not be redeemed them, did not believe that the government for specie until a later but then unspecified could wage war both with England and with date.^^ At their issuance, the government the South, and withdrew their funds from the notes were on a par value with gold. Once in New York banks for safekeeping in the event circulation, the value of these notes—com­ of national disaster.^'^ After a certain point, monly called greenbacks—fluctuated at rates the banks were unable to make payment and depending on the chances of government re- were forced to suspend specie payments. At

^Wesley Clair Mitchell, A History of the Green­ " W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, December backs, With Special Reference to the Economic Con­ 24, 1861. He wrote, "If war with Europe, I suppose sequences of Their Issue, 1861-1865 (Chicago, New York would secure its specie and I would rather 1903), 3-43 passim. move my part than have them do it." ""^ January 1, 1879, was the date finally selected.

194 KRONCKE: MCCORMICK demption. If government stability was threat­ bought heavily in building supplies in 1862. ened, the value of the greenbacks on a gold Tin, white lead, nails, zinc, and pig and bar basis would fall; if the government appeared iron filled the factory yard to overflowing. secure, the value of the greenbacks would rise. Savings in pig iron alone were substantial. The outcome of military action was the chief The 1862 price was $25 and $26 a ton. By agent in currency fluctuation, although politi­ the following year, the price had risen to $45 cal and financial news also affected greenback and $46 a ton, but because of his surplus, values. Since Cyrus and Leander McCormick William had to buy less than half of the spent the duration of the war in Europe, Wil­ usual amount.^^ liam was left alone to steer the company McCormick also found the gold market at­ through this uncertain time. From the outset tractive. Gold was safe, it required no care, William McCormick found himself giving and it could easily be converted into real estate much study to the currency question to deter­ or inventory. Moreover, McCormick soon ob­ mine which way and how far the greenbacks served that the relationship between the gold would go.^" market and the greenbacks offered unmistak­ It did not take long for the impact of the able opportunities for profit. Dents in gov­ new currency to make itself felt in the Mc­ ernment prestige, primarily through inconclu­ Cormick Company offices. Good harvests and sive military battles, brought a reduction in rising farm prices enabled the farmers to pay greenback values. If greenbacks were low, off their reaper debts. Gradually receipts to gold values in terms of greenbacks were high. the McCormicks increased to deluge propor­ As Union Armies struggled through 1862 and tions. For one day, January 1, 1863, William 1863, gold prices steadily rose. excitedly reported an astonishing intake of Although William had full power of attor­ $13,000. By the end of the month he calcu­ ney over company funds, he wanted to have lated collections to be $51,000 over what they Cyrus's approval for each substantial invest­ had been for the January of 1861.^' Instead ment in the gold market, and Cyrus was slow of rejoicing in the extra boon, McCormick to respond. William would fret, then invest was alarmed. Inflation had begun. He began even if word had not arrived. In his letters to envision depreciation to the point where to Cyrus dire warnings were coupled with the company's greenback fortune would be self-congratulations on what had turned out worthless. Furthermore, the greenback cur­ to have been a good investment. By January, rency was enabling farmers to pay off old 1864, however, caution had gotten the best debts in money of less value than that with of him. He sold the gold which he had pur­ which they had contracted the debts. In dis­ chased between $112 and $134 at $157.^* But may, William declared to his elder brother that he continued to watch the market^^ and no the Legal-Tender Law enabled the "creditor doubt was somewhat chagrined when in July to pay his honest debts with scraps of paper." the market reached its peak at $285, when He asserted that these were times when "credi­ Confederate General Jubal Early was within tors were seen running away from their ten miles of Washington.^^ However in Janu­ debtors and debtors were pursuing them in ary, William had responded to personal and triumph and paying them without mercy."^^ public pressures. His two brothers wanted When money began to pour in, William to use their share in company profits in other followed his first impulse to convert it into ways. Moreover, public and congressional commodities which had intrinsic value. On opinion was against the gold speculators. the hunch that inflation would occur, he had Many felt it was not quite fair to profit from

^ W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, August *W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, October 3, November 9, November 23, 1862, July 19, 1863. 19, 1862. ** W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, January ''^ W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, January 31, 1864. 4, February 15, 1863. "=W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, March ^''W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, January 6, 1865. 25, 1863. *• Mitchell, Greenbacks, 231, 234.

195 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

occurred. Fortunately for him temporary de­ feat and ultimate victory kept the currency on a safe enough ground. Nevertheless, for all his concern over the gold-greenback ratio, that enterprise was insignificant when com­ pared to the gains from his wartime real estate ventures.

WTHEN war broke, William McCormick '' was far from a novice in matters of Chicago real estate. His first years in the city had witnessed an unusual increase in land values.^'' Then, however, his yearly sal­ ary of $3,000 had permitted only moderate investments. His greatest profits were made between 1856 and 1857 when he built several houses for $5,000 and sold them for about $13,000.'« After the Panic of 1857 he pressed friends to lend him money so he could take advantage of lower land and building costs. In 1859 he gained greater freedom for invest­ ing when a new contract with his brother awarded him an increased yearly salary of $6,000, plus a quarter share of company profits with no concurrent investment. Even Society's Iconographic Collection though the Panic had halted the rise in real Cyrus Hall McCormick and his wife, Nancy (Nettie) estate values, McCormick continued to build Fowler, about 1870. for rent income. His pre-war holdings in­ the Union's disadvantage, believing that the cluded eight houses located on Huron, Rush, higher the market went, the less the govern­ Erie, and Indiana streets, together with five ment could point to a public demonstration stores on Kinzie Street and one on Market of confidence. There was a move to tax gold Street which he owned in partnership with his and for a brief period. Congress abolished the brother-in-law, Hugh Adams.'*^ When the war gold market altogether. These considerations brought new life into Chicago's economy, prompted McCormick to withdraw from the William was well schooled in its real estate market. situation. When greenbacks flooded the com­ It is doubtful that William considered him­ pany, real estate was the most logical place self unpatriotic because of his speculations in for him to put this currency of uncertain the gold market. Speculators did not cause value. military defeats; rather, the defeats caused Desire for security, speculation, and rent the market rise and subsequent depreciation revenues were the three chief reasons why of the currency. McCormick gambled in gold, not in order to affect the market adversely, but because the market fluctuated. His lack of confidence in the Union government was deeply rooted in his Southern background and " Homer Hoyt, One Hundred Years of Land Val­ his Democratic affiliations. It was further en­ ues in Chicago: The Relationship of the Growth of Chicago to the Rise in its Land Values, 1830-1933 hanced by the delay of the Union Army to (Chicago, 1933), 69, 70, 77, 78. Hoyt maintains that turn the tide to victory and by the state of between 1842 and 1856 land values increased eighty- war-weariness in the Northwest. This pessi­ fold, most of the increase being between 1851 and 1856. mism caused him to take risks on the ground "' W. S. McCormick to J. B. McCormick, June 20, that there would be inflation, and it enabled 1857, 7:452; W. S. McCormick to J. Grigsby, April him to profit when the expected inflation ,30. 1859, 19:865. '"C. A. Spring, Jr., Real Estate File, 1866-1867.

196 KRONCKE: MCCORMICK

McCormick engaged so heavily in real estate McCormick's experience in real estate in during the Civil War. As in the case of gold 1856 and 1857 led him to believe that a boom and building supplies, he acted promptly and similar to the one of that period would occur withdrew early. His first purchases in late during the war years. In this he was dis­ 1862 were motivated primarily by his plan appointed.*^ Land values did not rise at such to convert the greenbacks into something of rates that would have enabled him to gain tangible value. Being cautious, he wanted to substantial profits by buying and selling. split the risk in case his gold investments Nevertheless, rents rose with inflation and the should fail.*" At first he feared that no one pressing demands for store space.*^ The Mc­ would take the greenbacks and was pleasantly Cormicks' rent incomes made holding their surprised when the wily Scottish financier, real estate many times more profitable in George Smith, manifested faith in them by terms of the present and the future. accepting the McCormick's bid to buy a lot The heart of the McCormicks' operations was from him and pay for it in greenbacks over in the area where the Chicago River flowed a period of eighteen months.*' He thus dis­ eastward into Lake Michigan. Lake Street, run- covered that real estate had an advantage over gold in that he could buy on credit and pay later in what he rightly believed would be inflated currency. •" W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, February 21, 1864. He wrote, "The tendency of everything but real estate is up." W. S. McCormick to C. H. Mc­ Cormick, February 28, 1864. He said, "Real estate has not advanced like I thought it would." "W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, July 9, " W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, October September 24, 1862. 4, 1863. He wrote, "Best men and capital are here "^ W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, Septem­ and coming here—there are not stores to do the ber 24, 1862. business."

Society's Iconographic Collectio The first McCormick reaper factory, on the Chicago River, before the Great Fire of 1871.

197 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING. 1968 ning parallel with the river, and Clark Street, grew apace and in three years the hotel was going across the river, figured prominently paid for and bringing in clear profit.*^ in William McCormick's purchases. Both were William also invested in farm lands, paying choice business streets at the time and char­ particular notice to location, proximity to acteristically McCormick bought in areas rep­ railroads, fertility of soil, and actual and po­ resenting the least risk. Lake Street was then tential improvements. He accumulated 11,()00 the acknowledged business center.** Here Mc­ acres located primarily in Illinois but also in Cormick bought all stores and lots in the Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, and Michigan. He block between Michigan and Wabash avenues, paid approximately $20 an acre and returns which ran north and south. Prices were in in rents netted him about 3 per cent of his the area of $119,000 for a group of three costs. stores several years old or $40,000 for the However, Cyrus McCormick exerted a re­ lot and a new store building. The renters of straining influence over his brother's real the McCormicks' Lake Street stores were pri­ estate ventures, as he had done over his gold marily wholesalers of dry goods and crockery, speculations. Shortly after Cyrus had arrived paying annual rents of approximately $8,700 in England he consulted Junius P. Morgan each. By 1866 the McCormicks were receiving and Charles Francis Adams on the economic $59,250 annually in rents from their Lake situation in America. They both advised cau­ Street stores alone.*^ tion and Cyrus relayed the message. "Keep The McCormicks' Clark Street properties in sight of land at all times," he warned. Cyrus were equally profitable. The Clark Street wrote of the possibility of the currency appre­ bridge, a major connection between North and ciating, in which case William would have to South Chicago, made this an ideal location. pay their debts with money of greater value Here the insurance companies gathered. In than that which he had contracted them. Cyrus monopoly-like fashion, William purchased proposed that there could be a repudiation of five buildings on the south side of the bridge government debts, making the currency worth­ until he and his brothers owned the entire less, and causing creditors to demand payment Clark Street block between Lake Street and in gold,*** a view in accord with that of most South Water Street (today called Wacker businessmen of the time. The easy terms on Drive). Another five-storey building on the which men could secure loans, and the rela­ northeast corner of South Water and Clark tively static real estate values, indicated a completed their holdings on the south side general unwillingness to put forth a large out­ of the Clark Street bridge.*^ On the north lay of cash until times were more certain.*^ side of the bridge, William purchased a hotel, Unlike many businessmen, William preferred the Foster House, for $50,000, repaired it, to spend money on hand rather than to have refurnished it with walnut beds with hair mat­ money in the bank. By late 1863, after Vicks- tresses, and renamed it the Revere House. He burg and Gettysburg, men became bolder and advertised the remodeled hotel by sending Chicago underwent a flourish of building ac­ notices to company agents who might be trav­ tivity.^" By this time, however, William was eling through Chicago, and by April, 1865, completing his buying and building. Building he and his brothers received a healthy return costs had risen and he determined not to be­ of $20,000 on his investment. Yearly returns gin any new projects. He had profited the company by having anticipated higher prices and by having buildings to rent when the de-

" Hoyt, Land Values, 65. '°W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, March 1, 1863, March 29, 1862, July 10, 1863, February 7, 1864. On Lake Street the McCormicks owned num­ " W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, July 19, bers 4, 6, 8, 34, 36, 38, 40, 19, 21. C. A. Spring, Jr., December 13, 1863, April 6, 1865; W. S. McCormick Real Estate File, 1866-1867. to S. C. Johnson, February 19, 1864, 67:2; C. A. "W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, March Spring, Jr., Real Estate File, 1866-1867. 1, 1863; C. A. Spring, Jr., Real Estate File, 1866- ""C. H. McCormick to W. S. McCormick, Decem­ 1867. On Clark Street the McCormicks owned num­ ber 2, 1862. bers 93, 25, 27, 101. On South Water they owned " Mitchell, Greenbacks, 374, 375. numbers 142 and 144. •*Hoyt, Land Values, 67, 69, 74-76, 80, 82, 340.

198 KRONCKE: MCCORMICK mand occurred, for in spite of his older pound. William McCormick could not stand brother's admonitions he had gone ahead and up to the additional attack. He died on Sep­ taken the risks when the time was right. Wil­ tember 27, 1865. liam had indeed been the faithful steward who The stress he underwent during the un­ multiplied the talents the master had given charted era of the Civil War must have con­ him. At the end of the war the McCormicks tributed a great deal to his early death. The were the largest landlords in Chicago,^' and anxieties connected with business were height­ because of William, the McCormick name was ened by the fact that responsibility fell largely known not only for reapers but also for real upon him alone. With his brothers in Europe, estate. The Company's rent incomes towered with fellow businessmen reluctant to give ad- in the area of $95,000 annually, and its prop­ vice,'''* and without the inspiration of his erty was valued then at over one million dol­ church, North Presbyterian, from which he lars.^^ Because of William, the McCormicks withdrew because of the injection of anti- held a fortune. Southern sentiments into its services,^* he of­ ten felt bereft of support. Aside from the "WTILLIAM McCORMICK did not live long areas of currency and investment, the war '' enough to realize fully what his real years brought other challenges. William Mc­ estate purchases would mean to the Company's Cormick wrestled with the assessment of the gross earnings. In early 1865 his dyspepsia company's first federal income tax. He found returned in serious proportions. By spring good laborers harder to secure and saw strikes he was unable to work. By summer his chief against the company become more common.^^ concern was to secure relief. He tried an elec­ He grappled with the difficulties of securing tricity cure to no avail; a hydropathic doc­ entrance into closed patent rings and experi­ tor in New York and a health camp in Cleve­ mented with pricing in conjunction with other land were likewise tried in vain. Fearing his companies. If William McCormick had not disease would go his brain, he put himself written to his brother abroad we might have under the care of Dr. Andrew McFarland, assumed that he followed these new paths with director of the Illinois Hospital for the In­ a certain acceptance and calm. On the con­ sane. While staying at the home of Dr. Mc­ trary, the letters show he worried a great deal Farland his strength seemed to return. Hunt­ and outlined difficulty after difficulty. In ing small game, a diversion which he had spite of his outspoken complaints, in spite of always engaged in, riding in the doctor's car­ a deathbed denunciation of the folly of money- riage, and planning a lumber enterprise oc­ making, it is hard to imagine that he would cupied his days. His wife and six children, have lived or acted in any other manner than ranging in ages from six months to sixteen he did. Needless to say, the McCormick Com­ years, were frequent visitors, and Cyrus hav­ pany in its early years greatly benefited from ing returned from Europe, also came to see his tribulations and labors. him. Then typhoid struck the hospital com­

^ W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, October 5, 1862. '^^W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, March " W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, October 14, 1865. He wrote, "There is not a landlord in 3, October 5, 1862, February 15, November 22, 1863. Chicago that has done half as much at renting as we." °°W. S. McCormick to C. H. McCormick, March, See also, Chicago Daily Tribune, October 8, 1863, September 28, 1862, March 1, April 8, January 24, May 20, July 21, 1864. 1864; Leander McCormick to C. H. McCormick, '•''Hutchinson, Cyrus Hall McCormick, 11:133. December 6, 1863.

199 FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT IN SPRING GREEN, I9II-I932

By ROBERT C. TWOMBLY

TN 1911 when Frank Lloyd Wright brought Wright's impressive credentials were well -*- Mrs. Mamah Borthwick Cheney to live known. Since 1894, when he executed his with him in Spring Green, his neighbors asked first commissions in independent practice and the sheriff to evict him. Although nothing delivered his first speech, he had constructed so drastic occurred, for most of the next two approximately 135 buildings and published decades Wright's unconventional behavior at least ten articles. He was known to the made his position in the community extreme­ readers of The Ladies Home Journal and the ly tenuous. However, when the factors that architectural magazines alike. Major critics had kept him an outsider were finally removed, acknowledged his leadership in "The Prairie he was accepted by the neighbors who had School." After his Ausgefuhrte Bauten und remained so long aloof, and by 1932 the Entwurfe (Berlin, 1910) was released, he had Ladies Aid of the Congregational Church was won Continental acclaim and had become one meeting regularly in his home for dinner and of the world's most influential architects. entertainment, ignoring its earlier outrage Nevertheless, Spring Green was impervious to at Wright's disregard for the social norms.' Wright's prestige for he came as a social out­ When he arrived in Spring Green in 1911, cast.^ the architect was already a familiar figure to In September, 1909, Wright and Mamah the small Sauk County village of 730 inhabi­ Borthwick Cheney had fled their Oak Park, tants. In the 1870's and 1880's he had worked Illinois, families and together embarked for as a farmhand for his uncle, David Lloyd Europe. The Wrights and the Edwin Cheneys Jones, a respected member of a widely respect­ had been a locally familiar foursome after the ed family. After his marriage to Catherine architect designed the Cheneys' home in 1904. Tobin on June 1, 1889, Wright and his family had often summered with local relatives. Fre­ quently he had visited his sons at Spring Green's Hillside Home School which he had designed for his aunts, Ellen and Jane Lloyd '^Chicago Tribune, December 27, 1911; Spring Jones; his sister, Jane Lloyd Porter, lived Green Weekly Home News, September 22, 1932. ^Wright describes his early Spring Green years in in another of his buildings. In addition. An Autobiography (rev. ed.. New York, 1943), 17-30, 38-48. Later contacts are mentioned in The Oak Park Reporter (Illinois), July 14, 1893; Oak Park Oak Leaves, September 26, 1908; Chicago Tribune, December 27, 1911; The Weekly Home News, No­ vember 10, 1887, November 23, 1893, June 28, 1894, August 1, 1895; and in John Lloyd Jones, My Father AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am solely responsible for the Who Is On Earth (New York, 1946), 43. An incom­ findings, interpretations, conclusions, and errors in plete and highly doctored chronology of Wright's this article. Those for whose help I wish to express life, containing the most complete listing of his de­ thanks—Alan F. Mast and Dwight Teeter, of the signs, is in Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd University of Wisconsin's Departments of Art His­ Wright, His Life, His Work, His Word (New York, tory and Journalism respectively—should not be held Horizon Press, 1966), 206-222. Statistics on commis­ accountable for my shortcomings. sions in the text are computed from this source.

200 TWOMBLY: WRIGHT

Society's Iconographic Collection The Oak Park house which Wright designed for Mr. and Mrs. E. H. Cheney in 1904.

The women had attended civic functions to­ in my field," designing buildings "unhonored gether and in 1907 collaborated on a literary and ridiculed" by "abuses seldom described," presentation. Then "the thing happened," as has been grossly exaggerated. From 1900 to Wright put it, "which has happened to men 1909, in fact, he had built approximately 100 and women since time began — the inevit­ buildings and designed fifty more. In the able." Rumors of an affair proved correct in first half of the decade he executed thirty- November, 1909, when the press discovered nine of sixty-two commissions, and in the the elopement. The architect returned to Oak second half (1905-1909), fifty-seven of eighty- Park in October, 1910, and for several months five. As 1909 approached, Wright saw to com­ his family seemed reunited. But after Mrs. pletion a higher percentage of his growing Cheney received a divorce in August of 1911, Wright escorted her to "Taliesin," his new Spring Green home, which had been under construction since May. In December he re­ joined her, and on Christmas Day announced '^ Oak Leaves, September 21 and November 2, 1907. that they would live there permanently.^ The quotation is from The Chicago Tribune, Decem­ ber 26, 1911. The events from September, 1909, to Why Wright deserted his family and his December, 1911, are in ibid., November 7-9, l909, lucrative practice has intrigued historians. August 3-4, September 24, October 9-10, 1910; Aug­ ust 6, December 24-31, 1911. Wright chose "Taliesin," There are two explanations frequently given. meaning "Shining Brow" in Welsh, as the name for The first, his own—that he was burdened by his home because it was built on the brow of a hill. Taliesin is actually located at Hillside, Iowa domestic pressures and in love with another County, across the Wisconsin River from Spring woman—has been readily accepted. The pri­ Green, Sauk County. Nevertheless, the post office macy of personal factors, however, ignores and the architect himself claimed Taliesin for Spring Green. Wright's persistent contention that "I found * Wright's explanation for his departure is in An my life in my work." If he was as consumed Autobiography, 162-164; Madison Capital Times, by architecture as he maintained, then the November 1, 1926; and in many of his other writ­ ings. His interpretation is accepted by Peter Blake, problem remains: why did Wright leave his Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture and Space (New practice?* York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1964 ed.), 60-61. Wright of­ Historians have also accepted the second ten referred to his "one master—architecture . . . to which I have given my life," or words to that view, that he was "a hurt and sensitive genius, effect. See, for example. An Autobiography, 162; driven by the indifference of his countrymen The Chicago Tribune, December 26, 1911; The Cap­ ital Times, November 1, 1926; and a letter to Harriet into the arms of appreciative foreigners." The Monroe, ca. April 18, 1907, in the Harriet Monroe legend that Wright had taken a stand "alone Poetry Collection, University of Chicago Library.

201 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

dicalism" was much in vogue: "I am hungry for honest, genuine criticism," he wrote in 1907. "Praise isn't needed especially. There is enough of that, such as it is." Critical approval of his leadership in "The Prairie School" was insidious to Wright, for the plau­ dits neglected what he thought was unique about his own work—the expression of a philosophy of living and of a new aesthetic. Since there were many new architects, he was praised, he believed, only for what seemed common to all prairie architecture: appear­ ance and practicality. What was needed in­ stead, he wrote, "is intelligent, painstaking inquiry into the nature of [my work]. . . . When an individual effort to be true to a worthy ideal has the courage to lift its head" it should not be discussed "with House Beauti­ ful English for the mob," but in terms of the "Ideal" behind it. Wright expected "some­ thing more than the capricious slap-stick of 'the type' . . ." and denied his achievements were part of a trend. Popularity had en­ Wright, My Father abled him to express his ideas, but he blamed Catherine Tobin Wright. it for subverting his identity.^ Wright denounced architectural styles, argu­ number of contracts. His work had actually ing that each design should be the solution increased in popularity.^ to a specific problem. Styles were patterned It is more likely that Wright's decision to responses stifling creativity. Nevertheless, if leave involved acceptance rather than rejec­ Wright's work was not a style, he had his own tion, for he suffered not scorn but misdirected unmistakable touch. Of all his prairie de­ praise. In this "progressive" period, his "ra- signs to 1909, the Avery Coonley and Frede­ rick C. Robie Houses (Riverside and Chicago, Illinois, 1907 and 1908) are conspicuously daring and imaginative achievements. The ' Wright first developed the "persecuted genius" organization of internal space with household myth in "In the Cause of Architecture, II," in The functions in separate units on the Coonley Architectural Record, XXV:405-413 (May, 1914), from which his quotations are taken (pp. 405^06). Estate, and the tight but soaring drama of Grant C. Manson, Frank Lloyd Wright to 1910: The the Robie facade, carry the grammar and First Golden Age (New York, 1958), 211, has been the strongest defender of the view that Wright left philosophy of the "prairie house" to a logical Oak Park because the public repudiated his archi­ conclusion. The external complexity balanced tecture. Henry-Russell Hitchcock, In the Nature of against the internal logic of these homes, plus Materials: The Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright, 1887-1941 (New York, 1942) 60, agrees, but not their close and careful relationship with and without misgivings. Norris Kelly Smith, Frank Lloyd expression of site and environment, complete Wright: A Study in Architectural Content (Engle­ wood Cliffs, N.J., 1966), from whom the descriptive the process of articulation Wright had been quotation is taken (page 83), argues that Wright working out since the late 1890's. Except for left because he could not solve architectural problems increased scale and luxury, it is difficult to having to do with the provision for individual free­ dom and social order. In this view, Wright detected imagine further refinements in the prairie an urban-inspired conformity in his work, and in genre. By 1908, therefore, it is likely that fleeing, expressed personally the individuality he could not express in his buildings. I have profited from Professor Smith's study, the best yet available, but I do not agree that conformity was as important in Wright's decision as were other factors. "Letter to Harriet Monroe, ca. April 18, 1907.

202 TWOMBLY: WRIGHT

Wright had decided that his homes for the flat, gridiron site had reached maturity. Per­ haps he was unsure of what to do next. To leave, to change perspective, might have been in order. "Because I did not know what I wanted," he wrote years later, "I wanted to go away."^

TT WAS peculiarly appropriate—given the -*- diverse sources of inspiration for his work—that Wright would turn away from ar­ Image supptessed at chitecture. But Mamah Cheney represented request of cof)yiight more than an escape from the drafting table, for he loved her deeply. Nonetheless, what ownet she symbolized was important. Mrs. Cheney more closely resembled the two women the architect later married than she did Cathe­ rine Tobin Wright. Mamah Cheney, Miriam Noel, and Olgivanna Lazovich were artistic, each more exotic than her predecessor. Like other liberated, upper-middle-class women of the period, all were dissatisfied with the so­ cial roles custom assigned, and looked outside the family for release of energy and talent. They were well-read, cosmopolitan, and so­ Chicago Tribune phisticated. They each had had children by Mamah Borthwick Cheney. a previous marriage. At first glance, however. Spring Green Mrs. Cheney was restless as a suburban seemed an unlikely retreat. Wright could not housewife. She had been a librarian after hide where everyone knew him, within the graduating from college and was more in­ orbit of the Chicago papers that had made terested in art, literature, and feminism than him front-page news. Nevertheless, there were in the daily tasks of child-rearing. With compelling reasons to choose the family seat. Wright, the artist, she found outlets for tal­ Since he expected to lose commissions, build­ ents left uncultivated with her husband, the ing a new home on his mother's land would businessman, whom she had repeatedly re­ reduce expenses, and nearby limestone quar­ jected before marrying. Unlike Catherine ries reduced the costs of materials and labor. Wright, who supervised her own kindergarten He also anticipated inspiration from the land­ and was a devoted mother, Mamah left her scape he had loved as a boy. In leaving Oak children at boarding school and in the care Park he had rejected family responsibilities of a nurse. Unlike Catherine, she exulted in Wright's artistry and was willing to follow his socially unacceptable footsteps. Mamah Cheney provided what Wright needed: a sym­ pathetic female companion. In Europe they ' An Autobiography, 162. In 1932 Wright wrote that the Coonley House "was the best I could do translated Goethe and Ellen Kay (a Swedish then .... [it was the] most successful of my feminist), analyzed Italian sculpture, and houses from my standpoint. . . ." ibid., 161. wandered through German bookshops. They * Descriptions of Mrs. Cheney are in The Chicago Tribune, November 8-9, 1909, August 10, 1914; Bara­ rejected the substance of middle-class, subur­ boo Sauk County Democrat, January 16, 1913; and ban mores for a highly individualistic life­ by Wright in The Weekly Home News, August 20, 1914. John Lloyd Wright described the months he style. They could not, and did not, return to spent with his father in Italy in 1910 in a letter to the city; Wright's work and their relationship Linn Cowles, February 3, 1966, in the Frank Lloyd needed a quiet isolation.^ Wright Collection, Avery Architectural Library, Co­ lumbia University.

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Architectural Record, June, 1913 Wright's design for a hotel in Madison which was never built. and violated social conventions; the move to From a second perspective Taliesin was a Spring Green was a pilgrimage to the safety kind of stone fortress, overlooking the coun­ of childhood familiarities. tryside from its commanding hilltop. Its floor Frank Lloyd Wright built Taliesin for Ma­ plan and the hill behind made it accessible mah Cheney, and in his precarious situation only by exposed routes. Taliesin's ground- it was a great experiment and a great hope. hugging arrangement, low eaves, and enclos­ As an architectural metaphor it reveals more ing wall-garden gave shelter and security from about him in 1911 than anything he might both climate and visitors. Its numerous court­ have written. There are at least three ways, yards, where privacy was enhanced by strate­ not mutually exclusive, to appraise this fam­ gically placed shrubbery, and its remote rooms ous building. First of all, it was environment- created a protected retreat. Taliesin's very embracing, built around and into a hilltop, complexity was itself formidable, understood but not on it; in places it was an extension by inhabitants but disconcerting to outsiders. of the hill itself. Taliesin was vaguely L- (Many of Taliesin's characteristics had been shaped with appendages, including an extend­ developed in the earlier prairie houses, espe­ ed wall-garden that rooted it to the site. Long cially the Coonley Estate. What insured Talie­ window series and overhanging roofs sin's success, however, was its site. Signifi­ brought the outside in. There were court­ cantly, Wright chose the hilltop on the large yards, fountains, trees, and plantings every­ tract his mother had given him, rather than where, firmly establishing an intimate rela­ the valley or other available sites.) tionship with the outdoors. But if Wright was There is yet a third way, possibly the most maximizing contact with nature—to him meaningful, to analyze Taliesin. Wright had friendly and inspirational—he was also mini­ written that a successful house should "mar­ mizing contact with a suspicious and critical ry" site so "intimately"—should so accurate­ world. ly express its surroundings—that it could be

204 TWOMBLY: WRIGHT built nowhere else. Taliesin was such a "mar­ Wright's "Christmas message" explained riage," expressing itself socially as well as the events leading up to his decision to leave artistically. The house securely wedded the Oak Park. He maintained that Catherine and inside where Wright lived to the outside where he had grown irreconcilably apart, primarily the community lived. Overhanging roofs, con­ because she had devoted herself to the family tinuous casement fenestration, gardens, ter­ while he had become completely absorbed in races, and extensions reached symbolically his work. The basic conflict, he implied, was to merge the outside world with his own. But between artistic and domestic demands; he if Taliesin metaphorically integrated the could not simultaneously be a father and an "self" and "others" beyond separation, it architect. Still, the new arrangement was bet­ did so on Wright's terms; privacy, with­ ter for his children. He had left his family drawal, and controlled access were the dom­ financially secure, but more important, to have inant motifs. Shared experiences with the lived a lie in his childrens' presence would community would be at the architect's discre­ have warped their character development. tion. Taliesin could not have been built else­ Leaving his wife for another woman was where: as it was, it anticipated his relation­ actually in his childrens' best interest, he main­ ship with Spring Green. Years later he wrote: tained, for they would ultimately profit by "There was a house that hill might marry and his integrity. live happily with ever after." He might also Essentially, he was an artist, not a father; have written: "There was a town that I might consequently, not his offspring but his build­ marry. . . . •^ ings were his real children. There had come a point in Oak Park when giving "expression ryUE DOMINANT motif at Taliesin, and •*- Wright's purpose in coming there, was to certain ideals in architecture" became more privacy. But privacy did not imply total iso­ important than fatherhood. More than any- lation. As soon as he was settled in his new home, he called a press conference, on Decem­ ber 25, 1911. He was not seeking publi­ city; the newspapers had already provided it. Rather, he wanted to counteract unfavor­ able notoriety and to explain his rejection of conventional morals. It was clear that as an artist Wright did not consider himself bound by society's code of behavior. He was, in effect, making his declaration of personal independence.

"Wright explained the relationship between build­ ing and site in "In the Cause of Architecture," in The Architectural Record, XXIII:155-221 (March, 1908) and in the Introduction to Ausgefuhrte Bauten und Entwurfe (Berlin, 1910). He described Taliesin (1911-1914) in An Autobiography, 167-175; the quo­ tation is from pages 168-169. A contemporary account is in The Weekly Home News, August 20, 1914. Ar­ thur Drexler (ed.). The Drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright (New York, 1962) plate 40, gives the archi­ tect's rendering, and C. R. Ashbee, "Taliesin, the Home of Frank Lloyd Wright and a Study of the Owner," in The Western Architect (February, 1913), 16-19, has a plot and floor plan. Some excellent photographs are in "The Studio Home of Frank Lloyd Wright," in The Architectural Record, 33:45-54 Architectural Record, June, 1913 (January, 1913). Interior courtyard of the original Taliesin.

205 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 thing else he had wanted to create an "or­ sure, and how they had, with the knowledge of ganic" architecture, an architecture "Ameri­ all concerned, left for Europe. "The husband can in spirit. ... I think I have succeeded and the wife," of course, had attempted to in that." If the world were to reject his work separate the lovers, thinking that they were because of recent events, "it will be a misfor­ only infatuated. After the year in Europe, tune." Wright's hiatus with his family, and Mrs. In the last section of his statement Wright Cheney's divorce, he finally took her to Talie­ declared his allegiance, in terms of behavior, sin. to a "higher law." "Laws and rules are made After Wright and Mrs. Cheney had mu­ for the average," he declared. "The ordinary tually declared their love, while they remained man cannot live without rules to guide his living with their spouses "to make certain that conduct. It is infinitely more difficult to live love was love," "all was wretched, all false, all without rules but that is what a really honest, wasted." By 1909, their lives were a living sincere, thinking man is compelled to do. And lie. Back with his family in 1910, Wright was I think when a man has displayed some spirit­ "alone in many ways." Wright and Mamah ual power, has given concrete evidence of his could live honestly only with each other; to ability to see and to feel the higher and bet­ abide by society's rules by living with their ter things of life, we ought to go slow in de­ legal mates was a mockery. "Thus may be ciding he has acted badly."'" written the drama that is played now in count­ Since neither the press nor Wright were less cases behind the curtain," Wright read satisfied with the Christmas interview, he de­ in his statement, "so that honest souls may cided to prepare a "last word." In the mean­ profit. And most will call it the triumph of time he issued several short statements in 'selfishness.' I cannot care—perhaps the verit­ which he criticized the institutions of mar­ able ... is nothing more than the 'selfishness' riage and family for their tendency to turn of nature, when the word is stripped" of its people into pieces of property. No person Christian meaning.'^ To be honest, Wright de­ should be "owned," ethically or legally, by clared, was to act in keeping with one's in­ another, he argued. In addition, he said he most wishes, regardless of social convention. had not come to Spring Green to defy con­ The Spring Green newspaper scorned the vention, but to work. "The fact that I am here artist's declaration of moral independence by in the 'front yard' of my family is sufficient holding fast to traditional and provincial proof . . . [that] I have come to mind my values. The Wee/cly Home News believed, said own business in my own way. . . ."" editor W. R. Purdy, that "no man and wom­ On December 30 Wright released his "last an can live in the relation which these two word," accurate he insisted, from his point brazenly flaunt and explain it to law-abid­ of view. He read his statement in the third ing. God-fearing people" without seeing an person, referring only to "four people, a wife "insult to decency." A couple living like this and a man and a husband and a woman." is "a menace to the morals of a community The statement was disappointing, for much of and an insult to every family therein." Since the information was already known, but as he Wright and his companion were "either in­ told it, the affair had happened to someone sane or degenerate," Purdy contended, their else. It took on the semblance of a hypothe­ former spouses were better off without them. tical situation from which Wright had ab­ Far from being Mrs. Cheney's "soul-mate," stracted lessons for society's instruction. He Wright was merely engaged in a publicity told how "a man and a woman" had fallen stunt that would "bring more advertising than in love, how they had waited a year to be his knee-panties, long hair and other funny ways. . . ." Perhaps the most tragic aspect

" The Chicago Tribune, December 26, 1911. ^' Wright's short statements are in ibid., December 28-30, 1911; there is additional comment, January ^^ Ibid., December 31, 1911; also see the Madison 1, 1912. Wisconsin State Journal, December 30, 1911.

206 TWOMBLY: WRIGHT

Scully, Frank Lloyd 'Wright Wright's Oak Park, Illinois, home, now open to public tours. of this affair, Purdy thought, was its impact "honest purpose," and he promised to make on the Lloyd Joneses, the architect's local rela­ the community proud of him.'* tives. As a family of teachers and ministers Confronted with a choice between Purdy's they were doing "all in their power to dis­ and Wright's interpretations, the community courage vice and immorality," and were wavered. Its attitude was confused and hos­ "disgusted, humiliated, and chagrined" by tile but not violent. Several residents had Wright's actions.'^ already petitioned for Wright's eviction, but Wright replied to Purdy's editorial the fol­ the sheriff would act only upon a formal war­ lowing week. He denied any intention of drag­ rant, and none came. Wright's relatives and ging scandal to the community and said his neighbors, with a few exceptions, avoided actions had not been prompted by bravado him. Prevailing opinion was best stated by or immorality. He praised Spring Green's a local farmer: "This love affair of his is "consideration and courtesy" and expressed beyond me. I've only had a common school his "admiration for the dignity Spring Green education and when he explains why he left has maintained in this onslaught of slanderous his wife and children in Chicago he gets be­ intent." He said that he had come only for yond my depth." Spring Green disapproved of Wright, but it left him alone.'^ Why Wright justified himself at such length, in view of his disregard for the public's

" W. R. Purdy, "A Prophet Is Not Without Honor Save in His Own Country," editorial in The Weekly Home News, December 28, 1911. For Wright's fam­ ily's reaction see Jenkin Lloyd Jones to Jane Lloyd Jones, December 28, 1911, and January 4, 1912, in " Letter to the editor. The Weekly Home News, the Jane Lloyd Jones Papers, State Historical Society January 4, 1912. of Wisconsin. '° The Chicago Tribune, December 27, 1911.

207 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 opinion of his actions, is a question worth fessional privacy involved withdrawal from probing. Extensive justification implied an family life."' awareness, if not of guilt, then of responsibil­ Wright's studio denounced the cliches and ity for past errors, and represented acknowl­ rigidities of neighboring Oak Park architec­ edgment of the symbolic requirements—the ture. He was further branded an individualist ritual—by which suspect outsiders enter rural by his flamboyant clothes, long hair, cavalier communities. But there were other factors in­ financial habits, and his opinions on religion. volved in Wright's apologia. His behavior and He enjoyed his "eccentricities" but did not his statements are manifestations of ambival­ ignore important social customs. From the be­ ences that his personality had been struggling ginning of his career in 1887 he had identified to integrate: a tendency toward withdrawal with and worked for Chicago's upper middle and a need for social approval. His rejection class. He lived in a fashionable suburb. He of accepted mores, and his necessity to ex­ joined the River Forest Tennis Club and the plain and re-explain that rejection, may be Caxton Club, an organization for the preserva­ taken as a reflection of his conflicting alle­ tion of rare books and bindings. He spoke giances to both artistic and conventional to architectural and civic organizations, con­ modes of behavior, a dichotomy which first tributed to the local paper, competed in horse became apparent in his work. shows, drove the latest automobiles, and fre­ quented the best shops. But most of all he TN 1895 Wright had added a studio to his threw parties. As his son John remembered: -*- Oak Park home (1889), partially to ac­ "He had clambakes, tea parties in his studio, comodate a growing practice but also to escape cotillions in the large drafting room. . . . a rambunctious family. The public aspect (the From week to week, month to month, our facade) of the house is formal and regular, home was a round of parties. There were suggesting social and familial conventionality; parties somewhere all of the time and every­ the interior, however, is flowing and irregular, where some of the time.""^ with unusual vistas and unexpected innova­ The Oak Park solution for the competition tions, implying an individualistic, unconven­ between private and professional obligations tional life-style. The studio, even more than had been to segregate them in two buildings the residence interior, is open-ended, esoteric, within the suburban milieu. At Taliesin, and full of surprises. Its intricate exterior, Wright reunited them but in separate units large windows, free-flowing planes and broken woven together in an isolated rural setting. If lines, varying materials and shapes, carefully in Oak Park he had donned the trappings of controlled spatial arrangements, and abstract the upper middle class, he now coveted mem­ decorations, suggest experiment and change. bership in the life of a farming community. If the facade of the house hinted to neighbors Shortly after his arrival he told his neighbors: that family life was simple and ordered, the "[I] hope to be something valuable and help­ studio shouted to clients that Wright's prac­ ful to the people here; [I hope you] give me tice ignored the usual rules and formulas. The the benefit of the doubt." And in 1926: "I twenty-one-year-old architect had leaned heavi­ like you people . . . and want to stay here ly on the prevailing "shingle style" in com­ posing his home's exterior, but the interior revealed his capacity for originality. The studio of 1895 demonstrated how far he had " The Oak Park home and studio, at Forest and Chicago Avenues, is now open to the public. The come toward working out a new architecture studio is illustrated in Drexler (ed.). Drawings, that reached its maturity after 1900 in the plates 9-10. The house is pictured in Vincent Scully, prairie house. Nonetheless, his home and Jr., Frank Lloyd Wright (New York, 1960), plates 6-7. studio are statements about social organiza­ " Life in Oak Park is recounted by John Wright, tion. By erecting separate buildings he di­ My Father, 15-57; the quotation is from page 43. Wright's remembrances are in An Autobiography, vorced the family and work functions of his 109-122. See Oak Leaves, February 25, 1905, April life without necessarily evaluating their im­ 27 and December 14, 1907, September 26, 1908, Jan­ portance. His first attempt to provide for pro­ uary 16, 1909; The Caxton Club, membership book (Chicago, 1908).

208 John Newhouse Aerial view of Taliesin in the late 1940's. with you."'* But there were conditions. Oak tion site in Chicago to find an aroused com­ Park was asked to accept his eccentricities munity. Inchoate friendliness, dormant dur­ and Spring Green to overlook past and present ing the quiet years, was crystallized by the irregularities. He made similar demands of catastrophe, and the townspeople worked his predominantly urban clientele. In Oak through the night to extinguish the blaze and Park he was minutes away from the Chicago to save Wright's possessions. Groups of men Loop where he maintained a business office. searched for the chef, Julian Carlston, who Now his remote location forced clients to cor­ was found hiding in the furnace room rubble. respond or make an arduous excursion. (He Indeed, Wright's principal consolation was retained his Chicago address but seldom used Spring Green's sympathy. Within a week he it until 1913.) Hiring Frank Lloyd Wright expressed his thanks by preaching a memorial after 1911 involved a ritual demonstration sermon for Mamah in a long letter to The of how much he was needed. Home News. "To you who have been so in­ Mamah Borthwick (she had resumed her variably kind to us all," he began, "I would maiden name) and her architect kept to Ta­ say something to defend a brave and lovely liesin after the furor subsided. Wright's com­ woman. ... I am thankful to all who showed missions dropped from an average of seven­ her kindness and that means many. No com­ teen a year (1905-1909) to ten (1910-1914), munity anywhere could have received the try­ and The Weefcly Home News, eager to report ing circumstances of her life ... in a more Wright's activities, found little to print. How­ highminded way." She won the community's ever, the news drought ended on August 16, consideration "with her innate dignity and 1914, when Wright's chef, avenging a draught- gentleness of character, but another—^perhaps man's insults, burned Taliesin to the ground, any other community—would have seen her murdering Mamah Borthwick, her two visit­ through the eyes of the press" that even now ing children, and four employees. Wright points out "that she was another man's wife." rushed from the Midway Gardens construc- Wright went on to describe the high ideals that had characterized Mamah's life. He ar­ gued that the "freedom" in which they had lived "was infinitely more difficult than any ^'Letter to the editor, January 4, 1912; "To the conformity with custom. . . . Few will ever Countryside," in The Weekly Home News, June 10, 1926. venture it." Lives such as theirs, he wrote.

209 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 do not "menace the well-being of society. . . . They can only serve to ennoble it." Wright urged other women to profit by Mamah's example. Her life had worked itself out upon a "high plane" because she had seized her opportunity, and then lived for others. Un­ less we grasp life as she had, Wright con­ tended, we will live to regret "how much more potent with love and affection [the] 'Present' might have been. . . ." Wright promised to rebuild Taliesin as a memorial to Mamah's spirit, and ended his eulogy by reproducing part of Goethe's "Hymn to Nature" which they had translated together in Germany. Once it had comforted him; he hoped it would

"TiURING the next fifteen years, however, -L-^ Wright found little comfort, for the re­ versals of 1914 were only the first of many. At first all seemed to go well. He rebuilt Taliesin immediately. In March, 1916, he com­ pleted preliminary drawings for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, a commission he had received during his five months visit to Japan in 1913 at the request of the Emperor's government. Meanwhile he met the divorced sculptress, Miriam Noel, who quickly dominated his in­ terests. She was, as he described her, "Bril­ liant. Sophisticated. . . . She had evident­ ly been very beautiful and was . . . distin­ guished by beauty still." Fascinated, Wright moved her into Taliesin during the winter of Society's Iconographic Collection 1914-1915, long before repairs were com­ Miriam Noel Wright. pleted. She went with him in December, 1916, when he left to begin work in Tokyo. For the The marriage was doomed before it began. next seven years they lived together in Japan, They had separated in the spring of 1915 and California, and Wisconsin. Finally Wright won an uncontested divorce from his wife, Catherine Tobin, in November, 1922, thirteen years after their separation. He married Mi­ architect's trips to Tokyo for the Japanese govern­ riam in November, 1923.^° ment are mentioned in The Weekly Home News, May 8, 1913, and December 21, 1916; The Sauk County Democrat, January 16, 1913; and the Baraboo Week­ ly News, June 19, 1913, March 30, and December 28, 1916. In November, 1915, the Chicago papers discovered Miriam's presence at Taliesin when a >»"To My Neighbors," in ibid., August 20, 1914. housekeeper, Nellie Breen, published letters stolen Other accounts of the fire and murders are in The from Wright. The ensuing scandal was insignificant Chicago Tribune, August 16, 1914; Mineral Point compared to that of 1909-1911 and caused little Iowa County Democrat and Baraboo Weekly News, comment in the local Wisconsin press. See The both August 20, 1914. Chicago Tribune, November 7, 8, 11 and 14, 1915, ''° Wright's recollection of the Taliesin fire and of for the "Miriam Letters" and the couple's statements. Miriam's appearance is in An Autobiography, 184- Wright's divorce and remarriage (as well as Miriam's 190, 201-202, and in his article, "Frank Lloyd Wright story of her first meeting with him) are in The Tells Story of Life; Years of Work, Love, and Des­ Capital Times, November 14, 1922, and in the Bam­ pair," in The Capital Times, November 1, 1926. The boo Weekly News, December 3, 1925.

210 TWOMBLY: WRIGHT

reunited in the fall, beginning a pattern of in­ Failing here, her new strategy sought to dis­ stability that lasted ten years. Miriam was a credit Wright and reap the benefits. In Au­ volatile, excitable, probably paranoic, woman gust, therefore, she filed a $100,000 aliena­ whose behavior became increasingly unpre­ tion of affection suit against Olgivanna, who dictable. Wright married her, he said, know­ immediately went into hiding. At this point, ing her emotional problems, in the hope of Olgivanna's divorced husband, Vlademar Hin- calming her. But after the marriage she be­ zenburg, began proceedings to gain custody came unbearably erratic, and it was a blessing of their nine-year-old daughter, Svetlana; for Wright when she left in April, 1924. He Hinzenberg charged that the birth of Wright's filed for divorce in July, 1925, on grounds of child in December, 1925, proved Olgivanna desertion; Mirian responded in November with an unfit mother. Wright fled Taliesin at the a counter-suit charging cruelty. Once again end of August to join her.^^ reporters flocked to Spring Green to receive After Olgivanna had been discovered and an unexpected scoop when they discovered that after Mirian's seige, Wright wrote another let­ since February, 1925, Wright had been en­ ter to The Weefcly Home News on June 10, sconced in Taliesin with Olgivanna Lazovich, 1926. In it he thanked his neighbors for their a Montenegrin schoolteacher whom he had met long-suffering over the years, and apologized the previous November.^' again for bringing scandal to them. He ad­ Wright's troubles now intensified. The mitted that his "direct ways of meeting life" same sections of Taliesin that had been de­ had embarrased Spring Green, but stated that stroyed in 1914 were burned to the ground by all he had ever wanted was "a quiet hearth lightning in April, 1925, at a loss of approxi­ and a sympathetic comrade." Since he had mately $300,000. Wright and Olgivanna im­ mediately began to build Taliesin III with only $30,000 insurance. In November, Miriam agreed to a $10,000 divorce settlement with an additional $250 a month for the rest of her life. Wright's difficulties would have ended had not Mariam discovered Olgivanna. She repudiated the agreement and broadened her demands, beginning a legal battle that lasted until 1930.^2 Miriam's first objective was Taliesin. In an unsuccessful three-day seige of the prop­ erty in June, 1926, during which she attempted to have Olgivanna arrested, she only momen­ tarily detained Wright on a peace warrant.

" An affadavit signed by Robert Morse Lovett, Carl Sandburg, and others stated that Miriam left five months after the marriage, that is, in April 1924; see The New York Times, October 29, 1926, and The Capital Times, November 1, 1926. Wright met Ol­ givanna on November 30, 1924, at the Petrograd Ballet in Chicago; see An Autobiography, 508-510 and The Chicago Tribune, November 23, 1924. See also The Capital Times, November 28, 1925; The New York Times, November 27-28, 1925; and the Bara­ boo Weekly News, December 3, 1925. "^ Ibid., and The Weekly Home News, April 23, 1925; The Capital Times, April 21, 1925; The New York Times, April 22, 1925. ^ Ibid., June 4^, 1926; The Capital Times, August M. E. Diemer 30-September 4, 1926. Mr. and Mrs. Wright in an informal pose.

211 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 thought Miriam gone for good, he had "al­ lowed other human lives to become entangled in mine—thinking no difficulty could arise to prevent me from making my life here 're­ gular' at last." He pointed out that he repre­ sented the third generation of the Lloyd Jones family in Spring Green; this was his home and he asked only to "stay here with you work­ ing until I die. I want to mind my own busi­ ness and not be subjected to public question if I can manage it." He promised his best to his neighbors if they would give him the benefit of the doubt. He wanted everyone to "take pride in Taliesin." He signed his let­ ter "with affection, . . . Your—Frank Lloyd Wright."24 Wright's expiation did not prevent further misfortune. While he was in hiding, the Bank of Wisconsin took possession of Taliesin with­ out title in September, 1926, pending settle­ ment of a $25,000 mortgage foreclosure suit. Society's Iconographic CoUettion Hinzenberg reappeared to offer a reward for T/ie Wrights on a family picnic. Wright's arrest. Rumors that he had fled the country were quashed on October 20 when the fugitives were arrested in Wildhurst, Minneso­ rejections of Wright's financial offers, re­ ta, at a Lake Minnetonka cottage. Charged marked: "I wanted to be a lawyer and Mrs. with violating the Mann Act, Wright, Olgi­ Wright wanted me to be an avenging angel."^^ vanna, and their children, Svetlana and lo­ Fire, mortgage, and bail had bitten deeply vanna, spent a night in jail and were released into the architect's resources. He was forced after posting bonds for $12,500.^5 to sell 346 Japanese prints, valued at $100,000, By the end of 1926 it was apparent that for $37,000 at auction. No sooner had the Miriam was as interested in persecuting money been impounded to cover a portion of Wright as she was in extracting money from Wright's obligations than a third fire broke him. Claiming she would never grant a di­ out at Taliesin, in February, 1927, damaging vorce, she instructed her attorney to threaten the studio, blueprints, drawings, and books. In an investigation of the 1914 fire. Public opin­ May, Wright received a summons to show why ion began to shift in Wright's favor. Cathe­ he should not contribute to Miriam's financial rine Tobin, his first wife, wired him that she support. An injunction held by the Bank of would come to Minnesota to help. Wright and Wisconsin prevented his return to Taliesin, Olgivanna published newspaper articles in the but when the bank won a court settlement of Madison Capital Times describing Miriam's $25,000, it permitted the architect a year in tyrannies, including the story of how she had his studio to work off the debt which had forced Olgivanna and her three-day-old baby been increased, by a second judgment, to out of a Chicago hospital onto the streets. $43,000. The only good news during the first Miriam's former counsel, noting her repeated half of 1927 was that in March, the Mann

'^ "To the Countryside," The Weekly Home News, ''Ibid., October 23, 1926; The Capital Times, June 10, 1926. October 1, 28-29, 1926. Wright made public his life ^ The Capital Times, September 10, 28, October with Miriam and Olgivanna, and the birth of lovanna 21-23, 1926; The New York Times, September 8, in ibid., November 1, 1926; Olgivanna told her story, October 10, 1926. ibid., October 22 and November 4, 1926.

212 TWOMBLY: WRIGHT

Act charges were dropped. Hinzenberg with­ vious conduct. Miriam was ordered to recoup drew when Olgivanna permitted him visitation the damages.^^ rights with Svetlana.^'' Wright married Olgivanna in California on By the summer of 1927 Miriam realized August 25, 1928, a year after the divorce. that she must come to terms or receive less In October, following a honeymoon in Ari­ than the original settlement. During June and zona, the Wrights returned to Taliesin, which July she pondered several offers, quibbling "Wright, Inc." had redeemed the month be­ here with details, there with wording, until fore. In November, 1929, Miriam won a finally, on August 25, 1927, a divorce was $7,000 judgment from Wright, who had al­ granted. Wright paid $6,000 in cash and lowed the trust fund to fall below its required $30,000 in trust, from which Miriam might level. After Miriam's death in January, 1930, draw $250 a month for the rest of her life. executors of her estate secured Wright's ar­ Four days later, several of the architect's rest for another $7,000 trust deficiency. A friends organized "Wright, Incorporated," petition for a retainer on the architect's as­ empowered to issue $75,000 in stock and to as­ sets was denied when he proved that he had sume control of his finances; Wright relin­ fulfilled all his obligations to Miriam until quished Taliesin and his future earning power her death.^" to the Madison-based corporation.^^ After the divorce, Miriam's erratic behavior pROM 1915 to 1932 Wright executed only increased. In September, 1927, she announced -*- thirty-three commissions, barely two a plans to begin screen tests for a Hollywood year. The few designs he drew reflected the career, after which she would study sculp­ frustration, suspicion, and reversals of his per­ ture and philosophy in Paris. Later she sonal life. In 1911, with Taliesin, he had claimed to have had a child by her finance, stated architecturally that his own purposes the heir to a European kingdom. In October, could best be served by close contact with na­ she made her last appearance in Madison, de­ ture in a home that insured privacy through manding Wright's arrest for violating his al­ controlled access. Taliesin was, in fact, one leged agreement to avoid Olgivanna for a of Wright's most successful prairie houses, year after the divorce. Then she went to having a close relationship between inside and Washington to ask for a Senate investigation outside, a flowing horizontal facade, low over­ of Wright's sex life. When she chased Wis­ hanging hip roofs, continuous casement fenes­ consin Governor Fred R. Zimmerman through tration, an open floor plan, and an interpre­ the kitchen of a Chicago hotel to enlist his tive expression of site. During 1915 and support in her anti-Wright crusade, she de­ 1916, however, after the "traumatic" events stroyed the last of her credibility. of the preceeding year, much of this dropped In May, 1928, Taliesin's farm equipment, out of his designs. Indeed, Wright's prairie household property, and remaining Japanese period ended, not in 1909 when he left Oak art were auctioned to placate the Bank of Wis­ Park, but in 1914 with the death of Mamah consin. Unable to pay his debts within a year, Borthwick. Wright lost Taliesin to the bank in July for The Sherman Booth House and the Ravine $25,000. Miriam, meanwhile, broke into Bluffs Development in Glencoe, Illinois Wright and Olgivanna's La Jolla, California, (1915), the Emil Bach House in Chicago home and charged them with lewd and lasci­

""Ibid., September 21, October 5-8, 19, 1927; July 14, 15, 17, 30, 1928; Baraboo Weekly News, Decem­ ^ The Weekly Home News, February 24, May 12, ber 15, 1927, and January 19, 1928; The New York 1927; The New York Times, January 2, 7, February Times, July 15, 18, 20, 31, 1928; The Weekly Home 8, 18, 20, 1927; The Capital Times, October 25, News, May 24, 1928. 1926, February 18, 23, March 4, May 10, 16, 20, 28, ""Ibid., January 24, March 7, April 18, September 1927. 19, 1929; The Capital Times, August 27, October '^Ibid., May 19, 25, June 9, 20, 21, 23, 27, 28, 8, 14, 1928, December 6, 19, 1930, March 11, 1933; July 2, 20, August 26, 27, 29, 31, 1927. Baraboo Weekly News, December 11, 25, 1930.

213 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

Six of the nine projects Wright built from 1920 to 1924 were California houses and car­ ried the 1915-1916 tendencies further. The California designs are concrete; at least four utilized the "textile-block" system he developed in 1923 for Mrs. George Millard's "La Minia­ tura" in Pasadena. (Textile-blocks are pre­ cast with geometric patterns on the exposed sides; they are bound together with steel tie- rods and poured concrete at the site.) Con­ crete was appropriate in California because of its ability to retain heat in winter and repell it in summer. But these homes, particularly in block form, also have a metaphorical sig­ nificance. Most of their relatively few windows pierce Scully, Frank Lloyd Wright the upper stories, usually facing the rear of the "La Miniatura," home of Mrs. George Millard in lot. Entrances are turned from the street. The Pasadena, designed by Wright in 1923. houses encourage interior isolation and soli­ tude; they appear to be secluded sanctuaries. Real and symbolic barriers between inside (1915), and the F. C. Bogk House in Mil­ and outside discourage penetration. Wright waukee (1916), for example, are box-like and further emphasized privacy by suspending the stolid. The Booth House (unlike its 1911 John Storer House (1923) and Charles Ennis prairie version) is a cube with several ex­ and Samuel Freeman houses (1924) from the tensions on a plateau, almost ignoring its sides of Los Angeles hills, facing away from exciting surroundings. Nearby, the five Ra­ the street (unlike the prairie house) to take vine Bluffs homes squat on their flat sites, advantage of spectacular views. The textile- impervious to the terrain for which they were blocks are arranged in larger cubes—each named. The Booth and Bach and two of the containing a separate domestic function— Bluffs houses have "semi-cubist" facades with which are extensions and symbolic represen­ slab roofs, innumerable sharp corners, and tations of the rugged hillsides. In this way emphatic contrasting trim. They have fewer Wright achieved the relationship between and smaller windows than the prairie houses; building and site he desired. But it was a re­ in some cases the windows are scattered and lationship that dramatized site at the expense "punched out" (like Corbusier's Notre-Dame of a dialogue with environment. du Haut Church at Ronchamps, France), un­ Some of Wright's work from 1915 to 1924 like the earlier extended fenestration. In the was in the pavilion-house tradition of the Bogk House, windows are vertical slits or are Mediterranean, and much of it was not un­ tucked behind walls; the door, on a side drive, related to international trends in artistic ex­ is removed from passers-by. In many of the pression. But his work was more than an new designs the slab roof replaced the gentle acknowledgment of what was artistically cur­ hip and, compared with the "prairie house," rent. It had a peculiar relevance to his private sacrificed an easy horizontally for a tense life. The 1914 tragedy had made it painfully solidity. Slab and cube had appeared in Wright's earlier work, but not so predominant­ ly. The new buildings were tightly construct­ ed, severely delimited bulwarks (outlined in conspicuously contrasting trim) against an ^'Drexler (ed.). Drawings, plate 43, gives the 1911 version of the Booth House. Comments on its 1915 easy dialogue between inside and outside. Not version, the Ravine Bluffs Development, and the the environment-embracing but the fortress­ Bach and Bogk houses are based on the author's like aspects of Taliesin characterized Wright's observations. Note the striking resemblance between the Booth and Bach houses and Piet Mondrian's newest efforts.^' "semi-cubist" paintings of the 1930's and 1940's.

214 TWOMBLY: WRIGHT

House designed by Wright in 1920 for Miss Aline Barnsdall in Hollywood, California. •','??f.

Scully, Frank Lloyd Wright

clear that withdrawal to a rural setting— TRONIC ALLY, Wright's stature grew as his Wright's 1911 solution for living in a suspi­ -*• commissions declined and as his battle cious world—had not enhanced safety and se­ with Miriam reached its climax. When the curity. His 1915-1916 houses, therefore, were Tokyo Imperial Hotel (1913-1922) withstood hasty, reflex responses to 1914. By 1924, the 1923 earthquake, he was hailed as a giant Wright had worked out a more complete state­ in world architecture. In 1925 a Dutch house ment—incorporating materials and construc­ published the Wendingen monograph, there­ tion methods—of seclusion and withdrawal. after Wright's favorite compilation of his The concrete houses expanded the fortress-like work. He was granted membership in several aspects of Taliesin. They were defense me­ arts academies, including those in Berlin, Bel­ chanisms made necessary by Mamah Borth- gium, and Brazil. His 1930 lectures at the wick's death, and problem-solving devices Chicago Art Institute and Princeton Universi­ forced upon him by life with the erratic Mi­ ty were released as Two Lectures on Architec­ riam Noel. ture and Modern Architecture in 1931, when Significantly, the only California buildings he was also the guest of the Pan American Wright discussed (at great length) in his auto­ Union in Rio de Janeiro and was exhibited biography were for two middle-aged women— in five European and three American cities. Miss Aline Barnsdall and the widowed Mrs. An Autobiography and The Disappearing City George Millard—who, like their architect (in were published in 1932. But those who read his 1914^1924 "Miriam" years) were socially and listened withheld commissions. He was vulnerable and, each in their way, personally considered an architectural elder statesman.^'' "unfulfilled." Building with textile-blocks was a weaving together of myriads of lines, de­ signs, and individual pieces; to fit all in place "' The California houses and other projects in the was to solve a complicated puzzle. Materials 1920's are illustrated in Drexler (ed.). Drawings, and construction methods emphasized pro­ plates 58-114, and in Wright, A Testament (New York, 1957), 137-152. Wright described Miss Barns­ cess, parts, and detail as much as total con­ dall and Mrs. Millard in An Autobiography, 224- ception; putting and keeping something to­ 233, 239-251. It is significant that most of his writings during the 1920's—a series of articles in gether was as important as what was kept to­ The Western Architect (1923-1924) and The Archi­ gether. The California buildings live as monu­ tectural Record (1927-1928) entided "In The Cause ments to Wright's genius, but they were born of Architecture"—concentrated exclusively on build­ ing materials and construction methods. in the nadir of his happiness.^^ ^ The Capital Times, September 5, October 18, 1923.

215 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

Wright had also been interested in the annual intercounty fair, lending pieces of Japanese art gratis, even in September, 1914, a month after Mamah Borthwick's death. He and his sister, Jane Porter, had suggested improve­ ments in the fair's format. Perhaps Wright's most influential action was his 1927 eulogy upon the death of editor W. R. Purdy who in 1911 had branded the architect insane and de­ generate. But Wright chose to ignore that fact and to praise Purdy as a man and as a journalist. "He seems to have belonged to an old school that was humane and valuable to the lives of others," Wright wrote. "His was one of those valuable lives" that help hold the nation together "for what is best in it . . . without apparent reward." If newspaper ac­ counts are reliable, Spring Green warmed to >ociet> s Iconograpnic t oiiection Wright's gestures of friendship.^* Hillside Home School in its heyday. The community had rallied to Wright's sup­ port in each Taliesin fire; disaster aroused Gradually Wright's burgeoning reputation local sympathy. The out-of-town reporters, began to affect Spring Green. He had become who appeared only when the unpleasant oc­ an international celebrity, "the world's fore­ curred, buttressed feelings that he was being most architect," The Home News exulted in exploited. Partially in awe of Wright, Spring 1930. But the Ladies Aid of the local Con­ Green had been cordial after the impact of gregational church would no more have as­ 1911 wore off. In response, the architect had sembled in Wright's living room simply be­ thanked his neighbors eloquently on several cause he was applauded in Europe than it occasions; he had explained his affairs and would have done so because Taliesin was an discussed his problems. He had asked the unusual building. It was not prestige or moral community's patience and indicated he wanted "reformation" that prompted Spring Green's to be wanted. He seemed willing to defer to eventual change of heart: two decades of Spring Green's judgment. If Wright had dubious behavior could not be so easily for­ stated his conditions for entrance into com­ gotten. A small town demands certain direct munity life, he knew that the town had its own and specific forms of repentance, and a re­ terms to impose. conciliation via the capitals of Europe would When in 1932 Wright organized the Talie­ not do. sin Fellowship, bringing together twenty-three architectural students, it was clear that he But if originally the village had felt that considered Spring Green his permanent home. Wright deserved to be punished for his sins, The Fellowship's theater would be open to by the late 1920's the communal attitude had the community, he announced, thus reviving softened. There were a number of mitigating memories of the days when his aunts at Hill­ factors. If Wright's private life had brought side Home School had entertained the coun­ scandal to Spring Green, at least his public tryside. When the Fellowship remodeled the community relations had been quite accept­ able. Over the years he had made several over­ tures which the community had appreciated. He hired local help to build and repair Talie­ sin. He employed neighbors for caretaking, maintenance, and agricultural work, and took "• The Weekly Home News, June 19, August 14, others with him to Arizona in January, 1929, 1913, August 27, September 10, 1914, October 11, 1928, January 24, September 19, 1929. Wright's for the San-Marcos-in-the-Desert project. eulogy on Purdy is in ibid., December 15, 1927.

216 TWOMBLY: WRIGHT

School buildings and added a drafting room, it was almost like a reincarnation. National press coverage of the remodeling compounded interest around the country. And when the architect and his wife, whose favorable im­ pression had improved her husband's image, asked for help in getting the Fellowship estab­ lished, the town responded. During the De­ pression the students in attendance were a welcome addition to local economic life. The Wrights, as everyone soon learned, were gracious and very much in love; and Wright's willingness to contribute to community af­ fairs and his ability to ask for help without the patronizing tone that often characterizes a celebrity's relations with ordinary mortals, won him good will.^^ In later years the bond between Wright and Society's Iconographic Collection his neighbors grew stronger. There were open lovanna Wright (foreground) presenting gifts to her houses and Sunday afternoon galas. There parents (right) at a fourteenth-century Italian fete at Taliesin East. were exchanges of gifts, a testimonial banquet, and a "Frank Lloyd Wright Day." In 1958 an apprentice remarked: "It's no longer a friend­ in his personality, especially as he grew old­ ship between Taliesin and Spring Green. It's er. The community was always a little un­ a love affair." Today the town remembers easy whenever he was around, but it was Wright with a kind of reserved affection. He proud of the man who had made "Spring was, after all, an eccentric, iconoclastic, opin­ Green" a byword in the international world of ionated man. There was little room for tact art.^"^

'^Ibid., September 28, 1932; The New York Times, in her store: "I just can't believe it. He was the kind Section V, March 20, August 19, and Section VIII, of man you thought would live forever. He put Spring November 6, 1932; The Capital Times, August 7, Green on the map. We're going to miss him." The 1932. cashier of the Farmer's State Bank: "It just won't "" For example, see The Weekly Home News, be the same with Mr. Wright gone. All of us at June 27, July 4, December 12, 1957, January 23, the bank have known him for many, many years, May 15, 22, 1958. The quotation is from July 3, but we always got a thrill when he came walking in 1958. When Wright died, April 9, 1959, his Spring here with his cape flying and his stick swinging." Green neighbors expressed their final opinions. A The Capital Times, April 10, 1959. druggist's wife, who kept a framed picture of Wright

217 A WISCONSINITE IN WORLD WAR h

Reminiscences of Edmund P. Arpin, Jr. (Part III)

EDITED BY IRA BERLIN

Introduction counteroffensive, spearheaded by the Ameri­ cans at Soissons, began. The Allied attack TN APRIL, 1917, the United States entered continued all summer, and along with the •*• World War I. One month later, Edmund Thirty-second Arpin played an active role, P. Arpin, Jr., of Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, first in the Aisne-Marne offensive at Cierges volunteered for the Army. A deep sense of and Fismes and later in the Oisne-Aisne offen­ patriotism and a variety of personal needs sive at Juvigny. By September, the Germans and ambitions motivated Arpin's enlistment. were privately suing for peace, and the Allies This interaction of patriotism and ambition were preparing a massive attack in North­ plus a healthy desire for adventure would eastern France in an effort to achieve a final combine to make a most successful tour of victory. duty. Less than two years later. Captain Ed­ The Meuse-Argonne offensive which began mund P. Arpin, soon to be awarded the Dis­ in late September would end the war. Arpin's tinguished Service Cross, was mustered out role was minor, but heroic. His assault of the service. on Hill 269, for which he won the Distin­ On December 31, 1917, when Aprin landed guished Service Cross, was a fitting climax in France, this was all in the future. Like to a valorous army career. But Arpin never most American soldiers he spent the first completed the campaign. He was wounded half of 1918 in routine training maneuvers early in the battle and quickly removed to an and mopping-up operations far from the advanced field hospital. For Edmund Arpin, front line. Although this duty provided mo­ the war was over. ments of excitement, Aprin, who craved front­ Fortunately, Arpin's wound was not seri­ line action, was extremely frustrated. To him ous. He recovered quickly and spent another it seemed the war would never come. rousing five months in France. The final in­ In the spring of 1918, his fortunes began stallment of the "Reminiscences" takes him to change. The pressure of the final German and a companion from a backwater French offensive forced the use of American troops hospital into occupied Germany in a most un­ and Arpin's Division was dispersed as replace­ orthodox style. ment units to bring other American Divisions Arpin's trip into Germany is good reading, up to full fighting strength. Arpin was as­ but it is also telling history. It says much signed to Company F of the 128th Infantry, of the permissiveness of post-war military Thirty-second Division. At last action was discipline and the mind of American soldiers in the offing. in a strange land with the war won. Mostly, During the summer of 1918 American however, it is the grand adventure which ends troops were employed with telling effect. By two years of grand adventures for Edmund mid-summer the initiative passed from the Arpin. Germans to the Allies. In July the first Allied I. B.

218 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I

U.S. Signal Corps Wounded American soldiers being loaded onto a hospital train.

\ FTER STAYING in this comfortable berth rules and regulations. The first bad thing that -'*- at the Advanced Hospital for a week, a popped up at this place at Langres was in the makeshift hospital train produced the next form of an ultimatum directing me to turn in move in a southern direction perhaps sixty my side arms. That meant giving up the two miles to an evacuation hospital at Langres. very precious Lugers which I had been pack­ It was a miserable trip down there, a large ing during the preceding few months. It soon number of us crowded into a train made up of developed that the supply sergeant in charge old-style third-class coaches. Progress was ex­ of the collection of such material expected tremely slow, and this was aggravated by the to have mine turned in without his furnishing presence of a number of fake gas cases in any sort of receipt! But, I refused to turn our compartment, incessantly smoking ciga­ over anything until he came through with rettes when unobserved, thus making the air the vital slip of paper. It seems that hitherto too reeking to breathe. The trip south was this chap had gotten away with this racket, an appropriate preparation for our arrival unquestioned. at our new destination. Finally, after obtaining a receipt for the This place proved to be far from ideal in pistols from the reluctant supply sergeant, I all respects, for the organization of the estab­ gave up the guns. About two weeks later, in­ lishment was rotten to say the least. With formation came to me in the form of a con­ a major from the 127th, I was put in a cold fidential tip that we were to be moved with­ shack with a bunch of wounded Boches for in an hour or two on to a hospital train going about three days, until we raised such a howl south. When this news arrived I was able that they moved us into a ward with Ameri­ to hobble around on crutches. Fortunately, cans. Here the slightly wounded enlisted men I happened to find an honest "medico" who had to stand outside in line for mess in all conducted me to the supply sergeant's quar­ kinds of weather. This they had to do in ters. This worthy had taken the precaution pajamas or possibly with the slight protec­ of locking up his room and being absent tion of a blanket over their shoulders. By from the scene in anticipation of our depar­ this time the weather had become increasingly ture. After considerable heaving, we man- cold and dreary. As a general rule the farther one got toward the center of the S.O.S.' [Services of Supply] ^ Services of Supply was the logistical co-ordinating the thicker became the signs of unpleasant unit of the American Expeditionary Force.

219 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 aged to cave in the door. The room was so completely loaded with side arms and relics of all sorts that had been plundered from the unfortunate wounded that it was difficult to locate my guns. But, fortunately for me, we finally found them and hustled out barely in time for me to be put on the departing train. These two guns were my prize possessions and I would have stayed in Langres a month if necessary to get them back. The train which took us south was of the most modern hospital type and very com­ fortable in all respects. With the unpleasant memories of Langres behind, the arrival in Nantes the following day was a pleasant sur­ prise. Base Hospital 34, my new domicile, had been established in what was formerly a school for young ladies. Unlike the evacua­ tion hospitals farther north, this place had ample living space. It was fairly well filled, but not overcrowded. Placed on a cot here, only an hour or so after my arrival, I was unexpectedly hailed by a familiar voice. What a joyful surprise it was to have my old friend, [John D.] Ewing, from the Regiment turn up on the scene! We simply pummeled and hugged each other like a couple of half- grown school kids. Arpin's friend, John D. Ewing of New Orleans. What a blessing it was to see him! For back in the outfit, although we had occasional arguments, many pleasant moments we had Front. In our ward there was a nice con­ spent together. From now on for the next genial bunch of convalescent officers, quite couple of months we were fairly inseparable. a number of whom were from our own Divi­ From Ewing I learned that my promotion to sion. The surgeon in charge of our ward, a Captaincy had come through, even before I Major Schick, was also originally from our had left the Front. You can imagine my joy own outfit. So, due to this circumstance, we on hearing this happy bit of news! For al­ were accorded privileges which would other­ though I had commanded a company from wise perhaps have been limited. the time of our first real action, promotions Ours being a convalescent ward, two or were slow to reach the front line. I had long three no-limit games of poker were in quite since given up hope that mine would ever constant progress. This, added to the facili­ arrive. ties for entertainment of the town itself, Nantes, a city of about 250,000 people, created a setting of perfect contentment. proved to be wonderfully interesting. As soon Later on after a couple of weeks of happy as I was able to get about the town on crutches, recuperation we were even able to make ex­ the world-famous restaurant, Prevot's, was cursions by car into the beautiful surround­ our immediate objective. Although a rather ing countryside. Fortunately, the local assist­ small place, this establishment excelled in qual­ ant chief of American Motor Transport hap­ ity anything I had ever encountered before, pened to come from my friend Ewing's home or later on, in Paris. Fortunately, Ewing and town. Through arrangements made through I both had several thousand francs on hand this source it was easy to obtain a car, in fact, which we had been unable to spend at the even a Cadillac, whenever the notion for a

220 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I change of air occurred. Perhaps we felt some­ what too uncomfortably guilty in taking ad­ vantage of such unaccustomed luxury to enjoy it to the fullest extent. But the weather was so beautiful and the temptation so overwhelm­ ing that we could not resist "playing bookie" at least a few times. In contrast to conditions back at the Front, where transportation was scarce, there were literally thousands of trucks and cars lying idle at this depot. In fact, back at the Front at the time of the Argonne offensive it be­ came necessary for our Division to give up a number of its staff cars to a seriously crip­ pling extent, in order to help out newly arriv­ ing Divisions who were almost absolutely with­ out motor car equipment.

A S ARMISTICE DAY approached, rumors A gun section of Battery D, 105th Field Artillery, re­ joicing at 11:01 A.M. on November 11, 1918. -^^ of the impending event reached us, with unbelief. At this time, although the Allies had ing gratitude showered upon us Americans made tremendous gains, there was every in­ was somewhat embarrassing. dication that due to the lateness of the season The din and hilarity of the celebration kept the War might extend on through the next on way into the night without much sign of Spring. The actual state of internal affairs in letup. But our condition proved unequal to Germany was rumored but not definitely the pace, so after our strength played out known. Our first definite intimation of this we wearily sought refuge in Prevot's, which tremendous event came very early in the was too expensive to be crowded. From this morning on November 11th when great activ­ comfortable point of vantage we watched ity broke forth in the streets. This was soon the unforgetable spectacle which finally tap­ followed by the formation of numerous pa­ ered off when the crowds became too tired to rades and a general exodus from the hospital. drag their weary feet over the wet cobble­ Although we casual wounded officers were stones. for the most part disappointed to have the After having successfully tried our wings Armistice come so soon, needless to say we in the "Battle of the Armistice," the confines wholeheartedly joined in the festivities. The of our hospital home became somewhat op­ whole countryside seemed to have rushed into pressive. It seemed likely that things might the city rapidly, forming huge mobs of weep­ be more interesting and lively in Paris. It ing, insane people which was actually awe- proved so easy to get away from Nantes and inspiring. into Paris that we even managed to get in Downtown in the neighborhood of the main two trips before we finally left Nantes under square the pandemonium was indescribable. orders. Imagine the reactions of a people who out On our first trip to Paris we hopped off of a population of some forty-odd millions the train at Versailles, which was free of had lost some two million lives, finally reach­ M.P.'s, then took a taxi into town. The sort ing the end of four-and-a-half years of a bitter of abode we wanted was a fairly small, nice, war which fate had forced upon them! Al­ but quiet place, as we of course, were without though it was tiring for me to hobble around an official leave. Seemingly the Chatham was with a cane, we surged along with the packed made to order for our needs, as it was almost masses out of one procession and into an­ entirely patronized by the British. other. Realizing what a comparatively small Upon reaching the Chatham around nine part we had played in the war, the weep- in the morning, we proceeded to engage one

221 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

would be off for the remainder of the day! Aside from this predicament, according to custom in the better class of French hotels, the servants simply would not let us alone. It seemed quite embarrassing enough to be caught naked; but on top of this, to have them discover our wet underwear hanging over the radiators would be altogether too much. For even though nothing could shock a French chambermaid, we still retained our modesty. In the face of this dilemma our only safe course was to sit tight, hoping for some form of rescue. Finally, towards evening in despera­ tion, we painfully donned the wet cold gar­ ments and sallied forth to do the town. Maxim's, being perhaps the most adver­ tised place in Paris, was our first objective. It wasn't long before our wet clothes were quite forgotten. This was a gorgeous estab­ lishment, and contrary to what might be nor­ mally expected, even the food was marvelous. Two days was about all that could be risked away from the hospital, but those were two Society's Iconographic Collection very memorable days! Citizens of New York City celebrating the end of Being but a few days after the Armistice, the war. the city had barely recovered from the first of the nicest available rooms. Immediately impromptu, tempestuous celebration and was upon being ensconced in our rather sumptuous now getting set for an impressive series of quarters it was felt appropriate that in order formal processions. It was in the later part to adjust ourselves to the elegance of our new of the morning of our first full day there that surroundings we should at least bathe and he we encountered a rapidly forming crowd along deloused. It would perhaps hardly seem pos­ the walks bordering the Place de I'Opera. An sible to the uninitiated that after considerable inquiry from a formidable-looking gendarme hospital confinement and at least two rather merely brought forth a sort of pitying look thorough delousing operations, that cooties and an admonishing "attende" ("Wait and would still be with us. This, however, was see"). the embarrassing truth. It was too early in In the expectant hush over the crowd which the day, anyway, to go out to explore the town; followed it was but a few minutes before way so we proceeded to each take a very hot bath down the Avenue a tremendous surge of most with lots of soap, hoping for the best. Follow­ impressive martial music broke forth. The ing this we ran a lot of hot water into the procession drew nearer with increasing thrill­ tub, contrary to regulations, and into this ing volume until finally the leaders drew op­ we dumped our underwear. Neither of us car­ posite. This was a sight which one could ried any baggage, so after hanging the wet never forget. An immense body of crack laundry on the radiators we crawled into our French cavalry, not dress soldiers, but all beds naked to await results. For a while the veterans of countless actions, garbed in gor­ clothes seemed to make some progress in geous deep blue uniforms covered with deco­ drying, but before long the radiators turned rations, gleaming sabers at the erect parade stone cold. A despairing call down to the position, all mounted on glossy, deep day desk clerk then brought forth the distressing thoroughbreds. They rode in a perfectly lined news that in accord with regulations the heat column about eight abreast and at their head

222 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I

was a body of trumpeters similarly mounted, casualties in some form. For my part I had numbering perhaps one hundred and fifty. to tell him that out of the group of us who Such trumpeting was simply overwhelming in had gone forth together, Anderson and Joyce the tremendous thrill it cast upon us all: had been killed and Sheridan wounded three the ever-popular IM^adelon as it had never been times. All this was merely representative of played before, then various calls followed by what took place among our circle of friends at last the Marseillaise in such a way that it within an organization which tragically had completely filled the air and seemed to con­ lost its identity as a fighting unit. tinue to echo in our ears long after they had In Le Mans the restrictions were somewhat passed. The tense hush in which the crowd lax, which made it possible for further occa­ was held for a few moments following the sional impromptu trips to Paris. The capital Marseillaise was finally broken by a storm at this time was enjoying an impressive round of emotion in which there were more tears of state visits. Here we glimpsed several pa­ than smiles. rades which were most impressive. Among Our second trip to Paris about a week the many notables on hand, glimpses were later, was very pleasant, but somehow the caught of the King and Queen of England, enjoyment did not match that of the first ex­ the monarchs of Belgium, Premier Clemen- cursion. Downtown among the bright spots ceau of France, Foche, Joffre, and other lead­ there was no letup in the tempo of celebration. ers of undying fame. It was worthwhile to But off on the quieter streets and in the shops be present even as a rather remote spectator the people seemed quietly grateful for peace; of these intense demonstrations in this hour but they were too sad from loss for anything of triumph. There was an American Day, a approaching hilarity. British Day, an Italian Day, and a Belgian Day of celebration. We willingly lent our A BOUT November 28th both Ewing and rather obscure support to all of these stirring -^-^ I received orders to report to the re­ occasions. classification center at Le Mans. By this time Under the onslaught of all this celebration, we were fairly well fed up with the unaccus­ our bank roll rapidly wilted. In an alarmingly tomed life of luxury in which we had in­ weakened financial condition, for lack of any dulged, and were anxious to get back to ac­ other place to go, we returned to the same tive duty. Thinking that our stay in Le Mans hotel in Le Mans. Here, as time dragged on, would be but a matter of days we took up our funds got lower. quarters in the Hotel de Paris, which proved From then on the situation rapidly deterio­ to be a comfortable but expensive place to stay. rated. The few rather pitiful attempts at poker Le Mans, being the embarkation center of had led to nothing but grief. In the face of the A.E.F. as well as the reclassification cen­ all this, it appeared more than probable that ter, swarmed with casual officers returning our days of unaccustomed luxury were about from hospitals. For us it proved to be the at an end. scene of joyous reunion with many an old Day after day we reported to Headquarters, friend. I was especially delighted to run hoping for an assignment but received nothing across my old friend [John] Adams from more than vague promises based largely on the old Montana outfit. rumor. Why we were not wanted in our own His frontline experience was gained in the Division, which appeared to be the case, Ninth Infantry of the Second Division where was beyond our understanding. It was only he had been sent as a replacement, shortly after months later that we learned that our after my departure. In this unit plenty of Division had been entirely filled up by officers action was encountered until finally a ma­ who had newly arrived in France, which left chine-gun bullet through the leg sent him us definitely on the outside looking in. In back to a Base Hospital. this state of affairs it became painfully ap­ Through Adams I learned that one after parent that we were in all probability doomed another of the officers of this old outfit had to the fate of a prolonged siege of hopeless been sent to the Front, in time becoming waiting in Le Mans.

223 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

In this state of affairs, the fact that the us a creed of quick and decisive action to meet regular monthly pay-day was some three weeks emergencies. And occasionally it had been ahead made it quite imperative that action found necessary to digress from the actual for relief be immediate. After considering letter of an order or regulation in order to various ways and means of rectifying our meet situations as they arose. Perhaps we dilemma, in somewhat the form of a revela­ were both somewhat radically minded in this tion the idea of making a trip back to the respect. At any rate, we were not properly old Regiment was born. This was perhaps horrified at the A.W.O.L. aspect which was prompted by a feeling of curiosity, added to present in the plan. the circumstance that we each happened to In considering various ways and means for have an uncollected pay check or two owing carrying out the project, it appeared that our for back pay. As the regular means of com­ best chance of success towards making a fair munication through the mails in France was start on our way out of France would be to much too slow and uncertain to meet the obtain a legitimate pleasure leave to some city urgency of the situation, there was little or at least beyond Paris. For the remainder of no hope of getting this much-needed cash in the journey, artful dodging of the ever-dili­ time except by actually laying hands on it gent Military Police would be required. For at in person. this time the American M.P.'s infested all the Upon investigation it became apparent that railway stations of towns which were any­ in making a sortie of this sort we would nec­ where along the lines of communication of essarily meet up with numerous difficulties. the A.E.F. In the first place, with all of our unsuccessful One thing in our favor was that we had efforts to obtain regular orders to rejoin our already had considerable experience in dodg­ Division, we had made ourselves almost ob­ ing M.P.'s. Most of this had been on the suc­ noxious around the local Headquarters. Fur­ cessful side; but not quite all. thermore, it was strictly forbidden for any­ In reflecting upon the glories of this noble body not assigned with troops to cross the arm of the Service, a certain scene which was frontier into Germany. Aside from this, we enacted in the Paris Military Police Head­ knew that there would be little hope of ever quarters in the St. Anne Hotel stood out clear­ getting leave of travel which would take us ly in my mind. On this occasion several colo­ even fairly close to the frontier. At the same nels and numerous other officers from that time we had practically no money for a trip rank down were awkwardly awaiting disposi­ of this length. The whole thing boiled itself tion of their cases for merely overstaying down to the inescapable fact that the greater their "leaves" in Paris. Fortunately, I had part of our journey would be under a status of been spared the extremely embarrassing pro­ A.W.O.L., which in army terminology means cedure which they experienced, then and later, Absent Without Official Leave, traveling vir­ by the lucky circumstance that the M.P. offi­ tually as hoboes. It seemed that to become cer in charge at this moment happened to be A.W.O.L. was the ambition, or supreme ob­ an old acquaintance from my former outfit, jective, of the average enlisted man; but in the 41st Division. To me this was a veritable the case of commissioned officers, who were deliverance from the "lions' den," for the supposed to uphold the discipline of the character of the penalty attendant to appre­ Army, an open infraction of regulations to hension was known to be totally unpleasant. this extent would, undoubtedly, result in a This recollection provided food for thought severe penalty if things went wrong. in respect to the probable consequences should Outweighing the possible consequences of we be rounded up, say, at some point beyond failure—in this case the conviction that we the German frontier! were rightfully entitled to rejoin our Organi­ As a preliminary move we both made ap­ zation in order to be on hand for the Occu­ plication for a "leave" to Lyons, traveling via pation—perhaps overbalanced the recognition Paris. In about a day after making applica­ of the existing regulations of an obstructive tion, Ewing's "leave" was granted; but my character. Frontline experience had given application was rejected for the reason that

224 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I

L :;. Signal Corps U.S. Occupation troops relaxing in dermany.

I had already exhausted my leave allowance. some occasional shelter and food. Our only This turn in events created a rather critical luggage consisted of our shoulder musette situation. So, in desperation I applied for a bags, with extra sox and a few simple toilet "Baggage Leave" to Gievres, the central bag­ articles. In my bag I carried a borrowed Colt gage depot of the A.E.F., in order to search .45 in the way of armament. Recently the for my baggage, which had been sent there weather had been cold and rainy, and it after [I had been] wounded. After a couple promised to become worse as we proceeded of days of further agonizing delay, a twenty- farther north. Our British trench coats, which four-hour leave was finally granted to me for were fleece lined, provided a fair amount of protection against the weather. this purpose. Meanwhile, some four days of my comrade Ewing's leave had expired. Nev­ Indications pointed that our journey would ertheless, armed with this partial license of extend well up into Germany, if we were exit, we lost no further time in getting under lucky enough to get that far, for it was semi­ officially rumored that our Division was one way. of the three which were designated to occupy a position north of the Rhine, above Coblenz. A T THE TIME we left Le Mans our cash Fortunately, I was fairly well versed in the -^^ resources amounted to some one hun­ geography of France as well as that of Ger­ dred and twenty francs. This was very little many. Therefore, a line of travel had been money, considering the fact that we would planned which would take us along the prob­ be required to pay railway fare over the able route of the Army of Occupation, assum­ first two hundred-odd miles of our journey ing the objective to be the Coblenz bridge­ in addition to meeting the requirements of head area.

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For once in our experience, the wonders extravagence left us almost penniless. The of Paris left us quite untouched. Only a few next morning we made an unexciting exit from minutes between trains did we linger, and the place by boarding a French freight bound then only for the purpose of buying tickets for Verdun, which left at an early hour. and changing trains for Chalons-sur-Marne, By this time it began to appear that every our next junction, which was located some move was getting us more deeply into the eighty miles farther east. By the time tickets mire of a hopeless situation. If it were not were obtained to this point our money had for the collapsed state of our finances, which become depleted to an alarming extent. Cha­ had finally reached the deplorable low of some lons happened to be the last point on our five francs, the enterprise might have been chosen route which would be along our legiti­ abandoned. For in contemplating the ever- mate line of travel. From this point on our increasing problems ahead, the general out­ journey would take us directly opposite from look was anything but encouraging. It was the designated route. Therefore, this was too risky to obtain information about trains really the jumping-off point of the venture. from American sources, so we relied mostly On several other occasions I had passed on the unsuspecting French. From all we through Chalons. The Germans had advanced could gather the prospects were doubtful for to this point and a little beyond in the First getting all the way to Verdun by train. The Battle of the Marne. Later on this was the reason for this being that due to the wartime location of General [Henri J. E.] Gouraud's^ destruction of several miles of the railroad in headquarters for the greater portion of the the vicinity of Verdun. American Engineer remainder of the War. The place was full troops had been delegated to the job of re­ of historical background, dating back to the building this road, and fortunately they had days of Roman Gaul. But we had little in­ gone at the task with such energy that the clination to contemplate the lustrous glory of rather pessimistic estimate of the French was the place. To us it was merely an important considerably off schedule. To our pleasant railway junction from which it was necessary surprise the road was found to be actually to make a very cautious, unobserved exit for passable all the way into Verdun. parts north. After making a survey of the Taking the customary precaution upon ap­ habits of the local contingent of M.P.'s, as proaching Verdun, we hopped off the train well as the switching facilities on the north at the first stop on the edge of the town, then edge of the railway yards, we were quite will­ continued on foot in the direction of the rail­ ing to leave Chalons. Our departure was easily way station. affected accordingly by boarding a mixed From all appearances Verdun had become train bound for Ste. Menehould, at a switch­ a center of American reconstruction activity. ing point on the north edge of the town. The familiar olive drab trucks, Packards, Rik- In those days mixed trains on the French ker (Locomobile) White, F.W.D., and various railroads made anything but good time. In odds and ends of vehicular equipment, loaded fact, they appeared to be trying to go every­ and empty, tore hither and yon. The place was where but in the intended direction. It was teeming with troops; but these to our relief, well into the late afternoon when we left were mostly Engineers. At this time there Chalons; but when we reached Ste. Menehould, was a tremendous job ahead in pushing which was about sixty miles north, it was through the reconstruction of the railroad to quite late at night. In order to get at least the north, aside from rebuilding various main one more fair night's rest we took a chance north and south highways. Somewhat to our on securing lodging for the night in a small disappointment, aside from the activity of hotel which happened to be patronized largely hauling necessary construction materials, by Red Cross and Y.M.C.A. workers. This there appeared to be no through traffic headed north. There were some signs of life around the recently reopened railway station, which was ^ General Henri J. E. Gouraud, the hero of Galli- poli, was the commander of the French Fourth Army. down in the valley near the Meuse. Apparent-

226 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I

ly a train was being organized to go south over the line we had just traveled. While we were strolling around looking things over we came upon perhaps six or eight wounded men lying on stretchers, queer-looking stretchers cov­ ered with strange-looking blankets. Much to my astonishment on one of these was a man I knew very well, [Gregory W.] Dempsey, former senior Lieutenant of my own com­ pany! Dempsey was in pretty bad shape so I only offered what poor words of encourage­ ment I could and this was done very unob­ trusively. This small group of wounded were severe bone-surgery cases taken prisoner, that the Germans had just released, so that they might obtain better hospital care. The long ambulance trip to this point had been such a severe trial that Dempsey was only semi­ conscious. Later on, the details of his cap­ ture were learned; how he had received shat­ tering machine-gun wounds in both legs as Verdun, France, November 18, 1918. well as numerous other wounds and was then taken prisoner. This all happened during a tragic attack on the morning of Armistice Day. farther on foot over the rough unfinished Through some miracle the M.P.'s were not grade until finally reaching the point where much in evidence in the neighborhood of the the steel had been laid from the north end. station. This made it quite easy to find out The same luck that had helped us so far still the most likely route of travel to take in cross­ held good, for at this point we were so for­ ing the wide devastated area of the old front tunate as to be offered a ride on a construc­ which was immediately ahead. tion locomotive which was bound for some In this vicinity the entire countryside north construction camp well to the north. From of the city was no doubt more completely deso­ early morning up to this moment a very lated by war than any other part of France. All gratifying number of difficult miles had been signs of habitation were completely wiped out. eliminated. But food necessarily had been a The railroad extending north from Verdun strictly minus quantity. So when this loco­ was not excluded in this destruction, but was motive stopped at its destination well past obliterated beyond a trace for a stretch of midnight, we were extremely hungry. It was perhaps twenty miles, extending over the rainy and cold when we stepped out from more advanced portion of the German and the heat of the cab; and aside from this, it the French front line. Fortunately for us, the was blacker than ink outside. Although try­ American engineers had already made a good ing to appear more confident than otherwise start at rebuilding this railroad. One con­ we felt utterly stranded, standing there in the struction crew was working towards the south rain after the train crew had taken the en­ from the direction of Conflans, which was on gine off to a siding for the night. This feel­ the German side of the old Front; and another ing of gloom was soon shattered by astonish­ crew was working northwards from Verdun. ing peals of music bursting from out the dark­ It was about noon when we started out from ness! Verdun afoot, following the course of the Immediately our eager footsteps let us to­ newly rebuilt track. After walking a few miles ward the source of the sound, proceeding we were given a lift as far as the steel had cautiously through the inky blackness and been laid by a small construction gas-car. rain. Drawing near it became evident that From here we proceeded perhaps six miles the origin of this amazing disturbance was a

227 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 boxcar which had apparently been converted TOURING THE WAR, Conflans had been into some sort of living quarters. From this ^-^ a very important center of railway com­ emanated a volume of African harmony munication for the German Army. It was worthy of any vaudeville stage! We stood also the seat of the headquarters of one of fairly spellbound in front of the open sliding their army groups. We landed in the town door and gazed at the astonishing spectacle. on our construction train very early in the Inside the car, by the light of a lantern, morning. To our tired senses there was some­ one husky black was fairly beating the tar thing soothingly pleasant about the place— out of what had once been a gorgeous grand there were no American Military Police in piano. Behind him was a battery of about sight anywhere! Not even any American a dozen banjoes and guitars which were, in troops except for a small detachment of dough­ turn, supported by a solid boxcar full of boys. This was rather extraordinary, for there lusty voiced American negroes. And how were two recently arrived American Railway they were ringing out the old familiar tunes! Transport officers on duty at the railroad station. Preliminary conversation with these We remained entranced out there in the gentlemen revealed that their military ex­ rain for several minutes before our presence perience was gratifyingly slight. Therefore, became known. When they first saw us they we boldly announced that we were on our were very much alarmed, having taken us way to rejoin our Division in the Army of for some of their own officers; but as soon as Occupation and that we would greatly appre­ they discovered their mistake we were im­ ciate their co-operation in proceeding north­ mediately invited up into the car. These boys west over the German Railway system. we found to be part of a unit of colored Engineers who were working on the recon­ Undoubtedly these officers had been so struction of the railroad in which we were newly arrived on the scene that they had not so vitally interested. Furthermore, they were yet received orders in regard to the regula­ from the deep South back in the States; and tions governing the transportation of Ameri­ when they learned that Ewing was from New can troops; or else, the advent of such as we Orleans, where his father was a very promi­ had never been anticipated. However, it is nent newspaper publisher, their joy knew no extremely probable that had we arrived a day bounds. Although this broke up the rather or so later there would have been little or no sensational entertainment, as far as we were chance of getting by. But as it happened, concerned, it did strike pay dirt; for they an extremely lucky circumstance developed immediately proceeded to their kitchen to in our favor in the form of information to prepare some much-needed food. Meanwhile the effect that two American supply trains word was sent to their own officers of our were about ready to depart for the Army of presence in the camp. When they appeared Occupation. Aside from this good bit of on the scene the Engineer officers were sur­ news, these happened to be the very first trains prisingly glad to see us, for they had been which were sent to the advancing American marooned up here for several weeks. For­ troops over the German railway system. One tunately I was able to leave them a month-old of the trains was intended to go to rear ele­ copy of the Saturday Evening Post which I ments of the army in Luxemburg, while the had picked up in Paris. Then upon learning other train was designated to go to Treves, our desire to proceed north to Conflans, they (Trier), which was fairly well up into Ger­ very kindly made arrangements for us to many and exactly on our projected line of proceed in that direction an hour or so travel. later on a construction train which was going The supply train destined for Treves, which to that point for a load of construction sup­ we boarded, was quite a long affair, and a plies. This was an extremely fortunate break squad of American doughboys was detailed for us, for we not only had been royally fed to remain on board as a guard detachment. and entertained, but we were further provid­ As there were no passenger accomodations ed with the means of reaching Conflans at a on the train, Ewing and I occupied a "side- most opportune moment. door Pullman" in company with the dough-

228 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I boys, all other cars being heavily loaded with danger of going through into the city, we military supplies. jumped off the train a few miles outside. It was a cold and very uncomfortable trip By this time we were fairly starved, as we had from the start. The doughboys had blankets eaten practically nothing since parting with and some travel rations; but we were provided the friendly Engineers some two days pre­ with neither. The temperature was down to vious. freezing or below, and the air was very raw, A German Gasthaus at a cross-roads was with a mean, penetrating dampness. The train soon encountered, where we were given a had pulled out from Conflans about noon, bottle of white wine and a piece of bread in and from then on our progress was about as return for our sole remaining five francs. This rapid as could be expected for freight travel small bit of money we had hung on to up to under immediate post-war conditions. the last straw. By this time our hunger had After a night of agony we reached Thion- become simply irresistible. Food would have ville, Lorraine, quite early in the morning. been seized by force if necessary. But there In German this place was named Dieden- did not appear to be any surplus of food at hoffen. Here the train stopped for a consid­ this particular place, because the proprietor erable length of time. It developed that this himself looked starved. Leaving with our was the junction point from which one train hunger slightly appeased we started out on was to be switched north to Treves, while the road to Treves. the other train which followed was to be The strange things that one will do under sent due west to Luxemburg. Imagine our the urge of necessity are hard to account for. alarm to find our train switched over to But our predicament had become so serious the tracks of the Luxemburg division, for it that only some miracle could keep us going was explained by the German train crew that any farther. In this rather desperate state, this was what had taken place! wearily trudging on towards Treves, we had In sudden desperation I assumed command barely walked a mile when an American of the guard detachment and proceeded to ambulance approached us from the rear. hold up further movement of the train. This Rather boldly stepping out into the road, this development brought the entire local staff truck was flagged down to a stop. Strictly of German railway officials on the scene speaking, this was not a proper or polite pro­ with considerable wild expostulation on their cedure, but we were desperate. part. In my very poor German I finally made When this happened nothing but a violent them understand that some sort of mistake and profane protest was expected, but what had been made, for this particular train was developed was a stunning surprise and relief. intended to go to Treves. Thereupon they For instead of the anticipated hard-boiled commenced an investigation by telegraph, medico it developed that a kindly, elderly which ended in the discovery that through American medical captain was in charge, and some error at Conflans, the billing slips of he in turn, graciously invited us to climb the two trains had become reversed. This of aboard. After riding a short distance this course was a pleasant surprise to me, and at good gentleman revealed that he was bound the same time it was gratifying to them to for Wittlich, which was some one hundred find out the mistake in time. As soon as the miles north of Treves. Furthermore, it was facts of the case were established no further learned that Wittlich was the seat of Ameri­ time was lost in getting us out of Diedenhoffen can 7th Corps Headquarters which he said and on the way to Treves. was in command of General [W. G.] Haan. Up to the time we reached Treves on the fol­ Now, this was sweet news indeed, for General lowing morning, we had passed through a Haan was formerly our Division Commander, country inhabited by anything but friendly- and at one time Ewing had served as his per­ looking Germans. No American troops were sonal aide! In view of this very encouraging in sight until we reached the immediate vi­ bit of information we decided to gamble to the cinity of Treves itself, when they were sud­ extent of telling this captain our story. For denly very much in evidence. Realizing the there seemed to be but one way available to

229 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 reach Wittlich safely and that was as guests of much beer drinking and plotting went on, until our present host. a plan for our further advance was mapped Very fortunately this officer proved to be a out. Not only did we find out the location godsend in our plight, for he was not only of our Division in the bridgehead area, but sympathetic but was ready to help us to the we even discovered the proposed location of limit in getting us through to Wittlich. Un­ our Regimental Headquarters. In addition der his protecting wing we drove directly into to this, a providential means of conveyance Treves, parking in front of one of the lead­ to our objective was provided in the form ing restaurants. Our kind Samaritan pro­ of the personal automobile of the Corps Gas ceeded thereupon to buy us a very bountiful Officer, Col. Joley. meal, which alone was enough to endear us Good old Joley of course was sticking his to him for life, for we had reached the point neck out a mile in making such a rash offer. of desperate hunger. Leaving a bare table Only an extraordinary character of his sort behind us we proceeded on toward Wittlich would even dare dream of such a thing. But in our ambulance. A number of times along for us it offered the one perfect solution to the route we were challenged by Military the very tough problem ahead. Coblenz was Police, but each time our adopted protector still some ninety miles distant, and even after answered for the entire ambulance staff, in­ reaching there our Regiment was said to be cluding ourselves. After an interesting but thirty miles farther north across the Rhine. uneventful trip of several hours, over roads From the information given, the First, Sec­ fairly well jammed with advancing American ond, and Thirty-second Divisions had been trucks and soldiers, we finally reached Witt­ busy crossing the Rhine during the preceding lich late in the evening. two days, and we were supposed to follow This town was typically provincial in char­ close on their heels. acter, very neat and thrifty-looking and evi­ Aside from the car itself. Col. Joley also dently a rural trading center. The house which provided us with his personal chauffeur for had been taken over for General Haan's head­ the trip. This chap had already been to Co­ quarters was a rather large, fairly modern blenz a day or two previous, which had given place, and no doubt, owned by the town's him a chance to become familiar with the leading citizen. After bidding our recent roads. Furthermore, he was provided with a benefactor farewell, this place was naturally pass which covered the Corps Area, including our next objective. Coblenz. The vehicle allotted to us was a Ford roadster with a special speedster body. It was quite rakish looking and it later proved fTi KINGS BROKE BEAUTIFULLY for us to be very fast and trustworthy. -•- at Wittlich—the first lucky circumstance being that one of the General's original per­ It was early in the morning when we started sonal aides was still with him. This officer out from Wittlich in our racy Ford. The single happened to be a bosom friend of my com­ seat was too small to accommodate three pas­ rade, Ewing, both having served as aids to sengers so I sat perched on the top which was the General in the early days in France. folded back. Although it was a cold December [Captain Daniel D.] Thompson welcomed us day, this rather undignified and precarious as delivered from the dead but he felt that perch was occupied for the entire trip. it would be a necessary act of discretion to It was only a few miles out of Wittlich that keep our presence there as dark as possible, we bumped into our late host, the 7th Corps especially from the General. Therefore, we Commander, who was out making a tour of were housed in the same dwelling with this inspection. We caught a fleeting glimpse of distinguished gentleman for two nights and Dan Thompson's horrified expression in pass­ one full day without his knowledge or con­ ing, but the General fortunately did not hap­ sent. Meanwhile, we were very well enter­ pen to be looking our way. From this point tained by Corps Headquarters officers many on numerous detours were made to avoid of whom were formerly on our Division head­ roads which were packed with the troops of quarters staff. Especially in the evening our advancing Army of Occupation. It was

230 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I

U.S. Sigtial Corps The band of the 125th Infantry, 32nd Division, announcing the arrival of the Americans in Mayen, Germany, southwest of Coblenz, on December 7, 1918. an impressive sight to see the long, winding, talker, while I pretended that both my arms advancing columns. Often we could see for and hands were frozen, which was not far miles in all directions as we crossed high hills from the truth. Meanwhile, our case was tying and mountains. We passed many picturesque up traffic to such an increased extent that castles, perched on the snow-covered hilltops. they finally in exasperation let us by. Our At one time we went into an alarming tailspin greatest problem was still ahead—the crossing down an icy mountain slope, which nearly of the Rhine! ended our voyage. While the driver faithfully Knowing that European cities ordinarily hung on to the wheel, I nearly tore the top have a city map in the railway stations we loose from the body in hanging on; but our went there first for information. Arriving little craft finally righted itself on the edge there Ewing and the driver remained on of a deep drop on the very brink of disaster. guard in the car while I went into the station From here on we proceeded more cautiously to reconnoiter. The desired map of the city until the road flattened out into more level was soon located on the wall and duly studied. country. The map showed several bridges crossing the All went well at this stage of our excursion Rhine, one being at the end of a street only until we reached the bridge of the Moselle, a few blocks from where we were. Hastily into the main part of the city of Coblenz. Here leaving the waiting-room and returning to the we were stalled by a lengthy traffic jam of car, I found that Ewing and the driver had American trucks. At our end of the bridge a become alarmed at my lengthy disappearance, strong guard of doughboys from the First and deciding that I had been caught, they had Division was examining the passes of all men just started to make a getaway when I yelled. and vehicles entering the city. After much After hurriedly swinging around to pick delay they finally came to us, whereupon our me up, full steam was put on toward the se­ driver produced his 7th Corps pass. Ewing lected bridge. For by this time our nerves had and I, of course, had nothing to show, but become so thoroughly jumpy that any rather fortunately my worthy comrade was a good desperate move would have been a source of

231 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 relief. Our bridge was a high-span affair with in a hospital, having been evacuated a week a very long approach. Evidently it was being or more before the Armistice. At this time the very little used, for not a vehicle was in sight. Regiment fell into the command of a colonel As a strong cold wind was blowing up the of cavalry, Meyers by name. In my own com­ river, the doughboys were huddled up with pany, aside from the cooks, some three or their overcoat collars turned up and their four men remained of the original lot, the backs to the wind. Our Ford came up to them rest having been killed or wounded. and passed at top speed before they realized To add to our depression, we found that a anything was happening. We expected shots, tremendous loss of an apparently inexcusable but perhaps the fact that it was obviously an nature had occurred on Armistice Day. On American Army car held them back. Fortun­ this occasion, through improper functioning ately, the detachment at the far end of the of our Regimental Headquarters, our Regi­ span had evidently not noticed what had oc­ ment as a unit went over in an attack on the curred, so naturally made no effort to stop us, morning of November 11th, when the general inasmuch as the challenge would customarily attack order for that section of the wide front be made at the approach end. This was our had been called off. The result was that our last and greatest hazard. men pentrated the German line to a depth of Our route from this point led us down the a couple of miles against a concentration of Rhine for several miles past the picturesque enemy artillery fire, with German infantry fortress of Ehrenbreitstein to the town of and machine-gun units closing in on their Weid. Here we turned north, finding our­ flanks and rear. When they finally cut their selves in our own Divisional area. Whenever way out in a fighting retreat, there were not our Divisional M.P.'s stopped us, as they fre­ many survivors left to tell the tale. The of­ quently did, upon giving our names and our ficer who was commanding my former com­ old outfit we were immediately allowed to pany. Captain Dempsey, an old comrade, had pass. Reaching Thirty-second Division Head­ both legs broken by numerous machine-gun quarters was accomplished with little diffi­ wounds, was crippled for life and taken prison­ culty ; whereupon the location of our Regiment er. The second in command. Lieutenant was verified. From this point on, with a feel­ [Richard W.] Mulcahy, was killed. The other ing like being in our backyard, the route led company officers had become casualties. My twenty miles further north to Regimental head­ roommate in college. Captain Ralph E. Perry, quarters, which was located at Dierdorf, a who commanded "B" Company, was killed, small rural village of perhaps a thousand in­ along with many other of my very close habitants. friends. Our reception at Regimental Headquarters Aside from the great changes which had was very cordial, but nevertheless, our spirits taken place in the personnel of our outfit, the were considerably dampened by the almost story of this disaster killed our ardor for re­ total absence of our old comrades. A few of joining the organization. It was even sug­ the older officers who had become early casu­ gested both at Brigade and Division Head­ alties through wounds had been reassigned quarters that our assignment could be worked shortly before and immediately following the through successfully without our returning Armistice. Among these was Captain [Charles to Le Mans. Our Brigade Commander, Gen­ L.] Sheridan, a very close friend, who had eral Winans, whose heart had evidently be­ been wounded several times. Our old Colonel come softened by the cares of war, very gen­ [Robert B.] McCoy^ was somewhere in France erously offered to put us across the Rhine in his own car. However, not wanting to incrimi­ nate a general officer with such a clean rec­ ord, we decided to return as we came, on 'Robert B. McCoy (1867-1926), the Democratic candidate for governor of Wisconsin in 1920 and the our own power, if possible. The General, head of the Wisconsin National Guard, was a major- however, did supply us with a valuable tip general in the 32nd Division. Following his death in to the effect that the railway bridge across the 1926, the Sparta Military Reservation was renamed Camp McCoy. Rhine at Weid was to be planked for passage

232 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I of our Divisional artillery; also that there sought to determine the extent of our linger­ would be no guard on the bridge immediately ing enmity toward his fellowmen, he opened following the laying of the planks, which up rather freely. In the main his discourse would be some time in the early hours of indicated a desire on the part of himself and the coming morning. After having obtained the average conservative German for friend­ our long lost pay checks from the Division liness towards Americans. At the same time Disbursing Officer, we departed from Dier­ he showed a feeling of bitterness and hate dorf with no regrets, in time to take advan­ towards England and to a lesser extent to­ tage of the helpful suggestion in regard to wards France. In fact, he finally became the bridge at Weid. Although we approached so worked up over the subject that he openly the bridge with considerable apprehension, declared a fond hope that the United States it was soon found that the situation was ex­ and Germany might form an alliance and actly as predicted by the General; whereupon clean up France and Great Britain. But, un­ we crossed with no difficulty. From here derneath an apparent air of friendliness about we sped directly south to Wittlich without this German there remained a touch of the going near the much dreaded place, Coblenz. ever-present characteristic—servility in de­ feat—which was merely a mask for a sort of At Wittlich a very happy reunion took mean type of arrogance, suppressed, and only place with our great benefactor. Colonel Jo­ itching for the dawn of another Der Tag. ley, who had lent us the Ford, and with Cap­ tain Thompson and other kind friends at Our German train, contrary to the ordinary Corps Headquarters. These worthy gentlemen procedure of French trains, pulled into the seemed to take a fatherly pride in our ac­ main depot of Treves without any prelimi­ complishment. After a day and a night spent nary stop. Thus we were practically deliv­ here in an effort to repay at least in part ered into the waiting arms of our old friends, their recent kind hospitality, we boldly board­ the M.P.'s, without a chance of escape! For ed a German passenger train for Treves. as soon as the train stopped it was promptly boarded by a group wearing the dreaded At this point it is perhaps appropriate to arm bands, who immediately escorted us into digress to the extent of paying tribute to the the station for an examination of our papers. excellent management and maintenance of This looked like the beginning of the end! order in the German Railway System during this period, regardless of the collapse of their At the M.P. office in the depot two lieu­ government and army. In spite of the demands tenants presided who, much to our consterna­ of Allied transportation and the early delivery tion, were fairly polite. Therefore, instead of an immense amount of rolling stock to the of trying to go through the false motions of Allies, trains operated on schedule time with finding our official leave orders, we proceed­ perfect order. In view of the circumstances ed to ask them a great many foolish questions this achievement was quite astounding. about trains to Paris. This by-play of course could not be kept up indefinitely. A couple of embarrassed coughs on the part of the LTHOUGH we had previously been ad­ senior of the two indicated that our dialogue vised that it was unnecessary to pur­ A was perhaps wasting time to an undue extent. chase tickets for our trip, we were rather prepared for trouble with the conductor. We At this moment considerable commotion found seats in a first-class compartment, took place out on the platform, accompanied which was shared by a rather conversational by announcements in German, and people German businessman, who was evidently quite scurrying back and forth evidently clamor­ prominent and wealthy. With a polite salute ing to board a train which was soon to leave. the conductor passed us up for the rest of We excitedly asked if it were the Luxemburg the journey. Except from a conversational train and were told it was. standpoint, the trip to Treves was fairly un­ The propitious arrival of an M.P. corporal interesting. Our German companion, how­ who rushed up to urge us to make haste ever, spoke English quite fluently. After a helped in the execution of a "break for few guarded advances in which he apparently liberty." Hastily explaining to the M.P. of-

233 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 ficers that we would run out to the ticket track adjoining ours. Here French soldiers office, obtain our transportation, then re­ were rushing back and forth loading bicycles, turn to have our papers stamped, we bolted baggage and what-not on to what appeared to away from their desk. The move was made be a southbound train. The soldiers were un­ too fast for them to delegate anyone to ac­ doubtedly excited and in a mood of cele­ company us as a safeguard. bration beyond that inspired by an ordinary Instead of buying tickets we rushed through train trip. Inquiry developed that this was the gate and across the platform, which was the first train since 1914 to be sent back over fairly packed with civilians boarding the train the old border and front line from Metz to which had just started to move out. Natural­ Nancy. This was just another extremely ly, we presumed this to be the Luxemburg Ex­ lucky break! Without further ado we trans­ press—we were in too much haste to inquire. ferred ourselves to the waiting train to com­ However, the Goddess of Luck was with us prise the sole celebrating American contin­ as it later proved, for this train only traveled gent on this memorable occasion. about sixty miles, at an angle far to the east When the train reached the zone of destruc­ of the Luxemburg line, where it eventually tion, over which the track had recently been reached a junction of some other line which restored for a length of perhaps thirty miles, connected with Metz. Here we were obliged progress became extremely tedious. The de­ to wait over night in a chilly railway station struction and desolation of this area was for the arrival of an express train to Metz, tremendous, but it did not have the complete which came through in the very early hours absence of vegetation which characterized the of the morning. This place was apparently Front near Verdun. Knowing from previous out of the American Zone as none of our experience that the Belfort-to-Paris Express soldiers were in evidence. Except for a few passed through Nancy at about 11 A.M., our French officers and ourselves, the train to very slow progress was a source of great Metz was occupied entirely by German civil­ anxiety. Although it was hardly later than ians. 8:30 when we pulled out of Metz, the train In all probability, had we actually board­ was still crawling along in the midst of the ed the Luxemburg train at Treves as we in­ devastated area at eleven o'clock with little tended, we would have been taken off at the hope of improvement due to the condition of first station garrisoned by our Military Po­ the track. When we finally reached Nancy, lice, for our irregular and hasty departure the hour was somewhere near one-thirty in would have been ample evidence to warrant the afternoon. It was indeed a terrific relief a check-up on our status. As it was, we to finally land safely in familiar territory. reached the very advanced point of Metz, But there appeared to be no respite for which was far to the east of Luxemburg, with the weary vagabonds, for the M.P.'s were no further complications. literally swarming at the station. Although It was perhaps eight in the morning when we were safely back over the border, an exam- our train pulled into the central depot of nation by these sleuths of the Service at this Metz, where the main platform was fairly alive point would be, to say the least, extremely with our ever-faithful M.P.'s. This was not embarrassing. With all exits from the train anticipated, as the town was mainly occupied shed guarded, it looked fairly impossible to by the French. Under the circumstances there escape the long-postponed, unhappy ordeal. was only one thing to do, and that was to While we were in the process of cautiously stay aboard the train at all costs! It so surveying the M.P. lay-out through the win­ happened that the track on which our train dows of the now empty train, a small group was standing was perhaps four or five tracks of them caught sight of us and immediately away from the main platform. Several trains started to cross the intervening several tracks were loading and unloading on the various in our direction. With all hope of further tracks, but nothing heading south. escape gone and prepared for the worst, the This situation was anything but encourag­ thunderous noise of a rapidly approaching ing, but suddenly activity developed on the express interrupted everything.

234 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I

Accompanied by frantic warnings of shrill the Front. This unfortunately contained very whistles of guards and trainmen, which head­ few things of any usefulness or value. ed off the advancing M.P.'s, the big Belfort- The loss which hurt the most was that of to-Paris Express roared in on the track be­ my personal records, maps, orders, and writ­ tween us and the station some three hours ten snatches of diary. Aside from these I had behind regular schedule time! In all the long accumulated a nice collection of handcraft chain of fortunate circumstances which had metal objects made by wounded French sol­ kept us going up to now, this providential diers. Much of this was inlaid with silver and break was the crowning miracle. The vesti­ copper, on a brass or bronze body. This bules on our side of the train were closed, lot included over a dozen of extremely attrac­ but after considerable excited pounding on tive and artistic briquet lighters which had the door of a first-class coach, with the added been collected in various parts of Northern flash of a banknote, we were admitted with­ France. Also, there were many pieces of fine out question and without tickets. needlework exemplifying the art of various This final break of fortune, which landed provinces visited. All of these modest treas­ us safely on the last leg of our journey, af­ ures I had hoped some day to carry home forded the first real feeling of security ex­ in triumph for gifts to relatives and dear perienced since we pushed north from Chalons- friends, perhaps retaining a few for personal sur-Marne some eleven days previous. The souvenirs. restaurant car on the express was our first The unhappy realization of this loss pro­ objective, for during the preceding two days vided an anticlimax to the thrill of success we had been practically without food. Dining over the recent venture. Although, after wad­ cars were only being carried on a few of the ing through reams of red-tape, a claim of express trains, mainly on the longer routes. damages was filed. This claim was only al­ Our banquet of celebration was a thing of lowed to include a few very necessary items major proportions, being unbroken up to of clothing; such as were officially recom­ the time a few hours later when I had to mended for the overseas equipment of officers. leave the train at an approaching junction. Returning to Le Mans the following day, At this point, Vitry, where Ewing and I were my twenty-four-hour leave order was duly to part company, my fellow traveler was to stamped in the regulation manner by the proceed to Paris and from there back to Le M.P. office at the local railway depot. Al­ Mans, while I planned to take a train south though they appeared to be considerably from Vitry to the Central Baggage Depot of ruffled, there was little they could do other the A.E.F. at Gievres. This in order to ful­ than to report the case to higher authority. fill the purported mission of my twenty-four However, in that the only available evidence hour leave, which was now some twelve days of an incriminating character consisted mere­ overdue. ly of grossly overstaying an official leave, the anticipated consequences were not a source RRIVING AT GIEVRES my only reward of heavy foreboding. A was to find that the bulk of the baggage, With the hour of retribution at hand, para­ containing innumerable souvenirs of value, to doxically the first official move was of all say nothing of uniforms and clothing, was not things, an assignment to an M.P. post in Paris! But fortunately, the acceptance to to be obtained. This for the reason that the this was not absolutely compulsory, which car of baggage from the Front, which con­ permitted a convenient but not too pleasant, tained my belongings together with that of release from this rather distressing predica­ numerous other unfortunate officers, had been ment. The only alternative open, which was rifled in transit. Nothing remained to tell of a very definite nature, was in the form of the story except the empty canvas of my bed an immediate assignment to a tour of duty roll, showing my name and organization. at a nearby camp known as the Belgian Camp. However, I did obtain an army locker which This place was largely tenanted by the some­ was sent there previous to our first trip to what unruly element of casual officers, and

235 WISCONSIN MAG.\ZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

at the docks there were three vessels about ready to embark. After several minutes de­ lay the one out of the lot to which we were assigned proved to be by far the least pre­ possessing in appearance. It was amusing to observe the strange mixture of emotions in evidence upon the faces of the men—every­ thing from the most apprehensive gloom to that of an eager happiness that would per­ haps readily have accepted a rowboat for the passage. My private reactions towards the vessel were not too optimistic, for the thing looked like a mere tug compared to the grand vessel of our eastward crossing. This boat was a rather ancient Holland-American craft named the Ryndam. Somberly marching up the gang-plank after U.S. Si,i.'nal Corps having placed the men on board, I was The Eighty-seventh Division embarking onto the trans­ treated to a final, pleasant, overwhelming sur­ port Manchuria at Saint-Nazaire, January 10, 1919. prise—my old partner-in-crime, Ewing, was aboard! This most astonishing coincidence in addition there was also a regiment of was found later to be not entirely a matter American colored labor troops. Here my of luck, but more the result of much patient first assignment was to drill daily a platoon inside manipulation. This ray of sunshine of recalcitrant lieutenants, which was fully completely changed the outlook regarding the as distasteful to me as it was to them. After homeward-bound voyage. a week or more of this, an alternative was offered in the form of a job superintending There were perhaps eighty or more casual the operation of the colored boys from Illi­ army officers aboard, most of whom were nois, who were erecting new barracks. The from the Quartermaster Corps and the medi­ construction operations of these worthies cal branch of Service. The officer in com­ proved to be largely of a vaudeville character. mand of this military contingent was an old Their antics were funny beyond words, as friend of our stay at Le Mans, Col. Ruther­ every little movement was regularly accom­ ford, of the First Division. The Colonel's panied by song or dialogue of humorous char­ adjutant for the voyage was John Ewing. acter. Meanwhile, the work which was in no For my part I drew the assignment of Emer­ way essential went forward at a snail's pace. gency-Drill Officer. This involved mainly This for a time was amusing, but gradually the routine conduct of occasional drills in­ it became boresome. So, one day I went in tended to familiarize the military with the to Le Mans and obtained a reclassification location and preliminary steps of launching after a physical examination, on the strength of the various life-rafts to which we were as­ of my former wound. As a result of this re­ signed. This was to be carried out as a pre­ classification, it was only a matter of a week caution against striking a stray mine en route. or so before orders came through which ul­ In addition to the emergency drills there was timately resulted in my return to the States. also the minor task of conducting each day a At this time by some mysterious happy short session of setting-up-exercises. coincidence, my old friend Adams was dele­ I had no more than dumped my hand- gated to assist me in the command of a large luggage into the tiny cabin which I was to detachment of wounded men who were to be share with two others when I beheld the returned to the States. Upon reaching the somewhat intriguing vision of a poker game port of embarkation—St. Nazaire—Adams was unfortunately confined to a hospital at in full session in a cabin across the narrow the last moment. When our force lined up passageway. It was only possible to gaze longingly from the doorway for a few min-

236 ARPIN: WORLD WAR I utes before it became necessary to hurry off who submitted to this daily round of "phys­ to be about my duties. ical torture." Later on I became quite well acquainted Scarcely an hour had elapsed in the rush­ with this group, and its leading character, ing business of getting things organized before later to become famous as a sports writer, our vessel swung around in the mouth of the Lieut. Grantland Rice.* They were an en­ Loire and headed westward. Slowly steaming tertaining lot, hailing mostly from around out of the harbor under a clear sky, the gently New York. In order for me to qualify for rippled waters of the bay flashed in the after­ entrance into this charmed circle it was noon sun as the background of the fateful necessary to sacrifice the one least precious green-clad hills of France gradually became of my two pet Luger pistols. For after pay­ dimmed to finally blend into the bluish haze ing my mess dues for the trip, and a few other of the coast line. odds and ends, I was left financially flat. In the lazy days to come we spent many happy hours at the old army pastime. 'Grantland Rice (1880-1954), a noted sports writer and radio sports announcer, was a first lieuten­ Regarding the daily round of setting-up ant in the 115th Regiment. exercises, in later years it was somewhat "Franklin Knox (1874-1944), a leading news­ gratifying in an amusing way to recollect the paperman in the Hearst organization, later publisher of the Chicago Daily News, Republican nominee for vision of Maj. Frank Knox^ straining to reach Vice President in 1936, and Secretary of the Navy his toes with his finger tips. Also, if I recall from 1940 to 1944, was a major in the 78th Division. correctly, the future Senator Tydings® was "Millard E. Tydings (1890-1961), Democratic Sen­ ator from Maryland from 1925 to 1951, was a lieuten­ another member of the unhappy contingent ant colonel in World War I.

U S. Signal Corps Jubilant American troops arriving back in the United States.

237 SLAVERY IN THE AMERICAS: AN ESSAY REVIEW

By RICHARD H. SEWELL

IVT 0 CHAPTER of the American past bears A History of Negro Slavery in New Yorfc -•- ^ more direct relevance to the present than (Syracuse University Press, 1966), and Elsa that which tells the sordid tale of human slav­ V. Goveia's Slave Society in the British Lee­ ery. Whatever the causal relation between race ward Islands at the End of the Eighteenth prejudice and the origins of slavery', none Century (Yale University Press, 1965). would deny that in the United States the Of the three, the most ambitious is Klein's painful history of race relations since the comparative study of slavery in Cuba and Civil War is largely a legacy of that most pe­ Virginia. Using these "two highly represen­ culiar of all institutions. Still, one need only tative areas" as case studies, his aim is to look at the comparative racial harmony of test the validity of the comparative historical Latin America today to see that the prior models provided by Frank Tannenbaum and existence of slavery is not alone sufficient to Stanley Elkins.-' That is, he examines the explain the pattern of race oppression still thesis that the active intervention of powerful prevalent in the United States. Clearly the Spanish institutions—crown and church— character of former slave systems and, prob­ produced in Latin America a more "open" ably more important, the political, social, and slave system (one which recognized and pro­ economic context in which they functioned, tected the slave's humanity, which encouraged were crucial to subsequent race relations. Not emancipation and rendered racial adjustment surprisingly, then, recent years have wit­ nessed an outpouring of studies of American Negro slavery.^ Three of the most interesting, not only in their own right but also for the ^ In addition to the works under review, see Ken­ materials they offer for comparative study neth Stampp, The Peculiar Institution (New York, of a complex institution, are Herbert S. Klein's 1956) ; Stanley Elkins, Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life (Chicago, Slavery in the Americas: A Comparative 1959) ; Marvin Harris, Patterns of Race in the Amer­ Study of Cuba and Virginia (University of icas (New York, 1964) ; Richard Wade, Slavery in Chicago Press, 1967), Edgar J. McManus' the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York, 1964) ; Robert McColley, Slavery in Jeffersonian Virginia (Urbana, 1964) ; Eugene Genovese, The Political Economy of Slavery (New York, 1965) ; and David B. Davis, The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture (Ithaca, 1966). * See, for example, Oscar and Mary F. Handlin, ''Elkins, Slavery; Frank Tannenbaum, Slave and "Origins of the Southern Labor System," William Citizen: The Negro in the Americas (New York, and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Series, VIl:199-222 (April, 1947). The comparability of these two regions is 1950) ; Carl N. Degler, "Slavery and the Genesis of open to question, differing as they did by the nine­ American Race Prejudice," Comparative Studies in teenth century in stage of economic development, Society and History, 11:49-66 (October, 1959); degree of urbanization, vulnerability to outside inter­ Winthrop D. Jordan, "Modern Tensions and the ference, and pattern of demographic change. For Origins of American Slavery," The Journal of South­ Klein's criteria in selecting Virginia and Cuba, see ern History, XXVIII:18-30 (February, 1962). pp. viii-ix.

238 SEWELL: SLAVERY easy) than in British America, where such tailed their power of punishment, Klein none­ institutions left slaves largely to the mercy theless asks us to believe on faith "that by of their masters. the nineteenth century the attitudes univer­ On the whole, Klein endorses this argument. sally expressed in the vast body of canonical Well over half of his book consists of an at­ and civil law of Spain and Cuba had come to tempt to show how Spanish kings and clerics, be accepted as legitimate and morally op­ drawing upon law and tradition which viewed erative by the majority of Cuban whites." slaves as human beings with rights and im­ On faith again, Klein would have us believe mortal souls, nourished in Cuba a form of that while law was occasionally disregarded bondage far less oppressive than ever existed to the advantage of Negroes in Cuba it was in Virginia. Unlike the Virginia gentry, which rarely if ever breached to their disadvantage. from the outset turned royal indifference and Fernando Ortiz, who was written that the parsimony into liberal grants of self-govern­ legal rights of Cuban slaves were not en­ ment, early Spanish colonists soon fell under forced—that property rights, personal secur­ tight imperial control. Thus while avaricious ity, and the sanctity of families were more Virginians freely degraded the Negro, fore­ illusory than real—is dismissed with a wave closing his every hope of freedom and rob­ of the hand.^ Klein's grounds for discounting bing him of his most basic rights, Cubans— Ortiz are that he drew too heavily on the ex­ guided and checked at every turn by Spanish perience of Cuban sugar plantations. The im­ imperial authorities—developed "a power­ plication, then, is that economic conditions fully modified form of slavery that carefully (and local institutions like plantations), and preserved for the slave his rights to property, not imperial controls, patterned Spanish Amer­ to security, and to full religious equality." ican slave systems. This much of Klein's study bears the famil­ Certainly in his discussion of slavery in iar imprint of Tannenbaum and Elkins. In­ Virginia, Klein repeatedly confounds "the deed, despite his awareness of the distortions ideal of the law and the reality of practice." of a narrowly institutional perspective, Klein Old Dominion bondsmen, he tells us, were also falls frequently into the trap of his prede­ denied all forms of literacy, denied the right cessors—not only exaggerating the legal dif­ to hear colored preachers or even to attend ferences between Spanish America and British church except when accompanied by their America,* but, more importantly, mistaking white master or a member of his family. So, law for reality. Admitting that "the law too, Virginia slaves might not legally hire might be more or less enforced in given themselves out or meet socially without white periods," and that Cuban planters protested supervision. Yet whatever the law (and one vigorously against slave codes which cur- should not belittle its cautionary effect), the fact remains that many slaves throughout the Old South did all these things: learned to read and write, worshipped without restraint, gathered by themselves, hired out their time. * Klein occasionally overlooks Virginia statutes To be fair to Klein, he freely admits "that which limited masters' powers, such as those pro­ the law presents extremes of the actual in­ viding for the care of aged and infirm slaves. Like­ stitution of slavery, and that self-interest and wise, he exaggerates the legal depersonalization of the slave in British America. In 1828 a Virginia humanity on the part of the master mitigated judge quoted approvingly the Roman dictum: In its harshness. . . ." But such scant attention obscura voluntate manumittentis, favendum est liber- tati, and in 1844 the Virginia Supreme Court held does he give to practice and so uncritically that the agreement of a master to manumit a slave does he assume the effectiveness of legal codes on condition of six years service and payment of a stipulated sum should be deemed an immediate emancipation, since when in doubt courts should de­ cide in favor of freedom. Whatever the restrictions they put upon bondsmen, most Virginians probably would have agreed with the Tennessee judge who tersely noted: "A slave is not in the condition of ° Fernando Ortiz, Los Negros Esclavos (Havana, a horse." See Stampp, Peculiar Institution, 217-218; 1916), 173, 303-304, cited in Harris, Patterns of Davis, Problem of Slavery, 269-272. Race, 76-77.

239 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 that the overpowering implication of his book diversified economy heavily influenced by is that law shaped reality in its own image."^ urban organization," he contends, "Virginia Much of Klein's study, then, steps and was overwhelmingly dominated by a rural stumbles along the same path taken by ear­ plantation system and tobacco." Not even lier institutionally-oriented students of slavery the rise of corn and wheat production in the in the Americas. In the last two parts of his nineteenth century could loosen the hold of book, however, Klein strikes off in a new the plantation system or tobacco production, and more rewarding direction. These sec­ in Klein's eyes a particularly monotonous tions—"Slavery and the Economy" and "The and stultifying form of labor which did little Freedman as an Indicator of Assimilation"— to prepare the slave for freedom. What few skillfully argue the importance of economic, urban Negroes were to be found in Virginia military, and social needs in determining not were overwhelmed, isolated, and oppressed only the character of slavery but also the by the white majority—a view somewhat at pattern of race relations generally. In so odds with that portrayed by Richard Wade doing, they undercut more than they rein­ in his Slavery in the Cities. force Klein's own earlier institutional argu­ Whatever its blemishes (and there are ment. For it becomes clear from his own others to which one might point—his under­ evidence that what differences did exist be­ estimation of the extent of slave labor in tween the lot of Negroes in Virginia and Virginia industry, for instance^), Klein's ac­ Cuba stemmed less from cultural and insti­ count of the economic and military pressures tutional variations than from the special re­ conducive to looser bondage and racial in­ quirements of the society in which they lived. tegration is vastly more persuasive than his In Cuba, for instance, climate, geographi­ strained institutional interpretation. To draw cal location, and for two centuries a severe conclusions about the influence of formal shortage of white colonists, produced a di­ institutions upon social arrangements, one versified, increasingly urban economy which ought to compare societies in which economy, undoubtedly softened the grip of slavery on demography, military security (perhaps also many and prepared men of color for integra­ the physical features of the master class) are tion into white society. Similarly the mili­ roughly similar. As between Virginia and tary dependence of Cuban whites on colored Cuba and the differences were immense. militiamen probably encouraged manumis­ sions and weakened colorphobia. Marvin A NARROWER STUDY, although one Harris has already suggested that "because -^*- which like Klien's raises a host of useful there were certain essential economic and questions and adds to the stockpile of compara­ military functions for which slave labor was tive historians, is Edgar McManus's short useless, and for which no whites were avail­ monograph on Negro slavery in New York. able," Brazilian whites welcomed the crea­ To some it may come as a surprise that by tion of free half-castes.'^ Herbert Klein con­ the middle of the eighteenth century New vincingly argues that much the same thing York claimed over 9,000 adult slaves—"the happened in Cuba. largest slave force in any English colony On the other hand, says Klein, Virginia's north of Maryland." If many have forgotten economy developed along quite different lines this dubious distinction, the shades of those and much to the detriment of the Negro— New Yorkers who saw slavery to its end slave and free. "Whereas Cuba sought eco­ must be gratified indeed. At least it was nomic stability and development through a the hope of one delegate to New York's 1821 constitutional convention that if no mention were made of slavery—not even to abolish it

" It is similarly characteristic for Klein to slide easily, perhaps unconsciously, from a discussion of Virginia law to West Indian practice. See, for exam­ ple, 51-52, n. 43. ' Harris, Patterns of Race, chap. VII, especially 86- " See Robert Starobin's forthcoming study "In- 87. dustrial Slavery in the Old South, 1790-1860."

240 SEWELL: SLAVERY

—future generations might forget that it central role in the colony's economy. A bur­ had ever taken root in that state.^ geoning slave trade—both legal and illegal— Of special interest is McManus's descrip­ arose to supply seasoned blacks who soon tion of slavery in New Netherland. There, found their way into "virtually every field it appears, the Dutch created a system of of human endeavor." By 1746 Negro slaves, slavery "as mild as the realities of chattel widely diffused, totalled 15 per cent of New slavery allowed," with "none of the mutual York's population. hatred ... of the sort that brutalized slave Because the increasing numbers of slaves relations in other colonies." Although color created new problems of social control, says conscious. New Netherlanders accorded free McManus, and because, unlike the Dutch, Negroes the same treatment as whites. "Race the English were committed to the establish­ as an instrument of social repression," Mc­ ment of a permanent community, the screws Manus concludes, "simply did not exist in of slavery tightened. Slave codes sought to New Netherland." punish crime, enforce obedience, prevent in­ More remarkable still, the Dutch instituted surrection. Yet despite more rigorous con­ a system of "half-freedom" for favored slaves trols, at least some New York slaves retained —in some ways a more liberal arrangement rights uncommon elsewhere in British Ameri­ than the practice of coartacion, developed ca—to hire their own time, to own private in Cuba and carried to other Spanish colo­ property, to reject prospective buyers, even nies, whereby slaves might contract to buy to bargain with their masters for emancipa­ their freedom on an installment plan. "Half- tion. freedom" permitted a slave to enjoy full per­ The source of these exceptional freedoms sonal liberty in exchange for occasional serv­ is a matter for conjecture and debate. The ice and an annual tribute—"thirty schepels English crown, though it intervened more of maize or wheat," for example, "and one than once in the interest of the slave, was fat hog." no more successful in helping bondsmen than The striking thing (at least to one accus­ the constantly thwarted Society for the Propa­ tomed to the Tannenbaum-Elkins-Klein view) gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Mc­ is that such liberality flourished in an at­ Manus's own explanation—that the need of mosphere of legal and institutional indiffer­ masters for the co-operation of determined ence. The remarkable openness of New Neth- and highly skilled slaves forced grudging erland's slave system, the equality accorded concessions—assumes an already tottering free Negroes, derived not from the inter­ slave system. A better guess, perhaps, is that vention of crown or church nor from prior in New York, where slaves and free Negroes familiarity with blacks, but from the limited formed a relatively small part of the popula­ needs of a primitive economy. Elsewhere, in tion and where they were widely dispersed, Dutch Guiana and Curacao, for instance, masters might more readily grant what were, Dutchmen treated their slaves brutally—sug­ after all, exceptional and extralegal privileges, gesting again that cultural heritage counted than in a society seemingly threatened by for less than social and economic circumstance large and generally concentrated numbers of in setting the conditions of slavery.'" blacks. Moreover, the economic importance For reasons which McManus does not make of slavery in New York, while once consid­ entirely clear, once the English supplanted erable, never approached that in the South. the Dutch, slavery quickly assumed a more Virginia's example of tightening slave con­ trols as the black population grew and ex­ panded its economic role helps to illuminate the conditions, if not the sources, of New York's liberality. "Arthur Zilversmit, The First Emancipation: The Abolition of Slavery in the North (Chicago, 1967), vii. This is not to suggest that McManus over­ '° As did Cubans, New Netherlanders depended looks economic considerations. Indeed a ma­ upon Negroes for military defense, as during the In­ jor thesis of his book is that slavery flourished dian war of 1641-1644, when even slaves were armed. McManus, Slavery in New York, 17. in colonial New York because masters found

241 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 it "an efficient and profitable system of la­ differed somewhat from those in Virginia, bor," only to wither and die after the Revolu­ Cuba, or New York. The chains of slavery tion when "The rapid increase of the free continued to hang heavy, of course, espe­ population made slavery a relatively uneco­ cially on the ordinary field slave, whose life nomic system of labor." What he fails to "was characterized by coercion and depend­ demonstrate, however, is that slavery was ence." And a widespread belief in inherent either so profitable and indispensable in co­ Negro inferiority (shared even by many lonial times as to account for privileged treat­ blacks) served to mark free Negroes off " 'as ment of slaves or so unprofitable afterward a distinct and degraded class.' " as to produce its relatively quiet death. A Yet by law and social convention, in the related flaw is the failure to distinguish clear­ Leeward Islands slaves and free Negroes re­ ly between profits for the master and profits ceived favored treatment uncommon in many for society. The problems of evidence are parts of British America. Slave artisans might admittedly great. But Arthur Zilversmit has hire out their labor in their spare time; a recently unearthed enough information about favored few won full economic independence, slave prices to cast doubt on declining profit­ paying their masters a fixed rate for the ability (at least for owners) as a prime cause privilege. Plantation slaves received land of abolition." allotments (usually on inferior soil) and the right to sell surplus provisions and livestock. T N ADDITION to providing the best short Moreover, "The slave was always paid for -'• account of the abolition of Britain's trade any Sunday labour he might perform for the in African slaves, Elsa Goveia, professor of master, and, if his plantation lay near a town, West Indian history at the University of the he could earn a little extra money by collect­ West Indies, Jamaica, offers yet another angle ing and selling grass or firewood." The legal of vision from which to view slavery in the rights of slaves, though often observed in the Americas. The British Leeward Islands of breach, likewise expanded—especially toward which she writes depended absolutely for the close of the eighteenth century. Slave codes their existence upon slave-produced sugar. eventually stipulated fixed holidays for slaves, Though highly unstable by the end of the provided for jury trial of allegedly criminal eighteenth century, this sugar industry (as bondsmen, outlawed mutilation, and other­ Miss Goveia rightly calls it) had early wise protected the slave's person. Even the squeezed out most small planters, small trad­ black's African culture—so ruthlessly obliter­ ers, and white artisans and left government, ated in much of America—received protec­ society, and economy firmly in the grip of tion from whites who saw in cultural differ­ the great planters. At the same time, "a ence a means of social control. growing mass of Negro slaves, brought in to The most striking exception to racial separa­ do the agricultural work of the plantations tion in the West Indies was the prevalence and and used more and more as time passed in easy toleration of sexual intercourse between a variety of other occupations," gave the white men and colored women.'^ So cavalier blacks an overwhelming preponderance of were West Indians about such affairs (in­ numbers. By the last quarter of the century evitably so, given the relative scarcity of slaves outnumbered whites by ten to one white women and the accessibility of black) on the average and often by a much greater that, says Miss Goveia, "concubinage ab­ margin in rural areas. In 1778, to cite an sorbed nearly all the free coloured women of extreme example, the whole island of Barbuda childbearing age. . . ." Ironically, such con­ counted two white men and 290 slaves. cubinage (for such it was: interracial mar- In part because of this marked racial un­ balance, race relations in the Leeward Islands

" See also Winthrop D. Jordan, "American Chiaro­ scuro: The Status and Definition of Mulattoes in the " Zilversmit, First Emancipation, 40-46, 52-53, ap­ British Colonies," William and Mary Quarterly, XIX: pendix: tables I-III. 183-200 (April, 1962).

242 SEWELL: SLAVERY riages were rare and socially condemned) graphic patterns, levels of economic develop­ proved at once a badge of inferiority for ment, military needs, and so forth. colored mistresses and a means of escape from As all of these works make clear, moreover, inequality. For widespread miscegenation, in what most determined the character of slavery a society willing to face up to its effects, pro­ was its economic and social context. When, duced a favored class of mixed bloods which for example, circumstances in seventeenth- blurred the lines between races, facilitated century Havana and New York dictated the emancipation, and took the lead in demand­ use of slaves in a variety of crafts and en­ ing equality before the law. couraged great freedom of movement, slavery The success of such demands, as well as displayed considerable openness and benign­ what slight amelioration there was in the ity. Conversely, masters of plantations geared Leeward Islands' slave system at the end to staple crop production—whether of Cuban of the eighteenth century. Miss Goveia lays sugar, Virginia tobacco, or Mississippi cot­ chiefly to British pressure—to which the ton—commonly exploited and oppressed their islanders were singularly vulnerable. Further­ slaves in the drive for profit. more, she argues, the century's end found So too did the social and sexual needs of the whites more willing than before to accede the master caste affect the conditions of slav­ to such pressure. "The masters could afford ery and race relations. Slaves and free to treat their slaves with less severity," she coloreds seem to have fared best in a society contends, "because the majority of the slaves like New York, where Negroes were relatively already accepted their subjection under the few and broadly diffused among the white slave system." Perhaps. Perhaps, also, timid population. Life was much more brutal and yet persevering Christian missionaries, by in­ constrained in places like the Leeward Islands, truding new notions of religious brotherhood, where slaves and free Negroes greatly out­ ultimately and unwittingly undermined the numbered whites—although the sexual de­ concept of racial subordination. pendence of white men on black women in Still, without necessarily rejecting such ar­ such circumstances apparently tempered some guments, it does appear that modification of of the rigors of slavery and smoothed the the Leeward Islands' slave system and the transit from bondage to freedom. Negroes fuzzing (never abandonment) of caste dis­ seem to have been most repressed in societies tinctions derived chiefly from demographic where they were numerous and concentrated and economic circumstance. It took an im­ enough to seem menacing, yet not so num­ perial mandate to force emancipation. Miss erous as to be economically and socially in- Goveia convincingly demonstrates the West dispensible. Indians' imperviousness to humanitarian im­ At all events, there exists a clear need in pulses. But it was the nearly complete reliance future studies of slavery for detailed demo­ of whites on a vastly more numerous popula­ graphic data—the ratio of colored to white tion of blacks, together with the restraints of and male to female, birthrate, pattern of set­ geography and the unique characteristics of a tlement, etc.-—as well as for precise infor­ sugar mono-culture which shaped race rela­ mation about economic systems (including tions in ways of lasting significance. such informal "institutions" as the planta­ T N what direction do these studies point? tion) and social arrangements. -*- First, they illustrate the usefulness of Finally, historians of slavery would be well comparative study of slave systems. If the advised in the future to say a good deal more insights of the comparative approach are to than do Klein, McManus, and Goveia about be fully exploited, however, historians must the informal relation between master and try to match societies in which single, key slave. For only by combining insights into variables may be isolated. Thus, for example, such personal contacts (often harsh and dis­ when investigating the effect of national in­ tant, sometimes warm and close) with an un­ stitutions on slavery, scholars should so far derstanding of formal slave controls, can the as possible compare societies which differed full meaning and impact of slavery become in this respect but which shared similar demo­ clear.

243 REVIEWS

Black Metropolis — The Making of the Ghetto: A Review Essay-

By ELLIOTT RUDWICK

Despite the Negro Revolution of the 1960's, think. For instance. Savannah's Negro week­ historians have only begun to scratch the sur­ ly, the Tribune, dates back to the 1870's, and face in reconstructing the growth and develop­ continuous files exist since the 1890's. Aside ment of Negro communities since the Civil from the Negro press, a considerable amount War. Studies of Negro life are needed for of data on Negroes can be gleaned from the such cities as Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadel­ local white newspapers, city council and school phia, and a score of others in the North and board records, as well as court trial tran­ South. Although written records pertaining to scripts. Interviews with elderly people often Negroes have often been scanty, there is far provide invaluable insights. It is only from more material available than most of us might painstaking studies of many local communi­ ties that we will be able to make important generalizations about Negro life in the cities. The field of Negro urban history has been stimulated by the publication of three recent Harlem: The Mafcing of a Ghetto, Negro New monographs: Gilbert Osofsky's Harlem: The Yorfc, 1890-1930. By GILBERT OSOFSKY. Mafcing of a Ghetto, Negro New YorJt, 1890- (Harper & Row, New York, 1966. Pp. xi, 259. 1930; Constance McLaughlin Green's The Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. Secret City: A History of Race Relations in $6.95.) the Nations Capital; and Allan H. Spear's Blac/c Chicago: Tfie Mafcing of a Negro Ghet­ The Secret City: A History of Race Relations to, 1890-1920. Since the Osofsky and Spear in the Nations Capital. By CONSTANCE MC­ books cover roughly the third of a century LAUGHLIN GREEN. (Princeton University after 1890, they may be compared with the Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1967. Pp. xv, same time span in Green's work. 389. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. Osofsky's book is a serious effort to re­ $8.50.) create the emergence of the Harlem ghetto, but it does not quite succeed because of the Blacfc Chicago: The Mafcing of a Negro Ghet­ author's failure to devote sufficient attention to, 1890-1920. By ALLAN H. SPEAR. (Univer­ to the evolving segregational pattern and its sity of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1967. Pp. relationship to Negro leadership and ideology. xvii, 254. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, Spear has brilliantly explored these factors maps, index. $6.95.) and carefully described the growth of urban

244 BOOK REVIEWS

Negro institutions. His book is unquestionably barbers or caterers, maintained economic and the best of the three and is marked by rich­ sometimes even social ties with whites. Green ness and vitality. At the other extreme is reported that in Washington the Negro elite Green's The Secret City. Unfortunately, Negro frequently met with whites to plan the pro­ Washington remains almost as much a secret grams of community welfare and charity or­ as ever, partly because of the narrow per­ ganizations. Chicago's Negro leaders were spective that guided the author. In the fore­ especially fervent in pursuing the goal of inte­ word she declares, "For a white person to at­ gration, and they denounced as self-segrega­ tempt to describe the past of any Negro com­ tion almost any efforts of Negroes to create munity smacks of presumptuousness. Because separate race institutions. Thus in 1889, they I believed that an outsider could not fully re­ hooted down a proposal to establish a Negro capture the feelings and responses of insiders, YMCA, and four years later indignantly re­ I set myself to a different and more possible fused to support a Colored American Day at task; to analyze the interplay between the the World Columbian Exposition, even though races, rather than seek to set forth in its en­ various ethnic groups sponsored such celebra­ tirety the mode of life of some eight genera­ tions at the fairgrounds. tions of Negro Washingtonians . . . ." If one During this earlier period, Negroes did not seriously accepts this outsider-insider dichoto­ all live "within one large and solid geographic my, then perhaps only hoodlum historians area" in New York, Washington, or Chicago. should study the development of prisons. And The Negro sections of New York were usually only homosexual historians can study ancient only a few blocks long, with a considerable Greece. Of course. Spear's Blacfc Chicago be­ amount of intersprinkling of houses rented lies Green's limited perspective and proves by white working class families. Until the that hard work and a cultivated imagination 1880's and 1890's, Washington's "cultivated" can help even a white historian to describe Negroes frequently owned or rented "com­ and understand the growth of a local Negro fortable houses" in conveniently located, pre­ community. dominantly white neighborhoods. Some re­ In Chicago, New York, and Washington, the sided in such a desirable locality as the Lafay­ 1870's and 1880's marked a period when in­ ette Square area. Chicago's Negroes largely stitutionalized racial prejudice was under at­ lived on the south side in little enclaves com­ tack, and a "wavering color line" seemed to posed of a few square blocks, and again, some describe this era of easing racial tensions. streets were interspersed with whites. In 1898 Thus Osofsky records that affluent Negro only about one-fourth of Chicago's Negroes travellers patronized the most exclusive New lived in precincts which were more than 50 York City hotels and received courteous treat­ per cent Negro; about one-third of the city's ment in the best restaurants. A similar situa­ Negroes were located in precincts that were at tion probably existed in Chicago. Green pre­ least 95 per cent white. sents striking details about these two decades Between 1890 and 1910, the Negro popula­ in the District of Columbia — Negro politi­ tion in Manhattan increased from over 25,000 cians were among the invited guests at Grant's to more than 60,000. In Washington the popu­ second inaugural ball in 1873, and a decade lation grew from over 75,000 to almost 95,000. later "well bred" Negroes mingled with whites In Chicago there were 14,000 Negroes in 1890 on the White House lawn listening to summer and 44,000 in 1910. Proportionally Negroes afternoon concerts of the Marine Band. Sever­ were a miniscule group in New York and Chi­ al Negroes were included in the 1888 edition cago, and in Washington during these two of the Washington Elite List (a forerunner of decades the Negro proportion to the total pop­ the Social Register). Negroes were served at ulation decreased from 30 per cent to 19 per barrooms; they could also obtain meals at cent. Yet everywhere, the increased migration some restaurants as well as orchestra seats at of Negroes from the South stimulated the hos­ some theaters. tile demands of whites for residential segre­ Osofsky contends that "it was the easing gation and social exclusion. As Osofsky cor­ of racial tensions in the North in these years rectly noted, "the early twentieth century in that rekindled the traditional drive of the New York City and in the North generally Negro middle class for total acceptance as was a period of intensified racial alienation." Americans, not Negroes within our society." Whites excluded Negroes from churches, Spear and Green strongly concur, and note YMCA's, hotels, theaters, and restaurants. In that the Negro leadership class, as members some instances Negroes instituted lawsuits un­ of the professions or as entrepreneurs such as der state public accommodation laws, but they

245 WISCONSIN MAG.^ZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 were unable to reverse the discriminatory pat­ bar encouraged the development of a new eco­ tern. Often racial antagonisms erupted into nomic and political leadership with its primary violence. At the turn of the century there were loyalty to a segregated Negro community." In so many clashes between Negroes and whites Washington also Green found a "new solidar­ (especially the Irish) that a Manhattan neigh­ ity in the Negro world .... a sense of cohesive- borhood became known as San Juan Hill. ness, lacking for nearly thirty years, had be­ New York's race riot of 1900 — the first gun to emerge before 1911 .... [the Negro major one since the 1863 draft riots — sym­ press urged:] buy colored, support colored bolized the change in the racial climate. charities and colored civic enterprise; take Washington and Chicago were to experience pride in Negro achievements, and don't be their own holocausts in 1919, and by then Ne­ 'Jim Crowed' by patronizing places where Ne­ groes were more ready and willing to fight groes are segregated .... Businessmen and back. nonprofit groups began to talk of what Negro White hostility created the expansion of the solidarity had accomplished." Similarly in Negro ghettos. Inexorably mixed blocks be­ New York, Osofsky quotes a journalist who came all-Negro ones, and in all three cities the observed that in 1910, "the massing of the black belt widened. Whites who had resided large Negro population in the Harlem district in the increasingly delineated Negro neighbor­ has been the making of many successful Ne­ hoods were evicted by landlords wanting the gro . . . businessmen." This "massing" also higher rents that Negroes could be forced to caused many Negro churches to build or buy pay. And increasingly white realtors and pro­ in Harlem even before World War I. Osofsky perty owners made it exceedingly difficult for concluded that by the early 1920's, "practical­ Negroes to live in predominantly white areas. ly every major Negro institution moved from Spear concluded, "By 1915, the physical ghet­ its downtown quarters to Harlem." to had taken shape; a large, almost all-Negro The tendencies toward ghettoization of ear­ enclave on the South side, with a similar off­ lier years were further intensified mainly as shoot on the west side, housed most of Chi­ a result of the Great Migration during the Eirst cago's Negroes." The ghettoization process World War. Between 1910 and 1920 the Ne­ was vividly described by Osofsky in the best gro population rose sharply in Chicago from section of his book where he demonstrates 44,103 to 109,458, and in New York from how Harlem replaced San Juan Hill and the 91,709 to 152,467. The gain in Washington Tenderloin as the largest area of Negro settle­ was a more modest one, from 94,446 to 109,- ment in New York. Negroes were encouraged 966. Inexorably the boundaries of the Negro to enter Harlem in large numbers only when residential areas expanded and mixed neigh­ the bottom dropped out of the real estate borhoods became occupied exclusively by Ne­ market in the financial panic of 1904-1905. groes. In Chicago, for example, during the Their occupancy of the district was acceler­ decade the number of census tracts which were ated by Philip A. Payton, Jr., a Negro realtor largely Negro increased from four to sixteen. whose Afro-American Realty Company leased As physical and social isolation widened even and managed apartment houses and brown- more, many leaders dreamed about creating stones. a "Black Metropolis" rather than an integrated Growing white hostility modified the ideol­ city. In Chicago, of all northern communi­ ogy of many Negro leaders and seemingly ties, this dream was most vigorously advanced. created a higher level of solidarity within the To many this vision of creating a business, race. The militant integrationism of the old professional, and political elite on the basis of elite became somewhat irrelevant to a new a concentrated Negro market and on Negro rising Negro middle class of businessmen and votes was viewed as a temporary expedient, at professionals who sought "to take advantage best only an indirect way of achieving full par­ of the disadvantages" which the ghetto had ticipation in American life. To them it was created. They stressed a philosophy of self- clearly no solution to the problems of the help and racial unity and urged Negroes to race because the political and economic dom­ support colored stores, newspapers, and civic inance still remained in white hands. Yet to enterprises. Spear writes, "Between 1900 and some Negroes the dream was inspiring in and 1915 Chicago's Negro leaders built a complex of itself, and they believed that a well-organ­ of community organizations, institutions, and ized community supporting black "captains enterprises that made the South side not simply of industry," professional men, financiers, and an area of Negro concentration but a city politicians was a satisfactory alternative to within a city .... Chicago's tightening color the destruction of segregation. But the dream

246 BOOK REVIEWS was to collapse in the face of the depression paraphrase Osofsky, what they received was of the 1930's when the flimsy foundation of only a "taste of honey." Negroes were always the Negro business world became evident. underrepresented in the higher offices, re­ An important aspect of the rise of the north­ ceived usually only the crumbs of political ern Negro ghetto was the growing participa­ patronage, and often found their interest ig­ tion of Negroes in politics, based upon the nored by the white men for whom they voted. voting strength of the ghetto areas. Osofsky Even Mayor William Hale Thompson, known observes that this growth of the ghetto, with for his relatively generous treatment of Chi­ its tens of thousands of Negro voters, gave cago's Negroes, was incredibly ineffectual dur­ Harlem Negroes "A Taste of Honey": "Al­ ing the 1919 race riot, and in his long admin­ though the Negro's political progress in New istration he made no real effort to suppress York City was not an unqualified success, the increasingly discriminatory practices in there obviously was greater advance in this public accommodations. The fact that Thomp­ sphere of community activity than in all others. son did more for Negroes than any other may­ While the social and economic position of the or during this period, only underscores the city's Negroes tended to remain stable or with limitations of what Negroes could achieve the depression even retrogressed, there was through politics, even though they voted, by significant political mobility." Spear also and large, as a unified bloc. demonstrates that machine politics represent­ Because Negroes traditionally voted Re­ ed a significant route of upward mobility. It publican, GOP leaders generally thought they was only in Washington, where Negroes could could safely ignore the demands of Negro make no political gain from the rising ghetto. voters and politicians. Political rebellion, even There Negro political influence was practically a bolt to the Democratic party, rarely accom­ destroyed by the 1878 law which disfranchised plished much: at best, when a ward or legisla­ residents of the District of Columbia and gave tive district had become overwhelmingly Ne­ Congress the right to govern the area. Subse­ gro and thus conditions were favorable for quently the Republicans largely ignored local recognition of Negro demands, a militant Ne­ Negroes, and "political associations" between gro who had previously attacked the machine whites and blacks in the district "abruptly would be selected for office and co-opted by ended." Gone were the Negro members of the the party machinery. Osofsky presents in con­ board of aldermen. Gradually there would be siderable detail the complex political moves fewer appointive prestige positions, and hard­ and counter-moves by the Negroes and the ly any supervisory jobs in the federal bureau­ Democratic and Republican political organiza­ cracy. By 1908 there were actually fewer Ne­ tions in New York. Spear offers the best dis­ gro federal employees in the district than cussion of Negro politicians, and shows how there had been in 1892. Nevertheless, even they finally managed to dominate the second the lessened number of federal white collar ward, "not by rebelling against the regular employees aroused resentment, and during the organization but by using their leverage within first three decades of the century, under both it." Spear is probably correct when he says Republican and Democratic presidents, a pol­ that Chicago Negroes gained more from pol­ icy of segregating Negro clerks in washrooms itics than those in New York, Philadelphia, or and lunchrooms, and at work, was introduced any other big city, though he fails to provide and expanded. The status of Washington's statistical evidence for his claim. Nevertheless Negroes was symbolized when a Republican even by playing the political game with the administration dedicated the Lincoln Memori­ Republican machine, Chicago Negroes were al in 1922. To honor the memory of the Great slow to gain high political office; not until Emancipator, Tuskegee Institute's principal, 1928 did Oscar De Priest become the first Robert R. Moton, delivered a brief speech — Negro Congressman to serve since the turn of and then was escorted from the speaker's ros­ the century. And New York Negroes had to trum to a grandstand across the road where wait another sixteen years, until 1944, when all the other Negro dignitaries present were the flamboyant political "independent" Adam assigned. Clayton Powell was elected to the House of Representatives. In contrast to Washington, Negroes in both New York and Chicago during this period Together these three volumes are a most were able to secure a growing share of polit­ welcome and useful contribution to the litera­ ical patronage and to send increasing numbers ture. All three make it clear that the process of Negroes to elective office in the city council, of ghettoization, which has traditionally been state legislature, and in Congress. Yet, to associated with the Great Migration of World

247 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

War I and after, had actually begun by the the period 1673 to 1818 and another covering end of the nineteenth century. In view of the 1818 to 1848 there would be sufficient justifi­ present interest in Negro political activity, the cation for devoting a separate book to Illinois volumes by Spear and Osofsky provide helpful in 1818. Buck's concluding five chapters are background, and suggest that there are definite a fairly detailed narrative of the political and limitations to what Negro bloc voting can constitutional background for Illinois' ad­ achieve, at least in the short run. The Osofsky, mission to the Union. and especially the Spear, volumes offer a rich This new edition, with an introduction by source of information about Negro life in the Allan Nevins, in which he admits that the North during the first decades of the twentieth volume is not "a historical masterpiece," con­ century. Finally all three volumes suggest the tains no substantive changes—the only dif­ exciting vistas opening before us in the field ferences this reviewer could detect, other of Negro urban history. than matters of press style, were the deletion of a quotation which reflected unfavorably on (The reviewer is professor of sociology the Irish, the elimination of the engraved at Southern Illinois University, Edwards- illustrations, and the enlargement, in several ville.J instances to overwhelming proportions, of the line cuts. The changes are so minor that even the references to the important collec­ tion of land records locate them in the state REGIONAL HISTORY auditor's office rather than the state archives. Although the republication of Buck's book is not particularly noteworthy, it does serve to announce what promises to be a significant Illinois in 1818. By SOLON J. BUCK. (2d ed.. addition to the historical knowledge of Illi­ University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1967. Pp. nois: the Illinois Sesquicentennial Commis­ xiii, 356. Illustrations, notes, appendixes, bib­ sion's sponsorship of new volumes by three liography, index. $7.50.) of the state's historians—John H. Keiser and Donald F. Tingley of Eastern Illinois Uni­ Milo M. Quaife concluded his 1917 review versity, who will cover the years from 1865 of Illinois in 1818 with the comment that "a to 1900 and 1900 to 1930, respectively, and second edition of the book is improbable." Arvah E. Strickland of Chicago State College, He failed to anticipate that within fifty years who will bring the state's multi-volume history the volume would be mustered into service for up to date. the Illinois Sesquicentennial Commission. While the five-volume history of Illinois spon­ sored by the Illinois Centennial Commission WILLIAM C. MARTEN was a notable wartime undertaking, Solon The State Historical Society of Wisconsin J. Buck's contribution, which served as the introductory volume to the series, was not significant, either then or now. He writes with little grace, he advances no thesis, he uncovers no major new information. The first Free But Not Equal: The Midwest and the six chapters, on the Indians and the fur trade, Negro During the Civil War. By V. JACQUE the public lands, the extent of settlement, the VoEGELl. (University of Chicago Press, Chi­ pioneers, and economic and social conditions, cago, 1968. Pp. vii, 215. Notes, bibliography, are primarily descriptive. Twenty-five per index. $5.95.) cent of the text is devoted to block quotations and much of the remainder consists of short By studying newspapers, public addresses, quotations and paraphrased sources. Any­ private correspondence, and other contempo­ thing dating from the single year 1818 as­ rary materials, the author of this little book sumes significance, whether it was a traveler has sought to analyze the attitudes of white who crossed the territory that year or an il­ Middle Westerners toward Negroes during the lustration of a handmade brace "used in a years of the Civil War. At the same time he machine shop in St. Clair County in 1818." has written a good account of the evolution It was undoubtedly a fundamental error in of Lincoln's emancipation and racial policies. the conception of the multi-volume history which assumed that with one volume covering The position of the Middle Western Democ­ racy on the race question was quite simple

248 BOOK REVIEWS and straightforward from the beginning of defended emancipation on moral grounds, the war to the end. With few exceptions Dem­ and there was an upsurge of support for the ocrats were white supremacists who were extinction of slavery as a legitimate war aim. strongly opposed to the abolition of slavery Churchmen became more vocally antislavery because they feared an influx of free Negroes and pro-Republican in their utterances, and into the North. Appeals to race prejudice more and more politicians declared that God were a stock in trade of almost all Democratic had willed the war to destroy slavery. politicians. The attitudes of Republicans were By the end of the war Republicans were ad­ more complex and fluid. Like most whites vocating greater justice for Negroes and were of the period most of them regarded Negroes beginning to repeal some discriminatory state as inherently inferior. Their opposition to laws. But Voegeli doubts that the average Mid­ slavery was a curious mixture of humanitarian- dle Western Republican was committed to ism and race prejudice. As the Springfield political equality, and Democrats were still Illinois State Journal, one of the leading Re­ adamantly opposed. In short, he concludes: publican organs, put it: "The truth is, the "Four years of war had tempered the racism nigger is an unpopular institution in the free of the Midwest but had not purged it." states. Even those who are unwilling to rob them of all the rights of humanity ... do not care to be brought into close contact with EMMA LOU THORNBROUGH them. Now we confess that we have . . . Butler University a prejudice against the nigger, but we do not hold on that account we are bound to . . . spend three or four hours of each day of our life in devising schemes to rob the black man of all the rights of human nature, and RECONSTRUCTION HISTORY herein we differ from modern Democracy." The outbreak of the Civil War intensified racism by raising the question of the future Presidential Reconstruction in Mississippi. By status of slaves and arousing apprehension WILLIAM C. HARRIS. (Louisiana State Univer­ of a northward migration. Black refugees sity Press, Baton Rouge, 1968. Pp. x, 279. from the war-torn states were likely to be Illustrations, notes, bibliography, maps, index. met with antagonism. Sentiment in favor of $8.00.) Negro exclusion laws was strengthened. The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation had William C. Harris's Presidential Reconstruc­ an adverse effect upon the Republicans in tion in Mississippi offers the first detailed the autumn elections of 1862 and contributed study of the months between the Confederate to a Democratic sweep. surrender in 1865 and the passage of the mili­ To counteract fears of the consequences tary reconstruction bill in March, 1867 — the of abolition of slavery many Republicans ad­ months when white Southerners were "for the vocated colonization schemes. Men who recog­ only time during the reconstruction era . . . nized that such proposals were unrealistic generally free to react naturally to the pro­ supported them out of political expediency blems of adjustment after the Civil War." In because they enabled them to reconcile ad­ examining Mississippians' responses to defeat vocacy of freedom with white supremacy. Re­ and the solutions they offered for the problems publicans also argued that emancipation would of economic, social, and political readjust­ actually lead to an exodus from the North. ment, Mr. Harris reiterates what we have long Once slavery was abolished, they said, Ne­ known: that intemperate legislation enacted in groes would seek the more congenial climate Mississippi between 1865 and 1867 signifi­ of the South. In June, 1863, the American cantly weakened Andrew Johnson's position Freedmen's Inquiry Commission, headed by with the Congress and strengthened the hands Robert Dale Owen, predicted that freedmen of the Radical Republicans who could impose would stay in the South and that most north­ on the South the very program which Missis- ern Negroes would eventually move to the sipians most feared. But he argues that even former slave states. had Andrew Johnson's program prevailed, Voegeli finds that a turning point in opin­ quick economic and social rehabilitation of ion as well as in military fortunes came in Mississippi would have been impossible under mid-1863. After the Union victories at Get­ the regime which controlled the state in the tysburg and Vicksburg, Lincoln increasingly two years immediately following the war.

249 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

Presidential Reconstruction in Mississippi tion of Mississippi to prewar prosperity would makes the strongest case yet advanced for the have been unlikely. Labor problems, discrim­ persistence of Whiggery during early recon­ inatory federal banking and tax laws, and the struction. Members of the convention of 1865 difficulty of obtaining outside credit after and of the legislature elected that year, Harris 1866 only aggravated a situation in which demonstrates, were predominantly former the old bases of credit had been destroyed and Whigs, as were most of those who held higher local capital for the rebuilding of the state was state office during 1865-1867. But Harris unavailable. When the Whig-dominated legis­ goes beyond mere numbers to suggest a true lature insisted that old debts be paid and re­ party cohesion and a retention of antebellum fused to enact the stay ordinances or exemp­ party lines in Mississippi. A clear division tions permitted in some other Southern states, between Whigs and Democrats, he argues, it sealed the economic doom not only of the lasted until old party ties finally loosened after yeoman farmers, but of the planters and mer­ the national elections in the fall of 1866. chants who might otherwise have led a quick Because Harris's book breaks new ground economic recovery of their state. Mississippi­ and because it is likely to set a pattern for ans, then, contributed not only to the failure future studies of Presidential Reconstruction, of Presidential Reconstruction on the national his suggestions about persistent Whiggery de­ level, but unwittingly to the failure of eco­ serve closer examination. That former Whigs nomic rehabilitation at home, as well. held office in Mississippi between 1865 and Professor Harris's attempt to cover all as­ 1867 can no longer be disputed. That they pects of Presidential Reconstruction in Missis­ maintained cohesion as a party, that they sippi has resulted in a somewhat choppy or­ thought of themselves as Whigs or acted to­ ganization and in a monograph whose major gether as Whigs would still seem open to ques­ themes do not always emerge as clearly as one tion. Professor Harris concedes what his own might wish. Nonetheless, his book poses the evidence shows: that the postwar Whigs (like questions with which all who deal with Presi­ their antebellum counterparts) could rarely dential Reconstruction in the future must cope, agree on policies or even on candidates for and it suggests answers which will force all office. Though he argues that party lines per­ of us to rethink our assumptions about the sisted until the fall of 1866, moreover, he pre­ failure of Reconstruction in the Southern sents us with quotations which suggest disinte­ states. gration by late in 1865 or very early in 1866. Perhaps Harris has been too preoccupied with head-counting and with the surface matter of ELIZABETH STUDLEY NATHANS persistent Whig organization, and has labored The University of North Carolina at a thesis which the evidence cannot fully sus­ Chapel Hill tain. What his evidence does suggest, and what Professor Harris occasionally hints, is a broader significance of Whig domination in Mississippi between 1865 and 1867. Whatever cohesion the former Whigs lacked as a party, The Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina, they still thought as Whigs. Their social at­ 1865-1872. By MARTIN ABBOTT. (University titudes and their economic policies were those of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1967. they had maintained before the War. Dr. Pp. viii, 162. Notes, index. $5.00.) Lillian A. Pereyra's study of James Lusk Al­ corn has recently focused our attention on this matter of Whig patterns of thought among With the present awareness that a cen­ Reconstruction politicians; Harris's broader tury-old commitment to equality remains un­ study would seem to offer an ideal opportun­ fulfilled, new questions are being asked about ity for examining the influence of Whig the nation's first effort to secure equal status thought on early Reconstruction. for the Negro. Only a little vitality remains in the old controversy over charges that the Such an examination might be especially Freedmen's Bureau was ill-conceived, corrupt, significant in view of Mr. Harris's convincing partisan, oppressive, the source of unwar­ argument that the economic and social policies ranted expectations, the fomenter of race hat­ of Mississippi's legislature between 1865 and reds and labor unrest in the post-Civil War 1867 handicapped efforts toward the rehabili­ South. Additional evidence discrediting that tation of the state. Even had Johnson's pro­ indictment is useful and comes readily to gram not failed, Harris shows, speedy restora­ hand in Professor Abbott's judicious study.

250 BOOK REVIEWS

He has found neither corruption nor parti­ the Bureau in South Carolina included only sanship characteristic of the Bureau in South eighty-eight persons, of whom eighteen were Carolina, and he attributes local hostility physicians under contract, and that the ag­ largely to fear that the Bureau's work en­ gregate number employed during the entire dangered racial patterns of white supremacy. life of the Bureau was approximately two Of special interest is the fresh focus with hundred and fifty. This reader would like which the author begins his inquiry. He ac­ to know how many served continuously for cepts the validity of the Bureau's objectives significant periods of time, who they were, but asks how well they were achieved. Did and what they were like. its officers and agents meet the needs of the former slave? Were they a success or fail­ LA WANDA COX ure at the local level? He sees achievement Hunter College of the dwarfed by the magnitude of the task and City University of New Yorfc renders a verdict of "qualified failure." Nev­ er possessing the means essential to its mis­ sion, the Bureau was understaffed, underfi­ nanced, short-lived, inadequately supported by the military, without power to protect the freedmen's legal rights in court, without re­ Three Carpetbag Governors. By RICHARD N. sources to provide for him the land that CURRENT. (Louisiana State University Press, might have served as an economic base for Baton Rouge, 1968. Pp. xii, 108. Bibliogra­ freedom. phy, index. $3.75.) Unlike some recent reappraisals of the First Reconstruction, this one is even-handed and In this brief biographical treatment of mindful of historical perspective. There are Reconstruction governors Harrison Reed (Flo­ no acrimonious charges of insincerity or be­ rida), Henry Clay Warmoth (Louisiana), and trayal. Appreciation, even admiration, per­ Adelbert Ames (Mississippi), Professor Cur­ vades the presentation of the Bureau's relief rent attempts to dispel what he regards as four work—the three million rations distributed, major stereotypes concerning "carpetbag­ the 175,000 medical cases treated, the gers": first, that they "incited Negroes against $300,000 advanced for planting and furnish whites"; second, that as governors they were in 1868, the transportation provided 4,500 "kept in power by federal support and . . . destitute who sought homes or employment. bayonets"; third, that these governors "were Nature, with drought, rains and insects, shares virtual dictators"; and finally, that generally responsibility with man for the failure to "carpetbaggers were rootless wanderers, mere secure decent economic rewards for the freed­ adventurers. . . ." Not surprisingly, these men in their first years as free laborers under stereotypes are found inapplicable to indi­ contracts supervised by the Bureau. Surpris­ vidual situations. Harrison Reed, a former ingly, the record in Negro education draws Wisconsin Whig journalist, for example, the author's sharpest criticism—that it failed wooed conservative white votes to become Re­ to reach three-fourths of the children, pro­ construction governor of Florida (1868- vided an unrealistic curriculum for those who 1872). He was, writes Current, "interested in entered the classroom, and ended its work promoting economic development rather than in 1870 on a note of gloomy foreboding. Negro rights," and thus hardly incited Ne­ The author's purpose is to judge the Bureau groes against whites. An early enemy of not by directives from Commissioner 0. 0. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, Howard in Washington but on the basis of Reed supported President Andrew Johnson's its performance in the field. His research is Reconstruction program and consequently directed to this end, being based primarily lost federal support as Radicals gained upon manuscript records of the Bureau for strength in Washington. His attempt to iden­ South Carolina, some forty-six linear feet of tify with Florida Democrats failed to salvage letters, reports, rosters of employment. De­ his political career, and although he con­ spite the author's intimate acquaintance with tinued to reside in the state he never re­ these materials, the reader finishes the brief gained political influence. Reed, then, was volume with little knowledge of local officers neither a wanderer nor a political power. and agents—their problems and response, The details, of course, change in the careers their failures and their success. Professor of Louisiana's Warmoth (1868-1872) and Abbott has found that at its maximum strength Mississippi's Ames (1872-1876), but the

251 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 pattern of practical conservatism and political terrorism. In the end, these "Black" Repub­ impotence remains. Far from being unsettled, licans showed their true colors. scheming oppressors of a prostrate South, Current portrays these carpetbaggers as pret­ LOUIS S. GERTEIS ty conventional fellows who, try as they might, University of Wisconsin were simply unable to become politically pow­ erful in the South. Indeed, so strikingly simi­ lar are their careers that Current's search for individual variation—"The Carpetbagger as Conservative" (Reed) ; "The Carpetbagger as Corruptionist" (Warmoth) ; "The Carpetbag­ Ballots and Fence Rails: Reconstruction on ger as Man of Conscience" (Ames)—is some­ the Lower Cape Fear. By W. MCKEE EVANS. what puzzling. Reed's allegiance to Johnson (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel perhaps gave him an edge as "conservative," Hill, 1967. Pp. xiv, 314. Notes, maps, ap­ but the corruptionist charges leveled at War­ pendixes, bibliography, index. $7.50.) moth were of the same sort (impossible to sustain or dismiss historically) as those hurled Recipient of the State and Local History at Reed and Ames. Moreover, Ames's rhe­ Manuscript Award for 1966, this is an im­ toric of conscience was not markedly differ­ portant and exceptionally well written ac­ ent from that employed by Reed and Warmoth. count of the post-Civil War experiences of Current concludes that "these men viewed eight counties surrounding Wilmington, North the South ... as a new frontier. . . ." This Carolina, and it is precisely the kind of de­ may be true, but it hardly accounts for their tailed study needed to clarify our understand­ actions in the South, or, indeed, for their ing of that still perplexing era. The human impotence. Certainly the political forces with interest and literary craftsmanship of Evans' which they had to cope in the South bore little earlier chapters approach that of Willie Lee relation to those they may have known in Rose's admirable account of the Sea Islands, the West. Negro political power, of course, while his focus upon later years (1865 to was the key to Republican success in the 1877) affords the additional advantage of South—Reed, Warmoth, and Ames simply an enlightening involvement in the economic, failed to act accordingly. Reluctantly, with political, and racial intricacies of radical Re­ political disaster imminent. Governor Ames construction itself. armed a small contingent of Negroes to face The lower Cape Fear's diverse economy widespread white terrorism. He noted, too encompassed rice and cotton plantations, the late, that "... a revolution has taken place tar and lumbering industry, and the com­ —by force of arms—and a race are dis­ mercial bustle of Wilmington, which was franchised—they are to be returned to a then the state's largest city. Consequently, condition of serfdom—an era of second slav­ the populations studied are both urban and ery." Intimidation of Negro voters helped rural and include landed nabobs, merchants, bring political ruin to Reed and Warmoth farmers, industrialists, former slaves, and the as well. poorer whites of the piney backwoods (a "Adequate generalizations," as Current ob­ remote region that produced pockets of war­ serves, must indeed "await a further study of time unionism and, occasionally, shocking a large number of men who . . . form an in­ violations of the racial mores of the South). finitely variegated group." Certainly old One of the volume's important contributions stereotypes must be discarded. Yet even the is its depiction of these various groups and limited evidence made available in this book their interrelationships, while an emphasis would seem to justify one generalization— upon the origins and nature of Southern Re­ that the conservative and self-conscious ap­ publicanism provides informative political de­ proach of these carpetbag governors to their tail and numerous striking vignettes of Union­ Negro constituents contributed to the forces ists, Negroes, scalawags, and carpetbaggers. which ultimately left them politically impo­ Evans' portrayal of the freed population tent. Both Reed and Warmoth sought in convincingly amends older stereotypes by its vain to win acceptance in Democratic ranks revelations of conscious self-direction and by abandoning their Negro supporters. Even accomplishment. Negroes welcomed freedom Ames, who (in the 1870's) had little hope of and Yankee troops with indubitable enthus­ gaining widespread white support, failed to iasm and thereafter pursued their own inter­ help his Negro constituents resist Democratic ests with surprising effectiveness. In fact, the

252 BOOK REVIEWS author concludes that the old elite's immed­ area, there being a close correlation between iate, brutal effort to establish a postwar order political and economic innovation." on its own terms failed in part because of Overall, this study suggests that in one Negro resistance, whereas radical Reconstruc­ locality, at least, radical Reconstruction was tion brought harmony and stability to the less a dictatorial tragedy than a political region. Furthermore, Negroes intimidated the and economic success that provided a rare Ku Klux Klan out of existence, and their moment of freedom in the history of the assertiveness helped generate the Republican South. Although some of the analysis rests party's most serious internal split—a clash upon a flimsy base and there are matters of between moderate, upper-class paternalists detail that demand quibbling, this is an im­ and more crude and popular politicians, who portant work which provides new details and often were Negroes. Nevertheless, through incisive insights and which is certainly re­ a continuing affiliation with dominant white quired reading for any serious student of allies, Negroes provided the substance of a Southern Reconstruction. Republicanism so firmly established that it was not locally displaced but was subverted OTTO H. OLSEN only by the state's suspension of county self- Northern Illinois University government and its atrocious gerrymander­ ing of Wilmington. It may be, to go beyond Evans' own conclusions, that the desired sup­ pression was not fully achieved until the Wil­ mington riot of 1898. While racist traditions helped keep the GENERAL HISTORY vast majority of whites hostile to Republi­ canism, a variety of scalawags emerged— former Unionists, a decisive sprinkling of progressive-minded planters and businessmen William Henry Seward. By GLYNDON G. VAN (including a high proportion of antebellum DEUSEN. (Oxford University Press, New York, residents of New England ancestry), back­ 1967. Pp. xi, 666. Illustrations, notes, biblio­ woods and city workers, and even Confed­ graphy, index. $12.50.) erate veterans who became ardent, sometimes belligerent, champions of equal rights and This book is the first important biography the common man. Discussion of the more of William Henry Seward to appear since prominent scalawags is, however, disappoint­ Frederic Bancroft published his two-volume ingly sparse. The carpetbaggers appear much treatment in 1900. Glyndon G. Van Deusen, less diverse, usually being admirable New research professor of history emeritus at the Englanders of marked ability and promi­ University of Rochester and biographer of nence, like George Z. French and Joseph C. Horace Greeley, Henry Clay, and Thurlow Abbott, who arrived with the Union army. Weed, based this work primarily on the mag­ Quite unique, was another New Englander, nificent Seward collection at the University Amy M. Bradley. A schoolmarm who arrived of Rochester (which he helped to collect and in 1866, Miss Bradley devoted herself to two organize), other Seward materials scattered decades of teaching not Negroes, but poor throughout the country, and on one hundred whites, and to popularizing mass education other manuscript collections. The result is throughout the region and state. an examination which clearly supercedes Ban­ croft and will undoubtedly long remain the In a related economic analysis, Evans con­ standard account of Seward's life. Never­ nects the political failures of the old gentry theless, it is somewhat disappointing. to the collapse of rice farming and a general Seward was, without question, one of the postwar economic crisis. Recovery was en­ most important political figures of his day, couraged by those much maligned railroad serving as governor of New York during the projects, by federal aid in dredging the har­ time of the Canadian Rebellion, Senator dur­ bor, and by certain new industries and was ing the crises of the 1850's, and Secretary of accompanied by a shift in power from plant­ State during the critical Civil War and early ers to industrial and mercantile interests. Reconstruction years. No major study of Throughout, "the carpetbaggers and others these events can legitimately fail to mention who repudiated the ante-bellum traditions Seward's part in them. Neither can historians were generally a stimulating influence in the afford to ignore his role among the young

253 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

Nowhere is there a clear discussion of the nature and sources of Seward's appeal and support below the leadership level in New York. Seward's rise to prominence and con­ tinued success, therefore, remains cloudy. More serious is the author's failure to work Seward's thought regarding America's "higher destiny" into his narrative. Seward's vision of a future American empire was based upon a combination of missionary impulse and an­ ticipated economic necessities, and it marked him as a vitally important transitional figure in the shift from antebellum territorial ex­ pansion to postbellum commercial imperial­ ism. These themes are considered by Van Deusen essentially in three summary chapters (almost as a bothersome intrusion), with the result that it is all but impossible to see any development and maturation in Seward's ideology. Finally, it might have been worth­ while had the author relied less on mere de­ scription and applied some psychological in­ sight to his consideration of Seward's per­ sonality. Van Deusen's general thesis, furthermore, that Seward was both an idealist and a realist Society's Iconographic Collection and that his ideas and policies were the result William H. Seward, from a photograph taken in Madi­ of a mixture of humanitarianism and political son, September 12, 1860, while he was on a campaign realism, each tempering the other, is not espe­ tour. cially satisfying or convincing. Too often when Seward's humanitarian inclinations Whigs of the 1840's, his "higher law" and stood in the way of "political realism," the "irrepressible conflict" speeches, his presiden­ latter triumphed. It is difficult to accept the tial aspirations before the nomination of Lin­ author's contention that Seward's humane im­ coln, and his astute wartime and visionary pulses had tangible effects on his decision to postwar diplomacy. In many ways Seward send troops against the antirenters, his sup­ was a pivotal and representative character, port for the removal of the Senecas from their active and influential at a time of social, eco­ lands and their relocation on reservations, nomic, and ideological revolution in the Unit­ his rejection of political antislavery ism until ed States. it became politically advantageous, and his Van Deusen's contribution lies in his mi­ willingness to leave the questions of emanci­ nutely detailed coverage of Seward's activi­ pation and protection of the Negro to the ties from the 1820's to his retirement in 1869 Southerners themselves. Seward was never and in the fresh and judicious consideration able to commit himself either to an intense of Seward's influence on wartime domestic moral position or to single-minded political policies, his relations with Lincoln, and his expediency, and between his humanitarianism role in the political controversies of the John­ and realism a conflict existed which was not son Administration. Although there are few always reconciled and was not always recon­ surprises in the author's treatment of Seward's cilable. diplomacy, this subject is generally well cov­ ered, and for the first time Seward's various One of Van Deusen's objectives was "to expansionist programs have been brought stimulate the interest of the general reader" together conveniently in one volume. in this period of American history (perhaps Dissatisfaction stems from the fact that one of the reasons for the lamentable decision Van Deusen has written a solid, cautious, and to put the footnotes in the back in a form traditional political biography, emphasizing especially difficult to follow and for the political themes at the expense of socioeco­ strangely apologetic headnote to the biblio­ nomic, ideological, and psychological analysis. graphy) . While the length of this study sug-

254 BOOK REVIEWS gests that most readers would already have formalism of so-called "Southern Hospitali­ an interest in the period, that interest may ty." Beginning with the sixteenth-century nevertheless be stimulated by this narrative. English ideas about the danger of idleness and Van Deusen has provided a fine point of the need for work, the author surveys the departure for further, more analytical, studies writings of Southern clergymen, plantation of Seward and the Middle Period. owners, writers, and politicians to the pres­ ent. Throughout the text, Bertelson demon­ KiNLEY J. BRAUER strates the dilemma facing most of these men. University of Minnesota The South was a land of abundance, and they thought that economic freedom should have made it a wealthy area. Yet this did not occur. Therefore, to hide their own inade­ quacies and to sublimate regional fears. South­ The Lazy South. By DAVID BERTELSON. (Ox­ ern leaders insisted that their society was one ford University Press, New York, 1967. Pp. of leisure and good manners. The ideal of X, 284. Notes, index. $6.75.) leisure was used to control or to hide the chaos of individualism and economic oppor­ Unlike "Lee's Miserables," the ragged and tunity in Southern society. defeated Army of Northern Virginia, histor­ When examining these ideas the author ians of the South have not stumbled into acknowledges his debt to the writings of W. J. oblivion. In fact, during the past decade the Cash and of C. Vann Woodward about the South as a distinct region, perhaps even as a South. Some readers may wonder why Bertel­ distinct way of life, has received increasing son did not also include the ideas of Howard attention from American historians. In the Zinn to support his contention that Southern book The Lazy South, Professor Bertelson uniqueness was a matter of degree and not of and the Oxford University Press appeal to this kind. Others will certainly note the absence interest. The title, dust jacket, and even lack of a bibliography. The Lazy South is thought of footnotes in the text all seem part of an provoking, but is of interest chiefly to pro­ effort to attract the lay reader. The text, how­ fessional historians. It will provide few of ever, defeats this purpose. Cluttered with an the general reading public a clear under­ unending string of needless quotations, it standing of Southern thought or society. quickly dashes the enthusiasm of all but the most diligent. Those who overcome this hur­ dle must then struggle down the labyrinthian ROGER L. NICHOLS corridors of the author's thought patterns; University of Georgia occasionally a difficult task! In this book Bertelson tries to present the South as a distinct region. To do so, he discusses it as an area in which men are de­ termined to obtain unrestricted economic op­ Beyond Equality: Labor and the Radical Re­ portunity and personal freedom. In their ef­ publicans, 1862-1872. By DAVID MONT­ forts to achieve these goals Southern spokes­ GOMERY. (Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 1967. men create the idea of a "Lazy South." They Pp. xi, 508. Bibliography, appendices, index. portray their own society as relaxed and un­ ).) concerned with money-grubbing. This stereo­ typed view, the author claims, has been em­ This is a profoundly important book which ployed to distinguish the South from the sets Reconstruction within an entirely new rest of the nation. According to Bertelson context—away from the nation, the Negro, the South was not lazy, but rather it was dis­ and the defeated South—towards the local organized. Therefore, the concept of a "Lazy community, the wage worker, and the victori­ South" was merely an intellectual smokescreen ous North. Whether it has created a new in­ behind which Southerners continued their pur­ terpretation in place of older ones will be suit of wealth and freedom. much debated. To understand the "real" South, Bertelson Simply put. Professor Montgomery's thesis examines the meaning of work and of leisure is that Radical Republicanism ultimately failed there. He notes their relationship to the de­ because of its inability to satisfy the needs velopment of poverty, violence, slavery, staple and aspirations of a rising generation of trade crop economics, personal enjoyment, and the unionists and labor reformers. In his own

255 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 words, "Class conflict . . . was the submerged to Karl Marx's and John Maynard Keynes'. reef on which Radical dreams foundered." Montgomery also delves deeply and percep­ Montgomery's Radical breed dedicated itself tively into the ideology of labor reformers, to establishing a Liberal democratic Utopia as well as into the dynamics of the Greenback- in America, based upon complete civil and Labor coalition. At other points, he adds political equality for each citizen (black as much needed documentation to Norman well as white), and in which each citizen, un­ Ware's account of the labor movement of the aided by government, would, through self-help 1860's and 1870's. Montgomery's labor lead­ and individual initiative, climb the socioeco­ ers, like Ware's but unlike John R. Commons' nomic ladder. Unable to advance beyond this and Gerald Grob's, participated in both trade version of equality. Radicals drifted away union activities and sentimental labor reform from their commitment to popular democracy associations. when workers resorted to union organization Given the size and scope of the book, as and turned to the state for economic relief. well as the numerous subthemes embedded Despite Montgomery's enormous and pain­ within the major thesis, this, then, is a volume staking research, his thesis remains question­ to be read and reread. With each fresh read­ able for several reasons. First, as David ing Montgomery's accomplishment grows in Donald has already demonstrated, the policies significance as further insights are gleaned of Reconstruction Era politicians cannot be into the complexities of Reconstruction. For­ fit into a rigid ideological framework. Sec­ tunately, owing to Knopf's bookmaking tradi­ ond, granted the validity of Montgomery's tions—fine, clean print, generous margins, version of Radicalism, it required neither actual footnotes, complete bibliography and class conflict nor the emergence of a self- index—it is also a visual pleasure. conscious labor movement to vitiate Radical politics. Having preserved the Union, widen­ ed the federal government's range of activi­ MELVYN DUBOFSKY ties, liberated the Negro and made him con­ University of Massachusetts stitutionally a free and equal citizen. Radical­ ism lost its raison d'etre. In the last analysis, Montgomery, his prefatory disclaimers to the contrary notwithstanding, succeeds largely in refining Charles Beard's interpretation of the Civil War as a "Second American Revolution" Congressional Insurgents and The Party Sys­ made by men who ". . . saw the people's needs tem, 1909-1916. By JAMES HOLT. (Harvard and desires through the eyes of the vigorous University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, new elite of manufacturers and promoters." 1967. Pp. xiv, 188. Notes, bibliography, in­ Although Montgomery's account of Recon­ dex. $5.50.) struction is more complex and complete than Beard's brilliant but scarcely substantiated In 1909 Henry Cabot Lodge, the conserva­ insights, it is nevertheless derivative. tive Republican Senator from Massachusetts, More important than the major theme of sent a worried letter to former President this book, then, are the variations played Theodore Roosevelt. The Middle West was upon it. Let me mention some of the more aflame, declared Lodge, and the state of the interesting topics touched upon by Mont­ Grand Old Party in doubt. "The radicalism gomery. He presents an intelligent and con­ of La Follette and Cummins seems to be ram­ vincing analysis of the working classes' re­ pant in the region, and I fear we shall have actions to Civil War, Copperheadism, and the trouble." Union Cause. Another chapter, which offers Lodge was right. By the following year a a revealing collective biography of labor lead­ small band of Midwestern progressives led ers, contends that American politics' capacity by George Norris and Robert La Follette to absorb the labor movement's most talented were in full revolt against their party— individuals into party and legislative positions challenging the power of Republican Speaker was "perhaps the most effective deterrent to "Uncle Joe" Cannon in the House of Repre­ the maturing of a revolutionary class-con­ sentatives and launching a schedule by sched­ sciousness among the nation's workers . . ." ule attack on G.O.P. tariff legislation in the Ira Steward is finally given the respect he Senate. The emergence of these "insurgent" deserves through a penetrating comparative Republicans, their few victories during the analysis of his political economy in relation presidency of William Howard Taft, and their

256 BOOK REVIEWS ultimate frustration under Woodrow Wilson ple, that the insurgents were "rural" pro­ form the subject of this slender volume. gressives who were "not particularly inter­ The rise and fall of Republican insurgency, ested" in social reforms, ignoring La Follette's argues James Holt, is a case study in the fight for better conditions for American sailors workings of the American party system. At and his sponsorship of eight-hour legislation the heart of the insurgent dilemma was a com­ in the District of Columbia, William S. Ken­ mitment to both progressivism and the Re­ yon's crusades against child labor, Moses publican party. This raised no difficulty in Clapp's spirited efforts on behalf of black the Middle West where progressives had cap­ Americans, and George Norris' tireless fight tured the party machinery. But in Washing­ for conservation. He skims too lightly over ton, where power remained in safe conserva­ the insurgents' strong, noninterventionist cri­ tive hands, the roadblocks to reform proved tique of Rooseveltian and Wilsonian foreign insuperable. While Taft remained in the White policy. There is no discussion at all of insur­ House the insurgents could score some mar­ gency in the House of Representatives—Holt ginal triumphs through alliance with con­ suggests some forty Congressmen belonged gressional Democrats. But the election of to the insurgent ranks but we never learn Woodrow Wilson and the conversion of the who they were or what they did. Finally, Democracy to moderate progressive reform his harsh and unsparing criticism of La Fol­ isolated them from the mainstream of the lette ("one of the greatest fragmenters of the nation's political life. Wilson's method of epoch") rests, as does the entire book, on working exclusively within the Democratic narrow utilitarian assumptions. Better half party rendered the influence of the insur­ a loaf than none at all. gents on his policies negligible, while the unreconstructed conservatism of the Repub­ In the end, however, it was La Follette, lican Old Guard denied them a voice in that torn as he was by the conflicting draw of pro­ party. There was a certain stridency to in­ gressivism, republicanism and personal am­ surgent protests during the Wilson years bition, who saw most clearly the future out­ which must have derived at least in part from line of American politics. "There is a new their inability to impose their views on either day coming in this country," he warned the major party. Old Guard. "If the Republican Party does not see it, some other party will." James Holt, senior lecturer in the depart­ ment of history at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, has explored this problem in ROBERT W. GRIFFITH University of Georgia political parties with considerable skill and insight. He is undoubtedly right in conclud­ ing that Wilson's election doomed the insur­ gents to an exercise in political futility. But he goes too far when he attempts to suggest that an insurgent-Democratic alliance was a Technology in Early America, Needs and viable alternative. In the first place, as Holt Opportunities for Study. By BROOKE HINDLE, admits, the insurgents were politically bound with a Directory of Artifact Collections by to their one-party constituencies. The Middle LUCIUS F. ELLSWORTH. (University of North West was Republican first and progressive Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1966. Pp. xix, second. By turning progressive reform into 145. $4.50.) a narrowly partisan program, moreover, Wil­ son made such an alliance difficult. Finally, This thin volume, which contains an essay the insurgents had strong reservations about about pre-Civil War technology in America, Wilson's "progressivism." For all the new a companion bibliography, and a directory President's verbal pyrotechnics he was at of technological artifact collections, grew out heart a moderate reformer whose programs of the 1965 conference on early American seldom smacked of the "radicalism" of the history and technology sponsored by the In­ middle border. And once the New Freedom stitute of Early American History and Cul­ gave way to preparedness and the Great ture and the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Founda­ Crusade, the gulf between Wilson and men tion. During the discussion of Brooke Hindle's like La Follette and Norris grew steadily interpretative essay, Lucius F. Ellsworth stress­ wider. ed the value of artifacts as sources for the There are other faults to this study—among study of the history of technology; later Ells­ them its thinness. Holt declares, for exam­ worth prepared the directory of artifact col-

257 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968 lections which is published here. He divides ing the implications of technology into the the directory into kinds of technologies such interpretation of our early national history, as photography, lumbering, medicine, print­ Hindle poses several provocative questions to ing, and woodworking. Under each of these motivate historians who desire to specialize headings he lists museums which have par­ in the history of technology. But he warns ticularly noteworthy collections. The State his colleagues to keep in mind the relation­ Historical Society of Wisconsin is cited par­ ship between even the minutest aspect of tech­ ticularly for its fine collection of lumbering nology and the broad social issues of the and mining tools. Ellsworth makes a good American national experience. case for the use of the artifacts of technology in understanding its history. Their use need KENNETH R. BOWLING not be limited to the specialist; all historians University of Wisconsin should profit by viewing and handling arti­ facts. It is unfortunate that Ellsworth did not include the addresses of the museums which he lists. Brooke Hindle's critical bibliography is the longest section of the book; its arrange­ W. J. Cash: Southern Prophet, A Biography ment provides the reader a quick survey of and Reader. By JOSEPH L. MORRISON. (Al­ the kinds of things that are considered relevant fred A. Knopf, New York, 1967. Pp. xiv, 310, to the history of technology. Highly selective X. Index. $6.95.) and highly personal, according to Hindle, it is of great value for the historian or historical Although The Mind of the South is over a geographer whose immediate interest in tech­ quarter of a century old, no one can read nology is secondary. The compiler uses every it without appreciating its contemporary rele­ opportunity to drive home the message that vance. Joseph L. Morrison's biography sug­ historians have not done right by technology. gestively illuminates the man behind this re­ Hindle's essay, a mere twenty-five pages, is markably perceptive book. The author pre­ the most stimulating portion of the book. In sents a very full view of Cash as a person some ways it must have been difficult for and of his changing reactions to his surround­ the author to refrain from calling his essay ings. A sentimental acceptance of Southern "The Significance of Technology in Amer­ ways was replaced in the 1920's by a highly ican History." Instead he called it "The Ex­ critical, Menckenesque view. This attitude hilaration of Early American Technology: in time softened, and in his book Cash was An Essay." Like Frederick Jackson Turner, able to achieve a balanced tone and full con­ Hindle argues that he is describing a central trol over his materials. Professor Morrison theme in American history, which, despite considers in some detail the myths which some recent work, has been left relatively un­ have grown up around Cash's suicide. Most explored. Technology "belongs very close to significantly, he rejects the idea that Cash the center as an expression and a fulfillment killed himself because he could no longer of the American experience." Among the bear to live with the contradictions his prob- themes he elaborates are the importance of ings had uncovered. Rather his "suicidal fit" wood in our growth, the American desire for was the result of toxic causes. The author's labor-saving machinery despite a quantity of full argument has a common sense and per­ cheap labor, and the restlessness of our tech­ suasive ring that should curb romantic specu­ nological progress. Hindle sees as a major lations about Cash's death. The biography theme of the 1830's and 1840's the boastings concludes with a series of short analyses of Americans about their technology; the ex­ of Cash in relation to other Southern writers ploration of this theme captures the period and scholars as well as to Myrdal's An Ameri­ better than studies centering on Jackson, the can Dilemma. The selections from Cash's tariff, or the westward-rolling wagons. It is writings are varied and make extremely in­ time to study technology directly rather than teresting reading. There are no notes. While as a branch of economic history, local history, much of the source material is to be found in history of science, antiquarianism, or archae­ private collections which the author has in­ ology. Along this line Hindle fails to acknowl­ dicated in his preface, citations would still edge the relationship between the history of be helpful. technology and the approach of contemporary historical geographers. While skillfully weav­ Without his book Cash would hardly de­ serve to be studied. Hence what is most

258 BOOK REVIEWS

may be that he found in Germany an exter­ nalized as well as external enemy which en­ abled him to resolve at least temporarily his inner conflicts. A more extensive analysis of The Mind of the South would also be in order. Relatively little space is devoted to this, which is surprising, given the subtitle of the biography. Indeed the notion of Cash as a prophet has not really been exploited as an organizing principle. Nevertheless, this book certainly does add to the reader's knowl­ edge of Cash and contains much valuable material for speculating about him and his work.

DAVID BERTELSON University of California, Berfceley

lison, W. J. Cash W. J. Cash.

The Conservative Tradition in America. By ALLEN GUTTMANN. (Oxford University Press, significant about him is his mind—his reac­ New York, 1967. Pp. viii, 214. Notes, index. tions to and thoughts about the South. While $6.00.) Morrison mades suggestive comments in this regard, the focus of the biography is ob­ This book is a distressing display of op­ scured by too many small, anecdotal details. portunities missed and American history mis­ There is much evidence that Cash was deeply understood. Mr. Guttmann's Conservative troubled by the imperative he felt to criti­ (capitalized) tradition is that of Edmund cize a region he also loved. In the late thir­ Burke: the Conservative's dream is a "hier­ ties he was bothered by a sense of "no way archically structured society of prescribed out" and even confessed that he could not values and restrained liberty." (A lower-case approach the task of continuing his book with­ conservative is merely a person with a cer­ out "extreme depression and dislike." He was tain attitude toward change; Mr. Guttmann, pessimistic about the South's capacity for unfortunately, never defines that attitude pre­ self-delusion, the race question, and the pos­ cisely.) The book claims that since the Amer­ sibility of effective labor unions. Thus the ican Revolution—when the Loyalists fled the reader who is willing to accept the author's colonies—Conservatism has never had much explanation of Cash's suicide still remains importance in the nation's political develop­ puzzled about the significance of all these facts. ment, but that it has "persisted . . . as an Morrison's thesis may account for his re­ essentially literary phenomenon," as an "im­ straint in probing the conflicts and tensions portant and usually unrecognized aspect of in Cash's view of the South, yet actually it American literature." Louis Hartzdike, ap­ is not at all unlikely that Cash could have parent political conservatives—John Adams, been deeply torn and troubled without feeling John C. Calhoun, Barry Goldwater—turn out compelled to take his own life. Thus the to be Liberals of sorts (i.e., descendants of book would profit from a clearer formulation John Locke). Genuine Conservatives, such as of these tensions and an analysis of their im­ George Fitzhugh and Willmoore Kendall, turn plications. There is suggestive evidence, for out to be politically and socially insignificant. instance, that Cash may have felt increasingly In literature, however—in the writings of drawn to the values of the South as an alter­ men such as Washington Irving, Paul Elmer native to the triumph of "Progress." Also More, George Santayana, T. S. Eliot, the one cannot help being struck by the similarity twelve Southerners, and James Gould Cozzens between his criticisms of Nazi Germany and —Conservatism has had, so Mr. Guttmann of the South—particularly the notion that thinks, both moment and meaning for Ameri­ both societies were violent and primitive. It can history.

259 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

I find these ideas unexciting. They are not order [iic] and hierarchical society and to very well argued, either. The unreflective, the the vision of the American Adam on the unread, and the undergraduates may be in­ virgin land." Precisely. And American Con­ terested to discover that there have been servatism will be interesting when its his­ few full-blown Burkean Conservatives in torians forsake Louis Hartz and Edmund America, or that in T. S. Eliot America pro­ Burke and a few litterateurs in favor of a duced a "major figure to speak for the Con­ careful investigation of how Conservatism servative tradition of Church and State," or influenced that Adam before, during, and that in the 1960's conservatism (however after his fall. defined) and Conservatism are not the same. But Mr. Guttmann's taste for the obvious is C. S. GRIFFIN not mine. I don't know where he got the University of Kansas idea that the Conservatism of Eliot, say, or of Santayana, has been "usually unrecog­ nized"; perhaps by means unrecognized by everyone but their readers. Worse yet, Mr. Guttmann is himself confused about what he means by Conservatism. With a capital, it allegedly refers "always" to the political tra­ dition "derived . . . from Edmund Burke." The Ideological Origins of the American Revo­ Yet Mr. Guttmann elsewhere notes correctly lution. By BERNARD BAILYN. (The Belknap that Santayana's Conservatism derived from Press of Harvard University Press. Cambridge, pre-Burkean sources in ancient Greece and 1967. Pp. xiii, 335. Notes, index. $5.95.) Rome, and the Burkean tradition becomes irrelevant. The present book is a slightly expanded ver­ Now, Mr. Guttmann may define Conserva­ sion of the author's introduction to his Pam­ tism as he pleases. But if the idea includes phlets of the American Revolution. Bailyn desires for order and harmony and hierarchy, begins by describing the pamphlets which, he a respect for a higher ethic and for higher asserts, contain "everything essential to the values, a sense of the worth and the splendors discussion of those years." The ideas revealed of the past, even a rejection of—or at least by them were derived, he continues, from doubts about—the idea of popular govern­ Greek, Roman, and above all from English ment, it is clear that America has had an writers. In particular the arguments of radical important Conservative political and social Whigs such as Gordon, Trenchard, Hoadly, tradition. It owes little to Burke. It owes Bolingboke, and Burgh were "central to Amer­ much to such things as Christianity in all of ican political expression." Most of the book its theological and denominational varieties, is devoted to a presentation of these ideas and fears about the future of a turbulent, still- of their influence on the Revolution. forming society, the love of wealth and pow­ Fundamental to colonial thought were the er, and all sorts of personal predispositions. concepts of power, defined as compulsive What matters so much and what is so per­ force, and liberty. Power belonged to the gov­ plexing about American Conservatism, how­ ernors, liberty to the governed. Power was ever, is that it has not been all of a piece. not inherently evil, but because men were de­ Its elements have seldom joined into a co­ praved they were corrupted by power, which herent whole; they have not been monopo­ therefore tended to become malignant, de­ lized by a particular group. Rather, they structive to liberty. Men could retain their have been continually interacting with ele­ liberty only through vigilance and virtue, as ments of a Liberal tradition to produce va­ the Swiss, Dutch, and English had done. The rieties of thought and action whose com­ last were aided by their "constitution," under­ plexities and subtleties are still unappre­ stood as the existing arrangement of institu­ ciated. Such interaction was there in the tions, laws, and customs, together with the responsible Federalism of the 1790's, in nine­ principles and goals which animated them. teenth-century Whiggery, in nativism and ra­ Essential to the preservation of liberty was cial oppression, in the maunderings of the the balancing and checking of the three basic Radical Right, in a thousand other places. forces within English society: the royalty, the Washington Irving "interests readers today," nobility, and the commons. By "liberty" the Mr. Guttmann writes, "precisely because he theorists meant the power to act within limits could respond both to the necessity for an not inconsistent with men's "natural rights."

260 BOOK REVIEWS

These were inherent from birth, endowed by with the people and that sovereignty in gov­ God, and guaranteed by law. Liberty was al­ ernment could be divided among different ways in danger, especially when, as in Eng­ levels of institutions. land, loss of virtue led to corruption and an The final chapter, entitled "The Contagion encroachment of the royalty (the "preroga­ of Liberty," traces the impact of certain ideas tive") upon the commons. The colonials be­ after 1776. The theories which had been lieved that America must resist these influ­ elaborated were now applied to various insti­ ences in order to preserve liberty—to become tutions and problems in a process which a purer, freer England. They thought they Bailyn calls "pragmatic idealism." The em­ saw a deliberate assault against liberty—a con­ phasis upon liberty and rights, applied to spiracy, destructive of the constitution. "It slavery and religious establishments, led to­ was this above all else that in the end pro­ ward the abolition of both. The belief that pelled them into Revolution." the legislature should mirror the people, to­ Bailyn amplifies this general statement by gether with the new definition of sovereignty, citing the colonial reaction to various develop­ led toward democracy, as did the absence of ments beginning in 1763. Among these were a monarch or nobility. Finally, the equalitar- the activities of the Society for the Propaga­ ian implication of natural rights, together with tion of the Gospel, the Stamp and Townshend the challenge to authority during the revolu­ acts, the threat to an independent judiciary, tionary years, resulted in a decline of defer­ the stationing of soldiers in Boston, the Tea ence. The American Revolution therefore saw Act, and the Intolerable Acts. The colonials, the triumph of ideas incompatible with any he asserts, saw in all of these a deliberate at­ establishment, looking toward a new social tack on liberty, a plot designed by ministers order in which "institutions would express hu­ and favorites of the King to enslave America. man aspirations, not crush them." The fundamental cause was corruption in Eng­ The book is beautifully written, thoroughly land, the objective to expand power and seize documented, and brilliantly conceived. Bai- property. The colonists conceived of them­ lyn's thesis is important and every student of selves as defending the cause of liberty not history should examine it carefully. His dis­ only in America, but in England: the cause cussion of the pamphlets, the ideas they con­ of America was the cause of mankind. A long tain, and the sources and impact of these ideas "note on conspiracy" elaborates the colonial is stimulating and in some respects definitive. assumption, which Bailyn considers basic to Still, like other major interpretations of the revolutionary thought. Revolution, Bailyn's book raises a number of The second half of the book, consisting of questions both particular and general. two long chapters, examines the changes in A minor complaint is that the concluding political thought as the colonists worked out chapter introduces a new subject, namely the their ideas before and after 1776. Three prob­ results of the Revolution rather than the ori­ lems became primary between 1765 and 1776. gins. One hundred pages are inadequate to First, the colonials rejected the concept of deal more than superficially with such a topic, virtual representation in favor of a system by and Bailyn therefore oversimplifies. One can­ which representatives were accountable to a not attribute the antislavery movement or the particular constituency. The notion that a demand for separation of church and state legislature should be an exact portrait of the soley to the ideas outlined in the preceding people was, Bailyn declares, a radical idea, chapters, yet other influences are barely men­ "glimpsed but not wholly grasped." Second, tioned. Similarly in the case of democracy, the colonials developed a new definition of many if not most of the pamphlet writers "constitution" so that it became not an exist­ never believed in a popular government, re­ ing arrangement of laws and institutions but jected the notion that representatives should a permanent, written document guaranteeing be accountable to their constituents, did not immutable rights. Finally, the assumptions conceive of legislatures "as mirrors of so­ that power was indivisible and that sovereignty ciety and their voices as mechanically exact was located in parliament (the King, Lords, expressions of the people," and opposed de­ and Commons) were challenged because cir­ mocracy vigorously, even bitterly, after 1776. cumstances forced the colonists to deny them Indeed not a few of the pamphleteers adhered and because in America many powers had in to Tory concepts rather than to Whig ideas. fact been exercized by local governments. The Parenthetically Bailyn pays insufficient atten­ outcome, not fully realized until after 1776, tion to the ideological differences among his was the theory that true sovereignty rested writers.

261 WISCONSIN MAGAZINE OF HISTORY SPRING, 1968

Another qualification grows out of the title: survey of all the sources might tend to a dif­ the ideological origins. Other historians have ferent conclusion. Economic and cultural his­ traced the political background of the Revo­ torians may be excessively narrow in their lution to different ideas, and the insistence interpretation, but intellectual historians often upon particular ideologies (especially the con­ share the same fault. spiracy theory) seems unnecessarily narrow. Bailyn's book is a brilliant analysis of the The limitations of Bailyn's framework may pamphlet literature. But it does not explain be due in part to his total reliance upon pam­ all of the ideas which contributed to or grew phlets. He insists that they reveal the ideas out of the American Revolution. The origins behind the revolution "more clearly than any of that great event are to be sought not simply other single group of documents" and that in the pamphlets but in all the words and they contain "everything essential." Are we activities of the generation. then to find nothing different in the proceed­ ings of legislatures, conventions, town meet­ JACKSON T. MAIN ings, in newspaper articles, in letters, in the State University of New Yorfc actions of men or mobs? The pamphlets were at Stony Broofc written not by average colonists, not by farm­ ers or artisans, but by "lawyers, ministers, merchants, or planters." The authors were men of means and education, usually of in­ tellectual bent. Are such men reliable mirrors The Struggle for Social Security, 1900-193,5. of public opinion? Or are they like most mem­ By ROY LUBOVE. (A publication of the Center bers of their class, who enjoy words and books for the Study of The History of Liberty in and ideas which may (or may not) motivate America. The Harvard University Press, Cam­ them but are scarcely known to ordinary citi­ bridge, 1968. Pp. 276. Notes, index. $6.95.) zens? Did most colonials derive their ideas from Greek, Roman, and English writers or Unquestionably Lubove's book is the great­ from their own experiences? Perhaps these est advance in the writing of the history of pamphlets were read, comprehended, and ac­ the American social security system up to cepted by the majority, who then acted in ac­ date. Up to now the student wishing to study cordance with this received ideology, but it that history has had to find it in scattered remains to be demonstrated. Moreover these articles which often are highly technical and pamphlets were carefully constructed set devoid of much intellectual content, in sections pieces, intended for publication, and designed of books on social welfare or labor legislation to persuade the readers that certain ideas or which too often emphasize one root of social courses of action were correct. We cannot be security to the exclusion of all others, or in sure that such writings contain the whole truth books which partisans in the innumerable as perceived by their authors. We can say quarrels surrounding the social insurance only that the pamphlets show the public, not movement wrote in the 1930's, either shortly the private, thoughts of a particular segment before or shortly after passage of the 1935 So­ of colonial society. cial Security Act. Now the student has avail­ Finally, Bailyn seems to believe that the able a coherent account of the social insurance causes and goals of the Revolution were en­ movement from 1900 to 1935, written by a tirely political and that ideas were of primary trained and very capable historian, emphasiz­ importance. In particular the conspiracy thesis ing the ideas and social theory of the move­ is seen as basic. The hypothesis that the Revo­ ment more than its technical aspects. Lubove lution was the work of paranoids who fought presents the social insurance movement as a against imaginary persecutions (for no such profound challenge to fundamental American conspiracy existed) is not very edifying, commitments to voluntarism and to a "New though it might, if true, explain a regrettable Individualism," which was in reality a reli­ tendency among their descendants toward hys­ ance upon private group action. He concludes terical witch-hunts. Be that as it may, how that the social insurance advocates' struggle important were ideas in the Revolution? Are against these commitments caused them to we not merely to minimize the significance of introduce extraneous goals such as preven- economic, social, and cultural factors, and a tionism, and to accept pension (assistance) desire for power, but to eliminate them en­ programs in lieu of insurance systems. The tirely? Perhaps study of the pamphlet litera­ consequence, he believes, is that the American ture leads to such an interpretation, but a social security system is badly underdeveloped.

262 BOOK REVIEWS

The book has its faults. Most serious is the Lubove himself, however, does not allow unbalanced and cavalier manner in which the partisanship to preclude intelligent analysis author treats those whose views he dislikes— of the social insurance movement. The main ranging from outright opponents of social in­ thrust of his book is not defense of one parti­ surance to advocates such as Wisconsin econ­ san position so much as his thesis that the omist John R. Commons and his prevention- significance of the social insurance movement ist school. He accords social workers vir­ was its profound challenge to fundamental tually no credit for contributing to the move­ American commitments to voluntarism and ment, despite the many individuals in the private group action. With this thesis he profession who supported it. A second short­ succeeds both in illuminating the social in­ coming is that Lubove makes the narrow surance movement and, even more important­ assumption that insurance and assistance sys­ ly, making more comprehensible the dynamics tems must be judged almost solely by eco­ nomic criteria, without regard to other con­ of the larger American social system in the siderations such as the systems' effects on the early twentieth century. And he does it recipients' morale, incentive, community stat­ with a high degree of artistry: his writing us, etc. Such a radical premise needs to be is succinct and vigorous, his quotations pun­ made explicit and defended rather than mere­ gent and to the point, his organization clear, ly assumed a priori. Thirdly, Lubove fails to and his points well made. Thus the book rises remain aloof from the partisanship that so far above its faults, and above any other his­ plagued the social insurance movement by tory of social security written thus far. It the early 1930's. He is in effect a latter-day is so nearly a definitive history that anyone disciple of two leading social insurance propa­ who writes on the subject for some time to gandists, Isaac Rubinow and Abraham Ep­ come should aim to create a complement to, stein, and there is danger that by renewing rather than a substitute for, Lubove's book. old quarrels Lubove's book will thwart an in­ telligent, analytical approach in the further THERON F. SCHLABACH writing of social security history. Goshen College

BOOK REVIEWS:

Abbott, The Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina, Hindle, Technology in Early America, Needs and 1865-1872, reviewed by LaWanda Cox 250 Opportunities for Study, reviewed by Kenneth R. Bowling 257 Bailyn, The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, reviewed by Jackson T. Main 260 Holt, Congressional Insurgents and the Party System, 1909-1916, reviewed by Robert W. Griffith .... 256 Bertelson, The Lazy South, reviewed by Roger L. Lubove, The Struggle for Social Security, 1900-1935, Nichols 255 reviewed by Theron F. Schlabach 262 Buck, Illinois in 1818, reviewed by William C. Montgomery, Beyond Equality: Labor and the Rad­ Marten 248 ical Republicans, 1862-1872, reviewed by Melvyn Current, Three Carpetbag Governors, reviewed by Dubofsky 255 Louis S. Gerteis 251 Morrison, W. J. Cash: Southern Prophet, A Bio­ graphy and Reader, reviewed by David Bertel­ Evans, Ballots and Fence Ralls: Reconstruction on son 258 the Lower Cape Fear, reviewed by Otto H. Osofsky, Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto, Negro Olsen 252 New York, 1890-1930, reviewed by Elliott Rud­ Green, The Secret City: A History of Race Relations wick 244 in the Nation's Capital, reviewed by Elliott Rud­ Spear, Black Chicago: The Making of a Negro Ghetto, wick 244 1890-1920, reviewed by Elliott Rudwick 244 Guttmann, The Conservative Tradition in America, Van Deusen, William Henry Seward, reviewed by reviewed by C. S. Griffin 259 Kinley J. Brauer 253 Voegeli, Free But Not Equal: The Midwest and the Harris, Presidential Reconstruction in Mississippi, Negro During the Civil War, reviewed by Emma reviewed by Elizabeth Studley Nathans 249 Lou Thornbrough 248

263 ACCESSIONS others, called for a convention of democratic progressives to meet in Washington, D.C, for the purpose of forming an organization of Manuscripts liberal opinion which would be explicitly Services for microfilming, photostating, and democratic in purpose. Some four hundred xeroxing all but certain restricted items in its interested persons met on January 4, 1947, manuscripts collections are provided by the and two days later, the Organizing Committee Society. For details write Dr. Josephine L. of the new Americans for Democratic Action Harper, Manuscripts Curator. (ADA) took over the staff and facilities of UDA, with James Loeb, Jr., as national execu­ General Collections. At a conference of prom­ tive secretary. inent American liberals and labor leaders held Among the founders of ADA were Wilson May 9-10, 1941, the Union for Democratic Wyatt, first national chairman, Joseph and Action (UDA) was organized. Its purpose Stewart Alsop, Mrs. Eugenie Anderson, James was to initiate a two-front fight against fascism, both at home and abroad. In June, B. Carey, Marquis Childs, Elmer Davis, Wil­ 1941, the UDA Bulletin began publication, liam H. Davis, David Dubinsky, Leon Hen­ and at a reorganizational conference later derson, Hubert H. Humphrey, Joseph P. Lash, that year, liberals in the group worked out a Herbert H. Lehman, James Loeb, Jr., Edgar program that they thought would be most ef­ Ansel Mowrer, Reinhold Niebuhr, Joseph L. fective in the prosecution of the war. Rauh, Jr., Walter Reuther, Will Rogers, Jr., Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, James Wechsler, From 1943 to 1945, the UDA was actively Walter White, and Aubrey Williams. involved in supporting the war effort, and on The ADA proclaimed itself to be an or­ the return of troops in 1945 strongly sup­ ported a full post-war employment plan. With ganization for progressive individuals dedi­ liberal political defeat in the November elec­ cated to the achievement of freedom and eco­ tions of 1946, James Loeb, Jr., national di­ nomic security for all people everywhere. The rector of UDA, joined by Leon Henderson, new organization planned to encourage ex­ Wilson W. Wyatt, Hubert H. Humphrey, and pansion of the social and economic legisla­ tion started by the New Deal, and to this end espoused and promoted its liberal programs before Congress. Among its aims have been civil liberties, concern for the domestic econ­ omy, strong backing for the United Nations, «f w-TIfl international control of atomic energy, and continued political and economic support of democratic governments throughout the world. Since 1947, the ADA has maintained its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Major policy is determined by a yearly convention, although the National Board and Executive Committee are given the responsibility of implementing these policies through the ADA staff. The Papers of the Americans for Demo­ cratic Action were presented by the organiza­ tion, and cover the period from 1932 to 1965. In organizing the collection, it was possible to separate the material into eight series, somewhat akin to their provenance: the UDA Administrative File, the ADA Administrative File, Chapter File, Convention File, Legisla­ tive File, Political File, Public Relations File, and the Campus Division File. A sixty-five Society's Iconograpiiic Collection page inventory provides a table of contents, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Papers have received extensive cata­ and Leon Henderson at a dinner sponsored by the loging. The entire collection occupies 175 Union for Democratic Action in Washington, January 5, 1947. linear feet.

264 Recent Museum Accessions

The two porcelain vases pictured below were recently purchased for the Museum's growing collection of outstanding examples of American craftsmanship. Neither of the vases was manufactured in this coun­ try, but both were hand painted, either in Wisconsin or Illinois, for the W. A. Pickard China Company and are illustrative of the nineteenth-century fad of paint­ ing designs on imported blanks. Wilder A. Pickard began his career as an agent, purchasing hand-painted specimens from decorators working in their own homes, then stamping them with his mark and selling them to such stores as Tiffany's and Marshall Field. In the 1890's he purchased the factory in Antioch, Illinois, where his company still produces fine china. Mr. Pickard also had an association with the Wiscon­ sin pottery industry. As a friend of Mrs. Pauline Jacobus he came to Edgerton in 1888 to handle the sale of her Pauline Pottery. The pottery's business records show that Mrs. Jacobus received orders for "rose jars" from both Marshall Field and Tiffany even before she went into production in the fall of that year.

Photographs by Paul Vanderbilt

American art glass purchases this year include the two specimens shown above. At left is a diamond- quilted mother-of-pearl satin glass vase and (right) a cranberry-glass barber bottle with opaque white swirls and a pewter shaker, both dating from about 1800. The vase is made by an especially intricate process. Opaque white glass is first blown into a diamond-shaped mold. When withdrawn it shows recessed diamond shapes and sharp diagonal dividing lines. It is then dipped into a special amber glass formula containing a small amount of heat-sensitive metal. The thin amber coating does not sink into the diamond-shaped depressions and so a small air pocket is left in each. In order to finish the neck of the vase smoothly, it is necessary to remove the blowing iron from its mouth and attach a pontil iron to the base for handling. It is the removal of the latter which causes the characteristic "pontil mark" on handmade glass. Heat is used to soften the neck so that it can be smoothed with tools, and this heat produces the deep red color which flushes down from the top of the vase. Even after the pontil iron is removed, one more step is necessary. The vase is then enclosed in a box and exposed to the fumes of hydrofluoric acid from which it emerges with a soft, satiny finish. The pearly surface is pleasing to the eye and the touch, and each piece made in this man­ ner is a true collector's item.

265 For biographical information concerning IRA BERLIN see the autumn, 1967, issue of the Contributors Magazine.

MARY FROST KRONCKE grew

up in Madison and graduated RICHARD H. SEWELL, associ- from Edgewood High School. ,•«#«'•*. g^g pi-ofessor of history at After being graduated from ~ ' ''• the University of Wisconsin, Clarke College in Dubuque, received his A.B. from the Iowa, she received her mas­ , University of Michigan and ter's degree in history from his Ph.D. from Harvard Uni­ Creighton University and for three years versity. A specialist in early thereafter taught history at Villa Maria Col­ nineteenth-century American social and po­ lege in Erie, Pennsylvania. Her husband, litical history, he is the author of John P. Charles, is a doctoral candidate in business Hale and the Politics of Abolition (Harvard administration at the University of Minnesota University Press, 1965). He is currently en­ and will join the faculty of the University of gaged in a survey of antislavery politics in Wisconsin in the fall of this year. Mrs. the United States from 1840 to 1860. Kroncke, who lives with her husband and two small children in Minneapolis, pursues an in­ terest in the music of the renaissance by playing the recorder with the Minneapolis Volumes I to X of the Magazine, most of chapter of the American Recorder Society. which have long been out of print, will soon Her article in this issue is drawn from a much be available in reprint form. Clothbound, the longer biography of William S. McCormick ten volumes will sell for $200; paperbound which she wrote as her M.A. thesis in 1961. for $180. Individual paperbound volumes

ROBERT C. TWOMBLY, a native will sell for $18. Persons or institutions in­ of Boston, Massachusetts, terested in acquiring the set may write to "^"""""S^SS ^•* ••''•'WW graduated with honors from Kraus Reprint Corporation, 16 East 46th Harvard College in 1962. In Street, New York, New York 10017. 1964 he received his master's from the University of Wis­ consin where he is now an in­ structor in the department of history. His For the first time since the rededication of article in this issue is abstracted from his doc­ its building in June, 1954, the Society will toral dissertation, a biography of Frank Lloyd hold its annual meeting in Madison. The one Wright, which is being completed under the direction of Professor E. David Cronon. Mr. hundred and twenty-second meeting, to be Twombly has held a University of Wisconsin held June 20 through June 22, will dedicate Fellowship and has delivered papers to annual the Society's new building addition and also meetings of the State Historical Society and serve to open the new Museum Gallery. the Wisconsin Sociological Association. His Speakers will include former Director Clifford publications include documents and reviews L. Lord, Richard H. Leonard, editor of the in The Prairie School Review and the Wiscon­ sin Magazine of History, and a study of race Milwaufcee Journal, Fred H. Harrington, pres­ relations in colonial Massachusetts which was ident of the University, and Governor Warren published in the William & Mary Quarterly. P. Knowles.

266 Retm WiAcmAiMA Podt; QBB Historic Wisconsin

Villa Louis, Prairie du Chien

mm Old Wade House and mi The Wesley W. Jung Carriage Museum, Greenbush Stonefield, Cassville Circus World Museum, Baraboo

This summer, take your family and explore Wisconsin's historic past. Your passport to adventure is a family membership in the State Historical Society. With it, you and your fam­ ily are admitted free of charge to all of the Society's sites, including the newest—the Wesley W. Jung Carriage Museum at Greenbush. Family membership also includes a year's subscrip­ tion to Badger History, Then and Now, and the Wisconsin Magazine of History. The nicest thing about a family membership is the price—it's just seven dollars. 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 West.

State Historical Society of Wisconsin 816 State Street Madison, Wisconsin 53706 Second-class postage paid at Madison, Wisconsin, and at Return Requested additional mailing offices.