VOICES OF WESTMORLAND AN ORAL HISTORY OF A NEIGHBORHOOD Published by the Westmorland Neighborhood Association Voices of Westmorland: The Oral History of a Neighborhood Published by the Westmorland Neighborhood Association, Madison, Wisconsin Contact: WNA President 2014 Emily Feinstein, [email protected], 608-232-0502 www.westmorland-neighborhood.net Copyright © 2014 by Westmorland Neighborhood Association Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form. ISBN: 978-0-9847276-6-7 Front cover photos, clockwise from upper left: Jim and Bud Crawmer, circa 1940 (page 26), Clifden Drive block party, circa 1966 (page 19), Mary Miller, 1944 (page 83), Will Murphy’s first birthday, 1957 (page 106), Neighborhood boys, circa 1953 (page 3), Ken and Mary Quinn, 1971 (page 96). All images appearing in this book are from the collections of the families interviewed or the Westmorland Neighborhood Association unless otherwise noted. Images from the Wisconsin Historical Society are used with permission and designated by image number. Map on page xi was created by Bill Martinelli. Photo on title page and back cover by Tom Martinelli. Additional writing, editing, and book design provided by Sarah E. White, First Person Productions Cover design by Bill Martinelli Printed by Silverline Studio, Madison, Wisconsin Contents Donors and advertisers ........................... vii Introduction .................................... ix Westmorland Location of Interview Narrators .......... xi Donald, Gary (Butch), and Tim Meyer . 1 Ice wagons ..................................... 1 A bad errand boy ................................ 1 Tim goes to the dentist ............................ 2 Fourth of July ...................................2 Sliding on Toepfer Avenue.......................... 3 Babysitting foils vegetable caper ..................... 3 Mom’s punishment ............................... 4 Baseball........................................ 4 A burn gets out of hand ........................... 5 A shack of our own............................... 5 Movie night in the parks........................... 6 Glenwood Children’s Park, Glenway Street............. 6 Grandpa Henry Meyer ............................ 7 Their father’s death ............................... 8 Polio .......................................... 8 Hanging out or dating?............................ 9 Career aspirations................................ 9 Love and marriage .............................. 10 Marian (Spahn) Drolsom . 12 Selling produce ................................. 12 Golf ......................................... 12 Country school ................................. 13 Radio ........................................ 14 Childhood play ................................. 14 Sports ........................................ 14 Career and family ............................... 14 Family celebrations .............................. 15 Lorene (Shea) Schultz . 16 Remodeling.................................... 17 Westmorland’s early development ................... 17 Our Lady Queen of Peace School ................... 17 House’s former resident .......................... 18 i Voices of Westmorland A sociable neighborhood.......................... 18 Picnics, potlucks, and play times.................... 19 Activities for children at Westmorland Park ........... 20 Our transportation was the buses ................... 21 Holidays ...................................... 21 “Everybody shared everything” .................... 22 Firebug ....................................... 22 The ice storm of 1976............................ 22 The tornado of 2004............................. 23 Lorien (Bud) and Jim Crawmer . 25 Dudgeon School buddies.......................... 26 A hobo jungle and a fire .......................... 27 Ghosts and the cemetery .......................... 28 Dad and the dynamite business..................... 28 For kids, this was close to heaven ................... 30 Professor March’s family of readers ................. 31 “Everything was homemade” ...................... 32 Early bus service in Westmorland ................... 33 World War II on the home front .................... 33 The end of the dynamite business ................... 35 Cora (Nelson) Christensen . 36 Courtship and marriage .......................... 36 Stay-at-home mom .............................. 37 Before Westmorland annexation .................... 38 Activities...................................... 38 Fourth of July celebrations ........................ 39 Marzo Bliss . 40 Coming to Westmorland .......................... 41 Kids’ education ................................. 42 Kids’ activities then and now ...................... 42 A “Bliss-ful” Fourth of July ....................... 42 Church and social life ............................ 43 Working on State Street .......................... 44 The Vietnam protests ............................ 44 Changes ...................................... 44 A more welcoming neighborhood ................... 45 ii Contents Ardith (Ellis) McDowell . 46 Fine children, fine schools ......................... 47 A Japanese family shared their culture ............... 48 My husband was Secretary of Agriculture............. 48 A family’s teacher, nurse and domestic engineer ........ 49 Leading Cub Scouts, 4-H ......................... 50 Pulled away from Westmorland .................... 50 Ronny (Stodolar) Saeman . 51 Building and landscaping a home in Westmorland ...... 52 Activities in Westmorland Park ..................... 53 Gately Terrace: a front-row seat for the Fourth of July ... 54 After dark came the fireworks...................... 56 Summer vacations and pastimes .................... 56 A growing interest in ecology ...................... 56 Volunteering as a poll worker ...................... 57 Longtime WNA volunteer......................... 57 My greatest contribution: the Westmorland Park rock garden .................................. 58 A few bad things happened in Westmorland ........... 59 A wedding and an anniversary ..................... 60 Gale VandeBerg . 63 Our kids raise pigeons............................ 64 A career in agricultural education ................... 65 Our boys played sports ........................... 66 But our girl was into dramatics..................... 66 4-H Club: The Diligent Doers...................... 67 Church and Sunday School ........................ 67 Challenges: riots on campus ....................... 68 School pairings ................................. 68 Ellen (Luentenmayer) and Howard Cross . 70 Progress!? More curbs and gutters, fewer dynamite trucks . 71 Ball player, war veteran, decorator, state worker, retiree ....71 Getting around town .............................72 Social clubs for all ages ........................... 72 Trolleys ....................................... 73 Active children ................................. 73 Girl Scouts .................................... 74 Notable neighbors............................... 74 iii Voices of Westmorland Curling ....................................... 75 Time passed … ................................. 76 Betty (Scribner) Skowlund . 77 A neighborhood fills with families................... 78 Betty goes to work .............................. 79 “A lot of neighboring back and forth” ............... 80 Building and equipping Midvale School .............. 80 Remembering Edgar “Pop” Gordon and Roland Johnson .. 80 Mary (Wenger) Miller and Dale Miller . 83 Coming to Westmorland .......................... 84 Remembering Our Lady Queen of Peace Church ....... 84 Mary cooked................................... 84 John delivered dairy products ...................... 85 Dale recalls a Westmorland childhood ............... 86 Madison Recreation Department baseball............. 87 Mary and the WWN............................. 87 Some things change, others remain the same........... 88 Looking forward................................ 89 Joanne (Jackson) Thuesen . 90 A teen with jobs ................................ 90 Edgewood High School, teen parties, and driving lessons .... 91 A WNA Scholarship leads to UW Nursing School ...... 91 Family changes ................................. 92 Young mothers together .......................... 92 At the Fourth of July Festivities, a volunteer nurse ...... 93 Parties........................................ 93 Volunteering with the WNA ....................... 94 Thinking of moving out .......................... 94 Four generations in Westmorland ................... 95 Ken and Mary (Alderson) Quinn . 96 Kids’ games circa 1966 ........................... 96 Madison Recreation activities in local parks ........... 98 Go-karts at Glenway Golf Course................... 98 Fourth of July remembered ........................ 98 Queen of Peace School ........................... 99 Modern nuns ................................. 100 iv Contents Eighth grade: best friends ........................ 101 Fun with the Murphys .......................... 101 Ken and Mary, love and marriage .................. 103 Moving away, moving back ...................... 103 Joan (VandenBerg) Murphy . 105 Moms “coffeed” while kids played ................. 105 Fourth of July meant guests ...................... 107 Activities with family and friends .................. 108 Kids’ jobs .................................... 109 Growing families, expanding