Post by UW-Stout Archives/Area Research Center.

Harvey Hall Timeline

As campus prepares for a major renovation of Harvey Hall, the UW-Stout Archives has compiled an interactive timeline of events, programs, and archival material about the building. 

 Special thanks to Katie Borowski, a Stout Archives intern from the Public History certificate program at the UW-Eau Claire, for her assistance compiling the material featured in this timeline.

Winter Fun in Menomonie

Car on Lake Menomin, circa 1914. Tom Sievers Scrapbook, Iconographic Series 21. UW-Stout Archives.

Toboggan Track, Menomonie, circa 1950. 

Heather Stecklein, University of Wisconsin-Stout Archivist, will present "Frosty Fun: Outdoor Winter Activities in Menomonie" for the Dunn County Historical Society's Heritage Speaker Series at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb., 17, at the Russell J. Rassbach Heritage Museum.

The presentation will include stories and photographs from outdoor winter activities in Menomonie and at the UW-Stout and its predecessors. Included will be activities that date all the way back to the 1890s, including UW-Stout's Winter Carnival, car racing on the lake and much more.  The images in the presentation come from official university photographs, yearbooks, the student newspaper, and  students' personal scrapbooks.

Ice Skating on the UW-Stout campus, 1955.

 The Rassbach Heritage Museum is located at 1820 Wakanda St. in Menomonie's Wakanda Park.
The Heritage Speaker Series is presented the third Sunday of each month. For further information, visit www.dunnhistory.org or call 715-232-8685.

Photo Collection Includes Fascinating Images of Student Projects

The Iconographic Collection in the UW-Stout Archives holds photographs of Stout student classroom projects. 

 

In the 1930s, the Stout carpentry class created a scale model of Bowman Hall. The picture on the left below shows the building leaving its assembly floor in the Trades Building (later Ray Hall). Below right, the model is fully assembled. (Stout Archives Photographs IS4B6)

Click on any image for a larger view

Students make calculations using slide rules in a Stout mathematics class, 1940. (Stout Archives Photo Collections IS4B3)

Stout millinery students at work on their projects, circa 1945. (Stout Archives Photo Collections IS4B4)

A Stout needlework class, circa (Stout Archives Photo Collections IS5B3)

 The collection includes a variety of other photos depicting Stout classrooms and projects. Plus, the Stout Archives holds many photographs featuring campus views, student activities, and individuals.

Members of the UW-Stout community and the general public may request reprints of images from the collection of the UW-Stout Archives. Contact the Archives for more information!

Diaries Offer Reactions to World Events

Peter Krogstad in 1920

 The UW-Stout Archives collections include a variety of personal collections from Stout Alumni and faculty, and also from area residents. Some of our most interesting collections include diaries, which provide fantastic snapshots of their writers' lives. Before he graduated from Stout in 1920, Peter Krogstad served as an Army censor during World War I. His typewritten daily accounts of his life in wartime France include descriptions of frequent bombing scares, notes about soldiers' letters that he read as part of his job, and details about his social life. Krogstad reported on the arrival of Company H from his home town of Menomonie, Wisconsin in March of 1918, and he sadly noted severe injuries that the group received during an action on the front in August. (Click on each image to enlarge)

Freda Dusel Owen was a similarly avid writer. She was born in Barron County, Wisconsin in 1885 and lived on a farm near Menomonie as an adult. The diaries in her collection at the UW-Stout Archives date from 1942 to 1974 and include consistent daily entries about her life on the farm, area activities, and national events. These entries from November, 1963 are her reactions to the assassination of president John F. Kennedy.

McGovern Advocated a "Humane, Just, Peaceful Future."

The Stoutonia student newspaper summarized McGovern's visit.

On March 23, 1972, progressive senator George McGovern visited the UW-Stout Campus.

Wisconsin's presidential primary was quickly approaching, and McGovern was the front-runner in a highly competitive field for the Democratic nomination.

Although McGovern was initially slated to speak in the auditorium at Harvey Hall, the campus received a bomb threat and relocated the crowd to the student union.

McGovern's speech addressed issues of special interest to students including the Vietnam War, tax reform, abortion, and drug legalization. The candidate stressed his commitment to a peaceful American future.

Stout students responded to McGovern's visit with a strong voter turnout at the April 4th primary. Wards with high student populations reported over 60 percent turnout and a voter total over three times that of the 1968 primary.

Senator McGovern greets supporters in front of Harvey Hall on the Stout campus. Stout Photograph Collection 72-130, UW-Stout Archives

Curious about other political events in Stout history? The Stout Archives webpage includes highlights from a variety of political visitors to campus.

Discover Your History in the Library Lobby

Now Showing in the Lobby of the UW-Stout Library:
An American Archives Month Exhibit!

October is American Archives Month, and we're celebrating with an exhibit of collection highlights from the UW-Stout Archives and the Area Research Center.

This year, Wisconsin's Area Research Centers celebrate their 50th Anniversary. The UW-Stout and thirteen other University of Wisconsin system locations house the official government records of Wisconsin counties. The UW-Stout holds the historical records of Barron, Dunn, and Pepin Counties.

We featured some of our area history papers in the American Archives Month exhibit:

 

 

 In this 1852 Pepin County Naturalization Record, Irishman Patrick McInerny renounced his allegiance to Queen Victoria so that he could become an American citizen.

Many historians and genealogists visit the Area Research Center to trace the lives of particular residents of Dunn, Barron, and Pepin Counties.

Sometimes, researchers uncover information that surprises them. On more than one occasion, documents like this reveal unexpected countries of origin or even previously unknown relatives! 

A recent genealogical researcher at the Stout Area Research Center discovered that her grandfather had two sisters and a brother that her family had never mentioned.

The Area Research Center also includes school and company records from the area. 

The Knapp, Stout, and Co. Records at the UW-Stout Archives document the evolution of the lumber company that served as the primary industry in this area for decades. In this letter from 1889, a supervisor complains about a "sneak thief" lumberjack to company owners Henry E. Knapp and Louis Smith Tainter.

Personal correspondence provides unique accounts of daily life that are rarely replicated in official publications and histories.

We will feature more exhibit highlights throughout the remainder of American Archives Month.

Next up: pictures, papers, and articles from Stout student organizations!