Evolution of Black History Month events at UW-Stout

Since the beginning of February, the halls of Stout have been decorated with posters advertising events for Black History Month, hosted by the Black Student Union. With everything from educational classes about hair care to “Twerkout” dance classes, they’ve put on a plethora of interesting and informative events, and this isn’t something new. The UW-Stout BSU has been hosting events during Black History Month for as long as the club has been around, and the events started at Stout even before February was officially designated Black History Month.

The earliest mention I could find in the Archives is from February 1974, where a “Black Awareness” dinner was held, headed by Dean Richard Anderson.

However, according to our collections, the first year where we see a big boom of activity from the Black Student Union regarding Black History Month was 1994. They held six events over the course of the month (one every Wednesday, and one every other Saturday), including a praise choir concert and a fashion show. They printed and passed out calendars of events. Being able to look back and see all the various things they did really put into perspective how far diversity initiatives have come in the last thirty years or so, especially in universities!

This continued into the future and is still occurring today. Every event is a celebration of Black culture, and seeing how that has evolved over the course of Stout’s history allows us to have an even greater appreciation for diversity on campus.

For more information on the collections mentioned in this blog contact archives@uwstout.edu or you can look through our Stout Series Finding Aids online!

Written and Researched by Meghan Dincler (she/her/hers), UW-Stout Archives Student Worker

Celebrating Valentine's Day with 1940s student scrapbooks

Phyllis Anne Johnson attended UW-Sout from 1944-1947. She was involved in many of Stout's student organizations. She was a member of the Stout Symphonics, Stoutonia, the Intersociety Council, the YWCA, and was president of the Pallas Athene. Her involvement in the school led her to be included in the Stoutonia newspaper several times. You can search through the past issues of Stoutonia here!

Phyllis documented her time at Stout with scrapbooks. She kept keepsakes, invitations, little notes, napkins, and corsages. She even kept a bit of straw from her first barn dance she attended! Her scrapbooks give an in-depth view of what life was like as a Stout student in the 1940s. Going through them is like stepping back through time.

Phyllis saved these lovely Valentine's Day cards and napkins in one of her scrapbooks. They take us back all the way to February 14, 1944, over 75 years ago! 

Phyllis, who often went by nicknames like Phyl, Phil, Johnny, and Jiny, graduated in 1947 with a Bachellor of Science degree. She married Norman E. Watson, and the two of them moved to Iowa and had three children together. 

Phyllis and Norman Watson donated her scrapbooks to the UW-Stout Archives where they are available to view and research. To learn more about the Phyllis and Norman Watson Personal Papers or to set up an appointment to view the scrapbooks, contact archives@uwstout.edu.

Written and Researched by Jo Michelle Henderson, UW-Stout Archives Student Worker

Happy American Archives Month!

Happy American Archives Month! During October, we like to share how awesome archives and history research can be. At the University of Wisconsin-Stout Archives, we have a wealth of online resources available to you to start your research journey. Two ways to view a slice of past UW-Stout student life is by exploring The Tower yearbooks and The Stoutonia student newspaper. The Tower was an annual publication produced by Stout students from 1909-1989, and The Stoutonia is a current publication produced by Stout students from 1915-present. They provide information and photographs about student activities, classes, organizations, staff and faculty, and the surrounding community. The archives houses physical copies of The Tower and The Stoutonia, and they are digitized and available on the archives website via the Internet Archive and Preservica:

Tower: https://archive.org/details/toweryearbook?&sort=date

Stoutonia: https://archive.org/details/stoutonia?&sort=date

Preservica:  https://uwstout.access.preservica.com/archive/

The UW-Stout archivist Heather Stecklein has also recorded video tutorials of where to find the Tower and Stoutonia on our website and how to conduct searches: https://library.uwstout.edu/tutorials/digitalprimarysources

1955-'56 Tower Yearbook staff

Tower Yearbooks

Another great resource to view past student and local life, and to understand the time period you are researching, is by looking at community and national newspapers. There are many great resources available via the UW-Stout Archives and Library website. Discover them here:

You can search the archives newspaper index, and request items to be scanned for you: https://library.uwstout.edu/arcarchives/arearesearchcenter

John Russell Articles Index (for Dunn County News): http://archives.lib.uwstout.edu/ics-wpd/russell_collection/index.shtml

New York Times Library database, etc.: https://library.uwstout.edu/az.php?a=n

Dunn County News via the Menomonie Public Library: https://menomonielibrary.org/databases/genealogy/

Rice Lake Chronotype via the Rice Lake Public Library: http://ricelake.advantage-preservation.com/

Newspapers via the Eau Claire Public Library: https://www.ecpubliclibrary.info/print-archives/

Wisconsin Newspaper Association Archive of WI Newspapers, 2005 to 90 days ago: https://badgerlink.newsmemory.com/wna/badgerlink/

Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub: https://www.mnhs.org/newspapers/hub

Printing the Stoutonia, 1950-'51

Stoutonia staff members getting the newspaper ready to distribute, 1950-'51

Happy American Archives Month!

Happy American Archives Month! During October, we like to share how awesome archives and history research can be. The University of Wisconsin-Stout Archives is part of a larger archival network in Wisconsin called the Area Research Center (ARC) Network. The ARC Network is a collaboration between the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison, the University of Wisconsin System, and the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center. Each ARC houses university, county, government, and regional interest related records for the surrounding counties such as yearbooks, newspapers, and genealogy records. UW-Stout houses records for Dunn, Barron, and Pepin Counties. If you wanted to look at records housed at a different ARC, such as UW-Green Bay, most archival items can be requested and shipped between the ARC’s in the network, so researchers do not have to travel all over the state for research purposes. Now that sounds like a cool system! Discover more about the Area Research Center Network here: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS4000

March 8, 1973, Stoutonia article, "University Archives Preserved at Library"

Dec. 3, 1971, Stoutonia article "History Records find new Home"

There are also a wealth of online resources available to you to start your research journey. From the  Archives home page, there are 3 different links you can click on to find online resources and search indexes for items held at UW-Stout, and the surrounding community. You can search through the Tower Yearbooks, Stoutonia student newspapers, alumni publications, links to library databases and genealogical indexes, and the 1925 History of Dunn County. You can also access Ancestry with a Stout ID.

Digital Collections Link: https://library.uwstout.edu/friendly.php?s=digitalprimarysources

Collection Indexes Link: https://library.uwstout.edu/arcarchives/universityarchives

Area Research Center Link: https://library.uwstout.edu/arcarchives/arearesearchcenter

Preservica:  https://uwstout.access.preservica.com/archive/

County and state online resources available for historical and newspaper research:

Menomonie Public Library: https://menomonielibrary.org/databases/genealogy/

Dunn County Historical Society:  http://www.dunnhistory.org/

Mabel Tainter: https://mabeltainter.org/

Eau Claire Public Library: https://www.ecpubliclibrary.info/explore/

Wisconsin Historical Society: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/

Celebrate Homecoming -- UW-Stout Style

It’s time to celebrate! Homecoming season is upon us at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and what better way to celebrate UW-Stout Pride than by looking at the history of our Alma Mater school song and the history of the Bowman Hall Clock Tower Bell. The first Homecoming was held March 30-31, 1917, along with the grand opening of the new Domestic Science Building, and many alumni were invited back. Homecoming was not held again until 1922, but has been an annual tradition since.

By 1923, Stout was more than 30 years old, but did not have an official school song. The Stoutonia initiated a school song contest, and a group of four students composed the school’s early fight song.

Oct. 12, 1923, Stoutonia article about school song contest

In 1927, freshmen Lillian Hylland and Jane Hambley created a more solemn and majestic piece appropriate for formal school assemblies. They composed “Alma Mater”, which became the school’s official song for commencements and other events. The brilliant “S” described in the song lyrics stands on the northern face of Bowman Hall’s Clock Tower.

Alma Mater sheet music, Stout Series 96, Music Dept. general files

Alma Mater and school fight song sheet music, Stout Series 96

Feb. 2, 2006, Stoutonia article reflecting on the alma mater song

From 1897 on, a bell rang out from the Bowman Hall Clock Tower, but by 1914, the pneumatic controls had broken. For many decades the bell was rung with hammers by students, but the bell eventually cracked and could not ring. A carillon replaced the bell, and in 1997 the cracked bell was removed and 5 new bells installed, initiated by 1970 alumnus John Meyer. A bell monument was created and dedicated during Homecoming 2005, near Micheels Hall, to memorialize the first bell. Learn more from the bell monument plaque down below.

Bell monument plaque

2005 Bell Dedication

2005  Bell Dedication

Check out the events happening during #Bluetober2021 and Homecoming here: https://www.uwstout.edu/bluetober ; https://www.uwstout.edu/homecoming

Learn more about Stout’s Homecoming and other traditions in An Idea Comes of Age: UW-Stout, 1891-2016, by Jerry Poling. We have them available to sell in the Archives!: https://secure.touchnet.com/C21720_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=2128&SINGLESTORE=true

Celebrate Homecoming -- UW-Stout Style

It’s time to celebrate! Homecoming season is upon us at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and what better way to celebrate UW-Stout Pride than by looking at the history of our beloved mascot Blaze and past traditions like the Homecoming Snake Dance. The first Homecoming was held March 30-31, 1917, along with the grand opening of the new Domestic Science Building, and many alumni were invited back. Homecoming was not held again until 1922, but has been an annual tradition since.

Until 1932, Stout athletic teams were called a range of names like the Manual Trainers, Trainers, Blues, Blue Shirts, Blue and White, Blue Ponies, and Blue Devils. From 1932 to present, the Blue Devils name has been used. Over the years, the Blue Devils Mascot has been depicted in various ways. During the 1950s-‘60s, the mascot was named Johnny Blue Devil with a scary mask and “S” sweater (shown in 1960 Tower Yearbook), and during the 1970s he wore a cape and bib overalls. In the fall of 2011, a new mascot was introduced, after more than 3 decades of an absence of a mascot. A poll was created to pick a name for the mascot and on Feb. 11, 2012, the mascot was named Blaze.

Johnny Blue Devil, 1960 Tower Yearbook, p. 90

Homecoming buttons depicting mascots, 1953, 1964, 1969

Current Blaze, 2018

For many years, Stout students celebrated major football games, such as Homecoming, with a Snake Dance. Students, faculty, and staff walked hand-in-hand with quick, angled steps, in a long chain that whipped and wound around across the football field, while the band marched through.

Homecoming Snake Dance, 1924

Starting in the 1920s, snake dances started at student residences, went up Broadway and Main Streets, and ended with students dancing in the streets downtown. From the late 1920s-1960s, the snake dance ended with a celebratory bonfire at the fairgrounds or on the north campus practice field. Freshman students were given the job of building and guarding the bonfire pile until it was ready to be lit.

1937 Homecoming Bonfire

Homecoming Activities, 1946 Tower Yearbook, p. 36

Discover photos of this and other past student traditions in the Tower Yearbook collection, 1909-1989, online via the Internet Archive:  https://archive.org/details/toweryearbook?&sort=date

Check out the events happening during #Bluetober2021 and Homecoming here: https://www.uwstout.edu/bluetober ; https://www.uwstout.edu/homecoming

Learn more about Stout’s Homecoming and other traditions in An Idea Comes of Age: UW-Stout, 1891-2016, by Jerry Poling. We have them available to sell in the Archives!: https://secure.touchnet.com/C21720_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=2128&SINGLESTORE=true

New Digital Collection of Stout Student Organization Photographs!

The UW-Stout University Archives is pleased to announce a new digital collection of Stout Student Organization photographs. During the spring 2018 semester, the archives undertook a multi-step digitization project to digitize their Iconographic Series 3 collection of Student Organization photographs, ca. 1910-2000. This collection includes 870 photographs of Greek fraternities and sororities, and athletic, academic, literary, music, religious, social service, career-related, and men’s and women’s organizations. There are formal member group photographs, which many can be found in UW-Stout’s Tower yearbooks (1909-1989), and informal photographs showing activities, such as dances, field trips, picnics, concerts, homecoming activities and Greek initiations.

Stout Orchestra group photo, 1921

Stout Typographical Society Field Trip, Green Bay, WI, 1946-47

The photographs are hosted by the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center (UWDCC) based in Madison, Wisconsin. The UWDCC was created to help University of Wisconsin schools and other entities digitize, provide access to, and maintain digital projects. The University of Wisconsin Digitized Collections (UWDC) were established in 2001 to provide quality digital resources from it’s University of Wisconsin Academic Libraries.

UWDCC website, UW-Stout Collection page

This project represents excellent work by two Stout Archives staff members. Archives student worker Katie Hagen scanned and numbered the 870 photographs according to UWDCC guidelines. As scanning progressed, Archives Assistant Julie Hatfield started looking through each individual folder of photographs to measure each photograph, rescan any photographs if necessary, move photographs to their correct folders that were initially identified with the wrong student organization, and conduct research from information found with the photographs and within UW-Stout archival collections to properly date and identify who and what was happening in each photograph. As Julie started researching, she realized that many photographs were taken for a purpose, with many being published in The Tower yearbooks, Stoutonia student newspaper, or other Stout produced publications. She searched through The Tower yearbooks, Stoutonia, student organization collections housed in the archives, information on the UW-Stout website; and Google photos, keyword searching, and Wikipedia to help identify period clothing, people, activities, and events that were known on a state or national level.  

Stout Student Org. Photo collection, 8 boxes

Research Resources

Scanning photographs

Measuring photos

Researching for information on photograph

Researching for information on same photograph

Julie created a Metadata Excel Sheet to input all of the corresponding box, folder, object ID numbers, research information and subject headings for each photograph. From the information found on each photograph and student organization, Julie had to identify potential subject headings to be used for keyword searching on the UWDCC website. A combination of local subjects (Stout based) and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). It is important to keep consistent use of subject headings throughout a collection, and not use multiple variations of a group name or activity, or mix singular and plural usage. But you still need to use subject headings that will most likely be used by researchers, and sometimes that does involve the use of a singular and plural form of a word, or two names a group goes by. It depends if you know multiple names were frequently used for one group.

Metadata excel sheet

During the summer and fall of 2019, Julie refined and uploaded the metadata for each photograph into the UWDCC FileMaker Pro database. Julie sent the digital TIFF photograph files on an external hard drive to Madison through the University Red Box delivery system, for the UWDCC staff to upload into their database. The availability of the collection was delayed by upgrades to the UWDCC digital collections database, but in November 2020 the collection became publicly available online to search and browse by the UW-Stout community and beyond.

Searching the Stout Digital Collection

Example of digital photo search result

This student organization collection joins another Stout collection hosted by UWDCC featuring 500 photographs of educational activities in classrooms, shops, and laboratories.

Search and browse UW-Stout collections via the UWDCC website: https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AUWStout

Check out our “Campus Photographs” and other digital collections, tutorials, and library database links, on the UW-Stout Archives Digital Collections webpage:  https://library.uwstout.edu/friendly.php?s=digitalprimarysources

Tower Yearbooks (1909-1989): https://archive.org/details/toweryearbook?&sort=date

Roadtrip your way through History: Rock Falls Raceway Edition

 

Many of you may watch the Daytona 500 or the Indy 500, but does anyone watch the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals? Discover the fun of Drag Racing, where two competitors drive down a straight 1/8th or 1/4 mile track and balance speed, force, and reaction times to see who will be the winner. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) has drag strips all over the U.S. that people can race at, and some are close to home in Brainerd, MN; Cedar Falls, Iowa; and Rock Falls, WI. Rock Falls Raceway, a short 30 minute drive from Menomonie, has operated as a race track since 1969, when it was originally called Amber Green Dragways and owned by Dr. Frank. In 1979, the track was sold to drag racer Al Corda and renamed Rock Falls Raceway. In 2015, Corda sold the track to Jim Greenheck, owner of CTech Manufacturing.

Amber Green Tower and Starting line, ca. 1970s

      

       

Amber Green staging lanes, ca. 1970s

Rock Falls Raceway is a Division 5 track in NHRA’s West Central Division. The track is also part of the Midwest Drag Racing Association (MDRA), and individual racers can sign up to be MDRA members. Racing at the track usually occurs on the weekends from the end of April to the end of October, with a variety of races for everyone: Test Days for anyone to see what their vehicle can do, racing to win money or trophies, Muscle Cars, trucks, Sport Compact, Motorcycles, High School Racing, Jr. Dragsters, Bracket Racing, etc. Discover a schedule and racing info. Here: https://www.rockfallsraceway.com/ 

Rock Falls Raceway Flyer, 1987

There are a few ways to reach the racetrack from Menomonie: Drive South out of town on UW-12 E towards HWY 29, turn Right onto HWY E, turn right onto Hwy H, cross the Chippewa River and turn right onto State Hwy 85 at Caryville. In Caryville turn left onto 190^th Ave, drive about a mile and turn right onto 1000^th St. and the track is at the top of the hill. You can also get to the racetrack via Cty Rd J, to Cty Rd C, and turn right onto Cty Rd H to Caryville. Or take Hwy WI-25 S towards Downsville, to Cty Rd C, to Cty Rd H to Caryville.

My dad, John Hatfield, has been spectating and racing at the racetrack since the 1970s. Growing up, I spent many summer weekends spectating and being pit crew for my dad, and I have worked at Rock Falls Raceway since 2005. My dad, along with many other racers who race at the track, have a great knowledge and passion for racing, working on cars, and perfecting their craft. The racetrack has gone through many physical and operational changes over the past 50 years, as technology and racing standards have changed. Below are racing time cards, ca. 1970s-1980s. Currently, they are computer print outs that print out at the end of the racetrack.

                    

Staging lanes, only one black top lane, ca. 1970s-1980s

Front of staging lanes, all blacktop surface, 2015

Starting line, with new concrete barriers, photo taken from previous spectator side, 2019

John Hatfield sitting in burnout box, next in line to stage at the Christmas tree

There are also car enthusiasts and car clubs at UW-Stout that love to work on and drive cars, and that have raced at Rock Falls Raceway in the past. From 1969-1979, the Northern Pine Corvettes was a club for people interested in corvettes and cars in general. Around 1977, it was renamed Stout Street Machines and in September 1979 it merged with the Stout Antique Auto Club. The archives has a small collection for the Northern Pine Corvettes, Stout Series 38, with Articles of Incorporation, membership lists, their newsletter “Around the Corner,” event information, and newsletters received from other area corvette clubs.

The UW-Stout Auto Club, previously the Stout Antique Auto Club, founded in 1966-1967, is a current club on campus. They sponsor a car show every school year, attend car shows and swap meets, work on their cars, and raise money for charity.

                           

Stoutonia, Oct. 22, 1987, p. 15

                                                                                   

Stoutonia, Sept. 22, 2005, p. 6

Check out UW-Stout Auto Club’s Annual car show on October 3^rd, 9am-2:30pm: https://www.facebook.com/events/513573972639153/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22search_results%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D]%7D

Drag racing + Area History. What could be better? Check out Rock Falls Raceway. 

A little slice of racing action: John Hatfield making a pass down the track, Oct. 2019

Photographs and fliers courtesy of John Hatfield, long-time spectator and drag racer at Amber Green Dragways/Rock Falls Raceway

By: Julie Hatfield, Archives Assistant, UW-Stout Archives

Additional Sources:

NHRA: https://www.nhra.com/nhra ;  https://www.nhra.com/about-nhra 

NHRA’s Racing 101 article: https://www.nhra.com/nhra-101

Al Corda April 22, 2020, podcast interview (previous Rock Falls track owner and long time drag racer) by The Class Racing Podcast with Aaron and Chuck: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/classracing/episodes/2020-04-22T11_37_21-07_00

Rock Falls Raceway Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/RockFallsRaceway  

Amber Green Dragways – Eau Claire, WI Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/651525141556117

UW-Stout Auto Club Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/12924095789

Stoutonia articles via the Internet Archive:

Sept. 22, 2005, p. 6: https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume96/page/n25/mode/2up?q=auto+club

Oct. 20, 2005, p. 6: https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume96/page/n85/mode/2up?q=auto+club

April 5, 1984, p. 5: https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume74/page/n571/mode/2up?q=auto+club

Oct. 22, 1987, p. 15 (Stout Auto Club racing at Rock Falls Raceway): https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume78/page/n169/mode/2up?q=auto+club

Aril 21, 1988, p. 4: https://archive.org/details/StoutoniaVolume78/page/n591/mode/2up?q=auto+club

 

Dunn County News Articles (via the Menomonie Public Library):

April 13, 1988, p. 4, UW-Stout Antique Auto Club auto show and swap meet at Dunn County Rec Park, featuring Al Corda’s NHRA Winston Stock world champion drag car (owner of Rock Falls Raceway): https://menomoniepubliclibrary.newspapers.com/image/542953960/?terms=rock%2Bfalls%2Braceway

Oct. 25, 1995, front page, “New Program lets kids ‘beat the heat’: https://menomoniepubliclibrary.newspapers.com/image/542411791/?terms=rock%2Bfalls%2Braceway