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Newsboy selling newspapers, 1922 :: James Blair Murdoch Photographs 

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Happy Birthday to Shakespeare! These images are from one of the Bard’s most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet.  Performed by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in 1978-1979, the show is one of many Shakepeare plays that are part of our Milwaukee Repertory Theater Photographic History collection.   

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Monday Motivation

Each Monday, we look ourselves in the mirror and affirm:⁣ ⁣ “You are kind. You are strong. You are definitely not going to get any red rot on your clothes today."⁣ ⁣ "Lifting 40 lb boxes only makes you stronger. It’s an archivist workout.” ⁣ ⁣ “Today, you will be insanely productive and not spend two hours laughing over UWM Post ads from the 1970s."⁣⁣ ⁣ "You are worth it. You deserve all the perfectly crafted metadata."⁣ ⁣ (Okay, maybe not all of those. April Fools!) ⁣ ⁣ James Blair Murdoch Photographs, UWM Mss 131⁣ ⁣

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1970s Political Pamphlet for Defending Unions 

This early 70s political pamphlet was discovered while searching through the Fredrick P Kessler Papers. Filled with numerous political cartoons, this pamphlet served as a call to action against the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970-71 and even came with a referendum ballot attached to the back.

Fredrick P. Kessler Papers, Milwaukee Mss 211, Box 19, Folder 6

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World Amateur Radio Day

Every April 18th, the airwaves swell in celebration of amateur broadcast voices across the globe. The local public radio station hosted through UWM, WUWM, got its start as a learning opportunity for Journalism students in 1963. The Journalism Department changed its name in 1970 to the Mass Communication Department. 

In 1975, the Mass Communication Department hired professionals to staff the full-time positions at WUWM.The emphasis of the Mass Communication Department throughout its existence was to provide students with the education for careers in mass communication while offering opportunities for students to work in privately and publicly owned radio stations and newspapers. Although WUWM can’t be considered “amateur” these days by any standard, the Mass Communication Department still maintains close ties with the station and students continue to work part-time for the station.

The Ivy (1965), pg. 95 |  WUWM Radio engineer |  WUWM Radio production| WUWM Radio broadcast of Morning Edition |  WUWM Radio engineer during the 1980 election | The Ivy (1966), pg. 159

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“The first disruptive protest in UWM’s history”

In November of 1967 UWM students demonstrated against Dow Chemical for its production of napalm for use in the war and against the CIA for its alleged complicity in war crimes. In addition to demonstrations, the Student Life and Interest Committee (SLIC) considered a formal proposal “requesting that the use of the UWM facilities for the Dow and CIA interviews be denied."  After the decision is made to proceed with the Dow Chemical interviews at the UWM Civic Center campus, over 100 students rally in front of the Union, then march downtown for a picket of the potential interview site. Chancellor J. Martin Klotsche, in a released statement, praises the peaceful nature of the protests, noting that, "the actions of the students were in the best traditions of the university.” In response to the protests, the Chancellor appoints a special committee to study the feasibility of continuing the interviews on campus.

Nevertheless, in February of 1968, Dow Chemical Company held interviews w at UWM. Approximately 40 to 50 protesters gathered in the Union before marching to the second floor of Mitchell Hall to protest the interviews. Two students are arrested while blocking access to the Chancellor’s office, in what the UWM Post calls “the first disruptive protest in UWM’s history.” The protesters deliver a list of demands to the Chancellor, including the release of the arrested students and cancellation of the remaining interviews.The next day, twelve students from the previous day’s demonstration meet with Chancellor Klotsche, who affirms students’ right to protest, but not in a disruptive manner. He also explains that UW Regents policy requires him to allow recruitment except under extraordinary circumstances. 

The arrested students were charged with disorderly conduct and sentenced to 30 days in the House of Correction but were released after Dean David Robinson has their bail lowered from $1500 to $100. Two months later, UWM students participate in activities associated with the national “April Days of Protest,” including a march from campus to the Federal Building, burning President Lyndon Johnson in effigy, and a “Bitch-In” on the Union Lawn sponsored by the Campus Action Party.

Chancellor Klotsche addresses student protestors in hallway | Counter-Protesters |  UWM Post February 23, 1968 |  UWM security personnel scuffle with student protestors

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Mount Mary University students practicing archery, 1934 :: James Blair Murdoch Photographs

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This futuristic library design is from our Willis and Lillian Leenhouts Architects Records.  Designed for the Theosophical Society’s Adyar Library in India, this was one of several Theosophical Society buildings which the Leenhouts worked upon.  

We also have our suspicions that George Lucas may have known the Leenhouts, because that top-down view looks remarkably like the Millennium Falcon.  

Project 1460. Designs for Adyar Library (India), 1961 ::  Architectural Drawings of Willis and Lillian Leenhouts

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Happy National Library Week! We’ve had quite a few libraries on this campus in the past 100+ years: Greene Hall Library, Chapman Memorial Library, Mitchell Hall Library, Mellencamp Hall Library, and now the Golda Meir Library. 

Although libraries have changed somewhat over the 20th century, the passion and dedication that librarians bring to their jobs remains the same.  If you see a librarian this week, make sure you thank them!    

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Happy National Pet Day!

We found this astonishing photo in the Vel Phillips papers. Now, we love to gush about the many accomplishments of politician and civil rights leader Vel Phillips–she’s our hero–but we had no idea she had such a remarkable pet. Truth be told, we don’t know anything about this pooch or where he learned to be such a snazzy dresser, but we’re still impressed. 

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Platterpus Society Dinner

Yes, you read that right…”HippopotamusTidbits,” “Octopus Ragout,” “Roast Beaver,” and “Reindeer Steaks”…these menus have a suspicious amount of exotic fare for dinner parties sponsored by a zoo, don’t you think? 

While perusing the Zoological Society of Milwaukee County Records we were pleasantly surprised by these playful menus for the Platterpus Society gatherings. The society, which started as a social dining club, later evolved into the Platypus Society–a group of generous donors who devoted a great deal of time and financial support to the Milwaukee County Zoo. 

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Poetry Month

The images above are of the 1902 school composition book of Bina Merkley of Neenah, Wisconsin. This poem/song seemed fitting given Wisconsin’s weather this last week. We were so happy to have had April smile on us for a short while, but then March came back with more wild and stout winds as a not so gentle reminder of what we thought was behind us.

The March Wind “Ha! ha!” said the March wind one morning, “I’ll have a big frolic today; I’ll toss and I’ll heap in a tumble All things that I find in my way. Ha! Ha! ha! ha! All-things that I find in my way, ha! ha! Ha! ha! ha! ha! All things that I find in my way.”

Men’s hats and boy’s caps were sent flying Girls bonnets, too, tossed all about While March wind laughed louder and louder That jolly old rogue wild and stout, Ha! ha! ha! ha! That jolly old rogue wild and stout, ha! ha! Ha! ha! ha! ha! That jolly old rogue wild and stout.

He swept through the country and city, Confusion prevailing the while; Then breathless and silent, subsided When April came out with a smile, Ha! ha! ha! ha! When April came out with a smile, ha! ha! Ha! ha! ha! ha! Glad April came out with a smile.

This composition book is in the Eleanor Marsh papers, 1902-1998 (UWM MSS 162, box 1, folder 1)

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Why don't people trust an eclipse? Because it's shady!

Today, April 8th, is the day of the 2024 Solar Eclipse, and our Spaights Plaza is full of people attempting to view this scientific wonder. It's no surprise that the eclipse is all the rage--millions of people are posting about it on social media, new stations are broadcasting live, and there are events inviting people to participate in fun activities related to the eclipse.

The eclipse has also sparked many conspiracy theories about an imminent apocalypse. For example, the 4.8 magnitude earthquake that was felt in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut led people to believe the end times are near.

Read this article from the Guardian to find out more about conspiracy theories: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/07/solar-eclipse-memes-conspiracy-theories

Two hundred and sixty-five years ago, people were feeling the same way when Halley's Comet was sighted over New England. This poem from the Sherman Booth Papers shows the apocalyptic anxiety present after Halley's Comet passed through the sky. One part of the poem states,

"The might God to Judgement comes In his majestic Power; Comets and fearful Sights more brief Then ever yet have been, More frequently and commonly Would in the World be seen, And are not we now Witnesses, Let all our Fathers say, If ever God before them past In such an awful Way."

Click this link to see a facsimile of the same poem from the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.03502600/

The original poem (see photograph) is located in Milwaukee Manuscript Collection BB, Box 7, Folder 6. Come by the UWM Archives to check it out!

#uwmarchives #1750s #archives #eclipse #halley's comet #2024 eclipse #apocalypse

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Society of Women Engineers!

As part of Women’s History Month, we are celebrating women in the engineering field by showing out Society of Women Engineers collection with some pictures, brochures, and stickers from the 1970s and 80s. 

The Society of Women Engineers is a non-profit, educational, service organization dedicated to making known the need for women engineers and encouraging young women to consider an engineering education. The specific objectives of the society are to inform young women, their parents, counselors, and the general public of the qualifications and achievements of women engineers and the opportunities open to them; to assist women engineers in readying themselves for a return to active work after temporary retirement; to encourage women engineers to attain high levels of educational and professional achievement; and to serve as a center of information on women in engineering. The charter of the Milwaukee Chapter was approved in 1973.

-Society of Women Engineers, Milwaukee Chapter Records: UWM Manuscript Collection 168, Boxes 1 and 2. 

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A Friendly Wager on Votes for Women (c. 1876-1896)

“A true account of two important documents and what came of them.”

Perhaps the student was fumbling about for a pencil when she discovered a letter tucked at the back of a desk drawer in Suite 18 of Ladies’ Hall. Whatever the circumstances, the letter proved to be a happy discovery for the student (a member of the Class of 1896) and her companions in Ladies’ Hall (eventually known as Chadbourne Hall, shown below).

Twenty years earlier, two residents of the very same suite had sealed the terms of a bet on this sheet of paper. The matter under dispute? Women’s suffrage. If women had obtained the vote before 1896, Miss Helen Remington would treat residents of Suites 18 and 19 to dinner. If women were “still in bondage” by the same year, Miss Juliet Meyer would fund the feast.

With great relish, the inhabitants of Suites 18 and 19 wrote to Miss Juliet Meyer (now Mrs. Juliet Brown) to inform her of her loss. On February 22, 1896, Brown hosted the bet’s beneficiaries at the Hotel Van Etta (118-124 King Street). The ladies dined on oysters, quail, and raspberry sherbet – a sumptuous feast for these self-declared “hungry girls” who were tired of eating “codfish and hash.”

In the intervening years, Miss Helen Remington (now Mrs. J. M. Olin, shown below), Brown’s vindicated opponent, had become an active defender of women’s rights, participating in the organization that eventually became known as the Wisconsin Women’s Suffrage Association. At her side stood husband and UW-Madison law professor John M. Olin, a major public figure in Madison as both a University Regent and President of the Wisconsin Bar Association.

To the chagrin of Helen Remington Olin and many present at the Hotel Van Etta, women would not win the vote until June 10, 1919. Nonetheless, “most bounteous and enjoyable feast” brought together two generations of women for whom the very act of pursuing higher education was a considerable feat to be celebrated.

Story found in the 1900 Badger Yearbook, pages 209 and 210.

For more information about UW-Madison campus history, contact [email protected] or visit http://archives.library.wisc.edu.

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Here’s an 1855 diploma from Milwaukee Female College, a predecessor of Milwaukee-Downer College!  The ink is pretty faded, but you can still make out that it was signed by Increase Lapham, eminent Wisconsin scientist.

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Greetings from Lake Park, Milwaukee!

Wishing you could take a summer stroll around Lake Park today? Us too.

In light of all this unexpected winter weather, all we can do is remember how beautiful Milwaukee summers are. We are so close!

Greetings from Milwaukee Digital Postcard Collection:

1. Grand stairway

2. Government Light House

3. Lake Park

4. Lion Bridge