My Experience Conducting Primary Source Research

 Guest post by Ethan Christensen 

I had an excellent experience conducting primary source research for the poster I presented at the tabling event. I found all the sources online as I could not find anything in person. There was very little I could find on both Armand Spitz and his A3P Projector, as there is not very much scholarship on both of them. I found my primary source photographs on the University of Milwaukee’s archives website and my information on Armand Spitz through Google and Google Scholar. Very few websites had information about Spitz and his life, but I was fortunate enough to find an excerpt from an article about his life and a journal with stories written by his daughter. I wish there were more readily available information about Spitz and his projector. Still, there was a sufficient amount for me to gather and put into a presentation. I disliked that I could only learn about an overview of his life; I would love more detailed accounts of the events of his life like there are for so many other historical people.

Works Cited

Spitz-Rice, Verne, Joyce Towne, and Chadds Ford. "Who Was Armand Spitz? Father, Husband, Educator, Innovator." Planetarian, December 1, 2013. https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.ips-planetarium.org/resource/resmgr/pdf-pubs/Rice_and_Towne_Armand_Spitz_.pdf.

DiAbbatantuono, Brent P. "Armand Spitz—Seller of Stars." International Planetarium Society, August 1994 - March 1995. https://www.ips-planetarium.org/page/a_abbatantuono1995.

Primary Source Research – Interview with J. Martin Klotsche

Guest post by Daniel Bauman

Most of my research conducted for this course centered around Johannes Martin Klotsche. I selected Klotsche as a subject for my tabling exercise at the Public Museum, wrote about Klotsche for my graduate research paper, and chose him as a character for the class re-enactment. Joe Klotsche left behind many writings, delivered many published speeches, books and peer reviewed articles based on his thoughts or research. I had intended to, and hoped to, spend time looking directly in the archives, discovering useful and interesting letters and records but confronted a wealth of Klotsche’s own words, whether as primary or secondary sources, available online or in the library stacks. What at first felt like an unfair advantage in terms of accessible sources sometimes seemed daunting, forcing me to decide which pieces to look through and place my focus. Between the various projects done around Klotsche, I found and incorporated more sources, and still didn’t get to everything.

The most helpful source throughout my work was Frank Cassell’s ‘Interview with J. Martin Klotsche’, conducted in 1981 as part of the UW-Milwaukee Oral History Project. I found that hearing Joe Klotsche speak gave me a good deal of confidence in trying to imagine Joe Klotsche the person, while conducting my research. His words seemed more organic and less planned than those in his published memoirs, articles and carefully crafted speeches. Furthermore, there seemed to be a good deal of comfort between the interviewer and interviewee, such that Klotsche was not guarded in this exchange. Occasionally the two would share some laughter and briefly touch on anecdotes otherwise omitted. In the course of writing my paper, I actually found myself needing to pull back from citing this particular interview, and incorporate more thought-out reflections from Klotsche in other sources, for certain events. Hearing the recording of Klotsche, frozen in time, represented an auditory alternative to discovering a physical source in the archives. 

References

Klotsche, J Martin. “Oral History Interview with J. Martin Klotsche”. Interview by Frank Cassell. UW-Milwaukee Oral History Project Records, 1981-1990. April 21, 1981. https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmoh/id/56/rec/1.

 

The Constant Search: Growth in Research Ability

Guest post by Grant Thomas

Overall within the realm of historical research one finds the misconception of extreme difficulty when finding sources or the sheer amount of time when wading through boxes of materials or slivers of information. However, this does not have to be the case in the grand scheme of the concept of historical research. I would say that this class aided in making my research mentality far more resilient and allowing for the utilization of more primary sources. One of the more significant aspects of anthropological writing and research is the fact we use secondary sources such as theory or other aspects of the craft with most primary sources being our own notes or field examinations; in contrast to historical research, I found it far more enjoyable working with primary sources as it was the aspect of holding a literal piece of history.

Concerning my own work, I used the online resources through the UWM library archive system when working through not only the Museum pillar exercise, but also greater context for our reenactment. I also would use interviews for the reenactment, as my character was based on my great-grandfather, prompting interviews with my mother, Kara, and grandmother, Carole. These tactics and context would give greater context to our period of study, but also a more integral meaning behind the images and stories which I had been told or shown as a child. When thinking about aspect which were missing, I would say that the more general stories of average people; this idea comes in how we typically save documents from the rungs of power and only have small documentation or family histories to draw on for these actions. Overall, this semester's research was extremely enjoyable and a perfect precursor to further work in the coming semesters moving deeper into my thesis work.

J. Martin Klotsche, First Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

 Guest post by Arcadia Rose Schmid

I introduce you all to Johannes Martin Klotsche, a man with an extraordinary mind whose powerful personality and determination became an essential foundation of the creation of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He will be portrayed online as @j.m.klotsche, which will detail both his public and private lives; this will provide historical context for the man who was essential to creating the conditions that allowed UW-Milwaukee to exist and expand into what it is today, a 104-acre campus with approximately 22,000 graduate and undergraduate students and a planetarium.

“Joe,” which was the name nearly everyone knew him by, or Johannes, the name nearly no one was aware of, was a brilliant child – he graduated from high school at age thirteen and then from college at the mere age of seventeen. After receiving his PhD in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he began his teaching career at the Wisconsin State Teacher’s College-Milwaukee, and eventually was named its president. The name and function of the college was later changed, which led to him becoming the Provost of the Wisconsin-State College-Milwaukee in 1951. Though he was initially opposed to the creation of UWM, he later discerned that it was the answer to Milwaukee’s overburdened and somewhat lackluster higher educational opportunities: UW-Milwaukee would be a major urban research university. Klotsche advocated greatly for the ideals that came along with such a distinction, as he wanted the university and the city of Milwaukee to be closely intertwined. Klotsche’s charismatic personality and careful precision in his work carried him well throughout his tenure as Chancellor of UW-Milwaukee, and his efforts would leave a long-lasting legacy on the campus and the people who attended and worked there. Some of those accomplishments can be found in UW-Milwaukee’s library, both in the Archives department and on the shelves. The Archives contain nearly 70 boxes of papers from his own personal life and from official records while he was Chancellor, and seemingly all of the books published during his life, including Confessions of an Educator , The Role of the United States in World Affairs, and The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: A Historical Profile, 1885-1992.

Stewart Dent Blog Introduction

Guest post by Bennett Ryan

The character that I will be reenacting is named Stewart Dent, but he goes by Stew, and he is a composite character of a student at UWM in the 1960s when the planetarium finished construction and opened its doors. He was born on August 9, 1945, and is a Junior during the setting of the reenactment. He was born and raised in Shorewood; his family heritage is mostly English or Yankee with some German mixed in as well. He was raised with a Protestant religious background, but his family was not especially religious. While his family was not extremely religious they were still rather conservative, which Stewart began to rebel against when he moved out to go live at the college dorms. He went to Shorewood High School and graduated in 1963. He enrolled at UW-Milwaukee with the intention of majoring in Geography, but switched to Urban Studies in 1964, since the school only recently began offering in 1963. Learning about Urban Studies introduced him to problems that plague urban societies and made him think about possible solutions to them. During his time in college, he began reading the Kaleidoscope student newspaper at UWM and began to immerse himself in the counterculture movement. Off campus he enjoys going to rock concerts and festivals, or he is at the Downer Theater where he works at the concession stand. On campus he is involved in various student demonstrations, protesting the Vietnam war and pushing for the removal of ROTC on campus. His temperament could be described as cynical with disdain for authority figures. The instagram handle I’m using is @uwmstewdent.

Stanisław Wojcik

 Guest post by Ian Netwal

Stanisław Wojcik is a fictional composite figure whose real name has been classified due to the nature of his work. For clarification, Stanisław Wojcik is not the character's “real” name, however in an attempt to stay with the general theme of the character, his true name is left unknown. Stanisław was born August 6th, 1945 in a small mining town in the Ural mountains. Being born in the Soviet Union, Stanisław was raised during a time of rapidly rising tensions. During his education in 1959, his test scores were brought to the attention of the KGB, who then began training and preparing him to act as an agent in a foreign country. His training consisted of learning multiple languages, namely Polish, German, and English, as well as learning how to appear as a member of a certain niche of a population. By 1963, Stanisław was ready to receive his orders: he was to assume the identity of Polish national “Stanisław Wojcik” a political dissident who sought to defect to West Germany, where he would then seek to emigrate to the U.S. where he had family. Utilizing the intricate web of spy networks on both sides of the Berlin wall, Stanisław succeeded in his goals and made it to his “family” who resided in the South Side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Having accomplished phase one of his mission, he then began phase two: enrolling in and studying the methods used in an American university. As Stanisław had a very generous and wealthy “family,” he was able to secure enrollment at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the fall of 1965. Given the parameters of his mission, Stanisław decided to join the many clubs and activist groups that he encountered; he was after all supposed to compile an overarching report on the way an American college operated. While Stanisław diligently prepared the logistics of his mission, countless other operatives in different parts of the country were tasked with the same mission, and at their completion all the reports would be compared, for reasons unknown to the operatives.

Stanisław Wojcik’s role in the re-enactment is to illustrate the Cold War tensions of the time. There is no intention for Stanisław Wojcik to be viewed as an actual person/parody of an actual person; the intention is to portray a very real fear many people had during the time, that fear being the idea of Soviet spies infiltrating American society. The Instagram handle for Stanisław Wojcik is averagestudent1965.

List of sources used

1. Image of a newspaper reporting on President Kennedy’s assassination- https://www.newyorker.com/news/hendrik-hertzberg/friday-november-22-1963
2. Image of Berlin Wall- https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-wall-now-down-for-as-long-as-it-once-stood/a-42456108
3. Soviet map of Milwaukee- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/15517/rec/9
4. Mary’s bookstore (2 images used)- https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/2017/01/17/milwaukee-bookstore-made-fbi-chief-see-red/96611154/
5. First use of UWM post- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmpost/id/4119/rec/1
6. Klotsche goes to Brazil- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmpost/id/4822/rec/1
7. DOW chemical protest February 14, 1967- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmpost/id/5137/rec/26
8. Snippet referring to the Milwaukee 14- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmpost/id/6101/rec/3
9. Image of a snowy campus outside Mellencamp, ~1965- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmphoto/id/493/rec/3
10. Image of the UWM student union, ~1965- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmphoto/id/589/rec/1
11. Image of Manfred Olson being interviewed by the planetarium- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmphoto/id/562/rec/262
12. Image of students studying in the library- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmphoto/id/442/rec/15
13. Nixon Warned- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmpost/id/1322/rec/27
14. Article referring to Kent State incident- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmpost/id/1434/rec/43
15. Illustration of Nixon- https://guides.library.uwm.edu/c.php?g=56372&p=362683 (Illustration from UWM Post, February 12, 1971)
16. Image of the UWM physics building, ~1970- https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/uwmphoto/id/541/rec/54

 

Fredric Neubauer

Guest post by Ryan Janowski

My reenactment character will be Fredric Neubauer. The Instagram handle I will be using for the reenactment @MrNeubauer2749. The relationship my reenactment character has with the theme of this reenactment is as an audience member of the Planetarium shows as a teacher. He will be a fictional composite character. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1927. Fredric graduated from the Wisconsin State Teachers College of Milwaukee in 1949. He was a member of the Social Committee there, helping set up dances and events at the college. After graduating, Fredric would go on to teach at different city public schools until landing and settling at Roosevelt Junior High School at 800 W. Walnut Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

After the Planetarium was built, his class made a trip to the Planetarium to see a show and learn a little more about astronomy. Fredric has always been kindhearted and an understanding individual and expresses this through his passion for teaching. His favorite subject to teach is science and provides a period throughout his class to discuss current events in science and nationally circulated magazine issues, tying them into the curriculum. He often gave space to speak on local papers and issues as well. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Fredric loved his community and resided near the school he taught at. He understood the situation around him during the late 1950s and 1960s and did his best to educate his students with the materials he had. Although he did not participate, he supported Lloyd Barbee and MUSIC during the Freedom Day Boycotts on May 18^th, 1964. He was a major supporter of the movement to integrate schools in Milwaukee throughout his career.