Fond du Lac, Wisconsin History Manuscripts

HISTORY BY THE LAKE
Preface

This volume is the second in a series of occasional papers devoted to study of the local history of the Fond du Lac and Lake Winnebago region. The earlier volume, Source of the Lake: 150 Years of History in Fond du Lac, concentrated exclusively on Fond du Lac, because it was presented as a part of a sesquicentennial celebration. ¹ The present volume incorporates some essays that did not fit that earlier format as well as others completed since it appeared, and so the new book is cast in terms of the broader Lake Winnebago region of which Fond du Lac is an important part.

Each of the essays has been produced by a Marian College student enrolled in the History Program, the Political Science Program, or the Broad Field Social Studies Program. The essay is the capstone experience for these majors. Students undertaking this course, customarily completed in three segments over a period of at least three semesters, are strongly encouraged to pursue topics in local history or politics because of the availability of primary sources and their convenience of access. Since many of the students plan careers in education, there is also often a direct linkage between their research and material that they will be able to use in the classroom. Local topics also make good practical sense, because few students possess the time or resources to travel to more distant collections. Local history has also come into its own as a legitimate part of the historical studies landscape, and essays on local topics such as these will provide useful insights for historians who will write the more synthetic works on Wisconsin’s history in the future. At the very least, the work of these students will leave Fond du Lac and the Lake Winnebago region with the rich legacy of a past that has been remembered, understood, and interpreted

The intent of the capstone assignment is that students should produce an original essay that makes a contribution to historical understanding, that utilizes significant primary sources and that conforms to the high standard of technical production characteristic of essays produced by professional historians. The range of topics that the students represented in this volume have chosen is impressive, reflecting a broad spectrum of student interests that spans political issues, military affairs, economic development, social customs, leisure, education, religious life, and historical ecology. Some of the essays reflect an interest in current public policy issues. In such a project, the process of research and writing is inevitably a shared one. Students work in small seminar groups, sharing their research and issues with the instructor and one another. Teaching is a mutual process, with students developing expertise that is imparted to an instructor who does not specialize in local history, or for that matter American history, while students learn the craft of the practicing historian.

At the core of any project such as this are library archives and the help of the librarians who sustain them and make them usable. Wisconsin is admirably served by its well-organized and professionally staffed historical archives, and students have benefited by having available to them the Cardinal Meyer Library at Marian College, the Public Library of the City of Fond du Lac, the Fond du Lac County Historical Society’ Adams House research unit, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin at Madison, and its Area Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, all of which have been utilized in the production of these essays, as have certain other archives that are not open to the general public, including, among others, those of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, Saint Mary’s Springs High School, and the Congregation of Saint Agnes. Many of the essays also incorporate the results of oral history investigations.

This work is a collaborative one to which many people not listed as authors have also made a contribution. Several people deserve acknowledgement for their significant roles in its production. Mary Ellen Gormican, Director, and Sarah Sturke, Reference and Bibliographic Instruction Librarian at the Cardinal Meyer Library at Marian, both assisted students in obtaining needed materials and helped begin their education as researchers. Sally Albertz of the Fond du Lac County Historical Society provided extensive research assistance through her encyclopedic knowledge of the collections at the Adams House research facility, and she helped identify appropriate photographs. Mary Georgeff of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin provided much help to students in navigating the massive collection of materials located in Madison, a task more recently undertaken by Rick Pifer and other staff members at the State Historical Society.

My colleagues in the History Program, including Dr. Richard Whaley, Dr. Mary Gross, Sister Marie Scott, CSA, and Father Ron Jansch, OFM Cap. all contributed to this project, suggesting topics, providing research materials, offering insights into the historiography of Wisconsin, reading and commenting on essays, and attending presentations of completed student research. They also read this manuscript and offered suggestions for its improvement. Father Ron deserves special mention for his unequaled skills as a proofreader, as does Dr. Mary Gross for her work on the cover design. Sister Margaret Lorimer, CSA, emerita professor of history at Marian College and historian of the Congregation of Saint Agnes, provided invaluable information on topics related to the Agnesians in Fond du Lac and Nicaragua. Mrs. Lisa McArthur, Secretary for the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division, provided typing and manuscript production assistance. Mr. Jeff Kuhnz of Action Printing provided assistance in production of the book. But the main credit for this volume belongs to the eighteen authors whose work appears here.

This volume represents a shared project in other ways. Funding to support its production has been provided by the Fond du Lac Public Library through its Bernice and Robert Seefeld Fund, for which I thank Mr. Ken Hall, Director, by members of the Fond du Lac County Historical Society, and by Marian College of Fond du Lac, through the efforts of President Richard I. Ridenour, M.D., and of Vice President for Academic Affairs Sheryl Ayala, who both have been continuing supporters of this project. Special acknowledgement must be made of the support and encouragement of Dr. Larry Robinson, Dean of the Marian College School of Education and of Professor Michelle Majewski, Director of the Social Science Research Institute at Marian College.

The value of this book as a contribution to understand the history of Fond du Lac and the Lake Winnebago region is due to the work of the authors of the individual articles and the efforts of the many people listed above. Although this is a work of many hands, the defects that remain are, I confess, the result of my own limitations as an editor.

Clarence B. Davis, Ph.D.
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
December 17, 2004

1 - Clarence B. Davis, ed., Source of the Lake: 150 Years of History in Fond du Lac, (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin: Action Printing, 2002). return

Copyright Clarence B. Davis 2005. Marian College Press, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 2005.
Electronic publication by Fond du Lac Public Library has been approved by Clarence B. Davis.

Return to the Local History Manuscripts main page