LA CROSSE HISTORY
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THE LA CROSSE AREA'S HISTORY, DIGITIZED
Family & Community
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—Family and Community—
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Creator:
Zobeck, Marie
Description:
A general description of the respondents would indicate women between the ages of
31 to 45 years, living in La Crosse or Onalaska, and having a household income of
$25,000 to $50,000. They appear to be stay-at-home moms caring for as many as three
children, generally including at least one pre-schooler.
The results seem to indicate that, for the most part, the audience of "River City
Parents" applauds the concept and the efforts of the publisher. However, results also indicate
a few critics expecting a more professional product before the newsletter will be
deemed as a credible source.
Published as part of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume 1 (1998)
Published as part of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume 1 (1998)
Creator:
Baudhuin, Jason
Description:
Student paper-University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 1991.; "For Historiography 395...December 16, 1991"; Cover title.; Also available online.; Advisor: C. Lee; Includes bibliographical references.; At head of title: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
The Goosetown neighborhood covered the formerly residential area that was bounded on the north by the La Crosse River marsh; west by 12th Street North, the former interstate fairgrounds (Harring Field and Memorial Stadium to the east. The southern border is in dispute, ranging from the north side of Vine Street all the way to the north side of Main Street.
The Goosetown neighborhood covered the formerly residential area that was bounded on the north by the La Crosse River marsh; west by 12th Street North, the former interstate fairgrounds (Harring Field and Memorial Stadium to the east. The southern border is in dispute, ranging from the north side of Vine Street all the way to the north side of Main Street.
Author:
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Creator:
State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Description:
Includes chapters three and four only: III. Recollections of a pioneer woman of La Crosse / by [Fredericka] Augusta Levy (ed. by Albert H. Sanford) -- IV. Another La Crosse pioneer's statement / by John S. Harris.
"From the proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 1911, ..."; Includes bibliographical references.
"From the proceedings of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for 1911, ..."; Includes bibliographical references.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Agnes Osborne discusses her family and memories of her childhood in La Crosse during the turn of the century. Topics include but are not limited to: education, outdoor recreation, social activities, dances, parties, WWI, Great Depression, winter time, and summer time.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Albert E. Flottmeyer discusses his life in La Crosse, Wisconsin, focusing on his experiences and observations as a building developer. He details the housing industry, describing construction materials, building styles, interior design, and housing developments, in particular the Wedgewood Terrace and Wedgewood Valley developments.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Eggen discusses his life in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He details social practices, community organization, and local politics. He also describes recreation and entertainment opportunities.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Brenda Lauderdale was born in Alabama, but spent most of her childhood in the Chicago area. She came to La Crosse for college. Lauderdale mostly discusses growing up in housing projects in Chicago in the 1950s and her family life. In 1975, Lauderdale enrolled in UWL, and some of her interview focuses on anti-Black racism and discrimination in La Crosse and at UWL.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Bud Miyamoto (b. 1945) spends a majority of his interview remembering his early life in La Crosse, specifically life on the North Side as a Japanese American. Topics include but are not limited to: North Side neighborhood, his (white) mother's background and employment at the Auto-Lite factory, father’s service in the 100th Infantry Battalion during WWII and journey from Hawaii to La Crosse, Camp McCoy, local businesses (the Sweet Shop, the Country Kitchen, and the Riviera Theatre), social life and entertainment (school dances, drag races, movies, county fair, circus, and picnics), recreation and sports (swimming at the North Side Beach, softball at Copeland Park, and fishing on Black River), student rivalries between Central High School and Logan High School, health remedies, religion (St. Luke’s Methodist Church), anti-Japanese racism in town, Black Americans in La Crosse, Moss family, working-class cultures on North Side, Auto-Lite factory, community grief from 1959 lay-offs at Auto-Lite, employment (Manke Hardware Store, M. Lokken & Son Grocery, Neumeister’s Butcher Shop, Guggenbuehl and Nekola, Nelson’s Clothing Store, and Berg’s Pharmacy, Milwaukee Sentinel, the Sweet Shop, andSandy’s fast food), President John F. Kennedy, 1965 Flood, Lower North Side train depot, telephones, medical industry, and local radio.
Description:
Charles Conrad was a La Crosse area resident for his whole life, born in the late 1800s and growing up on a farm just outside of the city. In his interview, he discusses subjects like: his ancestry, Indigenous peoples, education, family life, working at a saw mill and grocery store, religion, movie theaters, the Red light district, Prohibition, clamming, the Klu Klux Klan (KKK), Black families, racism, early doctors and home remedies, and the Great Depression.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Swords and Schmidt discuss their experience as siblings growing up during the early 1900s in the Goosetown area of La Crosse, Wisconsin. They describe family relationships, the Goosetown neighborhood, sports and games, and entertainment options.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Edwin Dohlby begins this interview discussing his genealogy, family life, and relationship with his mostly absent father. His mother was a midwife and he left school early to work various jobs to support his family (butchering, grocery, auto parts factory). He touches on many social and cultural topics in La Crosse history, including but not limited to: North Side and South Side, taverns and beer, recreation, area rivers, La Crosse Rubber Mills, Auto-Lite, Red-light District, the railroad industry, Prohibition, La Crosse Rubber Mills, dance halls and theaters, dating, local politics and business, anti-German discrimination, Wisconsin Progressive Movement and Robert LaFollette, the Great Depression, and the La Crosse River Marsh.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Haiden discusses growing up in a German immigrant family in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He discusses family life, work life, and the development of La Crosse. He details his work in the railroad industry, mentioning several companies operating routes through La Crosse. He also describes the downtown district, including the breweries that operated there.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Geneva Ragland discusses her family history and social life and customs in early La Crosse history. Topics include but are not limited to: log riding, Ho-Chunk community members in 1870, baseball, Hixon family and home, Gillette family, Johns family, horse racing, and teaching and education.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Feinberg discusses his life in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He describes his work history, including starting his own business, Sanitary Supply Company. He details the development of downtown La Crosse and discusses organizing the 3rd Street Merchant's Association. He also describes the Market Square complex and changes in the downtown shopping area.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Mr. and Mrs. Banasik discuss their marriage and family life in La Crosse, Wisconsin. They describe work, home, recreation, and entertainment activities. They also comment on changes in society and politics.
Description:
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Henry Norcross (b. 1899) describes his family background and life on French Island. Topics include but are not limited to: German ancestry, festivals, Milwaukee Railroad, farming, French Island and La Crosse tensions, education, winter, drowning accidents, diseases and quarantine (mumps, measles, chicken pox), Frank Powell and Buffalo Bill Cody, circus, summer fairs, Mary Hauck (doctor), early electric cars, Dr. McLoone and Bessie Moore murders, home remedies, Rubber Mills, railroad engineer, anti-German propaganda during WWI, Prohibition, bootleggers, tobacco usage, Great Depression, unemployment, being member of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) (audio cuts out here in the middle of his story), Lodge 754, union strikes and involvement, anti-Black racism and his perceptions of white working-class discrimination.
Content warning: this interview contains racist ideas and language.
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Description:
Hoeschler touches on many subjects, but mainly focuses on his family history and his professional career. He also spends quite a bit of time talking about his uncle, Frank Hoeschler, who was a known dentist and developer in La Crosse.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Haraldson begins his interview discussing his family history, early childhood in Norway, and his immigration journey to the U.S. as a young man. He first arrived in Westby, where he worked on a farm. When he came to La Crosse, he began working in the shoe trade. Topics include but are not limited to: cobbling in Norway, railroads as a form of transportation at the turn of the century, Norwegian community in Westby (WI), tobacco farming, Arenz Shoe Store, Fry Shor Company, WWI, local shoe-making industry, businessmen's club, Adolf Gundersen, Trinity Lutheran Church, night school and furthering education, store fire, Judge Lincoln Neprud.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
John P. Gilbertson begins his interview by discussing his Norwegian family history. His interview largely focuses on La Crosse social life and recreation, as well as his career as a letter carrier. Topics include but are not limited to: saw mills, railroads, Coon Valley, family working-class occupations, the Great Depression, history of the La Crosse Post Office, steamboats, La Crosse Inter-State Fair, farm technology, newspaper and press industry, education in La Crosse, Wisconsin Business University, the circus, segregation from Ho-Chunk community and community racism, Bartl Brewery, anti-Black racism and interracial marriage, river and lumber industries, Goosetown, gambling houses and City policies, anti-German discrimination, WWI, automobiles, federal government, development of the La Crosse Normal School (now UW-L), Hoeschler family, medical history, Adolf Gundersen, early Ho-Chunk community members, early Black American community members, La Crosse Historical Society, Nathan Myrick, local politics, Wisconsin Progressive Movement, corruption in La Crosse Police Department, personal sentiments towards communities with different identities than his own (Indigenous, Black American, and Jewish).
Note: This interview has sections of poor audio quality.
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Note: This interview has sections of poor audio quality.
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Description:
Marlene Koula was born in La Crosse and discusses her family life and childhood. She touches on topics like family customs, dating, her marriage, Catholicism, religious discrimination, and social events.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Van Loon discusses her ancestors' 1856 emigration from the Netherlands to Wisconsin, where they settled in New Amsterdam. She focuses on her father, John Van Loon, and also discusses general family life and her childhood growing up on a farm in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Topics also discussed include but are not limited to: ancestry, immigration from Holland, LaFleur family, New Amsterdam, Native Americans, Presbyterian Church, marriage and work, Childhood memories, diseases, Joseph Losey, her childhood home, her parents railroad tramps, birthday celebrations, farm animals, Christmas celebrations, farming and harvesting, education, Perkins family, Black Americans, childhood games, bluff hiking, agricultural and horticultural societies, traffic concerns with horses and cars, horse races, bird watching, food and cooking, farm labor, as well as local newspapers papers.
Warning, some bits of this recording has sound issues and the audio is incomprehensible.
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Warning, some bits of this recording has sound issues and the audio is incomprehensible.
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Description:
Maxine Kroner (b.1927) was born in Dodgeville, WI, but spent her childhood in La Crosse. In her interview, she discusses topics such as the Great Depression, welfare programs, the North Side neighborhood, Catholicism, private education (Aquinas), employment during WWII, teaching, working as a mother, local politics, the YMCA, the polio pandemic, and vaccines.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Luxenburg discusses her marriage and family life in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She focuses on life in the 1950s, commenting on changes in the economy and social practices. She describes work life, childrearing, and recreation activities.
Description:
Myer Katz (b.1910 - d.1993) grew up in La Crosse in a Jewish family. He would later become a prominent local La Crosse historian. In his interview, he mostly covers topics about his family heritage. The subjects include local Jewish history and immigration, Judaism, family customs and practices, antisemitism, education experiences, and general Jewish history.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Winter discusses his life in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He focuses on his recollections of the area that became overtaken by the expanding University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He also describes neighborhood life and social practices.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Pat Seubert (b. 1936) discusses her life in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She focuses on family and neighborhood life and details recreation activities and social life. She also describes changes in society and politics during her lifetime. Topics includ but are not limited to: childhood home, La Crosse neighborhoods, 20th century changing technologies (dishwasher, washing machine), household roles, husband's employment, raising a family, clothing fads, leisure activities, children's extracurricular activities and music tastes, fraternal and social organizations, courtships and friendships, treatment of women (1940s-1970s), relationship and marriage (married 1958), vacations and first car, WWII (homefront), Communism, Korean War, nursing homes and funerals, religious importance, major societal changes (1945-1960s), family ethnicities, and racial and ethnic tensions in La Crosse. Content warning: this interview does contain racist, anti-Black language.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Fitzpatrick discusses growing up in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She details family life and marriage; neighborhoods where she grew up and raised her own family; recreation activities; and local social life and practices.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
In this interview, Paul Cuta and Alberta (Cuta) Gund primarily discuss German and Czech culture during the early 20th century in La Crosse. Topics include but are not limited to: the family home (1016 Farnam Street), Bohemian (Czech) traditional names, Catholicism, parental roles, cigar making, commercial fishing, wooden boat building, Funke's Candy Company, gardens and growing vegetables, paternal grandparents, life in the family home, Hood-Powell Park neighborhood, religious divisions in town; German-Lutheran, German-Catholics, Bohemian-Catholics, Irish-Catholics, Holy Trinity Parochial School, activities at schools, fundraisers, sports, dancing, traditional Bohemian (Czech) food, World War II, La Crosse Tribune, fashion, war rations, street cars, Protestant and Catholic neighborhood relationships, The Strand Theater, recreation activities, school yard games, home remedies, Powells Park, Lapitz Grocery Store, shoe stores and cobblers, home funerals, Hammes Grocery Store, Bruha Selrite Grocery Store, Aboto's Confectionary, bicycling in 1940s, communications during Korean War, home-brew alcohol served in Bohemian Hall, Humms Bakery, Tabbert's Dry Goods Store, taverns, gasoline industry, Tomicek Car Service, financial loans, soap rations during WWII, Baum's Butcher Shop, Shimshack's Shoe Repair and Tavern, Not Your Uncle's Tavern, and the Prohibition era.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Paul G. Pappas discusses growing up as one of five sons born to Greek immigrants who settled in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Topics include but are not limited to: the downtown business environment, the Elite, family background, Imperial Ice Cream Shop, childhood, Greek Food, church, religion, dating, sports and recreation, WWII, transportation, YMCA, Valley View Mall, 20th century technology changes (refrigerator, television), atomic bomb, Korean Conflict, McCarthyism, voting, local politics, Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, and marriage.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Raymond Bice discusses his childhood and early life, talking of fishing, hanging out at rail yards, his school delinquency, some of his teachers and his principal, as well as his story of eventually dropping out of high school. He also talks about his adult life, including his political career and the greater political climate of La Crosse, specifically at the County level. Bice talks in detail about the Trapper's bill and law, the Speed Limit bill and law, the Highway Safety bill and law, Liquor tax, and lobbying groups. He also discusses general topics like the Great Depression, Prohibition and bootlegging, neighborhood rivalry, and Syrian immigration to La Crosse.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Mr. Rynning discusses the following topics: Personal history, 1900s -- Family Norwegian ancestry, Direct decent of Bishop Bech crowning Norwegian King 1818 -- Immigration from Norway, 1870s -- Surname spelling and pronunciation change -- paternal immigration, 1876, civil engineering degree from Sweden -- Fathers career at Holway Lumber, La Crosse, Wisconsin; Rynning and Pedrson Clothing store, 727 Rose Street, La Crosse, Wisconsin; Exchange State Bank, La Crosse, Wisconsin 1892 -- Fathers death, Dr. Adolf Gundersen performed surgery, 1895 -- Statement to La Crosse paper, Allegations against Gundersen for malpractice 1895 -- Brothers civil engineer degree, University of Wisconsin-Madison, accident in St. Louis, death in 1909 -- Attempt to deferral from draft, World War One (1915-1918) -- Drafted into World War One (1915-1918): July 8, 1918, Promotion to Sargent: September 15, 1918 -- Left position at Exchange State Bank, 1920, reasoning due to hiring cheap labor after WWI -- W.A. Roosevelt Company, employment, 1920-1953 -- Fathers memories of La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1880s to 1890s -- Ballard Drug Store, 3rd and Pearl Street, La Crosse, Wisconsin -- Maternal immigration, Norway, 1870s -- Fathers education, language; German, French, English, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish -- Holway Lumber Mill, St. Cloud Street, La Crosse, Wisconsin -- Union National Bank, Main and 4th Streets, La Crosse, Wisconsin -- Making currency exchange, transporting $10,000 through town, carried gun for insurance -- Union National Bank, staff picture, 1911 -- North side neighborhood living, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1922 -- Black River, swimming with neighborhood kids, 1910s.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Roy Randorf discusses his family background and life growing up in Wisconsin. Topics includ but are not limited to: family ancestry, education, teenage years, youth drinking culture, UW-Stevens Point, United States Army (race and discrimination, bullying, mental abuse, entertainment, living conditions, venereal disease, harassment, propaganda), trial and imprisonment for going AWOL, prison life (censorship in books, racial tensions, protesting, cigarettes, homosexuality, drugs, entertainment, psychiatrists), Vietnam War (training, deployment, impressions, racial discrimination, sex work and trafficking, guerilla warfare, bombing, relationships and communication with South Vietnamese, combat injury, wound treatment, veteran life, morale, food, medical treatment, amputees, recreational activities, discharge, PTSD), civilian life, UW-La Crosse, Computer Science Program, politicization, Young Democrats and Young Republicans, voting, politics, campus life, and student government.
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Levenstein details her life as a member of the Jewish population in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She discusses neighborhood activities, the structure of the community, and social practices and traditions. She also offers details about Jewish leaders and community members.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Oswalt discusses her involvement with the La Crosse Business and Professional Women's Club and efforts to achieve wage equality and health care reform and to improve the status of women in the workplace and society.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Sylvan Arthur Schonsberg discusses his family background and life in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Topics include but are not limited to: 1965 Flood, hardware stores, Burlington Train Depot, WWII, entertainment (Avalon Ballroom, Riviera Theatre, Oktoberfest, Farm Fest fair, parades, Torchlight Parade), flea market, rivalry between Logan and Central High Schools, household appliances, stores in downtown La Crosse.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Terrance Collins (b. 1947) interview largely focuses on his family, early childhood in La Crosse's North Side neighborhood, his local education (Aquinas, Central, and UWL), and his career as a lawyer. Topics include but are not limited to: North Side neighborhood, Heritage Preservation Commission, Stoddard Hotel, North Side Depot, Catholicism, military service (Air Force), UW-La Crosse, professors, Vietnam War, protests, counter culture, drugs, Wisconsin and La Crosse politics, law firm (Cillins, Quillin, and Knofe)
00:00:00 -- Education, political science
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Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Creator:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse public history class
Description:
In September of 2003, UW-La Crosse history professor Charles "Chuck" Lee, approached the Washburn Neighborhood Association, offering to work on a project for the association. As a result of that offer, Professor Lee's Public History class was tasked with preparing historic sites nominations, developing a walking tour of the neighborhood, and conducting neighborhood oral history interviews.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Creator:
Boesel, Terri
Description:
The Powell-Hood Park-Hamilton Neighborhood Steering Committee's plans for revitalizing their neighborhood, while focusing on major physical issues like housing and facilities, include history. Recognizing that the present and the past are closely associated in vibrant communities, the steering committee called for a greater awareness of neighborhood history. In the fall of 1998, Professor Charles Lee of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Department of History, proposed the idea of compiling a neighborhood history to our public history class. Early in the school year we met with two of the steering committee members, Sandy Herold and Margaret Larson. They brought with them a list of ten people whom the committee had decided might have interesting information about the neighborhood. The members of the class divided up those ten people and interviewed them. With the help of those ten people, the class found fourteen more names, and these people were interviewed as well. The goal of this project was to help gather and record the history of the neighborhood through the eyes of its residents.