LA CROSSE HISTORY
unbound
THE LA CROSSE AREA'S HISTORY, DIGITIZED
Social Life & Customs
Unbound Collections
- Browse All Titles
- Formats
- General Histories
- Area Genealogy
- Accidents & Disasters
- Agriculture
- Archaeology
- Architecture
- Arts & Music
- Businesses & Industries
- Cemeteries
- Economy
- Education & Schools
- Events & Festivals
- Government
- Health & Healthcare
- Historic Sites
- Literature
- Military & War
- Natural Environment
- Neighborhoods
- Organizations
- Parks
- Peoples & Cultures
- Politics
- Press & News Media
- Religious Groups
- Sports & Recreation
- Transportation
Resources
—Social Life and Customs—
Creator:
Tripp, Addie
Description:
Addie Tripp was a single woman, perhaps a domestic servant, who lived with the William Johnson family of Onalaska, Wisconsin, during the Civil War. Her diary describes her daily household tasks for the family and community life during the war. Although the war continued unabated, Tripp's diary is notable for the absence of references to it, revealing its relatively minor impact on a working class woman's daily life. Tripp wrote nearly every day, and her entries slowly chronicle her romance and ultimately her marriage to a local man. The diary volume itself - - a leather-bound book roughly the size of a deck of cards - - included 24 pages of statistical information in the front as well as pages to record one's expenses and other data at the back. We have enhanced the images slightly to make Tripp's penciled entries easier to read. To see a typed version, click "Page & Text" at the upper right while viewing any page.
Addie Tripp Papers. Wisconsin Historical Society. La Crosse Area Research Center (La Crosse SC 106)
Part of the Wisconsin Historical Society's Turning Points in Wisconsin History online project
Addie Tripp Papers. Wisconsin Historical Society. La Crosse Area Research Center (La Crosse SC 106)
Part of the Wisconsin Historical Society's Turning Points in Wisconsin History online project
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:
D'Angelo discusses the live music scene in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He mentions several rock bands and local bars and also discusses his efforts to promote bands and provide publicity through his small press magazines.
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:
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.
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 5
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 5
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Zobin discusses the 1980s live music scene in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He focuses on local bands, including the Slow Pedestrians and Altrusion Grace, and also describes the difficulties of forming bands and finding venues. He also mentions downtown bars and local fan magazines.
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.
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 2
Tape 3
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.
Tape 2
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.
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Gerber discusses her work history, her concern for equal rights for women, and her long involvement with the La Crosse Business and Professional Women's Club in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She describes the purposes and concerns of the club as well as its history and development.
Author:
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program
Description:
Halko discusses local rock bands and the music performance scene in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He describes his collaboration at the Warehouse club and his efforts to organize and promote Java Jam.
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.
Tape 2
Tape 2
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.
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 5
Warning, some bits of this recording has sound issues and the audio is incomprehensible.
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 5
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.
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 5
Tape 6
Tape 7
Tape 8
Tape 9
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 5
Tape 6
Tape 7
Tape 8
Tape 9
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.
Tape 2
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.
Tape 2
Tape 2
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.
Tape 2
Tape 2
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.
Tape 2
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 5
Tape 6
Tape 7
Tape 3
Tape 4
Tape 5
Tape 6
Tape 7
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:
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:
Cain discusses his life as a traveling salesman for the shoe industry, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He details his travels to La Crosse, Wisconsin, describing the city, living conditions, and his business accounts, including Menards, Sears, and Montgomery Ward. He also describes staying at the Stoddard Hotel.
Creator:
Gehle, Milton G.
Description:
It is the purpose of this paper to show through the use of documentary evidence that prostitution did exist in La Crnsse between 1876 and 1913. Further, those methods of arrest and conviction used to legally stop or attempt to stop individuals involved in the vice were often quite sloppy by modern standards of "legal justice,."
UW-L Seminar Paper
UW-L Seminar Paper
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.