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Re: Seeking military activity at the University of Wisconsin
Joe,
The veteran Museum in Madison Wisconsin has a wonderful collection worth checking them out. But here is some information I found.
https://www.wiscontext.org/while-world-war-i-ended-uw-madison-endured-deadly-pandemic
https://badgerrotc.wisc.edu/history/
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Re: Seeking military activity at the University of Wisconsin
Thanks for your reply and those links Elliot. Yes, I’ve found quite a bit of information at the Wisconsin Veteran’s Museum, and in fact they steered me to the National Archives. The page on WisContext was interesting, and I hadn’t seen that before although the video that is featured was something that I saw live a couple of years ago after making contacting with the author.
I’m interested in learning about and finding records at the National Archives that are from the perspective of the military. For example, these two paragraphs in the WisContext page focus on an area that I’m trying to research:
· On the relationship between UW-Madison and the War Department: "From the very beginning of the epidemic, the university had been in almost constant contact with the Army through SATC staff with the Department of War. The tone of the contacts had been deferential, and is noted in the letter from Dr. Evans to the War Department concerning medical staffing, the leadership role was deferred to the military, matching actions to tone."
· On wartime censorship during the 1918 flu pandemic: "This sort of proscriptive and general censorship by the military of civilian newspapers was unprecedented in any American conflict and was more severe and direct than wartime censorship would be in the future, World War II and beyond… The university had accepted the necessity of proscriptive censorship, an astounding occurrence. In fact, only a small proportion of the SATC deaths were reported in Madison papers after October 12. These were hospital or infirmary deaths that were public and could not be concealed."
Given how the War Department more or less directed the university during that period, I’m trying to locate records whose focus is the influence that the War Department had on the university, particularly with respect to specific activities that the War Department conducted at the university.
Thanks again for your help!
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Re: Seeking military activity at the University of Wisconsin
Rachael Salyer
Jan 8, 2021 2:58 PM
Dear Mr. Farrenkopf,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Photographs of American Military Activities, ca. 1918 - ca. 1981 in the Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (Record Group 111) that contains 41 files related to the University of Wisconsin in the 1910s. We also located the series American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs, 1917-1918 from the Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs (Record Group 165) that includes 36 files related to the University of Wisconsin. These images have been digitized and may be viewed online via the Catalog. Please contact the National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RDSS) at stillpix@nara.gov with any questions you might have about these records.
In addition, we located the series War Activities of the Forest Products Laboratory Maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service in Cooperation with the University of Wisconsin, 1917-1918 in the Records of the Forest Service (Record Group 95) that contains information about research conducted for the War and Navy department during World War I. These records have not been digitized. For information about and access to them, please contact RDSS.
Next, we located the series General Correspondence, 1918-1921 in the Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs (Record Group 165) that includes 1 file unit related to the University of Wisconsin. These records have not been digitized. Please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) at archives2reference@nara.gov for access to and information about these and similar records.
Plus, we located the series Central Decimal Correspondence Files, 1919-1950 in the Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organizations (Record Group 342) that includes 1 file unit related to the University of Wisconsin that may be of interest to you. These records have not been digitized. Please contact RDT2 for further information about them.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDSS and RDT2. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.
Finally, you might be interested in Norman Alan Zimmerman’s 1971 dissertation, A Triumph for Orthodoxy: The University of Wisconsin During World War I, and you may wish to contact the Wisconsin Historical Society and the UW Archives and Records Management to see if they can offer you any additional assistance.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!
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Re: Seeking military activity at the University of Wisconsin
Thank you so much Rachael, this is enormously helpful. I don't know how. you located all of those sources, but I am most grateful for your efforts!
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