This collection consists of papers created and compiled by highway engineer and novelist William F. Steuber Jr. The collection primarily documents Steuber's professional career as a highway engineer and a writer, with a particular emphasis on the latter. A smaller portion relates to Steuber's personal life and family. The materials date from approximately 1892 to 1993, with the bulk dating to the half-century between 1927 and 1977. Most of the materials consist of correspondence, clippings, research files, drafts and manuscripts, photographs, and films. Also included is a diary kept by Steuber's father, William F. Steuber Sr., and later by Steuber's brother, Milton C.
Steuber's papers are divided into four series, which largely reflect the collection's original order: PERSONAL PAPERS, TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENGINEERING PAPERS, CREATIVE AND HISTORICAL WRITINGS, and VISUAL MATERIALS. Because Steuber was involved in many activities at once, there is a degree of overlap in materials between series in the collection.
The PERSONAL PAPERS are organized alphabetically by subject and consist largely of correspondence and clippings. A journal written by William F. Steuber Sr. and Milton C. Steuber is also included. The papers cover two discrete date ranges: the first, relate to William F. Steuber Sr., and Milton C. Steuber (1892-1908); the second, relate to William F. Steuber Jr. (1951-1990). William F. Steuber Sr.'s journal provides a detailed account of his work and daily life in Prairie du Sac with virtually no interruptions in entries over the period between 1892 and 1903. Milton C. Steuber's entries are sporadic, and cover only an eight-month period in 1908. Materials related to William F. Steuber Jr. tend to highlight his public achievements rather than illuminate his personal relationships. In addition to clippings, correspondence, certificates and awards, and religious and fraternal membership files, puzzles and games developed by Steuber are also included. Steuber was unsuccessful in selling and copyrighting his puzzles and games.
The TECHNICAL WRITING AND ENGINEERING PAPERS are organized chronologically and include correspondence, clippings, technical writings (both drafts and finished pieces), and drafts of speeches. Documents are limited for Steuber's career at the Highway Commission before 1937 and are summarized in clippings and other secondary sources scattered throughout the files. The bulk of the papers date from the late 1930s to the mid-1950s, with Steuber's work in safety promotion and public information best represented. The series also includes some scattered correspondence about Steuber's 1927 stint as a news film camera operator, and his wartime tenure at the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory. Also included are a few technical articles Steuber published independently from his professional position such as his pool table article in Mechanix Illustrated.
The CREATIVE AND HISTORICAL WRITINGS series constitutes the bulk of the collection. It contains materials produced and collected over a sixty-year period, from 1933 to 1993. The series is further divided into five subseries: Short Stories and Historical Articles; General Novel Files; Us Incorporated; The Landlooker; and Go Away Thunder. The files within each subseries are arranged alphabetically by subject. Steuber's writing process, from the research phase, through the drafting process, to the distribution and reception of his final work, is documented in extensive research files, annotated drafts and manuscripts, publisher and congratulatory correspondence, and clippings. Steuber's early, handwritten drafts and manuscripts are not in any coherent order.
The Short Stories and Historical Articles (1933-1993) subseries contains manuscripts and drafts of Steuber's short stories and historical articles. In some cases, related correspondence is included in the file. Such files are labeled “article” rather than “manuscript.”
The General Novel Files (1946-1985) relate to Steuber's novels and include clippings, contracts, and copyright renewal correspondence. These files each cover a date range spanning at least two of Steuber's publications. There is some overlap between the materials with the three subseries that follow: Us Incorporated; The Landlooker; and Go Away Thunder.
The Us Incorporated (1946-1987) subseries contains drafts and manuscripts, correspondence to editors, publishers, libraries, critics and friends, and clippings about published pieces. Because of his success with Us Incorporated, and in order to further promote his work, Steuber became active on the local public speaking and contest-judging circuit. His speeches and correspondence with event organizers are also included in this subseries.
The Landlooker (1955-1994) and the Go Away Thunder (1964-1975) subseries are analogous in terms of content with the Us Incorporated files, with one crucial difference: because these subseries relate to historical novels, they include extensive research files, as well. The VISUAL MATERIALS series is extremely diverse, representing a wide range of media created over the course of an almost equally wide range of activities.
The VISUAL MATERIALS series includes photographs, a scrapbook, plans, and films. There is overlap from this series with the previous series. Personal photographs include promotional photographs for Steuber's Blackball board game, photographs of Steuber and wife Marie taken over four decades (circa 1932-1970), photographs of Steuber's first Ford (1926), and photographs of Steuber's parents, William F. Steuber Sr. and Louisa Wintermantel, in Prairie du Sac and Madison (circa 1888-1920). Negatives of the Blackball game, and of Steuber's Ford, are also included. Technical Writing and Engineering photos include one still from Bill's Bike (1939) and one photograph of Steuber delivering a radio road report (1952). Photographs of the Peshtigo cemetery (circa 1959) were taken in conjunction with Steuber's article, “The Problem at Peshtigo.” Also included are two WISC-TV stills (circa 1953), probably taken at an appearance to promote Us Incorporated. These last two are annotated, displaying a slightly promiscuous sense of humor on Steuber's part.
A Scrapbook documents Steuber's early highway career. The scrapbook contains rare photographs of Wisconsin Highway Commission personnel in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Also documented in the scrapbook is a highway-engineering project related to flooding from the same period.
Films in the collection relate to Steuber's work with the Wisconsin Highway Commission as well as to one of his novels. First Inventory of Wisconsin Roads (1936) was produced while Steuber was a junior assistant highway engineer; Safety News (1937), Sauk Prairie Centennial Parade (1938), Watch the Road Signs (1938) and the celebrated Bill's Bike (1939) were all produced during Steuber's years at the Highway Safety Division. A videorecording of a reading from The Landlooker presented by Bill Steuber is accompanied by a question and answer session. Refer to Appendix I for a more detailed description of the films in the collection.
