Interview
As a field representative for the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, my [interviewer James Cavanaugh] search for materials pertaining to the Democratic Organizing Committee led me to write Milwaukee labor lawyer Philip Marshall who directed me to Mrs. Boegholt. Marshall described Mrs. Boegholt as the “strong right arm and co-conspirator” of Robert Tehan, the main architect of Democratic revival in Wisconsin. Marshall felt that Mrs. Boegholt “played such an important role in those early days that I think it would be a mistake if you did not interview her as well as seeking whatever materials she may have accumulated.”
I taped Mrs. Boegholt for one hour on a hot summer day in her farmhouse near Oregon, Wisconsin. She is very alert and rather articulate. The neighbor's dogs and passing vehicles sometimes provided annoying background noises, but Mrs. Boegholt's strong voice always came through clearly. Although we had talked on the phone, I had not met Mrs. Boegholt previously. Prior knowledge of the general subject matter of the interview -- the Democratic Organizing Committee and the early days of the Democratic Party's revitalization in Wisconsin -- was the only preparation she had. Because of this lack of preparation, Mrs. Boegholt was sometimes mistaken on certain dates and names, and occasionally fumbled for an answer to a question which she probably was not equipped to answer. Usually, she would conclude this herself and refer me to someone else who could give a better answer. This problem is particularly evident during the first few minutes of the second side of the tape.
There were two aspects of the interview. First, it was an information-gathering interview. I wanted to find out from Mrs. Boegholt exactly how the grass-roots spade work was performed when people started to rebuild and liberalize the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Second, we covered many events, personalities, decisions, etc. which Mrs. Boegholt, by the nature of her position within the party discussed from her unique perspective. This provides an interpretative aspect to the interview.
Probably out of modesty, Mrs. Boegholt tended to minimize her importance and her position in the party during its formative years. She probably would deny Marshall's description of her as Tehan's “strong right arm.” She seemed to be quite frank in our interview, but on at least one occasion she pleaded ignorance about a subject about which other sources indicate she should not have been so ignorant.[1]
Researchers interested in Wisconsin politics of the past four decades will be interested in several of Mrs. Boegholt's observations. She sees Philip La Follette's attempt to form a national Progressive Party in 1938 (and the character of that party) as being a turning point for many liberals, particularly labor people, who were eventually to end up in the Democratic Party. She credits Socialist and Progressive labor people in Milwaukee with a more crucial role than they are usually attributed. She also introduces the purely pragmatic political need for patronage as a main motive for establishing a strong state party in tune with the national party.
Abstract to the Interview
The Abstract lists, in order of discussion, the distinct topics covered on the tape, and indicates the time-marking on the user tape at which point the beginning of the particular discussion appears. The numbers (time-markings) indicate the point on the second track of each tape where discussion of the distinct topic listed in capital letters begins. These time-markings are keyed to a time announcement, heard at five-second intervals, on the second track of the tape.
Thus, the researcher may listen to distinct topics without listening to all of the material on the tapes. For instance, the user who wishes to listen to the discussion of “PATRONAGE AS A FACTOR IN DECISION TO FORM STRONG STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY” should locate the place on the second track of side one where the voice announces the 05:10 time-marking (the voice says at this point, “five minutes, ten seconds”), and at this point switch to the first track to hear the discussion. The discussion of “PATRONAGE AS A FACTOR...” continues until approximately 07:35 at which point discussion of the next topic (“INABILITY TO ASSESS LABOR'S VIEW...”) listed in the Abstract begins.
Notice that in most cases sentences beneath each headline explain more about the contents of the topic discussed. For example, the sentences underneath “PATRONAGE AS A FACTOR...” give further details on what appears on the tape between 05:10 and 07:35.
The Abstract is designed to provide only a brief outline of the content of the tape and cannot serve as a substitute for listening to the tape.
