Interview
I [interviewer Dale Treleven] arranged to interview Lois Gleiter following a conversation with Mrs. Jean Long, whom I interviewed in 1974 about her long association with the Farmers Union in Wisconsin. Mrs. Long suggested that Lois Linse Gleiter was an example of a successful Farmers Union Junior, and indeed, one who had gone on to work for the national organization. I interviewed Lois Gleiter in the kitchen of her home at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on August 19, 1974. The recorded interview was preceded by an unrecorded conversation during which she showed me a scrapbook and other materials associated with her Farmers Union activities since the 1930's. During the recording session, her husband Melvin was seated in the adjoining dining-living area of the ranch-style home, and their two sons also observed portions of the interview.
Lois Gleiter's observations on the Farmers Union junior program in Wisconsin from the standpoint of a youthful participant, should augment the observations and explanations of the program by such adult leaders as Jean Long, and supplement the extant written record of the Farmers Union in printed and manuscript sources. Researchers might also benefit from Lois Gleiter's comments on Kenneth Hones, long-time president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union; her remembrances of her stay in Chile and travels and observations about other South American countries in the early-1950's; and her recollection of the problems that arose because she attended the Encampment for Citizenship in New York. The interview also provides many observations and anecdotes about work as a field representative for the National Farmers Union in a dozen states during the 1950's.
Abstract to the Interview
The abstract below lists, in order of discussion, the distinct topics covered on each tape and indicates the time-marking on the user tape at which point the beginning of the particular discussion appears. These time-markings are keyed to a time announcement, heard at five-second intervals, on the second track of each 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 topic on “Farmers Union Youth Program” should locate the place on the second track of tape one, side one, where the voice announces the 02:25 time-marking (the voice says at this point, “two minutes, twenty-five seconds”), and at this point switch to the first track to hear the discussion. The discussion on “Farmers Union Youth Program” continues until approximately 05:05 at which point discussion of the next topic (“Formation of Farmers Union Band”) listed in the abstract begins.
Notice that in most cases sentences beneath each headline explain more about the contents of the topic. For example, the sentences underneath “Farmers Union Youth Program” give further details on what appears on the tape between 02:25 and 05:05.
The abstract is designed to provide only a brief outline of the content of the tapes and cannot serve as a substitute for listening to them. However the abstract will help the researcher easily locate distinct topics and discussions among the many minutes of commentary.
