Title: Oral History Interview with Milo K. Swanton
Inclusive Dates: 1975-1976

Creator:

• Swanton, Milo K., 1894-1993

Call Number: Audio 550A

Quantity: 11 tape recordings

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Interview conducted by Dale Treleven of the Historical Society staff with Swanton, long-time executive secretary of the Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives; concerning rural life as Swanton knew it in his youth in the Town of Blooming Grove, Dane County, Wisconsin; education in a one-room school, at the Wisconsin Academy, and at the University of Wisconsin; his farming experiences from World War I to 1966, the formation and development of many farm cooperatives, the Wisconsin Employment Peace Act of 1939, the National Farmers Organization, and other topics.

Note:

Part of the Wisconsin Agriculturalists Oral History Project.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-audi00550a

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Milo K. Swanton, born on November 27, 1894, and for more than a quarter of a century Executive Secretary of the Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives (originally the Wisconsin Council of Agriculture), was one of the most important and influential spokesmen for organized farmer interests in the state. Swanton began farming in the Town of Blooming Grove, Dane County, Wisconsin, in 1919 and continued to operate a dairy and livestock farm until 1962. He cash-cropped the land until 1966. Today much of what was Swanton farm land, now within the eastern limits of the city of Madison, is dotted with suburban homes.

Swanton was and is a staunch advocate of organized farmers' activity. In 1919 he was an officer in the local organization of the American Society of Equity, Wisconsin Union, and he later played an important role in the formation and development of such organizations as the Madi son Milk Producers Cooperative Association, the Wisconsin Cooperative Tobacco Pool, and the Southern Wisconsin Breeders Cooperative. He also held memberships in the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, the Wisconsin Grange, and the Equity Cooperative Livestock Shipping Association, as well as other groups and associations. (A paper copy of Swanton's biographical summary, corrected to February 1975 by Mr. Swanton, is filed in the Archives Division with the Case file copy of this finding aid.)

Interview

The taping sessions with Swanton were held over a period of more than sixteen months, largely because his calendar was remarkably filled with appointments for one who had reached the age of 80. Illness and inclement weather, including the most severe ice storm since the 1920's, made it necessary to reschedule several other sessions. We [Swanton and interviewer Dale Treleven] held the first session on February 11, 1975, while the final taping (for this series of interviews, at least) took place on July 13, 1976. We taped in the Historical Society's oral history office (Room #448). Typically, Swanton, dressed in suit and tie, would reach the office at 9 A.M. We would spend from fifteen minutes to a half hour discussing historical incidents and reviewing the areas we hoped to cover that day, then tape for several hours, and break off the discussion at about 12:00. Although Swanton generally asked to be reminded of the subjects we had agreed to discuss, before the recorder was turned on, he would usually retrieve a few sketchy notes he had prepared earlier.

The series of interviews on the whole dwells primarily upon Swanton's early life, remembrances of farming and neighborhood activities in the town of Blooming Grove during the century's first two decades, recollections of his education in a one-room school, and later at the Wisconsin Academy and at the University of Wisconsin. His love of history (he is a long-time curator and former president of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) and careful attention to detail led to many interesting and informative views of Madison and eastern Dane county. He discusses at length various innovations and changes on the farm and in the rural neighborhood, and explains many aspects of his father's (and his own) farming operation, from fattening up and marketing Chester White hogs to the laborious task of growing a crop of tobacco. He comments extensively on social as well as economic aspects of rural life in the first several decades of the twentieth century, and observes how change in the town of Blooming Grove has taken its toll in terms of the togetherness and neighborliness of yesteryear.

Swanton talks about changes on his farm, during the 1920's and 1930's in particular, and discusses the efforts of farmers to form cooperatives and general organizations during the period. He refers to his own experiences to illustrate vividly the effects of the Depression upon neighborhood farmers, and relates the bitterness that arose between supporters of the Wisconsin Cooperative Milk Pool and other farmers during the Milk Strikes of 1932-33. He discusses his work as an appraiser for the federal land bank during the 1930's, a position he held until the directors of the Wisconsin Council of Agriculture offered him the position of the organization's first full-time professional employee. Immediately finding himself in the midst of growing antagonism between organized labor and agriculture, he tells how the Council of Agriculture took the lead in writing and gathering support for a change in the state labor relations act. The labor bill that resulted was probably the most important piece of legislation ever supported by the Wisconsin Council of Agriculture, in terms of the long-range impact on labor, industry, and agriculture. The Wisconsin Employment Peace Act of 1939 later became a model for portions of the national Taft-Hartley bill, passed by Congress in 1948.

Outside of several other Council legislative efforts, such as the ongoing anti-oleomargarine battles and winning support for the “America's Dairyland” license plate slogan, there is little in the series of interviews that dwells upon Swanton's day-to-day activities as a key spokesman for organized agriculture. Such details are for the most part well-documented in the organizational records and papers of the Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives, housed in the Historical Society's Archives Division. Questions about specific issues that would augment information contained in the papers will await an opportunity for the oral historian to conduct in-depth research in the collection. Of chief importance would be an examination of those areas where Council positions differed from those of the state's second cooperative group, the Wisconsin Association of Cooperatives (WAC). While the WAC and the WCAC merged in 1969 to form the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives, the historical roots and issues as well as personality conflicts during the period Swanton was WCAC's executive secretary led to many differences between the two groups that together represented the interests of most of the state's organized farmers.

Abstract to the Interview

The tapes for this interview have two tracks: a voice track containing the discussion and a time track containing time announcements at intervals of approximately five seconds. The abstract lists, in order of discussion, the topics covered on each tape, and indicates the time-marking at which point the beginning of the particular discussion appears.

Thus, the researcher, by using a tape recorder's fast-forward button, may find expeditiously and listen to discrete segments without listening to all of the taped discussion. For instance, the user who wishes to listen to the topic on “NEW YEARS EVE, 1899” should locate the place on the second track of tape one, side one, where the voice announces the 04:00 time-marking (the voice says at this point, “four minutes”), and at this point switch to the first track to hear the discussion. The discussion on “NEW YEARS EVE, 1899” continues until approximately 07:00 at which point discussion of the next topic (“SWANTON NEIGHBORHOOD INCLUDES DESCENDANTS OF EARLY WISCONSIN SETTLERS”) begins.

Notice that in most cases sentences beneath each headline explain more about the contents of the topic. For example, the sentences underneath “NEW YEARS EVE, 1899” give further details on what appears on the tape between 04:00 and 07:00.

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 when used with the index will help the researcher easily locate distinct topics and discussions among the many minutes of commentary.

Index to the Interview

The index, which is keyed to the same time announcement track (second track) as the abstract, gives a single alphabetical listing of all proper nouns., (names of persons, places, groups, organizations, books, periodicals), and distinct historical phenomena (Depression, Milk Strikes) which appear by one or more three- or four-part citations specifying the location (s) where the entry appears. For instance, Blooming Grove Grange (Patrons of Husbandry) is followed by the citation 6:1, 01:05. This indicates that a reference to the Blooming Grove Grange appears on Tape 6, Side 1 within the time-marking beginning at one minute, five seconds of the time announcement.

On file in the Historical Society's Archives Division are the papers of the Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives (cataloged under Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives), and the papers of many farmers' cooperative and general organizations which held membership in the Council over the years.

Processing Information

Finding aid prepared by Dale E. Treleven, June 25, 1977.

Audio 550A	1975 February 11
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   00:55	DESCRIPTION OF SWANTON FARM Scope and Content Note: In 1919, original farm divided into two units, one operated by Swanton and one by his brother. Largest acreage Milo Swanton ever farmed was 139 acres. In 1959, “we did not move to the city, but the city moved to us”; Swanton assigned a Madison street address in place of rural route number.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   04:00	NEW YEARS EVE, Scope and Content Note: Swanton heard church bells and whistles from nearby Madison ringing to usher in new century.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   07:00	SWANTON NEIGHBORHOOD INCLUDES DESCENDANTS OF EARLY WISCONSIN SETTLERS Scope and Content Note: Jacob Easton came from Ohio in the 1840's and introduced tobacco growing to the region.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   09:15	DIVERSE ETHNIC GROUPS IN NEIGHBORHOOD Scope and Content Note: Neighborhood included immigrants and their descendants from Ireland, such as the Dempseys and Mahers, and from Norway, Germany and England.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   10:00	ANECDOTE ABOUT NEIGHBOR WHO WAS FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR VETERAN Scope and Content Note: Neighbor participated with other nearby veterans in the Deutsche Militar-Verein in annual celebration of Franco-Prussian War.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   11:45	SWANTON'S FAMILY BACKGROUND Scope and Content Note: Swanton's ancestors came from County Cork, Ireland, and England. Maternal grandparents settled in Waukesha County before moving to Blooming Grove; paternal grandparents in Washington County, before moving to Sun Prairie township (Dane County) after the Civil War.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   13:55	SWANTON'S GRANDFATHER CELEBRATES WILLIAM OF ORANGE DAY Scope and Content Note: Swanton's grandfather would celebrate William of Orange Day on July 12 by parading in “Orange regalia,” until he realized that religious conflict in United States not so acute as in Ireland.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   15:45	TYPES OF FARMING IN SWANTON'S NEIGHBORHOOD Scope and Content Note: Dairy and livestock, with tobacco as cash crop.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   16:15	DESCRIPTION OF EASTON SCHOOL: ONE ROOM COUNTRY SCHOOL Scope and Content Note: “Five r's” taught at one room school: reading, writing, arithmetic, respect and discipline. Teachers completed eighth grade, attended summer conference on education conducted by county school superintendent, who then certified them to teach. Enrollment never exceeded twenty-three students at all grade levels. Easton School, built in 1855, had round, oak, wood-burning stove; students got chilblains in the winter. Students celebrated birthdays and holidays by sharing sweets brought from home. For recreation, students played baseball, ginny, and roamed in the nearby woods.
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   23:45	ANECDOTE ABOUT NEIGHBORS HELPING TO FIND FIRST-GRADE GIRL LOST IN WOODS
Tape/Side   1/1 Time   25:45	PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES IN RURAL SCHOOL Scope and Content Note: At Christmas, teacher assigned two or three students to get tree; students participated in Christmas pageants. In 1915, new school with central heat and basement built and neighbors helped move from old school to new, which also served as neighborhood social center. No morning prayers; students learned to read and spell phonetically. Remembers Mary Gay, who later went to University of Wisconsin, as an outstanding teacher. Teachers usually remained at a school two or three years “until matrimony caught up with most of them,” or they furthered their educations. Teachers relied on older students to help younger ones. Limited resources; students learned to get along on what they had; neighbors helped the school when they could. Parents supported the teachers. Swanton's school district in session nine months.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   01:00	SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RURAL SCHOOL Scope and Content Note: Helped develop personal initiative and pride.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   03:45	ATTITUDE OF NEIGHBORHOOD PARENTS TOWARD EDUCATION Scope and Content Note: Saw education as important in “building for life.”
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   05:25	OPPORTUNITIES FOR EIGHTH GRADE GRADUATES ABOUT Scope and Content Note: About half of graduates continued their educations in Madison, in high school or at the Four C Business College (Capital City Commercial College). Some males attended two-year Farm Short Course at University of Wisconsin. Swanton graduated from the Wisconsin Academy in Madison.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   08:45	OUTSTANDING TEACHERS AT THE WISCONSIN ACADEMY Scope and Content Note: School operators Charlotte and Susan Richmond were excellent teachers and recruited such outstanding teachers as Voyta Wrabetz, later principal of Central High School. [Also a member of the state's first labor relations board.]
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   12:25	STUDENTS AT WISCONSIN ACADEMY Scope and Content Note: Student body approximately equal between rural, urban and university students who took refresher courses.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   14:40	TRANSPORTATION TO WISCONSIN ACADEMY Scope and Content Note: Walked two and one-half miles from farm to end of car line on Fair Oaks Avenue, where he took streetcar to Academy.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   15:20	PUBLICATIONS SWANTONS SUBSCRIBED TO Scope and Content Note: Youth Companion, Wisconsin State Journal, Wisconsin Agriculturist, Wisconsin Farmer, Hoards Dairyman. Swanton's father brought newspapers and magazines home on Saturday afternoon after selling farm produce in Madison. When Rural Free Delivery began, newspapers delivered daily to farm.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   17:00	SIGNIFICANCE OF FARM PUBLICATIONS AND YOUTH COMPANION Scope and Content Note: Helped stimulate discussion as well as provide information on farming and on raising children.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   18:10	ANECDOTE ABOUT HOW DISCUSSION AT DINNER TABLE AFFECTED SWANTON AS A CHILD Scope and Content Note: In 1898, while outside, Swanton heard “terrific explosion” and ran home afraid that “Spaniards” had landed in Wisconsin, a reaction to discussion of contemporary events and Cuba.
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   21:30	FARM CHORES AND FIELD WORK Scope and Content Note: Brought in kindling; helped feed hay and fodder to horses and cows, milked cows every evening, howed, suckered, and piled tobacco, cut wood. Wood-cutting gave “every muscle in the body a workout.”
Tape/Side   1/2 Time   27:40	BEGINNING OF TELEPHONE SERVICE, Scope and Content Note: In 1903, came home from school and pondered over longest cedar posts he had ever seen. Swanton farm the last on a line of ten and neighbors often came to make emergency calls.
Tape/Side   2/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   2/1 Time   00:50	SWANTONS GET ELECTRIC LIGHTS, Scope and Content Note: Swantons got illumination from Delco home plant. First use of electric lights “quite the occasion,” especially for Swanton's mother, who cared for kerosene lamps.
Tape/Side   2/1 Time   03:40	INSTALLATION OF POWER LINES NEAR MADISON Scope and Content Note: Madison Gas and Electric company resisted installing power lines near Madison until 1928, because of the great cost.
Tape/Side   2/1 Time   05:25	ACETYLENE GAS PLANT, Scope and Content Note: About 1905, Swantons installed acetylene gas plant which was difficult and dangerous to use. Highly explosive. Delco plant far safer.
Tape/Side   2/1 Time   08:15	ROAD MAINTENANCE Scope and Content Note: Town board responsible for road maintenance. “Pathmaster” responsible for road maintenance in a particular district. Farmers in district constructed roads when farm chores completed; used horse-drawn graders and dump-scrapers to improve dirt roads which were muddy, rocky, and dusty depending on the season. In winter, roads impassable and people traveled through fields. About 1915 gravel, and in some areas, macadam used, and still later, black top. Use of automobiles preceded widespread road improvement. Wisconsin one of the first states to fulfill objective of having “a surface road to every door.”
Tape/Side   2/1 Time   18:20	EARLY AUTOMOBILES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD Scope and Content Note: John Dempsey one of first to buy an automobile. Irving Zink bought an early Ford. Swanton's father purchased a Buick C37 in 1914.
Tape/Side   2/1 Time   19:45	DISCUSSION OF HORSES Scope and Content Note: Swanton's father bred Percheron draft horses for farm work, and used a Morgan mare for road travel. Horses reflect proper feeding, watering, currying, pasturing, and resting. Learned to care for horses at an early age, drove single horse on road at age eight, and team at age ten. At age ten, drove team as far as ten miles.
Tape/Side/Part   2/1/2 Time   00:05	TRAVEL INTO MADISON BY BACK ROAD (EAST WASHINGTON AVENUE) Scope and Content Note: When going to Madison with young team not accustomed to streetcars, Swanton's father took East Washington Avenue, then a back road bordering cattail swamp.
Tape/Side   2/1/2 Time   01:40	SWANTON'S FATHER SELLS PRODUCE TO REGULAR CUSTOMERS Scope and Content Note: In addition to butter, Swanton's father sold eggs, dressed chickens and turkeys which Swanton's mother had raised, to regular customers.
Tape/Side   2/2 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   2/2 Time   01:00	DESCRIPTION OF SWANTON FARM OPERATION AND CATTLE AT START OF TWENTIETH CENTURY Scope and Content Note: Swanton's father had dual-purpose Durham (Shorthorn) cattle. A decade later father began to keep Holsteins, while Swanton in his own operation had Guernseys.
Tape/Side   2/2 Time   05:40	FARM AND HOME WEEK DEMONSTRATION CONVINCES SWANTON'S FATHER OF IMPORTANCE OF TUBERCULIN TEST Scope and Content Note: College of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin annually sponsored Farm and Home Week. Demonstrations there convinced Swanton's father of need for testing cattle for tuberculosis. Wisconsin one of the first states to require tuberculosis testing, slaughter of reactors, and reimbursement to farmers for lost cattle. Led to virtual eradication of bovine tuberculosis.
Tape/Side   2/2 Time   11:20	CASH COMMODITIES ON SWANTON FARM OPERATION AT START OF TWENTIETH CENTURY Scope and Content Note: Chester White hogs, the “mortgage lifters;” as well as tobacco. Tobacco money important in financing new farm buildings. Corn, oats, and winter wheat also grown. Hay a very important cash crop and Swanton recalls hay market on East Washington Avenue. After telephone installed in 1902, Swanton's father used phone to sell hay.
Tape/Side   2/2 Time   18:45	MADISON BEET SUGAR FACTORY AS SOURCE OF LIME FOR FARMERS Scope and Content Note: Beet sugar factory circa 1915 dumped lime it didn't use. Swanton's father and other farmers, after ground froze, dug it out, dried it, and crushed and spread on soil.
Tape/Side   3/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   3/1 Time   00:50	DESCRIPTION OF DAIRY OPERATION Scope and Content Note: Swantons marketed butter; no neighborhood cheese makers. Milk from cows strained into “shot gun” milk cans; cream concentrated at top. “Shot gun” cans placed in water-cooled (horse) tank. Describes butter-churning done by his mother; on Saturdays his father delivered butter jars to regular customers. Butter-making equipment scalded to prevent bacteria.
Tape/Side   3/1 Time   11:05	POWER TO RAISE WATER Scope and Content Note: Used windmill exclusively until his father in first decade of twentieth century purchased “farm pump engine.”
Tape/Side   3/1 Time   12:05	CONTINUATION OF DISCUSSION OF DAIRY OPERATION, Scope and Content Note: Butter color varied with season and cow's diet, so carotene added for color uniformity. Skim milk fed to hogs and calves.
Tape/Side   3/1 Time   14:45	MAKING SOAP Scope and Content Note: Wood ashes saved in barrels with holes in bottom to which soft water was added. Filtrate, drained into large iron kettle, boiled to produce concentrated lye.
Tape/Side   3/1 Time   16:45	MARKETING HOGS AND OTHER LIVESTOCK Scope and Content Note: Hogs and other livestock not butchered for family use sold to livestock dealers who visited the farm. Dealers from Madison or Chicago bought for packing houses. Remembers in particular a livestock dealer nicknamed “Old Five Cents Off.”
Tape/Side   3/1 Time   21:10	INCOME FROM SALE OF EGGS, DRESSED CHICKENS AND TURKEYS Scope and Content Note: Swanton's mother kept profits from sale of eggs, and dressed chickens and turkeys.
Tape/Side   3/1 Time   22:25	DESCRIPTION OF RAISING AND HARVESTING TOBACCO Scope and Content Note: Still cannot be harvested mechanically. Cut tobacco hung to dry in well-ventilated curing shed. Freezing weather helped dry very moist tobacco stalks; “case weather” (foggy, damp weather), facilitates leaf texture change from brittle to supple. Leaves stripped from stalk and sold in bales. Tobacco warehouses located in Madison, Sparta, Stoughton, Edgerton, and in any city in tobacco-growing areas. Most Wisconsin tobacco used for cigar binding, which holds “filler” together. Wisconsin also important producer of “chorn and spittin'“ tobacco. Buyer's offer determines price the farmer gets. “You need but just a minute or two of hail, and your crop is done for.” Of 41 crops raised, Swanton never lost one.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   01:05	BEGINNING A TOBACCO CROP Scope and Content Note: Tiny tobacco seed difficult to handle; two ounces sufficient to plant ten acres. In April, seeds sprout in moistened woolen bag. Seeds sown in steamed, silt loam seed beds by sprinkling a mixture of water and one teaspoon of seed in a five gallon watering can. Beds covered with canvas, and five to six inch plants appeared by about June 10. Plants then transplanted. About 7,400 plants to a growing acre.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   07:30	MARKETING POTATOES Scope and Content Note: Swanton's father sold potatoes to regular customers in Madison. Some potatoes sold at digging time (late September-early October), while 200-300 bushels stored in basement. Opinion varied as to best time to plant potatoes, but Swanton's father said, “The time to plant potatoes is when the seed is cheap.”
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   09:55	FARMERS IN SWANTON'S NEIGHBORHOOD DIVERSIFY CROPS Scope and Content Note: Common for farmers in Swanton neighborhood to vary crops.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   10:20	MARKETING BARLEY Scope and Content Note: Barley important cash crop since Wisconsin had large beer industry. Barley marketed directly--or indirectly, as feed for hogs.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   13:20	STORING WINTER FEED Scope and Content Note: Swanton's father never had a silo. Grain stored in granary. Hay consisted of medium red and alsike clover, and later, alfalfa.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   15:00	PURCHASING MACHINERY Scope and Content Note: In Swanton's father's time, relatively small investment in farm machinery. Usually purchased from dealers in Madison or Sun Prairie.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   16:35	PURCHASING GROCERIES Scope and Content Note: Farms much more self-sufficient in Swanton's father's time. Most of meat, fruit and vegetables came from the farm. Dry goods usually purchased at Piper Brothers grocery store, “truly a rendezvous for farmers.”
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   20:50	USE OF MAIL ORDER HOUSES Scope and Content Note: Swantons rarely used mail order houses because they lived so near Madison.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   22:10	MOVEMENT FOR RURAL FREE DELIVERY Scope and Content Note: “It was one of the greatest advantages, improvements to rural life that I've ever seen in my life.” Before rural free delivery, picking up mail at post office a big occasion. As part of National Grange movement to begin program of rural free delivery, Swanton's father circulated petition among farmers. Movement encountered opposition from those who thought farmers didn't have the time or were not able to read, or mail delivery to rural areas too costly. Some suggested farmers should pay for their delivery. Routes of mail carriers averaged thirty miles.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   31:30	FACTORS WHICH AFFECTED MOVEMENT FOR BETTER RURAL ROADS Scope and Content Note: Difficulty of road travel for mail delivery, marketing products, and leisure automobile trips, provided incentive for movement to improve rural roads.
Tape/Side   3/2 Time   32:10	COMMENT ON NEIGHBORHOOD IN SWANTON'S FATHER'S TIME Scope and Content Note: “There was a togetherness, a neighborliness in rural America back in those days.” A “great deal more neighborhood unity.”
	1975 February 21
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   01:00	IMPORTANCE OF RURAL CHURCHES AS A COMMUNITY CENTER Scope and Content Note: Served as centers for social activity. People in Swanton's neighborhood usually attended church in Madison, although nearby German and Norwegian Lutherans had churches in Hope and Pumpkin Hollow communities. No friction between people of different religions. Church suppers and other special occasions such as weddings attended by people of diverse religions.
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   09:30	RURAL GET-TOGETHERS Scope and Content Note: Neighbors got together at barn dances. Such local musicians as the Zink family orchestra or Natvig played. Shivarees, lawn parties, and sleigh rides were other occasions when neighbors got together. Several families might get together on the Fourth of July.
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   18:35	DOCTORS Scope and Content Note: Before telephone in 1902, patients taken to doctor, or doctor would be summoned.
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   19:30	FUNERALS BEFORE FUNERAL PARLORS Scope and Content Note: Crepe was hung on door of deceased; neighbor usually filled in for undertaker. Funeral held in home or church. Meal usually provided since people walked their horses over long distances.
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   23:10	NEIGHBORHOOD PARTIES Scope and Content Note: Neighbors got together to play a card-game called “cinch” and to hold surprise birthday parties.
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   24:25	HAIRCUTTING Scope and Content Note: Father cut Swanton's hair until he was a teenager.
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   25:25	NEIGHBORS GET TOGETHER FOR SCHOOL PROGRAMS Scope and Content Note: Neighbors attended school programs at Christmas, and at the end of the school year.
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   26:40	UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-EXTENSION HELPS FARMERS LEARN ABOUT FARMING PRACTICES Scope and Content Note: University of Wisconsin-Extension sponsored speakers and demonstrations to inform farmers of such improvements as tuberculosis testing, liming soil for alfalfa, and use of commercial fertilizers. Farmers from all over Wisconsin met and exchanged ideas during Farm and Home Week in January.
Tape/Side   4/1 Time   30:00	BUILDING A NEW FARM HOME IN Scope and Content Note: Contractor drew plans and constructed house. Relative of Swantons installed heating and plumbing.
	1975 Marhc 6
Tape/Side   4/2 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   4/2 Time   01:15	EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF BURNING OF STATE CAPITOL IN Scope and Content Note: Swantons heard fire whistles very early on a Saturday morning and neighbors phoned to say the state capitol was burning. While Swantons delivered butter and eggs, saw fire blazing from the dome and south wing of the capitol, fire engines on every corner, and huge crowds.
Tape/Side   4/2 Time   08:05	WHY SWANTON ATTENDED THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON IN Scope and Content Note: Encouragement from parents and example of cousin who had graduated. Lived relatively near the University and saved money by commuting by street car. Still helped at home with farm chores.
Tape/Side   4/2 Time   10:35	UW CAMPUS IN Scope and Content Note: Main Hall (Bascom Hall) domed; student population about four thousand.
Tape/Side   4/2 Time   12:15	SWANTON RECALLS OUTSTANDING FACULTY AT UW-MADISON ABOUT Scope and Content Note: Charles R. (“Prexie”) Van Hise, E.A. Birge, Richard T. Ely, John R. Commons, Fay Elwell, Frederick Paxson, Carl Russell Fish, Scott Goodnight, William H. Kiekhofer, William Ellery Leonard, M.V. O'Shea, William A. Scott, Ernest Bean and James M. O'Neill.
Tape/Side   4/2 Time   29:00	DEBATING SOCIETIES ABOUT Scope and Content Note: Students accepted in debating societies on basis of forensic skill. Separate debating societies for women.
Tape/Side/Part   4/2/2 Time   00:00	IMPORTANCE OF DEBATING SOCIETIES Scope and Content Note: Intercollegiate debaters as important on campus as athletes were in later years. Joint debate question in 1915, “Resolved, that a compulsory system of old age and invalidity insurance be adopted in the United States, constitutionality waived.” Student debaters exempted from writing theses. Debating society once visited Chicago, “a real eye-opener” for Swanton.
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   00:45	UW DEBATING SOCIETY FIELD TRIP TO CHICAGO Scope and Content Note: Debating society visited hospitals and centers where elderly persons congregated. Visited with Jane Addams at Hull House, Dr. Graham Taylor of the Chicago Commons and William D. Haywood, President of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   03:30	COMMENT ON MEETING WITH WILLIAM D. HAYWOOD Scope and Content Note: Visited “Big Bill” Haywood at his office; shocked by “an assembly, a group of men, that were about as hard looking as any group of men I've ever seen, more so than any men I've ever seen back here in Wisconsin.” Haywood initially abrupt with the student group because he thought they were direct representatives of state government. Haywood in gruff and vicious voice, very critical of big capital. Ironically, many years later, Swanton visited Haywood's grave in Moscow.
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   13:10	IMPRESSIONS OF CHICAGO IN Scope and Content Note: Impressed mostly by tall buildings, “great multitude of people” living in crowded conditions, large-scale industry and business, railway depots, electric street cars, horse-drawn delivery wagons, and motorized taxis. Shocked by harsh treatment of horses by cab drivers. Recalls smokey atmosphere and lack of greenery.
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   16:50	ATHLETICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON Scope and Content Note: About 1915, forensics and athletics were rivals in importance.
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   18:50	ANECDOTE ABOUT BLEACHERS COLLAPSING AT FOOTBALL GAME IN Scope and Content Note: During football game with Minnesota, center sections of bleachers collapsed; many students injured and hospitalized.
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   23:55	CONTINUATION OF DISCUSSION OF ATHLETICS AT THE UW ABOUT Scope and Content Note: Tom Jones, coach of track and cross country, and basketball coach Walter Meanwell both able to interest new students in athletics.
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   28:15	RECALLS FACULTY OF UW-EXTENSION ABOUT
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   28:45	MORE ON UW-EXTENSION FACULTY
Tape/Side   5/1 Time   29:25	RECALLS FACULTY OF UW COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
Tape/Side/Part   5/1/2 Time   00:05	MORE ON UW COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY Scope and Content Note: Especially Stephen M. Babcock, “the laughing saint of science.”
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   00:50	FACULTY WITH GREATEST INFLUENCE ON SWANTON Scope and Content Note: In Economics, William Kiekhofer, and in History, Frederick Paxson and Carl Russell Fish.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   03:55	VIEWS ON THE CIVIL WAR AS AN AGRICULTURAL WAR Scope and Content Note: An agricultural war because of type of labor needed to grow and harvest cash crops of cotton, tobacco and indigo.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   06:40	OTHER FACULTY WITH INFLUENCE ON SWANTON Scope and Content Note: In soils and geology, Ernest Bean had ability to show interrelationship between different areas of study. James O'Neill in public speaking encouraged students by providing incentive and helpful criticism.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   08:40	COMMENTS ON CHARLES HOLMAN Scope and Content Note: Knew Holman when he worked for UW-Extension; later became Executive Secretary of National Milk Producers Federation.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   09:55	EMPLOYMENT AFTER GRADUATION IN Scope and Content Note: Accepted position with University Extension as assistant instructor and field organizer for courses in north central Wisconsin. Later learned he had been accepted for graduate work in speech at Cornell. In April 1917 Swanton enlisted in the army but remained only six days because his father died.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   17:05	DUTIES WITH UW EXTENSION ABOUT Scope and Content Note: Organized and conducted Extension courses in Stevens Point, Wausau, and Merrill, as well as lecture courses and week-long seminars in larger communities.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   19:40	FARM DECISION-MAKING IN Scope and Content Note: Production presented no problem, but marketing and purchasing decisions difficult.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   21:35	EMPLOYED AS APPRAISER FOR FEDERAL LAND BANK DURING Scope and Content Note: Federal Land Bank at St. Paul employed Swanton as appraiser for $5.95 per day.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   23:05	FARM PRICES IN LATE-TEENS AND EARLY-TWENTIES Scope and Content Note: Reasonably stable until early-twenties. Impetus for organizing marketing cooperatives came when prices sagged.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   24:35	SWANTON FARM OPERATION ABOUT Scope and Content Note: Whereas previously Swantons separated milk and sold home-churned butter, by 1917 they marketed whole milk.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/1 Time   25:55	SWANTONS MARKET MILK THROUGH PRIVATE DAIRY ABOUT Scope and Content Note: Swantons set milk on roadside milk stands to make it easier for pick-up. Milk hauled in flat bed, horse-drawn wagon. Milk cans on stands lined the roadsides in Wisconsin.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/2 Time   00:20	LIMING SOIL TO GROW ALFALFA Scope and Content Note: Nearby beet sugar factory used lime for purifying, and dumped it in marsh. In winter, Swantons dug out lime sludge, dried it at home, and spread it with manure. Better alfalfa yields meant greater milk production.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/2 Time   03:10	INCREASED USE OF COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS IN EARLY TWENTIES Scope and Content Note: Although at first some farmers resisted purchasing commercial chemical fertilizers, they soon saw relationship between chemical fertilizers and better crops.
Tape/Side/Part   5/2/2 Time   04:45	LITTLE USE OF TRACTORS IN EARLY TWENTIES Scope and Content Note: Few tractors used in the early-1920's and those known for their frequent breakdowns.
	1975 March 14
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/1 Time   00:10	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/1 Time   01:05	LONG HISTORY OF SWANTON FAMILY PARTICIPATION IN FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS Scope and Content Note: Grandparents and parents active in Grange from the 1870's. Parents belonged to Blooming Grove Grange, and Swanton and his brother also became active Grangers in 1920's.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/1 Time   03:10	SWANTON JOINS AMERICAN SOCIETY OF EQUITY IN Scope and Content Note: Served as secretary-treasurer of American Society of Equity local. Purchased coal cooperatively to steam tobacco beds in early spring, and to power threshing machines in August. Lime purchased cooperatively from quarries near Milwaukee and Waukesha; shipped by rail to Dane County.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/1 Time   07:20	RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AMERICAN SOCIETY OF EQUITY AND EQUITY LOCALS Scope and Content Note: After merger of American Society of Equity and Farmers Union in western region of Wisconsin [in 1934], tie between American Society of Equity and local units was discontinued. Members of Swanton's local not impressed by James Tittemore's political aspirations in 1918.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/1 Time   09:50	HOW SWANTON CAME TO JOIN FARM BUREAU Scope and Content Note: Potential new members recruited by neighbors who had already joined Farm Bureau. At first, members organized on county basis; local chapters evolved as membership increased.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/1 Time   11:45	WHY SWANTON JOINED THE FARM BUREAU Scope and Content Note: Farm Bureau active in farm supply purchasing program and supportive of various marketing cooperatives.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/1 Time   14:30	FORMATION OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE TOBACCO POOL Scope and Content Note: Farmers at the mercy of the buyers. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and UW College of Agriculture helped organize Northern Wisconsin Cooperative Tobacco Pool, which at its peak had between eight and nine thousand members. Emerson Ela, a Madison attorney, employed as general manager; helped obtain from Federal Farm Board a loan of $500,000, used to advance farmers between 50 and 70 per cent of the value of their stored tobacco. During late-1920's major tobacco companies “pulled their buyers off the road and let the farmers set,” since tobacco companies had enough tobacco for the next three years. About 1931-33 tobacco companies' supplies ran low, and Tobacco Pool sold stored tobacco at prices high enough to more than cover advances made to members. Example of cooperative marketing instead of dumping.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   00:00	CONTINUATION OF DISCUSSION OF THE NORTHERN WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE TOBACCO POOL Scope and Content Note: During the late-thirties and early-forties, membership in Tobacco Pool declined, due to higher prices and a “much, much better relationship between the tobacco companies and the growers.”
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   03:30	ORIGINS OF THE MADISON MILK PRODUCERS COOPERATIVE IN Scope and Content Note: When farmers got together in 1922 to thresh, they complained of the low price of milk. Met in October at old Burke Town Hall to found the Madison Milk Producers Cooperative to bargain with Madison dairies. Swanton elected president. Soon began to meet monthly with officers of the local dairy companies, Al Kramer and B.H. TerBeest [A.H. Kramer, Kennedy Dairy Co., Inc.; B.H. TerBeest, Capital Dairy Co.], to discuss such problems as regulating production as demand in the milk market fluctuated. Farmers and milk dealers visited markets in Chicago and Milwaukee.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   11:15	MADISON MILK PRODUCERS START CHEESE FACTORY TO PROCESS SURPLUS MILK Scope and Content Note: In early thirties, MMPC converted rennet plant into a swiss cheese factory which benefited both farmers and dairy companies. Some cheese sold locally but most marketed through Land O' Lakes Cooperative. MMP worked with Wisconsin Swiss-Limburger Cheese Producers Cooperative. Also worked closely with the Milwaukee Milk Producers Cooperative and its general manager Charles Dineen.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   17:10	CONFLICT BETWEEN MADISON MILK PRODUCERS AND WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE MILK POOL Scope and Content Note: Wisconsin Cooperative Milk Pool led by Walter Singler demanded that cooperatives combine in militant action to combat depressed milk prices. Since MMPC price held up better than that of other cooperatives, they neither joined Milk Pool nor participated in any milk strikes.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   19:50	MILK STRIKE, Scope and Content Note: Strikers blocked all roads into Madison, preventing marketing of milk; Swanton personally unable to market milk for eleven days. Governor Schmedeman summoned National Guard when some violence and property destruction occurred. During strike, Swanton separated milk and made butter. Meeting held at College of Agriculture auditorium for MMPC members only. “Overwhelming voice” to oppose strike. Immediately after meeting, MMPC demanded that sheriff provide protection for milk trucks. One Madison newspaper critical of College of Agriculture for favoritism towards one particular organization.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   27:00	COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY ESPECIALLY HELPFUL TO MADISON MILK PRODUCERS COOPERATIVE Scope and Content Note: Professors Broker and Schaars at College of Agriculture and staff of the State Department of Agriculture among those especially helpful to MMPC.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   00:00	COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE MILK POOL Note: At this point, the time markings on the tape start again at 00:00. Scope and Content Note: College of Agriculture faculty critical of Milk Pool's leadership, but not necessarily its program. Milk Pool later became an “effective” farmer organization.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   00:55	COMMENTS ON JOHN SCHUMAN, WATERTOWN, ADVOCATE OF SAPIROISM Scope and Content Note: Schuman strong advocate of national, centralized dairy marketing system in the 1920's; MMPC never accepted that position.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   03:10	COMMENTS ON PROFESSOR MACKLIN, OPPONENT OF SAPIROISM Scope and Content Note: Very dependable and constructive leader in the field of marketing.
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   04:10	MILK PRICES FALL IN THE TWENTIES Scope and Content Note: Immediately after World War I, milk prices rose to $3.00 a hundred, but began to fall in 1922. Farmers weren't sure it was a case of “the good times gone or the hard times come.”
Tape/Side/Part   6/1/2 Time   05:30	WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE MILK POOL AND MADISON MILK PRODUCERS DIFFER OVER MILK PRICING SYSTEM Scope and Content Note: Singler and Milk Pool favored single price system, which MMPC opposed. Fluid milk had to be of higher quality then milk used to manufacture other products, and should therefore receive higher price. Farmers who marketed milk for cheese could feed whey to hogs.
	1975 March 21
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   00:45	EQUITY CO-OPERATIVE LIVESTOCK SALES ASSOCIATION, INC. IN Scope and Content Note: Producers marketed livestock individually; forced to accept buyer's offer, regardless of quality. With founding of Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales in 1922, farmers cooperated to ship livestock to Milwaukee in railroad carlots. Quality livestock emphasized, to get the best possible price.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   11:45	OSCAR MAYER REPLACES FARMER-OWNED SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN MADISON Scope and Content Note: Inefficient farmer-owned slaughterhouse bought by Oscar Mayer company of Chicago, although Oscar Mayer still a small company in 1922.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   13:50	EQUITY COOPERATIVE LIVESTOCK SALES HELPS STABILIZE MARKET FLOW Scope and Content Note: Helped stabilize seasonal flow of livestock to private packers.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   15:10	WHY EQUITY COOPERATIVE LIVESTOCK SALES SPLIT FROM THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF EQUITY IN Scope and Content Note: American Society of Equity interested in farm legislation and politics; Livestock Sales concerned primarily with marketing, and employed men experienced in n merchandising rather than personnel usually associated with a general farmers organization.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   17:35	ORGANIZATION OF EQUITY COOPERATIVE LIVESTOCK SALES Scope and Content Note: At first, farmer-producers organized into locals that federated with shipping association. As roads improved, trucks came into greater use. and producers transported directly, usually to the Milwaukee yards. Much later, many locals developed in western Wisconsin and livestock sales shifted headquarters to Baraboo. Volume greatly increased over the years because Equity “moved to where the livestock was.”
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   23:00	COMPETITION BETWEEN FARM BUREAU AND EQUITY IN COOPERATIVE LIVESTOCK MARKETING
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   23:35	COMMENTS ON C.F. CLAFLIN, GENERAL MANAGER OF EQUITY COOPERATIVE LIVESTOCK SALES Scope and Content Note: Farm background, attended college of agriculture, taught agriculture, and was a county agent. Down-to-earth and a good communicator, “Claf” was “a most outstanding individual.” Not just an office manager, he worked in the field where he won over “rank and file farmers” as well as staff of UW College of Agriculture, livestock buyers, and others.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/1 Time   28:50	IMPORTANCE OF LIVESTOCK MARKETING TO DAIRY FARMERS Scope and Content Note: Dairy farmers sell many heifer calves from high-producing herds to other producers, while bull calves marketed for veal. Unproductive and unprofitable cows and aging bulls also marketed. Some dairy farmers also raised beef cattle.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   00:00	CONTINUATION OF DISCUSSION OF WHY LIVESTOCK MARKETING IS IMPORTANT TO DAIRY FARMERS Scope and Content Note: Raising and marketing bulls more important in recent years.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   00:35	FAILURE OF WISCONSIN CHEESE PRODUCERS FEDERATION IN Scope and Content Note: Tried to assemble great volume to put producers in stronger bargaining position. Cooperated with many crossroads factories, but too little financing, market, or storage facilities to handle volume. Resulted in “loss of product, loss of value, loss of confidence, and ultimate loss of the old cheese federation itself.”
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   06:00	SUCCESS OF WISCONSIN CHEESE PRODUCERS COOPERATIVE AND RELATIONSHIP WITH LAND O' LAKES CREAMERIES Scope and Content Note: Wisconsin Cheese Producers Cooperative, under the leadership of Fred Huntziger, Greenwood (Clark County) learned from mistakes of old federation and won confidence of many dairy farmers. Land O' Lakes Creameries, under General Manager John Brandt, began in 1934 to market quality cheese as well as butter for Wisconsin Cheese Producers Cooperative.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   11:10	COMPARISON OF MINNESOTA COOPERATIVE CREAMERIES ASSOCIATION, (LATER LAND O' LAKES) WITH WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE CREAMERIES ASSOCIATION Scope and Content Note: Land O' Lakes well organized with strong leadership. Wisconsin creameries produced good quality butter, but less emphasis on marketing.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   14:35	COMMENTS ON FRED HUNTZIGER, LEADER OF WISCONSIN CHEESE PRODUCERS COOPERATIVE Scope and Content Note: Excellent businessman and good farmer.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   15:25	COMMENTS ON JOHN BRANDT, GENERAL MANAGER OF LAND O' LAKES CREAMERIES Scope and Content Note: Farmer and outstanding organizer who won confidence of farmers. “Terrific sense of humor.”
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   16:55	COOPERATIVES ESSENTIAL TO CAPITALISM Scope and Content Note: John Brandt and Fred Huntziger believed cooperatives an “integral part of America's capitalistic system.” Many businesses once opposed farmers cooperatives by viewing with suspicion their collective activities. Since Granger movement, cooperatives have strengthened the private enterprise system of American agriculture; cooperatives in so doing have been “one of the finest, greatest safeguards against left-wing movements and ultimately communism.”
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   21:45	SOUTHERN WISCONSIN BREEDERS COOPERATIVE Scope and Content Note: Artificial insemination research at University of Wisconsin-Madison led area farmers to develop Southern Wisconsin Breeders Cooperative.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/2 Time   24:05	MORE ON SOUTHERN WISCONSIN BREEDERS COOPERATIVE Scope and Content Note: Organized at county level around the late-thirties or early-forties; stiff competition from privately-owned companies.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/3 Time   00:00	WHY DAIRY FARMERS WANTED TO FORM BREEDERS' COOPERATIVE
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/3 Time   02:10	IMPORTANCE OF ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION TO DAIRY FARMERS Scope and Content Note: “One of the greatest achievements to improve efficiency of dairy production, in my opinion, has been the development of artificial insemination.” Before artificial breeding, Swanton and his brother had to pool resources to shop around for good bull calf.
Tape/Side/Part   6/2/3 Time   04:05	REVIEW OF SWANTON'S INVOLVEMENT WITH VARIOUS FARMERS ORGANIZATIONS Scope and Content Note: Served on Board of Directors of Madison Milk Producers Cooperative from 1922 until about 1937; held memberships in Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association, Northern Wisconsin Tobacco Pool and Southern Wisconsin Breeders Cooperative.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/1 Time   01:10	FARM AND HOME WEEK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON Scope and Content Note: Always attended Farm and Home Week at the University of Wisconsin. Trains as well as cars brought farm families from all over Wisconsin, where they met faculty members, other farmers and their wives to discuss common problems and attend sessions on many subjects. Heavily attended by representatives of various farmers' organizations and cooperatives. Considered a significant gathering by UW presidents, various deans, faculty members as well as representatives of midwestern newspapers and farmer publications.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/1 Time   10:00	COMMENTS ON DEAN CHRIS CHRISTIANSEN Scope and Content Note: Very supportive of self-help marketing cooperatives. Participated not only in Farm and Home Week, but visited farmers “on the soil” throughout the year.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/1 Time   11:35	COMMENTS ON DEAN RUSSELL Scope and Content Note: Outstanding researcher; not as much personal contact with farmers as Christiansen.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/1 Time   12:20	FORMATION OF THE WISCONSIN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE Scope and Content Note: E. R. McIntyre, editor of Wisconsin Agriculturist and Farmer, always participated in Farm and Home Week and communicated constantly with U.W. President Glenn Frank. Discussed possibility of farmers' organizations combining to support common goals, and in 1929, after two-year “gestation period,” the Wisconsin Council of Agriculture was born. Grange, Farm Bureau, American Society of Equity and Farmers' Union among the original members as well as various marketing cooperatives. Main incentive for organizing: “More for farmers to agree upon than disagree about.” Urgent issues included those related to legislative appropriations and stronger agricultural extension programs.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/1 Time   24:15	MORE ON WISCONSIN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE Scope and Content Note: Other issues: Support for agricultural research, enactment of gasoline tax for improvement of state highways and farm to market roads, tuberculin testing of cattle and need for indemnity payments, and support of oleomargarine tax.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/2 Time   00:15	OLEOMARGARINE AND WISCONSIN DAIRY FARMERS Scope and Content Note: Council of Agriculture position was that oleomargarine competed unfairly because oleo imitated the character and physical attributes of a long established and well recognized product, and should have a separate and distinctive identification.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/2 Time   01:15	STRUCTURE OF THE WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Scope and Content Note: Before 1937, commissioners of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture appointed by governor, and could be removed for political reasons. Wisconsin Council of Agriculture in 1937 cooperated with Governor Philip La Follette in devising a lay board made up of seven farmer representatives, which appointed a director. First director was Ralph Ammon, while Herman Ihde was chairman.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/2 Time   07:55	ANECDOTE ABOUT HOW POLITICAL APPOINTEES HURT FARMERS Scope and Content Note: Poor quality dairy products in Iowa because agriculture department filled with political appointees.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/2 Time   11:30	CONFLICTS WITHIN WISCONSIN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE Scope and Content Note: Several points of conflict: some organizations felt they would lose identity in a larger group, while other groups supported coalitions with non-agricultural groups. Still others, such as the Grange and Farm Bureau, opposed cooperating with labor. Ultimately led to secession of several organizations. Council of Agriculture, a federation of producer groups, felt consumer groups philosophy and objectives differed, especially since some consumer cooperatives in northern Wisconsin were influenced by communist members. Swanton emphasizes distinction between consumer cooperatives and farmer purchasing cooperatives.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/2 Time   17:55	CONFLICT BETWEEN FARMERS AND WORKERS ORGANIZATIONS Scope and Content Note: Whereas some groups felt that better paid workers would lead to higher consumption of agricultural products, others felt workers' goals opposite to those of farmers.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/2 Time   19:50	OPPOSITION TO WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE MILK POOL Scope and Content Note: Some groups in Council felt that Wisconsin Cooperative Milk Pool plan could not be effective. Opposition also to Milk Pool's militancy. Madison and Milwaukee Milk Producers cooperatives felt Milk Pool wanted to build upon the experience of the established cooperatives. When Madison-area farmer shot, members of MMPC decided that “this war had gone on as far as it should go.”
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/3 Time   00:00	MORE ON MILK POOL AND MILK STRIKE Note: See also Tape 6, Side 1, Part 2, 19:50.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/3 Time   01:55	SUPPORTERS OF WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE MILK POOL Scope and Content Note: Among chief supporters were John Schuman, I.M. Wright, and Kenneth Hones.
Tape/Side/Part   7/1/3 Time   03:40	DESCRIPTION OF WALTER SINGLER, PRESIDENT OF WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE MILK POOL Scope and Content Note: Well over six feet tall and 240 pounds. Flashy dresser with assertive voice. A “showman” who knew how to “bluster a way through.” Farmers very despondent over conditions attracted by Singler's charisma. Other organizations refused to be bullied by Singler. Milk Pool later became an effective dairy marketing association, but not under Singler's leadership.
	1976 June 10
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   00:50	THE DEPRESSION AND FARMING Scope and Content Note: Describes depths of farm depression from 1932-1935. Swanton stopped unprofitable hog-raising and concentrated on dairying. Madison Milk Producers Cooperative helped stabilize prices for member-patrons. Continued to grow four to five acres of tobacco; farmers north and east of Swanton continued to raise peas. Swanton still used horses.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   09:00	THE DAY THE BANK WENT BROKE, Scope and Content Note: While cutting alfalfa, Swanton's horse dropped dead. Soon after neighbor brought news of bank closing. Bank demanded Swanton pay $600 note before it was due. When bank liquidated, he got 62 cents on the dollar on checking account balance.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   12:55	TOBACCO PRICES DURING DEPRESSION Scope and Content Note: Five cents per pound for good cigar tobacco; two cents per pound for chewing and plug tobacco.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   13:35	FURTHER COMMENTS ON HIS BANKER Scope and Content Note: Some bankers didn't understand farmers; thought they paid too slowly.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   15:15	WORK AS FEDERAL LAND BANK APPRAISER, Scope and Content Note: President of Federal Land Bank at St. Paul asked Swanton to take short course and write examinations to become appraiser. “Excellent pay” of $5.95 per day, but worked long hours; assigned to northeastern region of Wisconsin. Paid hired man to farm for $20 per month. Describes how he appraised for federal loan applications and helped train others to do likewise. Not all applicants received loans; some too far in debt, others not capable producers. Remembers learning as much about human nature as agriculture.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   19:35	ANECDOTE ABOUT MEETING IN GREEN BAY Scope and Content Note: Received telegram to come to Northland Hotel in Green Bay; feared he would be reprimanded or fired. Instead assigned to train five new appraisers in one week.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   23:15	ANECDOTE ABOUT FARMER WHO APPLIED FOR LOAN Scope and Content Note: Interviewed a very short farmer who told Swanton he took steps just as large as taller men in order to make his shoes last longer.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   26:00	ADVANTAGES TO FARMER OF FEDERAL LAND BANK LOAN Scope and Content Note: Lower interest rate (3-4 percent versus 5-6 percent); often scaled down total indebtedness.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   28:30	CRITERIA FOR FEDERAL LAND BANK LOAN Scope and Content Note: Appraisers made recommendations based on land value, locality of farm, type of buildings, and kind of farm operator.
Tape/Side   8/1 Time   29:45	END TAPE 8, SIDE 1
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   00:25	CONTINUATION OF DISCUSSION ON CRITERIA FOR FEDERAL LAND BANK LOAN Scope and Content Note: Important to make a management farm plan to repay loan. One Fond du Lac recipient became successful farmer and board member of Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives. Most farmers basically honest and industrious; some better managers than others.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   04:10	HOW FARMERS APPLIED FOR FEDERAL LAND BANK LOANS Scope and Content Note: With help of local loan association, applications for Midwest region prepared, sent to St. Paul, reviewed, and assigned to appraisers.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   04:45	IMPORTANCE OF FARM LOCATION Scope and Content Note: Important factors included quality of soil and proximity to markets; closeness to educational facilities. Especially careful with farmers who tried to farm on soil best suited to forests.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   08:30	APPRAISING THE “HUMAN ELEMENT” Scope and Content Note: Important, but difficult to evaluate personality of loan applicants.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   09:50	TERRITORY AS APPRAISER Scope and Content Note: Worked mostly out of Green Bay in Door county peninsula, Upper Michigan peninsula, but also in southern Wisconsin counties.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   11:25	DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN WISCONSIN, Scope and Content Note: Drought in some areas only; overall not as bad as Dakotas.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   12:45	MORALE DURING DEPRESSION Scope and Content Note: “A willingness to face up to the desperate economic situation, and make the best of it,” even among the young people.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   14:15	U.S. SUPREME COURT INVALIDATES AGRICULTURAL ADJUSTMENT ACT (AAA) in Scope and Content Note: Doesn't remember being greatly concerned since it didn't affect land bank program or own farm operation.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   15:20	RECOLLECTIONS OF EXTREMES IN CLIMATE, Scope and Content Note: Especially snowy winter and terribly hot summer. Recalls another bad winter in 1916-1917. Other years grain sowed by March and still other years no field work possible before April. Recalls father's advice: “Wisconsin will never let you down.”
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   18:55	RECALLS ICE STORM OF Scope and Content Note: Doesn't recall ice storm so long and “heavy.” Effects more serious than in the past because people so dependent on electrical machines.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   20:30	FORECLOSURES IN SWANTON'S NEIGHBORHOOD, Scope and Content Note: Some farmers foreclosed when either banks or individuals recalled loans.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   22:15	PENNY AUCTIONS Scope and Content Note: Never attended any.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   23:25	HOW SWANTON BECAME ASSOCIATED WITH WISCONSIN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE Scope and Content Note: Founded in late 1920's, Council recognized need for continuity and organization. Swanton hired as first full-time executive secretary, a position he held for 28 years until he was 70 years old. Starting salary of $210 per month. First office in Loraine Hotel, Madison, rented for $25 per month. WCA increased from 17 member organizations to more than 90. Member organizations are farmer-producer or service (marketing, and farm supply purchasing) cooperatives.
Tape/Side   8/2 Time   29:30	END TAPE 8, SIDE 2
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   00:30	BEGINS TO WORK FOR WISCONSIN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE (WCA) Scope and Content Note: Salary $210 per month; could hire labor on farm for less. Continued to live in farmhouse.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   01:35	DUTIES AS SECRETARY OF WCA Scope and Content Note: Background in economics and forensics useful in role as spokesman for agriculture and as participant in marketing and purchasing affairs. Worked in legislative matters with Wisconsin State Grange, Wisconsin Farm Bureau, and cooperative members. Worked for farmers' interests in such matters as highways, transportation, and quality of dairy products.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   03:45	NEED FOR INCREASED AGRICULTURAL INFLUENCE IN STATE GOVERNMENT Scope and Content Note: Felt government agencies needed greater understanding of problems and objectives of agriculture, and importance, especially of dairying, to Wisconsin economy.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   06:06	“AMERICA'S DAIRYLAND.” Scope and Content Note: WCA wrote bill authorizing phrase “America's Dairyland” on motor vehicle license plates; recognized significance of dairy industry in Wisconsin economy.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   07:15	FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS HELP WCA Scope and Content Note: WCA sponsored legislation supported by Wisconsin State Grange, Wisconsin Farm Bureau, and such marketing cooperatives as Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association, Milwaukee Milk Producers, Madison Milk Producers, Pure Milk Products of Chicago, Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin Tobacco Pool, Wisconsin Cheese Producers. WCA helped farmers organizations recognize common interests, in addition to parochial interests. Grange especially helpful supporting quality standards and increased appropriations for public education.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   11:35	WCA SPONSORS WISCONSIN EMPLOYMENT PEACE BILL, Scope and Content Note: WCA became involved because agriculture had direct stake in management labor relations, particularly in agricultural marketing and processing enterprises. Cooperatives such as Golden Guernsey and Land O' Lakes Creameries dissatisfied with 1937 state law which defined labor rights and employers' responsibilities. Organized labor demanded that Golden Guernsey management fire some employees and hire others. WCA requested to get bill passed to balance responsibilities of organized labor and management. In 1939 WCA took lead in writing and lobbying for what became known as Wisconsin Employment Peace Act, despite vigorous opposition of labor. WCA later played role in modifying national labor relations act.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   17:20	RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WCA AND MANUFACTURERS Scope and Content Note: Categorically denies tie between WCA and manufacturers. WCA worked with member cooperatives, asked both manufacturers representatives and labor officials to participate in conferences on Employment Peace bill; only manufacturers and a few independent unions responded, while AFL and CIO did not. WCA received no money from manufacturers.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   19:45	COMMENTS ON WALTER BENDER, MILWAUKEE LAWYER Scope and Content Note: Attorney for Golden Guernsey Cooperative, “ . . . fair-minded and . . . knowledgeable” about labor relations.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   20:25	MIDLAND COOPERATIVE WHOLESALE LEAVES WCA Scope and Content Note: Midland, only WCA member which did not support Employment Peace bill, left WCA.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   21:40	WISCONSIN COOPERATIVE MILK POOL JOINS WCA Scope and Content Note: Joined after Employment Peace bill passed. Onetime source of irritation to some member organizations of WCA, the Wisconsin Cooperative Milk Pool changed leadership and structure later.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   23:55	HEARINGS ON EMPLOYMENT PEACE BILL Scope and Content Note: Hearings stormy, noisy, and tense. Labor union representatives turned out in busloads; assembly chambers packed; high degree of animosity expressed by labor spokesmen.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   26:55	RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WCA AND WISCONSIN MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION Scope and Content Note: No particular relationship, merely supported same bill. Wisconsin Manufacturers Association responded to WCA's invitation to confer on Employment Peace bill; labor for most part refused to participate.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   28:35	AGRICULTURE'S LABOR PROBLEMS Scope and Content Note: Decline of isolated, individual producers and growth of large processing cooperatives resulted in development of same labor problems for farmer-owned organizations as for industrial employers.
Tape/Side   9/1 Time   29:40	END TAPE 9, SIDE 1
	1976 July 13
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   00:30	RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WCA AND INDIVIDUAL FARMERS Scope and Content Note: WCA established in belief farmers own initiative and financing could provide more effective means for marketing products and purchasing farm supplies and equipment.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   02:20	EARLIER ORGANIZATIONS THAT SPOKE FOR WISCONSIN FARMERS Scope and Content Note: American Society of Equity helped farmers to purchase cooperatively; Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association established to help get better prices.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   03:45	LOCAL EQUITY SHIPPING ASSOCIATIONS OFFER ALTERNATIVE TO INDIVIDUAL BUYERS Scope and Content Note: Recalls one old livestock buyer known as “Old five cents off.” Equity founded to obtain better prices for farmers.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   04:45	SUCCESS OF COOPERATIVES DOES NOT HALT DECLINE IN NUMBER OF FARMERS Scope and Content Note: Number of farmers has declined because increased demand for produce and modern equipment have required greater acreage per farmer, brought increased costs and meant individual farmer must be more efficient. Cooperatives essential for marketing produce efficiently; no direct relationship between cooperative marketing and size of farm unit.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   08:15	FARMER INFLUENCE IN MARKETPLACE Scope and Content Note: Cooperative marketing has increased farmers' influence in marketplace. Cooperative storage facilities have allowed farmers to regulate supply according to demand, despite effects of weather. Recalls how during Depression steady production of tobacco without regulation or storage facilities produced low prices.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   11:50	MULTI-REGIONAL COOPERATIVES Scope and Content Note: Approves establishment of such multi-regional cooperatives as Associated Milk Producers Incorporated (AMPI) because of long-distance shipping, but stresses such cooperatives must remain sensitive to local organizations such as the Madison Milk Producers Cooperative and its producer-members. Feels cooperatives cannot operate effectively unless close relationship maintained with members.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   18:00	WCA REPRESENTS AGRICULTURE'S LEGISLATIVE INTERESTS IN STATE LEGISLATURE Scope and Content Note: WCA effectively represents farmers interests in state legislature, regardless of partisan politics.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   20:00	ESTABLISHMENT OF WISCONSIN ASSOCIATION OF COOPERATIVES (WAC) Scope and Content Note: Formed by several groups, especially Wisconsin Farmers Union, representing strong liberal consumer movement. Saw WCA as too conservative and producer-oriented. In northern Wisconsin, the Central Cooperative Wholesale (CCW) whose members included some communists, advocated lower costs for all workers and consumers. CCW as well as other disenchanted members of WCA, established a second statewide group, the Wisconsin Association of Cooperatives (WAC) in 1940's.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   24:15	ANECDOTE ABOUT TOUR TO THE SOVIET UNION, Scope and Content Note: Recalls while in Russia with a group from University of Wisconsin met American communist originally from Brule, Wisconsin. Father had worked for Central Cooperative Wholesale.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   27:25	COOPERATION BETWEEN WCA AND WAC Scope and Content Note: Occasionally worked together to support agricultural legislation, but WAC's closeness to labor movement precluded much collaboration.
Tape/Side   10/1 Time   29:10	END TAPE 10, SIDE 1
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   00:30	CHANGES IN WAC LEADERSHIP Scope and Content Note: Relations between WAC and WCA improved when Jack Kyle became WAC executive secretary, succeeding Erich Lenz, and Gilbert Rohde replaced Kenneth Hones as president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union. Hones rarely showed interest in cooperation. Both Kyle and Rohde improved teamwork among general farmers' organizations.
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   03:20	DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN WAC AND WCA Scope and Content Note: Consumer and labor legislation.
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   05:00	WAC AND WCA JOIN TO FORM WISCONSIN FEDERATION OF COOPERATIVES (WFC) Scope and Content Note: Not aware of specific leaders who brought WAC and WCA together; recalls idea of merger widely accepted.
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   07:00	AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS IN LEGISLATURE TO Scope and Content Note: Agricultural interests well-represented in legislature, owing in particular to efforts of general farmers' organizations.
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   08:00	FREEDOM FOR FARMERS, INC., MEETING AT BALDWIN Scope and Content Note: Freedom for Farmers, Inc., supported by Farm Bureau and Farmers Union, sponsored a meeting September 11, 1963 to combat aggressive organizational drive of National Farmers' Organization (NFO). Recalls NFO brought supporters to meeting from all over Midwest. NFO President Oren Lee Staley attended; recalls confrontation between Staley and three other NFO supporters, and police.
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   16:50	COMPARES BALDWIN MEETING TO HEARINGS ON EMPLOYMENT PEACE BILL Scope and Content Note: Meeting at Baldwin much wilder; estimates 2,000 people overflowed gymnasium at Baldwin.
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   17:55	SWANTON'S SPEECH AT BALDWIN Scope and Content Note: Reads excerpts from his speech at Baldwin, attacking NFO. [A paper copy of this speech is filed in the Archives Division with the Case file copy of this finding aid.]
Tape/Side   10/2 Time   30:05	END TAPE 10, SIDE 2
Tape/Side   11/1 Time   00:00	INTRODUCTION
Tape/Side   11/1 Time   00:30	CONTINUATION OF EXCERPTS FROM SWANTON SPEECH AT BALDWIN
Tape/Side   11/1 Time   04:55	INCIDENT AT BONDUEL Scope and Content Note: Baldwin meeting occurred before two NFO picketers killed at Bonduel.
Tape/Side   11/1 Time   05:25	ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF COOPERATIVES Scope and Content Note: Cooperatives have worked successfully to stabilize markets and increase returns to farmers.
Tape/Side   11/1 Time   06:05	FREEDOM FOR FARMERS, INC. Scope and Content Note: Founded specifically in response to NFO organizing activities. Active in Wisconsin and Minnesota, it sought to bring to the attention of farmers the reasons they should continue to support general organizations and their cooperatives, and oppose NFO.
Tape/Side   11/1 Time   07:50	END OF INTERVIEW

Addams, Jane

5:1, 00:45

Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA)

8:2, 14:15

Agricultural Practices

1:1, 15:45; 2:2, 11:20, 18:45; 3:1, 21:10, 22:25; 3:2, 01:05, 07:30, 09:55, 10:20, 13:20; 4:1, 26:40; 5:2:2, 00:20, 03:10; 8:1, 00:50; 8:2, 15:20

American Federation of Labor Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)

9:1, 17:20

American Society of Equity

6:1, 03:10, 07:20; 6:2:1, 15:10; 7:1:1, 12:20; 10:1, 02:20

“America's Dairyland” (license plate slogan)

9:1, 06:05

Ammon, Ralph

7:1:2, 01:15

Associated Milk Producers, Inc. (AMPI)

10:1, 11:50

Babcock, Stephen M.

5:1:2, 00:05

Baldwin

10:2, 08:00, 16:50, 17:55; 11:1, 00:30, 04:55

Baraboo

6:2:1, 17:35

Bean, Ernest

4:2, 12:15; 5:2, 06:40

Bender, Walter

9:1, 19:45

Birge, E.A.

4:2, 12:15

Blooming Grove

1:1, 11:45

Blooming Grove Grange (Patrons of Husbandry)

6:1, 01:05

Bonduel

11:1, 04:55

Brandt, John

6:2:2, 06:00, 15:25, 16:55

Brule

10:1, 24:15

Buick (automobile)

2:1, 18:20

Burke town hall (Dane County)

6:1:2, 03:30

Capital City Commercial College (Madison)

1:2, 05:25

Capital Dairy Co. (Madison)

6:1:2, 03:30

Central Cooperative Wholesale

10:1, 20:00, 24:15

Central High School (Madison)

1:2, 08:45

Chester White hogs

2:2, 11:20

Chicago

3:1, 16:45; 4:2, 00:00; 5:1, 00:45, 13:10; 6:1:2, 03:30; 6:2:1, 11:45

Chicago Commons

5:1, 00:45

Christiansen, Chris L.

7:1:1, 10:00, 11:35

Christmas

1:1, 25:45; 4:1, 25:25

Civil War (U.S.)

1:1, 11:45; 5:2, 03:55

Claflin, C.F.

6:2:1, 23:35

Clark County

6:2:2, 06:00

Climate

8:2, 11:25, 15:20, 18:55

Commons, John R.

4:2, 12:15

Communists/Communism

7:1:2, 11:30; 10:1, 24:15

Cornell University

5:2, 09:55

County Cork, Ireland

1:1, 11:45

Cuba

1:2, 18:10

Dairying

1:1, 15:45; 3:1, 00:50, 12:05; 5:2, 24:35, 25:55, 27:00; 6:2:1, 28:50; 6:2:2, 00:00; 6:2:3, 00:00, 02:10; 7:1:2, 00:15; 8:1, 00:50; 9:1, 01:35

Dakotas

8:2, 11:25

Dane County

1:1, 11:45

Delco home generator

2:1, 00:50, 05:25

Dempsey, John

2:1, 18:20

Dempsey Family

1:1, 09:15

Depression

8:1, 00:50, 09:00; 8:2, 12:45, 10:1, 08:15

Deutsche Militar Verein

1:1, 10:00

Dineen, Charles

6:1:2, 11:15

Door County

8:2, 09:50

Durham Cattle

2:2, 01:00

East Washington Avenue (Madison)

2:1:2, 00:05; 2:2, 11:20

Easton, Jacob

1:1, 07:00

Easton School (Blooming Grove)

1:1, 16:15, 25:45

Edgerton

3:1, 22:25

Ela, Emerson

6:1, 14:30

Elwell, Fayette

4:2, 12:15

Ely, Richard T.

4:2, 12:15

England

1:1, 09:15, 11:45

Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association, Inc.

6:2:1, 00:45, 13:50, 15:10, 17:35, 23:00, 23:35; 6:2:3, 04:05; 9:1, 07:15; 10:1, 02:20, 03:45

Fair Oaks Avenue (Madison)

1:2, 14:40

Farm Foreclosures

8:2, 20:30

Farm Implements

3:2, 15:00; 5:2:2, 04:45

Farm Power

2:1, 00:50, 05:25; 3:1, 00:50; 6:1, 03:10

Farm Prices

5:2, 23:05; 6:1:2 cont, 04:10; 8:1, 12:55; 9:1, 08:15

Federal Farm Board

6:1, 14:30

Federal Land Bank

5:2, 21:35; 8:1, 15:15, 26:00, 28:30; 8:2, 00:25, 04:10

Fish, Carl Russell

4:2, 12:15; 5:2, 00:50

Fond du Lac

8:2, 00:25

Ford (automobile)

2:1, 18:20

Four C Business College (Madison)

1;2, 05;25

Fourth of July

4:1, 09:30

Franco-Prussian War

1:1, 10:00

Frank, Glenn

7:1:1, 12:20

Freedom for Farmers, Inc.

10:2, 08:00; 11:1, 06:05

Funerals

4:1, 19:30

Gay, Mary

1:1, 25:45

Germany

1:1, 09:15

Golden Guernsey Cooperative

9:1, 11:35, 19:45

Goodnight, Scott

4:2, 12:15

Green Bay

8:1, 19:35; 8:2, 09:50

Greenwood

6:2:2, 06:00

Guernsey Cattle

2:2, 01:00

Haywood, William D.

5:1, 00:45, 03:30

Hoard's Dairyman

1:2, 15:20

Holman, Charles

5:2, 08:40

Holstein Cattle

2:2, 01:00

Hones, Kenneth

7:1:3, 01:55: 10:2, 00:30

Hope (Dane County)

4:1, 01:00

Horse-Breeding

2:1, 19:45

Hull House (Chicago)

5:1, 00:45

Huntziger, Fred

6:2:2, 06:00, 14:35, 16:55

Ihde, Herman

7:1:2, 01:15

Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)

5:1, 00:45, 03:30

Iowa

7:1:2, 07:55

Ireland

1:1, 09:15, 11:45, 13:55

Jones, Tom (coach, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

5:1, 23:55

Kennedy Dairy Co., Inc.

6:1:2, 03:30

Kiekhofer, William H.

4:2, 12:15; 5:2, 00:50

Kramer, A.H.

6:1:2, 03:30

Kyle, Jack

10:2, 00:30

La Follette, Philip

7:1:2, 01:15

Land O' Lakes Cooperative

6:1:2, 11:15; 6:2:2, 06:00, 15:25; 9:1, 07:15, 11:35

Lenz, Erich

10:2, 00:30

Leonard, William Ellery

4:2, 12:15

Livestock

2:2, 01:00, 05:40, 11:20; 3:1, 16:45; 8:1, 00:50

Loraine Hotel (Madison)

8:2, 23:25

Lutherans, German and Norwegian

4:1, 01:00

Macklin, Theodore

6:1:2 cont, 03:10

Madison

1:1, 00:55; 1:2, 05:25, 14:40, 15:20; 2:1, 03:40; 3:1, 16:45, 22:25; 3:2, 07:30, 15:00, 20:50; 4:1, 01:00; 6:1, 14:30; 6:1:2, 03:30, 19:50; 6:2:1, 11:45; 8:2, 23:25

Madison Gas and Electric Company

2:1, 03:40

Madison Milk Producers Cooperative

6:1:2, 03:30, 11:15, 17:10, 19:50, 27:00; 6:1:2 cont, 00:55, 05:30; 6:2:3, 04:05; 7:1:2, 19:50; 8:1, 00:50; 9:1, 07:15; 10:1, 11:50

Maher Family

1:1, 09:15

McIntyre, E.R.

7:1:1, 12:20

Meanwell, Walter

5:1, 23:55

Merrill

5:2, 17:05

Michigan

8:2, 09:50

Midland Cooperative Wholesale

9:1, 20:25

Milk Strikes

6:1:2, 19:50; 7:1:3, 00:00

Milwaukee

6:1, 03:10; 6:1:2, 03:30; 6:2:1, 00:45, 17:35

Milwaukee Milk Producers Cooperative

6:1:2, 11:15; 7:1:2, 19:50; 9:1, 07:15

Minnesota

11:1, 06:05

Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association

see Land O' Lakes Cooperative

Morgan horses

2:1, 19:45

Moscow, U.S.S.R.

5:1, 03:30

National Farmers Organization (NFO)

10:2, 08:00, 17:55; 11:1, 04:55, 06:05

National Grange (Patrons of Husbandry)

3:2, 22:10

National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF)

5:2, 08:40

New Year's Eve, 1899

1:1, 00:55

Northern Wisconsin Cooperative Tobacco Pool

6:1, 14:30; 6:1:2, 00:00; 6:2:3, 04:05

Northland Hotel (Green Bay)

8:1, 19:35

Norway

1:1, 09:15

Oscar Mayer Co.

6:2:1, 11:45

Ohio

1:1, 07:00

O'Neill, James M.

4:2, 12:15; 5:2, 06:40

O'Shea, M.V.

4:2, 12:15

Patrons of Husbandry

see National Grange; Wisconsin State Grange

Paxson, Frederick

4:2, 12:15; 5:2, 00:50

Penny Auctions

8:2, 22:15

Percheron horses

2:1, 19:45

Piper Brothers Grocery (Madison)

4:1, 01:00

Pumpkin Hollow (Dane County)

4:1, 01;00

Pure Milk Association (Chicago)

9:1, 07:15

Richmond, Charlotte

1:2, 08:45

Richmond, Susan

1:2, 08:45

Rohde, Gilbert

10:2, 00:30

Rural Doctors

4:1, 18:35

Rural Free Delivery

1:2, 15:20; 3:2, 22:10

Rural Road Conditions

2:1, 08:15; 3:2, 31:30

Russell, Harry L.

7:1:1, 11:35

St. Paul, Minnesota

5:2, 21:35; 8:1, 15:15; 8:2, 04:10

Sapiroism

6:1:2 cont, 00:55

Schmedeman, Albert

6:1:2, 19:50

Schuman, John

6:1:2 cont, 00:55; 7:1:3, 01:55

Scott, William A.

4:2, 12:15

Singler, Walter

6:1:2 cont, 05:30; 7:1:3, 03:40

Soap-making

3:1, 14:45

Southern Wisconsin Breeders Cooperative

6:2:2, 21:45, 24:05; 6:2:3, 04:05

Soviet Union

10:1, 24:15

Spaniards

1:2, 18:10

Sparta

3:1, 22:25

Staley, Oren Lee

10:2, 08:00

Stevens Point

5:2, 17:05

Stoughton

3:1, 22:25

Sun Prairie

1:1, 11:45; 3:2, 15:00

Swanton Family

1:1, 11:45, 13:55; 1:2, 15:20; 2:1, 11:50, 18:20; 2:1:2, 00:05, 01:40; 2:2, 05:40; 6:1, 01:05

Swanton Neighborhood

1:1, 07:00; 2:1, 18:20; 3:2, 09:55, 32:10; 4:1, 01:00, 23:10; 8:2, 20:30

Taylor, Graham

5:1, 00:45

Telephone Service

1:2, 27:40; 2:2, 11:20; 4:1, 18:35

TerBeest, Benjamin H.

6:1:2, 03:30

Tittemore, James

6:1, 07:20

Tobacco-Raising and Marketing

1:1, 15:45; 1:2, 21:30; 2:2, 11:20; 3:1, 22:25; 3:2, 01:05; 5:2:1, 03:55; 6:1:1, 14:30; 6:1:2, 00:00; 8:1, 00:50, 12:55; 10:1, 08:15

Tuberculosis

2:2, 05:40

United States

1:1, 13:55; 4:2, 00:00

United States Supreme Court

8:2, 14:15

University of Minnesota

5:1, 18:50

University of Wisconsin-Extension

4:1, 26:40; 5:1, 28:15, 28:45; 5:2, 08:40, 09:55, 17:05

University of Wisconsin-Madison

1:2, 05:25; 4:2, 08:05, 10:35, 12:15; 5:1, 16:50, 23:55; 6:2:2, 21:45; 7:1:1, 01:10; 10:1, 24:15

University of Wisconsin-Madison Bascom Hall

4:2, 10:35

University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agriculture

2:2, 05:40; 5:1:2, 00:05; 6:1, 14:30; 6:1:2, 19:50, 27:00; 6:1:2 cont, 00:00; 6:2:1, 23:35

University of Wisconsin-Madison Debating Society

4:2, 29:00; 5:1, 00:45

University of Wisconsin-Madison Farm and Home Week

2:2, 05:40; 4:1, 26:40; 7:1:1, 01:10, 10:00, 12:20

University of Wisconsin-Madison Farm Short Course

1:2, 05:25

Van Hise, Charles R.

4:2, 12:15

Washington County

1:1, 11:45

Watertown

6:1:2 cont, 00:55

Waukesha

6:1, 03:10

Waukesha County

1:1, 11:45

Wausau

5:2, 17:05

William of Orange Day

1:1, 13:55

Wisconsin Academy (Madison)

1:2, 05:25, 08:45, 12:25, 14:40

Wisconsin Agriculturist

1:2, 15:20

Wisconsin Agriculturist and Farmer

7:1:1, 12:20

Wisconsin Association of Cooperatives (WAC)

10:1, 20:00, 27:25; 10:2, 00:30, 03:20, 05:00

Wisconsin Cheese Producers Cooperative

see also Wisconsin Cheese

Producers Federation

6:2:2, 06:00, 14:35; 9:1, 17:15

Wisconsin Cheese Producers Federation; see also Wisconsin Cheese Producers Cooperative

6:2:2, 00:35

Wisconsin Cooperative Creameries Association

6:2:2, 11:10

Wisconsin Cooperative Milk Pool

6:1:2, 17:10; 6:1:2 cont, 00:00, 05:30; 7:1:2, 19:50; 7:1:3, 00:00, 01:55, 03:40; 9:1, 21:40

Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives; see also Wisconsin Council of Agriculture

8:2, 00:25

Wisconsin Council of Agriculture; see also Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives

7:1:1, 12:20, 24:15; 7:1:2, 00:15, 01:15, 11:30; 8:2, 23:25; 9:1, 00:30, 01:35, 07:15, 11:35; 17:20, 20:25, 21:40, 26:55; 10:1, 00:30, 18:00, 20:00, 27:25; 10:2, 00:30, 03:20, 05:00

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture

6:1, 14:30; 6:1:2, 27:00; 7:1:2, 01:15

Wisconsin Employment Peace Bill

9:1, 11:35, 17:20, 20:25, 21:40, 23:55, 26:55; 10:2, 16:50

Wisconsin Farm Bureau

6:1, 09:50, 11:45; 6:2:1, 23:00; 7:1:1, 12:20; 7:1:2, 11:30; 9:1, 01:35, 07:15; 10:2, 08:00

Wisconsin Farmer

1:2, 15:20

Wisconsin Farmers' Union

6:1, 17:20; 7:1:1, 12:20; 10:1, 20:00; 10:2, 00:30, 08:00

Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives (WFC)

10:2, 05:00

Wisconsin Manufacturers Association

9:1, 26:55

Wisconsin National Guard

6:1:2, 19:50

Wisconsin State Capitol

4:2, 01:15

Wisconsin State Grange

6:1, 01:05; 6:2:2, 16:55; 7:1:1, 12:20; 7:1:2, 11:30; 9:1, 01:35, 07:15

Wisconsin State Journal (Madison)

1:2, 15:20

Wisconsin State Legislature

10:1, 18:00; 10:2, 07:00

Wisconsin Swiss-Limburger Cheese Producers Cooperative

6:1:2, 11:15

Wrabetz, Voyta

1:2, 08:45

Wright, I.M.

7:1:3, 01:55

Youth Companion

1:2, 15:20, 17:00

Zink, Irving

2:1, 18:20

Zink Family

4:1, 09:30