Title: Black Settlers from Rural Wisconsin Oral History Project interviews
Inclusive Dates: 1974-1981

Creator:

• Black Settlers from Rural Wisconsin Oral History Project

Call Number: Audio 925A; SC 1241

Quantity: 35 tape recordings and 0.1 cubic feet (1 folder)

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:

Tape-recorded interviews with nineteen elderly residents of Grant and Vernon counties in Wisconsin, concerning the substantial African American communities in those two counties between 1850 and World War I. Interviews focus on domestic and social life, agricultural and other work, education, religion, relationships with white and black neighbors, genealogy, and the gradual movement to more urban areas which began at the turn of the 20th century. The interviews were conducted by Zachary L. Cooper and Emilie Tari under grants from the Wisconsin American Revolution Bicentennial Commission and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Also includes interview abstracts.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-audi00925a

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In the early 1970s, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin was establishing Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor museum consisting of original buildings constructed in Wisconsin by various ethnic groups. Staff members sought to include structures built by 19th century black settlers but were hindered by a lack of information on rural Wisconsin African Americans.

In 1973, the Society was awarded a grant from the Wisconsin American Revolution Bicentennial Commission to conduct research on rural blacks, locate buildings, and reconstruct them at Old World Wisconsin (WARBC grant no. 30-14PM-73). Researcher Zachary Cooper worked under the grant and as part of his research conducted oral history interviews with black residents of Grant and Vernon counties, the two rural areas which it was determined had the largest number of black residents between 1850 and World War I. His research was summarized in a Society publication Black Settlers in Rural Wisconsin (1977).

These early interviews were augmented by additional interviews conducted by Zachary Cooper and Emilie Tari in 1980 and 1981 under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to the University of Wisconsin Department of Curriculum and Instruction. This grant also resulted in two videotapes aimed at 4th and 5th graders and a teachers' manual distributed by the Department of Public Instruction and titled Coming Together, Coming Apart: Black Settlers in Rural Wisconsin (Bulletin 3254).

The interviews conducted under both the WARBC and the NEH grants constitute the contents of this collection. They include discussions with Otis and Blanche Arms, Austin Roberts, Louis Waldon, Morris Moon, Albert and Frances Winchell, Harry Liebfried, Minnie Owens Drake, Mildred Green(e), Charles Green(e), Vera Sullivan, Edith Harris Greene, Donald Irish, Jenny Huffman Dewey, Flora Shivers, Vivian Roberts, and Floyd Revels.

The following paragraphs come from the teachers' manual Coming Together, Coming Apart and present the conclusions formed from the interviews.

COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW

Although today most blacks live in urban areas, in the last century many of them lived in rural areas. Two Wisconsin farming communities which black families pioneered before the Civil War were: 1) the Cheyenne Valley Community, located near Hillsboro in Vernon County, and 2) the Pleasant Ridge Community, located between Beetown and Lancaster in Grant County.

Early black Wisconsin families included the Greenes, Shepards, Grimes, and Gadlins of the Pleasant Ridge Community, and the Revels, Roberts, Waldons, Shivers and Bass of the Cheyenne Valley Community.

These Wisconsin pioneers were the descendents of black people from the continent of Africa. During the 17th and 18th centuries they were brought to the southern coastal states of Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. In the early part of the 19th century they moved to the border states of Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, before migrating to the rural areas of southwestern Wisconsin during the mid 19th century.

These black settlers came to Wisconsin in search of land, freedom and opportunities for their children. Wisconsin offered fertile, cheap land, protected escaped slaves by law and permitted education of black children in public schools.

The early black settlers cleared land, hunted, fished, gathered and planted food for their own use. Farmers, later, planted cash crops such as tobacco and ginsing. Some engaged in lumbering.

Increased income allowed more purchases and more leisure activities. They bought more land, newer farm equipment, cars, clothing, cameras and household appliances.

They built houses and barns and organized churches, schools and literary clubs. They began to enjoy a more affluent life. Today many of these families have moved to urban areas. They sent their children away to college and training schools. Some became barbers, porters, teachers, restaurant owners and factory workers. Others fought in the nation's wars. The Cheyenne Valley community near Hillsboro persisted longer than Pleasant Ridge Community near Lancaster and other black communities.

Annual reunions, frequent picnics, weddings and funerals brought many former members of these communities back together.

Recordings of oral histories available online.

• Cooper, Zachary L. Black Settlers in Rural Wisconsin. Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1977
• Cooper, Zachary L. and Emilie Tari. Coming Together, Coming Apart: Black Settlers in Rural Wisconsin: Teachers' Manual (Bulletin 3254) and videotapes. Madison: Department of Public Instruction, [1982]
• Wisconsin American Revolution Bicentennial Commission.
  “Accepted Grants, 1973: Grant 30-14PM-73.” Grants File. (Series 1779, Box 4, Folder 1)
  “Black Community Contacts: Black History Project.” Subject File. (Series 1776, Box 21, Folder 9)
• Black settlers, Cheyenne Valley, Wisconsin photographs, circa 1875-circa 1975 (PH 4456)
• Black settlers, Pleasant Ridge, Wisconsin vicinity photographs, circa 1860-circa 1975 (PH 4313)

Acquisition Information

Accession Number: M85-055

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Baumann, January 15, 1986.

SC 1241	Abstracts of interviews
Audio   925A/1-6, 29, 30, 33	Arms, Otis (1902-1981) and Blanche (1897-1999) interviews, 1975, 1980-1981 Alternate Format Interviews also available online: Interview with Otis Arms, July 19, 1975 Interview with Otis and Blanche Arms, May 8, 1980 Interview with Otis and Blanche Arms, May 14, 1980 Interview with Otis and Blanche Arms, June 13, 1980 Interview with Otis and Blanche Arms, June 18, 1980 Interview with Otis Arms, June 24, 1980 Interview with Blanche Arms, January 7, 1981 Interview with Blanche Arms, September 15, 1981, Madison, Wisconsin Scope and Content Note: Both Otis and Blanche Arms were raised in the Hillsboro area of Vernon County, worked in Madison and were married there, and returned to Hillsboro to farm. Their extensive interviews cover their ancestors' settling and clearing the land, crops, food and food storage, household possessions, and farm and household tasks remembered from their childhoods. They tell of wild animals in the area, harvesting wild ginseng, threshing, the Cheyenne Valley picnic and other social gatherings, church attendance and camp meetings, family members and neighbors, and racial attitudes encountered as children and adults. Blanche talks of her education at Eastman School, visiting relatives in Madison, working as a maid and housekeeper, and her Seventh Day Adventist Church membership and activities. Otis tells of fighting problems at Salem School, his family moving to Baraboo and then Madison, a hitchhiking trip out West at age 17, the many jobs he held as a young man, and his interest in music. Otis' maternal grandfather was a Cherokee Indian from Indiana. His father Samuel was a slave in Georgia and served in the Civil War. Note: No abstract of Audio 925A/1.
Audio   925A/7-8, 27	Roberts, Austin (1890-) interviews, 1981 Alternate Format Interviews also available online: Interview with Austin Roberts, April 10, 1981 Interview with Austin Roberts, May 1981 Scope and Content Note: Interviews with Austin Roberts concern families which settled in Vernon County including the Roberts, Bass, Arms, Revels, and Shivers families and their genealogies. Roberts notes that his own family moved 13 times in 26 years and describes their homes, farm and other income activities, schools, and farm financial arrangements. He discusses doing dairy work for hire, taking an agriculture short course at the University of Wisconsin from 1912-1914, and working in a machine shop in Kenosha, as a lumberjack in Michigan, and at Hatchet Berry Farm; his World War I Army service and subsequent service in the Navy; and the 7 years he spent in China where he married and had a family. He also mentions his first marriage to Florence Mollery and a third marriage in 1941. Note: No abstract of Audio 925A/8.
Audio   925A/9	Waldon, Louis and Alvina (1918-) interview, 1981 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Louis and Alvina Waldon, July 14, 1981 Scope and Content Note: Residents of the Hillsboro area, Louis and Alvina Waldon identify photographs and discuss neighbors and family members and their origins and relationships, relatives who moved to Sparta to operate businesses, and memories of area religious and social gatherings.
Audio   925A/10	Moon, Morris D. (1911-2005) interview, 1981 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Morris Moon, July 22, 1981 Scope and Content Note: Morris Moon was raised on a ridge farm above Cheyenne Valley (Town of Forest, Vernon County), became police chief of Hillsboro in 1938, served 12 years as sheriff of Viroqua, and was elected clerk of circuit court of Vernon County in 1966. His interview concerns his memories of family and community and tells of his family's arrival in the area in 1878, a child's life on a farm, attending Fairview School, chores and exchanging work with neighbors, transportation, and area residents including Jack Roan, Jasper Revels, the Allen family, Pap Harris, Tom Shivers, and others.
Audio   925A/11-12	Winchell, Albert and Frances (1912-) interview, 1981 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Albert and Frances Winchell July 9, 1981 Scope and Content Note: Frances tells of her youth on a farm above La Farge, attending Buckeye Ridge School, household chores, and stories of wild animals in the area. The Winchell's discuss their marriage in 1929; farming for 40 years; area lumbering, roads, fires, and land transfers; and neighbors including members of the Revels, Shivers, McCann, Bass, Allen, and Harris families.
Audio   925A/13-14, 25-26	Liebfried, Harry (1914-1992) & family interviews, 1975, 1981 Alternate Format Interviews also available online: Interview with Harry Liebfried, February 8, 1975 Interview with Harry Liebfried May 28, 1981 Scope and Content Note: Discussion of how blacks came to Wisconsin, of Jack Greene shooting a man courting his daughter, of the Liebfrieds' move to Lancaster in 1916 from the Potosi-Dickeyville area, of farming practices and cooperation, local barbecues, railroads in the area, churches, and family information on the Grimes, Greenes, and Shepards. Note: No abstract of Audio 925A/13-14.
Audio   925A/15-16	Drake, Minnie Warren Owens (1889-1984) interviews, 1980 Alternate Format Interviews also available online: Interview with Minnie Owens Drake, May 14, 1980 Interview with Minnie Owens Drake, September 26, 1980 Scope and Content Note: Minnie Owens Drake discusses her experiences in Midwest vaudeville in her teens, working as a nursemaid and cleaning woman for several University of Wisconsin faculty members, and working with her mother in Baraboo making wigs, hair switches, and hair chains. Her mother was a Roberts from Vernon County. Minnie was raised in Baraboo and as an adult lived there and in Madison, and for a while farmed near Reedsburg with her first husband, Charlie Step.
Audio   925A/17-18	Greene, Mildred (1907-2005) interviews, 1975 and 1981 Alternate Format Interviews also available online: Interview with Mildred Greene, January 19, 1975 Interview with Mildred Greene, January 8, 1981 Scope and Content Note: Raised in Pleasant Ridge, Grant County, Mildred Greene identifies photographs, talks about members of the Green/Greene and the Shepard families, and discusses her mother's death at Mildred's birth, her adoption by the Green's, her white father's payment of hush money to her mother, her move to Madison and marriage in 1926, and her many jobs including working as a window trimmer at the Cinderella Dress Shop for 8 years and in dietetics at the Veterans Hospital for 18 years. She also mentions charitable work and her personal philosophy.
Audio   925A/19	Greene, Charles (1900?-) interview, 1974 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Charles Green, September 14, 1974 Scope and Content Note: Charles Greene talks about growing up on a farm in Lancaster. Note: No abstract of Audio 925A/19; the recording is of poor technical quality and difficult to understand.
Audio   925A/20	Sullivan, Vera (1895?-1978?) interview, 1976 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Vera Sullivan, January 24, 1976 Scope and Content Note: Vera Sullivan discusses other black Vernon County residents and mentions Campbell School.
Audio   925A/21-22	Greene, Edith Harris interview, 1975 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Edith Harris Greene, January 13, 1975 Scope and Content Note: Edith Greene identifies photographs including many from the Grant County community; discusses genealogy and relatives living in Minneapolis, Washington state, and elsewhere; and mentions the Stockman School, blacks passing for white, and memories of sleigh rides.
Audio   925A/23 Side   1	Bidwell, Gertrude? [unidentified woman] interview, undated Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Gertrude Bidwell? Scope and Content Note: Interview with an unidentified women, possibly Gertrude Bidwell, discusses the community of Bloomington mentioning business owners and locations, other building locations, area families, the Academy and other schools, and local doctors.
Audio   925A/23 Side   2	Irish, Donald interview, 1976 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Donald Irish, January 14, 1976 Scope and Content Note: Donald Irish gives an account of the first Black settlers' arrival and discusses the Sam Gadlin [Catlin?] shooting incident (1883), picnics, cemeteries, and people moving away from the area.
Audio   925A/24	Dewey, Jenny Huffman interview, 1976 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Jenny Huffman Dewey, April 22, 1976 Scope and Content Note: Jenny Huffman Dewey lived in northeast corner of Beetown Township but attended Pleasant Ridge School briefly; was only white family in school. Tells of friendship with the Greene family. Notes her father's poor health and her mother supporting the family with a large dairy herd.
Audio   925A/28, 35	Shivers, Flora (1882-1980) interview, 1974 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Flora Shivers, August 30, 1974 Scope and Content Note: Flora Shivers recalls her youth and tells of school, church activities, Sunday School picnics, and home and social life. She discusses a lack of prejudice in the area, being a delegate to church meetings in other towns, dances at people's homes, and the Shivers' round barn.
Audio   925A/31	Eastman School Reunion, 1981 September 8 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Eastman School reunion, September 8, 1981 Scope and Content Note: Includes reading from old records of School District 3, Town of Forest, organized in 1877 and closed in 1961. Former students and teachers give recollections of school events.
Audio   925A/32 Side   1	Roberts, Vivian McHenry (1900-1982) interview, 1981 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Vivian Roberts and Lloyd Revels, September 16, 1981 Scope and Content Note: Vivian McHenry Roberts lived in LaFarge, then Viroqua, Wheester Creek area in 1910, near Ontario in 1912, and continued to move every year or so. Tells of family origins, recollections of her grandmother, and beginning working out at age 13 or 14. Married in 1918 to Daniel W. Roberts (1897-1975), she discusses the farms which she and her husband worked and their hard financial life.
Audio   925A/32 Side   1-2	Revels, Lloyd (1906-) interview, 1981 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Vivian Roberts and Lloyd Revels, September 16, 1981 Scope and Content Note: Floyd Revels discusses Cheyenne Valley family members, neighbors such as the Winchells, Arms, and Shivers, farming and other family occupations, farm inheritance, home medical treatment and midwives, ghost stories and pranks, and social affairs such as house parties and basket socials.
Audio   925A/34	Cummins, Kinchi interview, 1974 Septemeber 27 Alternate Format Interview also available online: Interview with Kinchi Cummins, September 27, 1974 Scope and Content Note: Kinchi Cummins disscusses school, cemeteries, and about “runaway slave” named Al Wong who changed his name to a Chinese name so his owner could not find him.