Title: Piscatorial and Inside Straight Society Records
Inclusive Dates: 1953-2007

Creator:

• Piscatorial and Inside Straight Society

Call Number: M2010-001

Quantity: 1.0 c.f. (1 archives box and 1 flat box)

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Records, 1953-2007, of the Piscatorial and Inside Straight Society, a fraternal, male-only organization made up largely of politicians, journalists, and businessmen, documenting the group's biannual gatherings in the spring and fall to hunt, fish, play cards, drink, and play music. Members included Governor Walter J. Kohler, future Governor Warren Knowles, and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird. The trips are documented extensively in photographs.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-m2010001

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Initially founded at the Moccasin Lodge in Hayward, Wisconsin in 1953, the Piscatorial and Inside Straight Society was officially dissolved in 1999. In one of the group's many scrapbooks, Carl Zielke of the Wisconsin Press Association credits Governor Walter J. Kohler with naming the group; other charter members included future Governor Warren Knowles, John Wyngaard, and Republican lobbyist Claude Jasper. The PISSers, as they called themselves, met twice yearly, in the spring and fall, to hunt, fish, play cards, drink, and play music. The trips eventually moved south to the Dells. Peak years were the 1960s, when rosters show membership around 75, and members could be found from the Wisconsin Capitol to the White House, as member Melvin Laird served as Secretary of Defense; a program shows members sailing the Potomac on their 1969 spring trip.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Robert Ripp, Brookfield, Wisconsin. Accession Number: M2010-001

M2010-001	History
Box   1 Folder   1	General, 1960-1990s
Box   1 Folder   2	“Memories” scrapbook, 1967
Box   1 Folder   3	Rhinelander program, 1968
Box   1 Folder   4	Washington, D.C. program, 1969
Box   1 Folder   5	Miscellaneous, 1980s-1990s
Box   1 Folder   6	Rosters, 1969-1997
Box   1 Folder   7	Correspondence, newsletters, and bulletins, 1980s
Box   1 Folder   8	Member correspondence, 1993-1996
Box   1 Folder   9	Correspondence, Ralph Renk, 1988-1994
Box   1 Folder   10	Newsletters and statements, 1990s
Box   1 Folder   11	Financial records, 1982-1993
Box   1 Folder   12	Attendance and income book
	Photographs
Box   2 Folder   1-2	1958, 1981-1993
Box   2 Folder   3	Scrapbook, 1995-1998
Box   2 Folder   4	Transparencies and script from Ladies' Night slideshow
Box   2 Folder   5	Moccasin Lodge and river, 1953