Title: Mark Thiel and Patricia Poskie-Thiel Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1898-1982

Creators:

• Thiel, Mark G., 1950-
• Poskie-Thiel, Patricia M., 1943-

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 73

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the 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.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers and photographs regarding the 1978 West Allis, Wisconsin, wedding ceremony and preparations based on Polish traditions, of Mark Thiel and Patricia Poskie, together with family and genealogical papers. In addition to photographs and a description of the actual wedding ceremony are papers, programs, flyers, and other material collected while the couple researched traditional Polish costumes, music, and other aspects of the wedding celebration. Genealogical materials concern the Piotrowski, Poskie, and Wleczyk families in Wisconsin.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00073

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Mark Thiel was born on July 10, 1950 in Milwaukee, and raised in West Allis, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he earned a B.S. (1972) in sociology and anthropology, and an M.A.T. (1981) in history. Patricia Poskie was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin on April 8, 1943, and grew up in Rhinelander and Minocqua. She studied at Holy Cross High School in Merrill, Alverno College in Milwaukee, and the University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas. The couple met in Wisconsin Dells, where Mark was employed as a city recreation supervisor and Patricia was director of Religious Education at St. Cecilia's Catholic Church. They were married on June 10, 1979 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in West Allis. Since 1978, Patricia has been director of Religious Education at St. Bernard's Church in Madison, while Mark has been an archivist at Marquette University since 1982.

The Thiels decided upon a wedding inspired by their Polish heritage as a means of bringing together their own two families through planning and participation in a unique ceremony. They spent six months prior to the wedding researching costumes for members of the wedding party at the Polish Museum of America in Chicago, and by examining outfits worn by Milwaukee area dance troupes and in the Polish journal Panorama Polska. As it was impossible to rent the costumes needed, the mother of the bride, Helen Pecore Poskie, sewed both men's and women's outfits. Following the ceremony, a reception which further emphasized Polish traditions and heritage was held at the Tanner Paul American Legion Post, with an exhibition by the Mazur Polish Dancers and dancing to the Jolly Harmony 7, a Stevens Point band.

The collection documents the wedding ceremony and preparations of Mark Thiel and Patricia Poskie, and also provide histories of the Piotrowski, Poskie, and Wleczyk families. From the wedding itself are ten color photographs, with accompanying identifications, portraying members of the wedding party in costume, at the church, en route to the reception, and at the celebration.

Also included are a description of the wedding and reception written by Thiel, and a guest list. With the folder of materials regarding preparations for the wedding are a variety of descriptions, newspaper articles, flyers, promotional leaflets, and other items collected during the research on costumes, Polish wedding customs, and bands and orchestras.

Thiel and Poskie collected much of the genealogical information about their ancestors. Included are notes, primarily taken by Thiel, with brief descriptions of individuals, families, and occupations, copies of birth and baptismal certificates, and related documents. The collection also includes pages from a 1938 high school yearbook of Thiel's mother, Esther Wleczyk.

Also included is a folder of miscellaneous items, including programs from the 1982 Madison performance of the Mazowszw dance troupe, as well as other pamphlets and brochures.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mark G. Thiel and Patricia M. Poskie-Thiel, Madison, Wisconsin, 1981-1982. Accession Number: M81-651

Processing Information

Processed by Mark G. Thiel and Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, March 1982.

Box   1 Folder   1	Description of Wedding Preparations and Ceremony, Wedding Photographs and Identifications, 1978
Box   1 Folder   2	Preparations for the Wedding Ceremonies, Research Materials, 1975-1977
Box   1 Folder   3	Piotrowski, Poskie, and Wleczyk Genealogies, 1898-1982
Box   1 Folder   4	Miscellaneous Pamphlets, undated