Title: Conrad A.E. Saskowski Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1934-1984 (bulk 1939-1949)

Creator:

• Saskowski, Conrad A.E.

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 214; PH Milwaukee Mss 214

Quantity: 3.2 c.f. (5 archives boxes and 3 flat boxes) and 9 photographs

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 of Conrad A.E. Saskowski, a son of Polish immigrants, who established himself as a composer of operettas and musicals that disseminated Polish-American culture to Milwaukee. The bulk of the collection (1939-1949) is comprised of compositions arranged by genre--operettas, sacred works, and musicals. In addition to the vocal and orchestral parts, this collection features scripts and synopses of his compositions, and correspondence, publicity materials, and programs relating to his productions. As a founding member of the Polish Fine Arts Club, Saskowski was an active promoter of both the club's activities and his own compositions, especially his two major operettas, Polonaise (1939) and Blond Squaw (1949) which was revived in 1978 and renamed Spring Song. Of particular note is Saskowski's working relationship with Jerzy Bojanowski who conducted the premiere of Polonaise in 1939 and helped arrange Saskowski's Credo from Latin Mass in A (1978) that was subsequently titled Mass in Honor of Our Lady of Czestochowa (1984) and ultimately performed at Saskowski's funeral.

Note:

There is a restriction on use of this material; see the Administrative/Restriction Information portion of this finding aid for details.

Language: English, Polish

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00214

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Conrad Saskowski was born March 17, 1908 in Milwaukee (Wisconsin), one of 13 children to Polish immigrant parents. He was raised in the Polish-American community of South Milwaukee. From an early age, music played an important role in his life.

In 1931, he earned a BA degree from Marquette University. Beginning in 1934, he taught history and served as a guidance counselor at South Division High School in Milwaukee for 38 years. In 1942, Saskowski enlisted in the U.S. Army. After World War II, he returned to his studies, earning an MA in History from Marquette University in 1947. He also studied music at the Julliard School of Music and at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (though there is no evidence of this in the collection).

In addition to being a teacher, Saskowski helped produce various school musicals and revues. He was active in the community, especially in disseminating Polish-American culture to Milwaukee (in which a significant Polish population resided). He was a tireless promoter of both his compositions and the activities of the Polish Fine Arts Club, an organization he helped to found and which he served, on numerous occasions, as president. In 1949, the Polish Fine Arts Club disbanded due to declining interest by the membership.

Saskowski was a very ambitious composer whose pieces ranged from songs (religious and secular), operas, operettas, and orchestral parts and arrangements. He was most productive from the late 1930s to the late 1940s. His early compositions Yours to Command (1934) and Polonaise (1939) helped establish his role within the musical landscape of Milwaukee. Polonaise was performed in the Pabst Theatre in 1939 to sold-out audiences.

He scored a minor success in Milwaukee in 1948 through an invitation by the mayor, Frank P. Zeidler, to perform an original operetta entitled Blond Squaw as part of the Wisconsin State Centennial celebrations in the city of Milwaukee. This operetta was reprised the following year at the Pabst Theatre to two sold-out performances.

In the late 1970s, Saskowski petitioned the Milwaukee Parks Commission and the Milwaukee City Council to help fund a revival of Blond Squaw. After numerous leads and dead ends in staging the operetta, Saskowski's determination paid off when he revived Blond Squaw after retitling it Spring Song. The title was changed due to pressure from the coordinator of Native American studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and from a variety of other persons whose help Saskowski enlisted.

In addition to his operettas, Saskowski composed many sacred music compositions throughout his life. These compositions provide another dimension to Saskowski's creative output. His earliest sacred work, Our Lady of Victory Mass (1950s), is a piece for piano and voice. Saskowski expanded this work with an orchestral arrangement by the famous Polish conductor Jerzy Bojanowski (1893-1983), a Milwaukee resident and confidant of Saskowski and entitled it Latin Mass in A (1978). These sacred works eventually culminated in Saskowski's final composition Mass in Honor of Our Lady of Czestochowa which held its world premiere after Saskowski's death.

There is little evidence in the collection that Saskowski was a major figure in music, but he did achieve some local fame. In 1939, the pre-war government of Poland awarded Saskowski a medal of citation for fostering the musical works of Polish composers (this is not in the collection). In 1978, the Milwaukee Common Council passed a resolution recognizing Saskowski's contribution to Milwaukee.

Saskowski died on April 22, 1984 in Milwaukee. His own composition, Sanctus, from the Mass in Honor of Our Lady of Czestochowa was performed at his funeral. In October of 1984, the full mass was performed by the Bach Chamber Choir.

This collection documents the activities of Conrad Saskowski, a composer of operettas, sacred works, and musicals in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) from 1934 to 1984. The papers are arranged in four series, COMPOSITIONS, PUBLICITY, CORRESPONDENCE, and PHOTOGRAPHS, with the bulk of the documents consisting mainly of musical scores from the mid-1930s to the late-1940s. The remainder is made up of correspondence, copies of newsprint, performance programs, and photographs.

The COMPOSITIONS series, 1934-1978 (primarily 1934-1949), is arranged by genre (Operettas, Sacred Works, Musicals, and Incomplete Scores). Within each genre, compositions are arranged chronologically. Compositions consist of sheet music and musical scores handwritten in pen on onion paper or photocopied from originals on standard and oversize score sheets. In some cases, multiple copies of a score indicate the varying musical notation edits that have occurred and have been preserved for informational value. In order to show a broader picture of Saskowski and his creative output, some subseries contain compositional drafts that include materials which have been identified, through the original order of the collection, as related to the compositions. In cases where the original order of the collection did not allow for identification, materials were placed within the Incomplete Scores subseries.

The Operettas subseries include Yours to Command (1934), Polonaise (1939), Blond Squaw (1949), and the revival of Blond Squaw entitled Spring Song (1978). Also included are the Compositional drafts to Yours to Command, Polonaise and Blond Squaw. Yours to Command (1934) contains the individual instrument scores, vocal parts, and a script. The operetta Polonaise, in addition to scores, vocal parts, and a script, contains a synopsis that succinctly outlines this work. There is a version of Polonaise written in Polish (entitled “Polenez”), but there is no indication that the operetta was performed using this script and there are no musical scores written in Polish. Outside of the information in some newspaper Clippings and Programs (found in the PUBLICITY series), there is little information regarding Yours to Command. In contrast, Polonaise is well represented and there are two photographs of the production showing the fully costumed performers at its Pabst Theatre premiere in 1939. The Polish-born conductor Jerzy Bojanowski conducted this premiere.

The operetta Blond Squaw (1948-1949) is represented by the individual instrument scores, a conductor's score, scripts, music cue sheets, a synopsis, and an audio recording log. Blond Squaw was originally performed as part of the Wisconsin Centennial (1948) celebration at State Fair Park in Milwaukee. The following year, Blond Squaw was performed in a few Milwaukee venues. Though practically identical, there are separate folders for Piano and vocals of the 1948 and 1949 performances. There are also two folders of Music cue sheets arranged in a similar manner.

This collection also contains a typed Audio recording log of songs from Blond Squaw (1949) with handwritten notes of recording length and song order. The collection does not contain any other mention of these recordings, but a Program for a 1951 talk Saskowski gave to a local women's organization reveals that he was to allow attendees to listen to performances from Blond Squaw. Though the collection contains no musical recordings, this log shows that Saskowski chose to pursue another avenue of publicizing his work through the tape recording medium.

The Musicals subseries also relate to Saskowski's tenure producing musicals at South Division High School and comedies with the Polish Fine Arts Club. Most of these musicals are represented in the collection by scripts. The exception is Happy Daze (1942) which also includes the piano and vocal parts of performers. This musical, with lyrics co-written by Saskowski and Francis Meurer for the Polish Fine Arts Club, is the sole composition in this collection written by Saskowski for the Polish Fine Arts Club. A copy of the Financial Report (1942) of this musical is included in the PUBLICITY series in order to highlight Saskowski's role as both creator and producer. (He was the president of the Polish Fine Arts Club at this time.)

The subseries Incomplete Scores include an unfinished operetta “Charleston” (circa 1940) and a variety of handwritten musical scores and sheet music (undated) with little or no identification of title or year of creation. It is assumed that Saskowski kept these papers as reference for his compositions, but did not organize them according to any structure.

The PUBLICITY series, 1938-1984 (primarily 1938-1949), includes Clippings, Address Lists, and Programs arranged chronologically by composition. As a result of his activities as president of the Polish Fine Arts Club, Saskowski was very involved in promoting his compositions through correspondence with patrons and newspapers. The newspaper Clippings are arranged chronologically according to compositional genre and, in some cases, by language (most are in English, but some appear in Polish-language newspapers). The majority of clippings in this collection are from Milwaukee newspapers, in particular from the Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee Sentinel, The Bay Viewer, Cudahy-St. Francis Free Press, and South Side Times; the South Division High School newspaper The Cardinal; and also from the Polish-language press--Nowiny Polskie (Milwaukee) and the Chicago Daily Zgoda. The Clippings show favorable reviews of Saskowski's works. Where the newspaper contains both Polish and English language articles, the clippings are included under the Polish language newspaper. Saskowski's compositions can be further understood by using the Clippings from the school newspaper, The Cardinal. His involvement with the students' productions shows Saskowski balancing a semi-professional composing career with that of being a full-time teacher. It is important to note that the dissolution of the Polish Fine Arts Club occurs at this very time (1949).

The Address Lists subseries is not in the form of traditional address lists but rather document those outlets where Saskowski could advertise his works in the hope that they would review or promote his compositions.

The CORRESPONDENCE series, 1939-1979 (primarily 1975-1979), is arranged chronologically by composition. The correspondence provides a glimpse of Saskowski as both promoter and artist. Included in this collection is excellent documentation of Saskowski's correspondence with local Milwaukee leaders (both cultural and city council members) and newspaper clippings from various newspapers reviewing performances of Saskowski's compositions. Also included are copies of his letters that were sent to promote performances of his compositions.

The PHOTOGRAPHS, 1937-1978, document the cast in performances of Saskowski's works. Four productions are documented in black and white photographs of cast members in dramatic poses and are chronologically arranged by production. Saskowski appears in the photographs of Millicent, The Innocent Seamstress or Puppets of a Purple Passion (1937) as a character and is included in the entire cast photograph of Polonaise (1939). The photographs are chronologically arranged by composition. This collection contains one photomontage that contains five photographs, possibly of Spring Song (1978), pasted to a paper board.

Use Restrictions

Copyright to some of the photographs is held by the Milwaukee Journal. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, through contract with the Milwaukee Journal, can provide reproductions and reproduction rights.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Ewa Barczyk for the Polish Center of Wisconsin Library, 2005. Accession Number: M2006-017

Processing Information

Processed by Keith Chevalier (Practicum student), May 2006.

Milwaukee Mss 214	Series: Compositions
	Subseries: Operettas
	Yours to Command, 1934
	Scores
Box   1 Folder   1	Orchestral parts, strings
Box   1 Folder   2	Piano and vocals
Box   1 Folder   3	Music cue sheets
Box   1 Folder   4-8	Script
Box   1 Folder   9	Synopsis
Box   1 Folder   10	Compositional drafts
	Polonaise, 1939
	Scores
Box   1 Folder   11-16	Orchestral parts, strings
Box   2 Folder   1-8	Orchestral parts, wind
Box   2 Folder   9	Orchestral parts, percussion
Box   6 Folder   1	Piano and vocals
Box   6 Folder   2	Conductor's score
	Script
Box   2 Folder   10-11	English language
Box   2 Folder   12	Polish language translation
Box   2 Folder   13	Synopsis
Box   2 Folder   14	Compositional drafts
	Blond Squaw, 1948-1949
	Scores
Box   2 Folder   15-19	Orchestral parts, strings
Box   3 Folder   1-6	Orchestral parts, wind
Box   3 Folder   7	Orchestral parts, percussion
Box   3 Folder   8-9	Piano and vocals
	Vocal parts
Box   3 Folder   10	“Opening Chorus”
Box   3 Folder   11	“Johnny-Cake Song”
Box   3 Folder   12	“When We Get Elected to Office”
Box   3 Folder   13	“That's the Way I Am!”
Box   3 Folder   14	“The Perfect Lady”
Box   3 Folder   15	“Can't Get Along Without Me”
Box   3 Folder   16	“Prayer Song”
Box   3 Folder   17	“When You're in Love”
Box   3 Folder   18	“Finale, Act I”
Box   3 Folder   19	“What a Day This'll Be”
Box   3 Folder   20	“You're My Idea of Art”
Box   3 Folder   21	“It's Spring, Again”
Box   3 Folder   22	“Indians on the Warpath”
Box   3 Folder   23	“I'll Love You Faithfully”
Box   3 Folder   24	“Reprise: I Can't Get Along Without You”
Box   3 Folder   25	“There's a Great Future in Wisconsin” (Finale, Act II)
Box   6 Folder   3-4	Conductor's score, 1949
Box   4 Folder   1-2	Music cue sheets
Box   4 Folder   3	Script
Box   4 Folder   4	Synopsis, 1948, 1967
Box   4 Folder   5	Compositional drafts
Box   4 Folder   6	Audio recording log, 1949, 1976
	Spring Song, 1978
Box   4 Folder   7-8	Script
	Subseries: Sacred Works	⇧
Box   4 Folder   9	Our Lady of Victory, 1950s
	Credo from Latin Mass in A, 1978
Box   7 Folder   1	Orchestral parts and Director's score
Box   7 Folder   2	Vocal parts
	Mass in Honor of Our Lady of Czestochowa, 1984
Box   4 Folder   10	Scores, piano and vocals
	Subseries: Musicals	⇧
Box   4 Folder   11	Millicent, The Innocent Seamstress or Puppets of a Purple Passion, 1937
Box   4 Folder   12	School Revues, circa 1938-1940
	Happy Daze, 1942
Box   8 Folder   1	Scores, piano and vocals
Box   4 Folder   13	Script
Box   4 Folder   14	His Sacred Birthright or the Vengeance of the Gods, circa 1942
Box   4 Folder   15	Caperee Skits, 1958
	Subseries: Incomplete Scores	⇧
	Operetta
	“Charleston,” circa 1940
Box   8 Folder   2	Score
Box   4 Folder   16	Script
Box   4 Folder   17	Sacred Works, undated
Box   4 Folder   18-20	Miscellaneous, undated
	Series: Publicity	⇧
	Subseries: Clippings
Box   5 Folder   1	Midnight at South Division, 1938, undated
	Polonaise, 1939
Box   5 Folder   2	English language newspapers
Box   5 Folder   3	Polish language newspapers
Box   5 Folder   4	Happy Daze, 1942
	Blond Squaw, 1949
Box   5 Folder   5	English language newspapers
Box   5 Folder   6	Polish language newspapers
Box   5 Folder   7	Spring Song, 1977-1978
	Subseries: Address Lists	⇧
Box   5 Folder   8	Institutes, Foundations, Centers, 1939
Box   5 Folder   9	Radio, Newspaper, Television, 1978
	Subseries: Programs	⇧
Box   5 Folder   10	Yours to Command, 1940, 1978
Box   5 Folder   11	Happy Daze, 1942
Box   5 Folder   12	Blond Squaw, 1948-1949
Box   5 Folder   13	“Chopin Fine Arts Club presents Conrad Saskowski,” 1951
Box   5 Folder   14	Caperee, 1958
Box   5 Folder   15	“Star Night on SDHS TV Channel,” 1961
Box   5 Folder   16	Credo from Latin Mass in A, 1978
Box   5 Folder   17	Spring Song, 1978
Box   5 Folder   18	Our Lady of Czestochowa, 1984
Box   5 Folder   19	Mass in Honor of Our Lady of Czestochowa, 1984
	Subseries: Other items	⇧
Box   5 Folder   20	Performance contract, 1978
Box   5 Folder   21	Citation, 1978
Box   5 Folder   22	Financial report, 1942
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
Box   5 Folder   23	Polonaise, 1939-1940, 1975
Box   5 Folder   24	Blond Squaw, 1949
Box   5 Folder   25	Spring Song, 1976-1979
Box   5 Folder   26	Credo from Latin Mass in A, 1978
PH Milwaukee Mss 214	Series: Photographs	⇧
Box   1 Folder   1	Millicent, The Innocent Seamstress or Puppets of a Purple Passion, 1937 Physical Description: 2 photos
Box   1 Folder   2	Polonaise, 1939 Physical Description: 4 photos
Box   1 Folder   3	Yours To Command, 1940 Physical Description: 2 photos
Box   1 Folder   4	Spring Song, 1978 Physical Description: 1 photomontage