Title: Max G. Nohl Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1934-1968

Creator:

• Nohl, Max G. (Max Gene)

Call Number: Local History Manuscript Collection 314

Quantity:

• 3.2 cubic ft. (10 boxes)
• 1 oversize folder

Repository:

Milwaukee Public Library, Frank P. Zeidler Room

Archival Location:

Milwaukee Public Library (Map)

Abstract:

Max Nohl, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin native, was a record breaking underwater diver. He helped advance diving equipment and technology, including underwater filming and later in life was involved in ship salvage. Contains correspondence, clippings, photographs, and an unpublished manuscript.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.mwpl-lhmc0314

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Maximilian Eugene Nohl was born September 22, 1910 in Milwaukee, WI to local attorney Leo Frederick and Emma Nohl. His parents named him after his uncle, Max W. Nohl, an attorney and local judge. Leo and Emma also had a daughter Mary (1914-2001) who became a well-known local Milwaukee area artist. Nohl is sometimes referred to as Max Gene Nohl.

After high school Nohl attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1929, graduated in 1935 with a Bachelor of Science, and wrote his thesis on diving. At age 27, on December 1, 1937, Nohl set a world record for diving 420 feet in Lake Michigan. In 1945, he married Eleanor Hecker.

Throughout his adult life Nohl did underwater salvage work, commercial diving and underwater film work. He developed new diving equipment and worked with physicians on creating an underwater breathing apparatus. He worked with Dr. Edgar End, of Marquette University, on recompression chamber technology, studying decompression sickness, also known as “the bends”. This is a physical condition affecting divers (or aviators) who experience rapid changes in pressure. He was also involved with helping advance underwater filming through his diving and equipment development. He was one of the founders of DESCO, Diving Equipment and Supply Company, but left early on to pursue more diving and salvage operations. Some of the salvage missions he worked on include Phillip Lord’s Seth Parker Expedition, the John Dwight sunken steamship and the Prins Willem V. His last mission was his 2nd attempt at salvaging/raising the Prins Willem V which sank in 1954.

Max and Eleanor Nohl died February 6, 1960 in an automobile accident in Arkansas. They are buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, WI.

This collection consists of correspondence, Nohl’s thesis, newspaper clippings, photographs and an unpublished draft book manuscript. There are attached notes throughout with information or dates that are not original to collection, author unknown.

The collection is arranged into the following series:

1. Manuscript, circa 1959
2. Newspaper Clippings, 1934-1968
3. Photographs and Miscellaneous, 1934-1960

The series are arranged alphabetically. In series one, folders were kept in the order collection was found. In series two, folders are arranged chronologically date with the exception of the diving manual. In series three, folders are arranged alphabetically.

Nohl, Max G., Papers, 1934-1968, Collection 314. Local History Manuscript Collections, Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Archival Collections

• Edgar End Papers. Local History Manuscript Collection 344.

• Max Nohl Scrapbook (clippings). Great Lakes Marine Collection.

Publications and Other Items

Great Lakes Marine Collection, Shipshape Collection, Prins Willem V

Great Lakes Marine Collection, Shipshape Collection, Antietam

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials. The collection is open to all in accordance with state law. The public may view Local History Manuscript Collections by appointment at the Central Library. To request an in-person appointment, create/login to your Special Collections Account. If you have any questions, please contact the Archives and Special Collections Department at mplarchives@milwaukee.gov.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

Mr. J. Gordon Hecker, brother of the late Mrs. Eleanor Hecker Nohl, donated the papers of Maximilian Nohl to the Milwaukee Public Library in 1960. Materials were accessioned as Local History Manuscripts.

Processing Information

Processed by Casey Lapworth, 2019.

	Series: 1. Manuscript, circa 1959
Box   1	A copy of an earlier detailed inventory of the unpublished manuscript portion of this collection, undated
Box   1 Folder   1	Chapter titles, summaries and draft comments,
Box   1 Folder   2	Note, letter; proposed outline and summary, 1959
Box   1 Folder   3	Chapter One: “By the Deep Six”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   4	Chapter Two: “Why?”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   5	Dedication page, decompression table, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   6	Chapter Three: “I Drown”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   7	Chapter Four: “Dick Drowns”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   8	Chapter Five: “I Live Underwater”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   9	Chapter Six: “This is it!”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   10	Chapter Seven: “Meat and Poison”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   11	Chapter Eight: “The Dark Shadow Club”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   12	Chapter Nine: “The Gold Is Where You Find It”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   13	Chapter Ten: “M.I.T.”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   14	Chapter Eleven: “Walden”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   15	Chapter Twelve: “My First Suit”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   16	Chapter Thirteen: “Store Snappers”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   17	Chapter Fourteen: “Pohaco”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   18	Chapter Fifteen: “Bubble of Steel”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   19	Chapter Sixteen: “A Dream Comes True”, circa 1959
Box   1 Folder   20	Chapter Seventeen: “Disillusionment”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   1	Chapter Eighteen: “Everything has Ears”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   2	Chapter Nineteen: “Voodoo”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   3	Chapter Twenty: “The John Dwight Murders”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   4	Chapter Twenty One: “Man of Iron”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   5	Chapter Twenty Two: “Cape Code Canal”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   6	Chapter Twenty Three: “Wreck Below”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   7	Chapter Twenty Four: “End of the Rainbow”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   8	Chapter Twenty Five: “The Atlantic Leaks”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   9	Chapter Twenty Six: “God is Our Navigator”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   10	Chapter Twenty Seven: “Cargo”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   11	Chapter Twenty Eight: “The Treasure”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   12	Chapter Twenty Nine: “Fo’C’S’Le Head”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   13	Chapter Thirty: “Captain Craig Comes”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   14	Chapter Thirty One: “Zombie”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   15	Chapter Thirty Two: “S.S. Port Hunter”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   16	Chapter Thirty Two: “S.S. Port Hunter” elaboration, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   17	Chapter Thirty Three: “Collecting the Bill”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   18	Chapter Thirty Four: “S.S. Westmoreland”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   19	Chapter Thirty Five: “Human Guinea Pigs”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   20	Chapter Thirty Six: “Gnarled on the Networks”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   21	Chapter Thirty Seven: “I am Theoretically Dead”, circa 1959
Box   2 Folder   22	Chapter Thirty Eight: “I Wish That I Were Dead”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   1	Chapter Thirty Nine: “The Elusive Lusitania”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   2	Chapter Forty: “Deep Water”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   3	Four articles authored by Nohl: “420”, “420 Reminiscences’, “Science Goes Underseas”, “Port Side of the Antietam”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   4	Chapter Forty One: “Six Hundred Thousand Pounds”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   5	Chapter Forty Two: “Desco”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   6	Chapter Forty Three: “Singing for My Dinner”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   7	Chapter Forty Four: “Limey Tanker”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   8	Chapter Forty Five: “Lowly Animals”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   9	Chapter Forty Six: “Sponge Diving”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   10	Chapter Forty Seven: “Dick”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   11	Chapter Forty Eight: “Underwater Honeymoon”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   12	Chapter Forty Nine: “550 Feet”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   13	Chapter Fifty: “Sunken Safe”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   14	Chapter Fifty One: “Failed Before it Started”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   15	Chapter Fifty Two: “Tiburon”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   16	Chapter Fifty Three: “Sunken Lead”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   17	Chapter Fifty Four: “Mud Puddle”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   18	Chapter Fifty Six: “Underwater Wonderland”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   19	Two articles authored by Nohl: “Melee”, “Camera Goes Underseas”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   20	Chapter Fifty Seven: “Ball of Hair”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   21	Chapter Fifty Eight A: “S.S. Tarpon”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   22	Chapter Fifty Eight B: “The Bends”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   23	Chapter Fifty Eight C: “Topsy Turvy World”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   24	Chapter Fifty Eight D: “Original Tarpon Story”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   25	Chapter Fifty Eight E: “Diver Hits Jackpot”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   26	Chapter Fifty Nine: “Pay As You Leave”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   27	Chapter Sixty A: “The World Undersea”, circa 1959
Box   3 Folder   28	Chapter Sixty B: “The World Undersea” elaboration, circa 1959
	Series: 2. Newspaper Clippings, 1934-1968	⇧
Box   4 Folder   1	History of U.S. Naval School, Salvage, 1951
Box   4 Folder   2-8	Seth Parker expedition, Silver Heels expedition, 1934-1937
Box   5 Folder   1-2	Seth Parker expedition, Silver Heels expedition, 1937
	“Ask Me Another” columns
Box   5 Folder   3-4	1938
Box   6 Folder   1-8	1938-1940
Box   7 Folder   1-10	1940-1968
Box   7 Folder   11	undated
	Series: 3. Photographs and Miscellaneous, 1934-1960	⇧
	Author
Box   8 Folder   1	Death, clippings/correspondence, 1960
Box   8 Folder   2	Photo Album, undated
Box   8 Folder   3	Photos, general, 1959, undated
	Dives
Box   8 Folder   4	420 dive, 1937
Box   8 Folder   5	Allmendinger Wreck, 1934
Box   8 Folder   6	John Dwight Wreck, 1935
Box   8 Folder   7	Lake Michigan Test Dive[?], circa 1937
Box   8 Folder   8	Milwaukee Athletic Club Test Dive, circa 1937
Box   8 Folder   9	Milwaukee River Test Dive, undated
Box   8 Folder   10-11	Prins Willem V Wreck, circa 1955-1960
Box   10 Folder   1	Prins Willem V Wreck, circa 1955-1960
Box   10 Folder   2	St Phillip, undated
Box   10 Folder   3	Seth Parker Expedition, circa 1934
Box   10 Folder   4	Sponge fishing, undated
Box   10 Folder   5	Tarpon Wreck, undated
Box   10 Folder   6	Test, unknown, undated
	Equipment, Diving
Box   9 Folder   1	DESCO, undated
Box   9 Folder   2	Dive Bell, undated
Box   9 Folder   3	History/General, undated
Box   9 Folder   4	“Lungs”, undated
	Films
Box   9 Folder   5	“Colored Underwater Movies”, undated
Box   9 Folder   6	Underwater Filming, undated
Box   9 Folder   7	Movie shots, undated
Box   9 Folder   8	“Underwater House”, undated
	Recompression Chamber
Box   9 Folder   9	the “Bends”, 1937
Box   9 Folder   10	general, undated
	Miscellaneous
Oversize Folder   1	Diploma, 1935
Box   9 Folder   11	General, undated
Oversize Folder   1	Lecture Advertisement, undated
Box   9 Folder   12	Sample Book Covers, undated
Box   10 Folder   7	Thesis, 1935