Collection Summary

Title: In Tune With Tradition: Wisconsin Folk Musical Instruments Project Collection
Dates: circa 1986-1992

Creator:

• Cedarburg Cultural Center (Cedarburg, Wis.)

Unique Identifier: CSUMC0035-CG

Contents: Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures: 16 folders of manuscript materials, 13 audiocassettes, 478 35 mm color slides, 28 color prints (26 3x3 to 3x4, 1 4x5, and 1 3 1/2x5), 18 Polaroid prints (3 1/2 x 4 1/4 ), 27 black-and-white prints (2 8x10, 24 5x7, and 1 4x5), 1/2 sheet black-and-white negatives, 10 contact sheets, 5 4x5 black-and-white internegatives, 1 4x5 color copy negative, 1 4x5 color copy transparency, and 1 artifact

Publisher:

Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures

432 East Campus Mall, Room 332
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
608-262-8180
Web site: http://csumc.wisc.edu

Archival Location:

Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures (Map)

Summary:

Ethnographic documentation (circa 1987-1989) used by the Cedarburg Cultural Center (Cedarburg, Wisconsin) to organize a traveling exhibition (1990-1991) focused on two dozen Wisconsin folk musical instruments, their makers, and represented varied ethnic and musical traditions (e.g., lumberjack, Woodland Indian, Norwegian, Puerto Rican, Hmong); consisting of manuscript materials, audio recordings, graphic materials, and one artifact.

Language: The records are in Englsh and Spanish.

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-csumc-csumc0035cg

Quantity	Physical Description	Location
Manuscript Materials
16	folders	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
Sound Recordings
13	audiocassettes	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
Graphic Materials
478	35 mm color slides	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
28	color photographs	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
18	Polaroid photographs	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
27	black-and-white photographs	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
1/2 sheet	black-and-white negatives	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
10	contact sheets	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
5	black-and-white internegatives	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
1	color copy negative	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
1	color copy transparency	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
Artifacts
1	artifact	Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures

The Cedarburg Cultural Center received funding from the Folk Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wisconsin Arts Board for the development of an exhibition relating to Wisconsin musical traditions: “In Tune With Tradition: Wisconsin Folk Musical Instruments” (1990-1991) focused on two dozen Wisconsin folk musical instruments, their makers, and the represented ethnic and musical traditions (e.g., lumberjack, Woodland Indian, Norwegian, Puerto Rican, Hmong). Fieldwork with folk musical instrument makers conducted by folklorist James P. Leary and photographer Lewis Koch resulted in a research essay and photographic images that were used in the exhibition and in the exhibition catalogue. Thomas Vennum Jr. of the Smithsonian Institution, Nancy Lurie of the Milwaukee Public Museum, and Cecil Negron of the Social Development Commission in Milwaukee acted as advisers to the project, as did staff at institutions including the State Historical Museum and the State Historical Society in Madison, the Milwaukee Public Museum, the Wisconsin Folk Museum (Mount Horeb, Wisconsin), the Rusk County Historical Society (Ladysmith, Wisconsin), and Vesterheim (Decorah, Iowa). These institutions also loaned objects and photographs for the exhibit.

Cedarburg Cultural Center director Robert T. Teske developed the exhibit and oversaw its implementation, as well as exhibit-related events, school tours, and a concert series. After opening in Cedarburg in Spring 1990, the exhibit traveled to the Wriston Art Center at Lawrence University in Appleton, the Wisconsin State Historical Museum in Madison, New Visions Gallery in Marshfield, and finally to the Chippewa Valley Museum in Eau Claire, where it ended its tour at the end of October 1991.

The collection is arranged in four series: Manuscript Materials, Sound Recordings, Graphic Materials, and Artifacts. Manuscript Materials consist of Administrative Files and Research Files that document the process of mounting a museum exhibition, from grant writing and subsequent reports to funders, field research with artists, negotiations with other cultural institutions such as granting agencies, other museums, and schools; technical aspects of exhibit installation and publication production, event planning, publicity for the exhibit and related special events, and the logistics of coordinating a traveling exhibition of fragile musical instruments.

Sound Recordings consist of audio cassette recordings of interviews James P. Leary conducted with thirteen musical instrument makers (recorded October-December 1989) and one tape of musical performances at the Cedarburg Cultural Center using instruments similar to those in the exhibition.

Graphic Materials consist mainly of 35 mm color slides, as well as color (3x3 to 3x4, 3 1/2x5) and black-and-white (5x7 and 4x5) prints, black-and-white negatives, 4x5 internegatives, and contact sheets, a 4x5 color copy negative, and a 4x5 color copy transparency. Several images from 35 mm color slides and black-and-white photographs taken by Lewis Koch appear in the exhibit catalog of the same name which the Cedarburg Cultural Center published in 1990. Also included are black-and-white prints and negatives by James P. Leary.

The Artifact is an [Ojibwa] embroidered patch that reads, "WA SWA Goning T.R.A.I.L.S." from a youth drum group led by Joseph Ackley of Lac du Flambeau. Ackley also made the drum for the group.

Passed to the Present: Folk Arts Along Wisconsin's Ethnic Settlement Trail Project Collection (CSUMC0036-CG)

Wisconsin Folk Art: A Sesquicentennial Celebration Project Collection (CSUMC0037-CG)

Groups

• Croatian Americans
• German Americans
• German-Swiss Americans
• Greek Americans
• Hmong Americans
• Italian Americans
• Latvian Americans
• Menominee Indians
• Norwegian Americans
• Ojibwa Indians
• Puerto Ricans
• Russian Americans
• Sioux Indians
• Slovenian Americans
• Swedish Americans
• Woodland Indians

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Instruments

• Accordion
• Bouzouki
• Button-key accordion
• Concertina
• Cuatro
• Drums (Musical instrument)
• Fiddle
• Hardanger fiddle
• Kokle
• Tamburitza
• Violin
• Woodland flute

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Languages

• English language
• Spanish language

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Locations

• Dane County (Wis.)
• Dunn County (Wis.)
• Menominee County (Wis.)
• Milwaukee County (Wis.)
• Oneida County (Wis.)
• Ozaukee County (wis.)
• Rusk County (Wis.)
• Sheboygan County (Wis.)
• Vilas County (Wis.)
• Wisconsin

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Subjects

• Folk art
• Folk artists
• Folk music
• Lumberjacks
• Musical instruments
• Musical instrument makers

This collection is one of three related to exhibits created by the Cedarburg Cultural Center (Cedarburg, Wisconsin) under Robert T. Teske's tenure as director (1987-1998). Since Teske's departure from the Center in the late 1990s, the collections remained in basement storage until they were transferred to the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures (CSUMC) in 2012. Two folders of grant materials relating to this exhibit were among Teske's administrative materials, and deemed to be part of this collection at the time of transfer to CSUMC's care. A deposit agreement between CSUMC and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives is planned, but not yet formalized.

Contact records custodians for access information.

Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
432 East Campus Mall, Room 332
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
608-262-8180
Web site: http://csumc.wisc.edu

Consult the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures for information on use restrictions.

Please consult the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures for guidelines. CSUMC's archiving team suggests the following citation form when using direct quotes from a person documented: [Name of person documented]. [Date]. [Tape/video/other]-recorded interview by [Fieldworker name]. [Place interviewed]. [Name of collection/project]. [Repository, city, state]. When using a specific image: [Identify subject matter/people in caption]. Photo/image by [Photographer/fieldworker name]. [Date]. Courtesy of [repository]. To quote fieldworker, follow bibliographical style.

	Series: I. Manuscripts.
	Subseries: Administrative Files
	Grant Files
Box   1 Folder   1	Wisconsin Arts Board
Box   1 Folder   2	National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Box   1 Folder   3	Project Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   4	Loan Forms
Box   1 Folder   5	Contracts
Box   1 Folder   6	Insurance
Box   1 Folder   7	Exhibit Design
Box   2 Folder   1	Label and Wall Signage
Box   2 Folder   2	Installation Manual
Box   2 Folder   3	Exhibit Publicity
Box   2 Folder   4	School Tours
Box   2 Folder   5	Catalogue Manuscript
Box   2 Folder   6	Catalogue Files and Mock-up
Box   2 Folder   7	Catalogue Publicity
	Subseries: Research Files	⇧
Box   2 Folder   8-9	James P. Leary Report on Instrument Makers for Exhibit by the CCC
	Series: II. Sound Recordings.	⇧
Box   3 Cassette   1	Joe Ackley, Lac du Flambeau Reservation, 1989 November 7
Box   3 Cassette   2	Miguel Cruz (with Cecil Negron), Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1989 December 19
Box   3 Cassette   3	Karpeks and Baldonis, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1989 October 12
Box   3 Cassette   4	Konstantins Dravnieks, Thiensville, Wisconsin, 1989 December 19
Box   3 Cassette   5-6	Ron Poast, Black Earth, Wisconsin, 1989 October 13 Physical Description: 2 tapes
Box   3 Cassette   7	Ray Polarski, Three Lakes, Wisconsin, 1989 November 6
Box   3 Cassette   8	Jim Razer, Tony, Wisconsin, 1989 November 8
Box   3 Cassette   9	Bill Schwartz, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 1989 November 2
Box   3 Cassette   10	Agate Terauds and Vita Kakulis, Fox Point, Wisconsin, 1989 November 2
Box   3 Cassette   11	Wang Chou Vang, Menomonie, Wisconsin, 1989 November 8
Box   3 Cassette   12	Louis Webster, Keshena, Wisconsin, 1989 November 6
Box   3 Cassette   13	Musical instruments tape, CCC (Bob Teske) Note: Includes performances of a concertina duet, a Swedish song, Croatian polka, a powwow song, and a German song.
	Series: III. Graphic Materials.	⇧
	Lewis Koch images
Binder   1-2	Color slides Physical Description: 478 35 mm color slides
Folder   1	Color thumbnail prints Note: 25 prints (plus 2 by James P. Leary).
Folder   1	Black-and-white prints, contact sheets, and internegatives Physical Description: 19 5x7 prints, 9 contact sheets, and 5 internegatives
	James P. Leary images
Folder   1	Photographs Physical Description: 2 5x7 and 1 8x10 black-and-white prints
Folder   1	Negatives and contact sheet Physical Description: 19 black-and-white images
Folder   1	Wisconsin Historical Society photographs Physical Description: 3 5x7 and 1 4x5 black-and-white prints
Folder   1	Jim Razer Physical Description: 1 8x10 black-and-white print  Note: Unknown photographer.
Folder   1	Wisconsin Lumberjacks band Physical Description: 1 color copy negative and 1 copy transparency  Note: Courier-Journal Magazine cover, June 16, 1963.
Folder   1	Installation manual Polaroid prints Physical Description: 18 prints
	Series: IV. Artifacts.	⇧
Box   2 Folder   10	[Native American] embroidered patch, “WA SWA Goning T.R.A.I.L.S.”