Title: Della Rucker Research Collection
Inclusive Dates: 2000-

Creator:

• Rucker, Della

Call Number: UWGB Mss 7

Quantity: 1.5 cubic ft. (3 archives boxes)

Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Archives and Area Research Center

Archival Locations:

UW-Green Bay Cofrin Library / Green Bay Area Research Ctr. (Map)

See the catalog entry for information about possible additional materials and access to the collection.

Abstract:

Research files of local historian, Della Rucker. Collection includes papers and documents that she obtained or created while researching a book on Oconto County History for the Oconto County Economic Development Corporation. It includes articles, interview notes and letters on topics such as town settlement, electricity, logging camps, equipment, agriculture, ecological surveys, tourism, types of transportation, etc. These are also some copies of photos from the early 1900s of towns in Oconto County.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-gb-uwgbmss007

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Della Rucker is an urban planner and economic development specialist, a certified member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and Certified Economic Developer. Working in this capacity as a consultant in Northeastern Wisconsin in the 1990s, one of Della’s areas of expertise was historic research and preservation. She researched and authored the book From the McCauslin to Jab Switch: A History of Logging in Oconto County, published by the Oconto County Economic Development Corporation in 1999. Other notable products include: On Washington Street: A Photographic Memory (co-author), 1995; History of Czech settlements: Kewaunee and Manitowoc Counties (research and writing), 1995; and Historic Structure Report and Feasibility Study for the Chase Stone Barn: Town of Chase, Oconto County, Wisconsin (research), 2008. As of 2013, Rucker lives in Cincinnati, Ohio where she remains active in her career.

This collection consists of research materials gathered or written by Rucker for an uncompleted book on the history of Oconto County logging for the Oconto County Economic Development Corporation. It is arranged alphabetically by topic.

The county cultural resources folder contains National Register of Historic Places applications for the Holt and Balcom Logging Camp #1 and the Smyth Road Bridge in Lakewood. Also included in this folder is what appears to be a photocopied card file on Oconto County historic buildings, with detailed information on address, age, style, material, builder/contractor, and intended use of building (some photocopied photos attached).

The general local history folder contains notes, clippings, and booklets pertaining to Wisconsin communities outside of Oconto County, such as: Menasha, Green Lake, Green Bay, Racine, and Stockbridge/Munsee tribal lands and people. Compilations of Green Bay Catholic parishes, and Wisconsin “ghost parishes” are included.

Although the primary subject of the intended product of this research was logging, research on a number of other industries is also included, such as: fishing, maple syrup and maple sugar making, shingle making, tanning, shipbuilding, and pulp making.

Many towns in Oconto County are represented with files containing brief histories and clippings. Short biographies on prominent businessmen such as Anson Eldred, George Beyer, Freeland B. Gardner and Edwin Hart are included. Many of these compilations, along with the vast amount of logging history information included in the collection, contain no source documentation.

Alphabetical by topic

Acquisition Information

Donated to UW-Green Bay by Della Rucker, ca. 2000

Processing Information

Processed by Brandon Behlke (student assistant) and Jean Wentz, 2011-2012

Box   1 Folder   1	Abrams
Box   1 Folder   2	Administrative
Box   1 Folder   3	Agriculture
Box   1 Folder   4	Agriculture Industries
Box   1 Folder   5	Allouez
Box   1 Folder   6	Armstrong
Box   1 Folder   7	Bagley
Box   1 Folder   8	Beyer, George
Box   1 Folder   9	Book Plans and Drafts
Box   1 Folder   10	Brazeau
Box   1 Folder   11	Breed
Box   1 Folder   12	Brookside
Box   1 Folder   13	Conservation
Box   1 Folder   14	County Cultural Resources
Box   1 Folder   15	County Line
Box   1 Folder   16	Cutover
Box   1 Folder   17	Disasters-Fires
Box   1 Folder   18	Disasters-Peshtigo Fire
Box   1 Folder   19	Early Mills
Box   1 Folder   20	Eldred, Anson
Box   1 Folder   21	Eldred and Balcom
Box   1 Folder   22	Electric Power
Box   1 Folder   23	Elmore Vermeer Co.
Box   1 Folder   24	Ethnicity
Box   1 Folder   25	Early Settlement in County
Box   1 Folder   26	Federal Survey and Land Sales
Box   1 Folder   27	Fishing Industry
Box   1 Folder   28	Frostville
Box   1 Folder   29	Fur Trade
Box   1 Folder   30	Gardner
Box   1 Folder   31	General Local History
Box   1 Folder   32	Gillett
Box   1 Folder   33	Gillett - Photos
Box   1 Folder   34	Hart Family - Hart Line
Box   1 Folder   35	Hayes
Box   1 Folder   36	Hickory
Box   1 Folder   37	Hickory - Primary Sources
Box   2 Folder   1	Holt and Balcom
Box   2 Folder   2	Holt Hardwood Mill
Box   2 Folder   3	Holt Lumber Co.
Box   2 Folder   4	How
Box   2 Folder   5	Interviews
Box   2 Folder   6	J. Arndt Mill
Box   2 Folder   7	Jobs and Roles
Box   2 Folder   8	John Nelligan
Box   2 Folder   9	Kelley Brook
Box   2 Folder   10	Kelley Lake
Box   2 Folder   11	Lakewood - Photos
Box   2 Folder   12	Lakewood - Historical Accounts
Box   2 Folder   13	Land and Manufacturing Company
Box   2 Folder   14	Land Transport
Box   2 Folder   15	Land Use-Lakes, Creeks, Etc.
Box   2 Folder   16	Leightown
Box   2 Folder   17	Lena
Box   2 Folder   18	Lena - Photos
Box   2 Folder   19	Little River
Box   2 Folder   20	Little Suamico
Box   2 Folder   21	Logging - City Context
Box   2 Folder   22	Logging - Company Management
Box   2 Folder   23	Logging - Equipment and Work
Box   2 Folder   24	Logging - Lake Transportation
Box   2 Folder   25	Logging - Railroad Transportation
Box   2 Folder   26	Logging - River Transportation
Box   2 Folder   27	Logging - Wisconsin Regional Context
Box   2 Folder   28	Logging - Camp Life
Box   2 Folder   29	Logging Camp - Physical Description
Box   2 Folder   30	Lumberjacks
Box   2 Folder   31	Lumber Camps - Management
Box   2 Folder   32	Lumber Camps - Specific
Box   2 Folder   33	Maple Valley
Box   3 Folder   1	Mills - Equipment and Work
Box   3 Folder   2	Morgan
Box   3 Folder   3	Mountain - Personal Accounts
Box   3 Folder   4	Mountain - Photos
Box   3 Folder   5	Mountain - Secondary Sources
Box   3 Folder   6	Native Americans
Box   3 Folder   7	Oconto - Photos
Box   3 Folder   8	Oconto - Primary Accounts
Box   3 Folder   9	Oconto - Secondary Accounts
Box   3 Folder   10	Oconto Company
Box   3 Folder   11	Oconto Falls - Photos
Box   3 Folder   12	Oconto Falls - Secondary Accounts
Box   3 Folder   13	Oconto Land Company
Box   3 Folder   14	Other Industries - Logging Support
Box   3 Folder   15	Other Industries - Maple Sugaring
Box   3 Folder   16	Other Industries - Maple Syrup
Box   3 Folder   17	Other Industries - Pulp
Box   3 Folder   18	Other Industries - Shinglemaking
Box   3 Folder   19	Other Industries - Shipbuilding
Box   3 Folder   20	Other Industries - Tanning
Box   3 Folder   21	Other People - Edward Schofield
Box   3 Folder   22	Pensaukee - Secondary Accounts
Box   3 Folder   23	Pensaukee Tornado
Box   3 Folder   24	Sawmills
Box   3 Folder   25	Sources
Box   3 Folder   26	Sobieski
Box   3 Folder   27	Sobieski - Photos
Box   3 Folder   28	Spruce
Box   3 Folder   29	Stiles - Photos
Box   3 Folder   30	Stiles - Secondary Accounts
Box   3 Folder   31	Suring - Photos
Box   3 Folder   32	Suring - Secondary Accounts
Box   3 Folder   33	Tourism
Box   3 Folder   34	Townsend - Historical Accounts
Box   3 Folder   35	Townsend- Personal Accounts
Box   3 Folder   36	Townsend - Photos
Box   3 Folder   37	Trails and Roads
Box   3 Folder   38	Underhill - Secondary Accounts
Box   3 Folder   39	Walking and Driving Tours
Box   3 Folder   40	Women and Children
Box   3 Folder   41	Wood Manufacturing