Title: LaVern A. Kohn Moving Image Materials
Inclusive Dates: 1930-1940

Creator:

• Kohn, LaVern A.

Call Number: AD 038; AD 039; CB 435; CB 436

Quantity: 4 film reels

Repository:

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.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Amateur footage made during the 1930s by LaVern A. Kohn, former highway commissioner of Dodge County, Wis. (1933-1939), which includes a ski tournament in Oconomowoc, Wis.; a car race; a duck release at the Horicon Marsh; the Century of Progress International Exhibition, Chicago, Ill., 1933-1934; highway snow removal in Dodge County, Wis.; road construction equipment and processes in Delton, Wis., and Iron Ridge, Wis.; parades in Reeseville, Wis., and Juneau, Wis.; and the 1933 milk strike. Some of this footage may have been shot as part of Kohn's work as highway commissioner. Other footage includes a baseball game and open pit mining.

Note:

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

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-ad038

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LaVern A. Kohn, Dodge County Highway Commissioner and prominent Juneau, Wis., businessman, was born in Reeseville, Wis., in 1903. After graduating from Reeseville High School he attended the Madison Business College. In 1924, Kohn moved to Juneau, Wis., where he went to work as a bookkeeper for the Dodge County Highway Commission. He eventually become Assistant Highway Commissioner and, in 1933, was named Dodge County Highway Commissioner. He served as Highway Commissioner until 1946. After leaving the Highway Commission, Kohn founded Beaver Ready Mix Concrete and Beaver Grading. He ran both companies until his retirement in 1964. In addition to his work with the Highway Commission, Kohn also lectured at state road schools and was president of the Wisconsin County Highway Commissioners Association. He also served as president of the State Ready Mix Association. Kohn was married to Lilia Rounds and had two sons, Neil R. Kohn and Norman Kohn. LaVern Kohn died in 1966.

The Kohn Collection consists of four reels of 16 mm silent film made by LaVern A. Kohn during the 1930s. Most of the footage is black and white. Part of one segment is in color (reel 1, segment 3). The order of segments on each reel are in Kohn's original order but segment names and descriptions, segment numbering, and reel numbers were assigned by Archives Division staff.

The subject matter varies from reel to reel. There are scenes from Horicon Marsh, the Century of Progress International Exhibition in Chicago 1933-34, and local parades in Reeseville and Juneau. There is also a short sequence showing a confrontation during a 1933 milk strike. Reels two and three are road crews working in Dodge County, Wis. And include footage of snow plows clearing snow from county roads and the processes used in building rural and village roads.

The quality of the photography varies from segment to segment. There is excellent quality footage of a ski tournament (reel 1, segment 1), snow plowing (all of reel 2) and road construction (all of reel 3). A section of color film in the Horicon marsh sequence (reel 1, segment 3) has faded.

Reel 1 is divided into four segments. Footage on this reel shows the types of recreational activities available to people living in Wisconsin during the 1930s. This is especially true of Segment 1, a ski tournament in Oconomowoc, Wis., which is a popular winter activity in the state. This segment includes sequences of the tournament filmed from the top of a wooden ski ramp and from a distant vantage point showing jumpers making complete runs. Segment 2 is a car race which includes footage of the race, the race track and spectators watching the race as well as the race cars at the start of the race lined up in stalls like horses. Segment 3 documents events surrounding a duck release at Horicon Marsh in southeastern Wisconsin. In addition to the ducks being released in the marsh, there is footage of other events surrounding the duck release including speeches and a parade. The parade footage includes people in WWI uniforms, bands, and the Milwaukee area Boy Scouts as well as a truck loaded with ducks in cages. The parade and duck release could possibly have taken place in 1934 when a dam near the Horicon Marsh was closed and water levels in the area were held at a prescribed level to support wildlife. Segment 4 is footage from the Century of Progress International Exhibition held in Chicago, Ill., 1933-1934, and includes views of the Briggs Manufacturing Company exhibit, "The Car of the Future", the Exhibition grounds including the Ford Hall exhibit building, and an ice skating exhibition on a tiny rink at an outdoor restaurant.

Reel 2 includes footage of various types of snow removal equipment and procedures used in clearing rural and village roads in Dodge County during the 1930s. A number of the trucks are from the Dodge County Highway Commission. Several methods of clearing snow are shown including using two trucks in tandem to clear large drifts and using a truck with a snow blower attached to the front. People are shown standing in the cleared roads by drifts that appear to be 10 to 12 feet high. This reel may have been made in conjunction with Kohn's work with the state road schools.

Reel 3 contains footage of road construction in both rural and urban settings in Dodge County including Delton and Iron Ridge, Wis. This is excellent footage which provides an overview of processes used in road construction during the 1930s. The entire construction process is shown from the survey work to painting the lines down the middle of a completed stretch of road. The road bed is surveyed, graded, gravel and tar are spread, and steam rollers smooth the road. The materials are unloaded from a train and transported to the construction site. Dynamite is used to divert a stream. There are scenes showing the use of both heavy equipment and hand labor to do the work. Road building and repair are shown on specific streets in Iron Ridge. One scene in Iron Ridge also shows a young woman in mechanic's coveralls outside a gas station. This reel may have been made in conjunction with Kohn's work with the state road schools.

Reel 4 is divided into five segments. The first four segments show recreational activities common in Wisconsin in the 1930s. Segment 1 is footage of a parade in Reeseville, Wis., in 1931. A banner over the street reads "Welcome Homecomers, Aug. 15 and 16." The parade includes horse-drawn vehicles (carriages, a hearse, a delivery wagon, a fire wagon, and a reaper) as well as automobiles as "floats" depicting, among other things, a blacksmith shop and a log cabin. The entire town seems to be involved in the parade including children on their bikes and local businesses sponsoring floats. Segment 2 is of a baseball game. Included are shots of the game, the fans, and an airplane flying overhead. Segment 3 includes footage of waterfalls, rapids, and shoreline as well as children playing. Most of this segment appears to be of vacations and family. However, there is one short sequence of open pit mining and the end of this segment. Segment 4 is footage of a parade in Juneau, Wis., which shows vehicles advertising businesses from Juneau, Mayville, and Beaver Dam. The parade includes both horse-drawn and motorized vehicles. One noteworthy parade entry is a truck carrying "The Junior Boxing Club." Both the Reeseville and the Juneau segments are from a period when horse-drawn vehicles and motorized modes of transportation still coexist - when the blacksmith and log cabin, the horse-drawn hearse and fire wagon were beginning to be seen as quaint reminders of the past. The last segment of the reel, segment 5, is footage from the 1933 milk strike showing a dramatic, but non-violent, confrontation between farmers and men probably deputized by the local sheriff. Judging from the cold weather clothing worn and the fact that there is no snow on the ground, this footage may have been from the October strike which was the third and last of the 1933 rural milk strikes.

Use Restrictions

Copyright is retained by Neil R. Kohn.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Neil R. Norman Kohn and Norman Kohn, August 25, 1997. Accession Number: M97-185

Processing Information

Processed by Luella Allen and David Benjamin, 1998.

AD 038	Miscellaneous footage, 1930s Physical Description: 16 mm, b/w and color, silent, approx. 300 ft.
Reel   1 Segment   1	7th Annual Tournament of the Oconomowoc Ski Club, Oconomowoc, Wis. Jan. 8, 1933 Scope and Content Note: Printed program for the tournament; the wooden ski jump ramp; skiers wearing numbers and waxing skis; skiers preparing to jump; skiers jumping; sequence shot from top of ramp as skiers jump; sequence from a distant vantage point of jumpers making complete runs.
Reel   1 Segment   2	Car race Scope and Content Note: Racing cars being towed onto track in front of spectator bleachers; triple A spotter car; variety of points of view of the race; parking lot at car race track showing the people watching race from their cars; starting line with cars in stalls like a horse race; the race in progress.
Reel   1 Segment   3	Parade and duck release, Horicon Marsh [color] Scope and Content Note: Parade footage: motorcycle escort; bands; marchers in World War I uniforms; Milwaukee area Boy Scouts; a truck carrying ducks in cages. Duck release footage: people holding ducks; ducks watched by crowd; speaker; crowd.
Reel   1 Segment   4	Century of Progress International Exhibition, Chicago, Ill., 1933-1934 Scope and Content Note: Briggs Manufacturing Co. exhibit showing "The Car of the Future"; exhibit hall from upper balcony showing various exhibits in hall including a exhibit about copper wire; exterior of exhibition grounds; exterior of the Ford Hall exhibit building; an man ice skating and jumping over barrels.
AD 039 Reel   2 Segment   1	Snow plows, Dodge County, Wis., 1935-1936 Physical Description: 16 mm, b/w, silent, approx. 300 ft.  Scope and Content Note: Snowplows clearing road; trucks from the Dodge County Highway Commission; various methods used in snow removal; two trucks in tandem clearing snow; truck with a snow blower on the front; people stand at the edge of plowed roads by drifts; group of men.
CB 435 Reel   3 Segment   1	Highway work and construction in Dodge County, Wis. Physical Description: 16 mm, b/w, silent, approx. 400 ft.  Scope and Content Note: Road sign: "You are entering Dodge County. E.C. Nitschke, County Highway Commissioner"; road sign "Road under construction, drive carefully"; men working on road; road sign for Delton; crews spreading tar and gravel; steam roller smoothing surface; road sign for Iron Ridge; street signs: Herman Street, Pleasant Avenue, East Avenue, Highland Avenue, North Main Street; road grading; spreading gravel; covering gravel with tar; using steam rollers to smooth materials; surveyors with their equipment; trucks being loaded at gravel plant; material being unloaded from train cars into trucks by hand; gas station with glass-topped pumps; woman in mechanic's coveralls sweeping street in front of gas station; automobiles; men in suits and overcoats standing in street; heavy equipment including cranes and freight cars; men placing dynamite; dynamite being exploded; men repairing road with gravel and tar; truck used to paint stripe down middle of road.
CB 436	Miscellaneous footage, ca. 1930s Physical Description: 16 mm, b/w, silent, approx. 400 ft.
Reel   4 Segment   1	Reeseville, Wis., parade, 1931 Scope and Content Note: Horse-drawn vehicles; carriages; a hearse; delivery wagon; fire wagon; reaper; Buick automobile; cars as "floats" depicting various themes (a blacksmith shop, a log cabin); kids on decorated bikes; horseback riders; floats advertising local businesses; banner over street "Welcome Homecomers, Aug. 15 and 16."
Reel   4 Segment   2	Baseball game Scope and Content Note: Baseball game; crowd in stands; plane flying over game."
Reel   4 Segment   3	Miscellaneous scenery Scope and Content Note: Miscellaneous scenery: waterfalls; rapids; shorelines; a lake freighter; and open pit mining.
Reel   4 Segment   4	Juneau, Wis., parade Scope and Content Note: Vehicles advertising local businesses from Juneau, Beaver Dam, and Maysville; truck carrying "The Junior Boxing Club;" and horse-drawn wagons and carts."
Reel   4 Segment   5	Milk strike, 1933 Scope and Content Note: Crowds milling about; police with clubs; trucks of men pulling up; police arresting strikers; strikers marching and then running; men with clubs and white ribbons on their overcoat lapels taking strikers into custody.