Title: Harry E. Dankoler Papers
Inclusive Dates: circa 1715-1987

Creator:

• Dankoler, Harry E., 1863-1955

Call Number: Green Bay Mss 15; M93-142; PH 2101; PH 2153; PH 2939; PH 2916; WHi(D28)

Quantity: 1.6 cubic feet (4 archives boxes); plus additions of 0.2 cubic feet, 114 photographs, 185 negatives, and 1 map

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

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

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Harry Dankoler, a Wisconsin author and newspaper publisher. Correspondence, reports, agreements, financial accounts, stockholders' information, and photographs relating to copper mining and the Leighton-Wyoming Mining Company, 1906-1911, in which Dankoler invested, comprise the bulk of the collection. There is also material, 1935-1939, concerning construction of the Door County museum at Sturgeon Bay which Dankoler helped found. Other correspondence pertains to Dankoler's work, particularly the writing he did for the Manufacturer's Appraisal Company of Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Note:

There is a restriction on access to 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-gb0015

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Harry E. Dankoler (originally spelled Damkoehler) was born March 30, 1863 in Sturgeon Bay Township, Door County, Wisconsin in a log cabin, to Ernest and Mathilda Damkoelher, German immigrants. His father Ernest Damkoelher, who was a soldier in the Union Army, died the following year in service. At the age of eight, the boy was placed in the Soldiers' Orphans' School at Madison. The orphanage was discontinued 1874 and he returned home to Sturgeon Bay. Dankoler married Annette Reinacke in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1890. They had one son, Harry Slyvester "Sly" Dankoler in 1895, who died just before his twelfth birthday in 1907. Annette died just a few months later on March 20, 1908.

Harry Dankoler worked as a printer's devil, editor, publisher, and writer for the Milwaukee Sentinel, Milwaukee Daily News, The Saturday Star, South Milwaukee Star, Milwaukee Daily Record, and Peck's Sun.

In 1888 Dankoler left the Milwaukee Sentinel to join with others in the publication of the Milwaukee Daily News. A year later, he began the publication of three weeklies, the Saturday Star, the South Milwaukee Star, and the Milwaukee Daily Record. While Geroge W. Peck served as governor (1891-1895), Dankoler took over publication of Peck's Sun. Dankoler's wife also wrote for the Sun. In 1893, Dankoler sold his newspaper interests and spent the next few years writing for magazines and the Milwaukee Sentinel, using the pseudonym, Harry Dee.

After the death of his wife and son in 1908, Dankoler bought and developed an acreage near Sturgeon Bay, later using it as a tourist home in the summers. In 1909, and again in 1919, he worked on the staffs of Our Young People and American Young People, magazines for the "deaf mute" community. Through the years, he usually spent his winters working for the Manufacturer's Appraisal Company of Cleveland and Philadelphia.

After his retirement about 1930, three projects occupied much of Harry Dankoler's time:

1. In 1933 and 1934, because he was refused space in the local papers, Dankoler published 22 issues of the Free Press: Published for the Benefit of the depositors of the Two Closed Banks, in Door County. Copies of the newspaper are available in the Library of the Wisconsin Historical Society (Microfilm P02-3301).
2. The establishment of the Door County Museum, formed between 1935 and 1939. After the dedication of the building in 1939, he was made curator, a post at which he served until his death at the age of 92 on October 25, 1955. His entire estate of $4,987 was left to the Door County Museum to be used as interest-bearing money for future purchase of exhibits.
3. About 1940 he published a lengthy history called The Ice Age and the History of the Earth, giving his theory, held by few, regarding a change in the polarity of the Earth.

This collection was received in multiple parts from the donor(s) and is organized into 7 major parts. These materials have not been physically interfiled and researchers might need to consult more than one part to locate similar materials.

• Part 1 (Green Bay Mss 15): Original Collection, 1865-1947
• Part 2 (M93-142): Additions, circa 1715-1987
• Part 3 (PH 2101): Additions, circa 1907-1910
• Part 4 (PH 2153): Additions, circa 1920
• Part 5 (PH 2939): Additions, circa 1898-1909
• Part 6 (PH 2916): Additions, undated
• Part 7 (WHi(D28)): Additions, circa 1898-1909

Correspondence: Correspondence relating to Harry E. Dankoler was so disconnected and varied that it was sorted and weeded before filing. In general, correspondence relating to his work, particularly the Manufacturer's Appraisal Company, was kept, while miscellaneous, insignificant personal and family letters were not. His correspondence is in chronological order in Box 1.

Door County Museum: Between 1935 and 1939, while Door County was building its museum in Sturgeon Bay, Dankoler was very active in the project. Box 1 contains manuscripts relating to the museum's construction, as well as many of Dankoler's notes referring to his disagreements with others on the committee.

Leighton-Wyoming Mining Company: In 1909 Dankoler invested in a potential copper mining company which was organized in Wisconsin to operate in Wyoming. He served as secretary for the company, and when it failed, the records went to him. The records, filed in Boxes 2 and 3 and in Volumes 1 to 4, contain correspondence, reports, agreements, financial accounts, stockholders' information, and photographs relating to the company. These give a reasonably good picture of the difficulties attending the organization, “boom,” and finally the failure of a small mining company form 1906 to 1911.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Dewey Moore, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, September 14, 1956.

Access Restrictions

COLLECTION STORED, ALL or IN-PART, AT ARC: Collection can be requested for transfer through the Area Research Center (ARC) Network; consult Reading Room Staff.

Green Bay Mss 15	Part 1 (Green Bay Mss 15): Original Collection, Physical Description: 1.6 cubic feet (4 archives boxes)  Scope and Content Note: Papers, 1865-1947, of a Wisconsin author and newspaper publisher. Correspondence, reports, agreements, financial accounts, stockholders' information, and photographs relating to copper mining and the Leighton-Wyoming Mining Company, 1906-1911, in which Dankoler invested, comprise the bulk of the collection. There is also material, 1935-1939, concerning construction of the Door County museum at Sturgeon Bay which Dankoler helped found. Other correspondence pertains to Dankoler's work, particularly the writing he did for the Manufacturer's Appraisal Company of Cleveland and Philadelphia.
Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1865, 1901, 1907-1910, 1912, 1916-1919, 1920-1925, 1930, 1932-1940
	Door County Museum
Box   1 Folder   2	History of building
Box   1 Folder   3	Antone Thompson, first settler, Sturgeon Bay
Box   1 Folder   4	Memoranda and notes, Dankoler controversy
Box   1 Folder   5	Write-up on Russian Egor Lazareff
Box   1 Folder   6	Articles and poems
	Leighton-Wyoming Mining Company
	Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   1	1905-1907
Box   2 Folder   2	1908-1910
Box   2 Folder   3	1911-1916, 1918-1920, 1922, 1929-1932
Box   2 Folder   4	History of the company
Box   3 Folder   1	Inventories, reports to stockholders
	Accounts at mine
Box   3 Folder   2	1910-1911
Box   3 Folder   3	1906-1909
Box   3 Folder   4	Agreements, certificates, etc.
Box   3 Folder   5	Records of stock
Box   3 Folder   6	Maps, diary, and photographs
Box   4 Folder   1	Minutes, 1906-1912
Box   4 Folder   2	Office expense at Milwaukee, 1909-1919
Box   4 Folder   3	Stock sales and accounts, 1906-1911
M93-142	Part 2 (M93-142): Additions, Physical Description: 0.2 cubic feet (1 archives box)  Scope and Content Note: Damkoehler family history, circa 1715-1987, including biographical sketches, Civil War letters written by Ernst Damkoehler and clippings about him, a family history and genealogical chart, and a photograph of the Oconto County Boarding House, Barn, and Mill Crew (Oconto, Wisconsin).	⇧
PH 2101	Part 3 (PH 2101): Additions, Physical Description: 41 photographs (1 folder)  Scope and Content Note: Photographs created by Dankoler showing properties of the Leighton-Wyoming Mining Company, the Ferris-Haggerty Mining Company, and adjoining areas near Battle Lake and Encampment, Carbon County, Wyoming, circa 1907-1910.	⇧
PH 2153	Part 4 (PH 2153): Additions, Physical Description: 5 photographs and 1 map (1 folder)  Scope and Content Note: Captioned photographs and a small map giving directions to Sylvan Lodge, home of Harry Dankoler near Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, circa 1920.	⇧
PH 2939	Part 5 (PH 2939): Additions, Physical Description: 68 photographs  Scope and Content Note: Photographs created and collected by Dankoler, primarily of family affairs and activities in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, circa 1898-1909.	⇧
PH 2153	Part 6 (PH 2916): Additions, Alternate Format: Electronic reproductions of all of these negatives are available through Wisconsin Historical Images. Physical Description: 12 negatives (1 box)  Scope and Content Note: Negatives created by Dankoler to produce illustrations for fiction published in a magazine he edited. The images are studio portraits, often intended to be cut out and mounted against appropriate backgrounds.	⇧
WHi(D28)	Part 7 (WHi(D28)): Additions, Physical Description: 173 negatives  Scope and Content Note: Original glass plate negatives created by Dankoler of activities in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, circa 1898-1909.	⇧