Title: Letha McPherson Williams Collected Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1917-1990

Creator:

• Williams, Letha McPherson, 1903-1989

Call Number: Green Bay Mss 165

Quantity: 1.4 c.f. (4 archives boxes)

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:

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

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

Abstract:

Collected papers of Letha Williams documenting her interest in the history of Marinette County, Wisconsin and the town of Marinette's “twin city,” Menominee, Michigan. The papers consist of newspaper clippings, oral histories, and genealogical information about area families collected by Williams for a proposed book on the history of the area. The bulk of her research was concentrated in the following areas: local genealogies, community histories of local towns and Marinette county generally, indigenous Native American groups, and the primary and secondary school systems in the area.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-gb0165

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Letha Williams was born Letha Mae McPherson in Peshtigo, Wisconsin on September 23, 1903 and continued to live in Marinette County her entire life. She graduated from Homestead Grade School in 1918 and went on to graduate from the Marinette County Normal School three years later. She began teaching school in 1921 in the Town of Winesville and continued to teach for the next fifty-one years, serving at twelve different schools in Marinette County. She lived with her husband Ross Williams in Porterfield until he died in 1964 at which point she moved to the town of Marinette and lived there until her death in 1989.

Williams had an intense interest in history in general and local history in particular. She was an active member of the Marinette, Menominee (Mich.) and Peshtigo historical societies as well as the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. In addition, she was also active in several genealogical societies. Her participation in these groups undoubtedly reflects her fascination with the history of Marinette County and that of Marinette's twin city, Menominee, Michigan. She began avidly collecting newspaper stories about the history of the region and used the information found in these and other sources in order to write notes on the history of the region and its inhabitants that she hoped one day would form a history of Marinette County. As a schoolteacher, she had a particular interest in the history of Marinette schools and compiled information about nearly all the primary and secondary school systems in the region.

The papers in this collection are arranged topically according to the subject of William's research. They are divided into five series: FAMILY HISTORIES, LOCAL HISTORIES, NATIVE AMERICANS, PERSONAL PAPERS, and SCHOOLS. The bulk of the material found in each of these series (except PERSONAL PAPERS) primarily consists of newspaper articles collected by Williams and her notes on various subjects. The PERSONAL PAPERS include correspondence, autobiographical sketches, and personal documents such as her teaching certificate and her first teaching contract. In addition to the material described in this document, the collection also contains a number of photographs which remain unprocessed.

FAMILY HISTORIES contain the genealogical information that Williams gathered on thirty-one different Marinette county families focusing on when the family first arrived in the county and their subsequent movements. Much of her research is in the form of handwritten notes taken from oral interviews Williams had with family members or unidentified other sources and is arranged by family surname. Williams also collected newspaper clippings about prominent or notable local citizens and these are divided into marriage announcements, obituaries, and general news articles.

LOCAL HISTORIES constitute the largest series in this collection and reflect Williams' dedication to writing individual histories of each of the towns located in Marinette County. This series again consists of newspaper clippings about the towns and their history as well as other handwritten notes taken by Williams to supplement this information. In addition, this series contains information regarding the early economic and industrial development of the area, especially in the lumber industry, and general information about Marinette County and Menominee (Mich.). Also included are two serialized newspaper articles written by Fred Burke and Howard Emich about Marinette County and Menominee, respectively.

NATIVE AMERICANS document the history of these groups in the Marinette region. Especially well represented in this section is the history of Queen Marinette, daughter of a French trader and a Native American woman who grew to be a powerful figure in the region and who was the eponym of Marinette Town and County.

The SCHOOLS series consists of news sources and other notes about the various schools in the county, several of which Williams either taught at or attended, with some general information about Menominee and Marinette county schools generally. This series is arranged alphabetically by school.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Delores Wagner, Green Bay, Wis., 2001.

Processing Information

Processed by Aaron Pickett and Kyle Krause, 2001.

	Series: Family Histories
Box   1 Folder   1	Annis
Box   1 Folder   2	Bartels
Box   1 Folder   3	Bong
Box   1 Folder   4	Brault
Box   1 Folder   5	Butler
Box   1 Folder   6	Conant
Box   1 Folder   7	Mrs. Andrew Eckberg's scrapbook
Box   1 Folder   8	Felch
Box   1 Folder   9	Glass
Box   1 Folder   10	Hill
Box   1 Folder   11	Hurd
Box   1 Folder   12	Jackson
Box   1 Folder   13	Leslie
Box   1 Folder   14	Local personalities, general
Box   1 Folder   15	Local personalities, marriage announcements
Box   1 Folder   16	Local personalities, obituaries
Box   1 Folder   17	Louck
Box   1 Folder   18	MacPherson/McPherson
Box   1 Folder   19	Martin
Box   1 Folder   20	McAllister
Box   1 Folder   21	Newton
Box   1 Folder   22	Olson
Box   1 Folder   23	Phillips
Box   1 Folder   24	Place
Box   1 Folder   25	Plumb
Box   1 Folder   26	Porterfield
Box   1 Folder   27	Ramsay
Box   1 Folder   28	Seymour
Box   1 Folder   29	Stephenson
Box   1 Folder   30	Thomas
Box   1 Folder   31	Walker
Box   1 Folder   32	Weber
Box   1 Folder   33	Wines
Box   1 Folder   34	Zeeb
	Series: Local Histories	⇧
Box   1 Folder   35-36	Beaver Creek
Box   1 Folder   37	Fred Burke articles, general
Box   1 Folder   38	Coleman
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Crivitz
Box   2 Folder   3	Dunbar/Dadrite
Box   2 Folder   4	Goodman
Box   2 Folder   5-6	Grover
Box   2 Folder   7	Harmony Corners
Box   2 Folder   8-11	Local economic activity
Box   2 Folder   12-19	Marinette County, general
Box   2 Folder   20-22	Menominee, general
Box   2 Folder   23-25	Miscellaneous research notes
Box   3 Folder   1	Local name origins
Box   3 Folder   2	Oconto
Box   3 Folder   3	Pembine
Box   3 Folder   4-6	Peshtigo
Box   3 Folder   7	Porterfield
Box   3 Folder   8	Pound
Box   3 Folder   9	Sugar Bush
Box   3 Folder   10	Wagner
Box   3 Folder   11	White Rapids
Box   3 Folder   12	Winesville
Box   3 Folder   13	World War I, newspaper clippings
	Series: Native Americans	⇧
Box   3 Folder   14	History, general
Box   3 Folder   15	Menominee tribe, pictures
Box   3 Folder   16	W.E. Morton newspaper articles
Box   3 Folder   17	Newspaper articles, Native Americans, general
Box   3 Folder   18	Queen Marinette
Box   3 Folder   19	Treaties
	Series: Personal Papers	⇧
Box   3 Folder   20	Biographical materials
Box   3 Folder   21	Correspondence
	Series: Schools	⇧
Box   3 Folder   22	Amberg
Box   3 Folder   23	Grant
Box   3 Folder   24	Harmony
Box   3 Folder   25	Homestead
Box   3 Folder   26	Marinette County, general
Box   3 Folder   27	Marinette County Retired Teacher's Association
Box   3 Folder   28	Menominee, Michigan
Box   4 Folder   1-2	Newspaper clippings, general
Box   4 Folder   3	Peshtigo
Box   4 Folder   4	Plumb
Box   4 Folder   5-6	Stephenson Training school
Box   4 Folder   7	Teacher experiences, oral histories
Box   4 Folder   8	White
Box   4 Folder   9	Winesville