Title: Arnold Strickon Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1883-1987

Creator:

• Strickon, Arnold

Call Number: La Crosse Mss CR; Audio 1363A; PH La Crosse Mss CR

Quantity: 2.0 cubic feet (5 archives boxes), 35 tape recordings, and 0.2 cubic feet (1 archives box) of slides, negatives, and contact prints

Repository:

Housed at the Special Collections & Area Research Center, Murphy Library, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-La Crosse Murphy Library / La Crosse Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Research papers created and compiled by Arnold Strickon, an anthropology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, while conducting field work in Vernon County, Wisconsin. The bulk of the papers are from 1974 and 1975 and consist of research notes, subject files, genealogies, oral history recordings, color slides, and black and white contact prints. Also included in the collection are survey forms which were completed by residents of Vernon County documenting such topics as tobacco farming, social life and customs, churches and ethnicity.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-lx00cr

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Arnold Strickon was born in New York City in July of 1930. He attended City College of New York and earned his B.A. in 1952 and his M.A. from Columbia University in 1954. He served in the United States Army from 1954 to 1956 and then returned to Columbia University, earning his Ph.D. in 1960. He did anthropological field work in both the Caribbean and Argentina as well as teaching at Fordham University and Brandeis University before becoming employed at the University of Wisconsin in 1965.

Throughout his career, Strickon specialized in Latin America. However, in the 1970s, he did field work in rural Vernon County, Wisconsin. He found that most studies in ethnicity had been done in urban environments on the East Coast, but he wanted to observe ethnicity in a rural setting. He chose Vernon County as his rural Wisconsin study site because it had a variety of ethnic groups located close to each other and because these groups were involved in the same types of activity, namely tobacco and dairy farming. Funded by the National Institute for Mental Health, his field work involved interviewing Vernon County residents from various ethnic backgrounds (Yankees, Norwegians, Czechs, Italians, and Germans), conducting a survey, and observing community festivals. He documented his field work with color slides and black and white photographs.

The research papers, 1883-1987, of Arnold Strickon are arranged in six series: Research Notes, Subject Files, Genealogies, Surveys, Photographs, and Sound Recordings.

The RESEARCH NOTES (1974-1975) consist of notebooks kept by Strickon during his field work in Vernon County. The general notes are logs of Strickon's field work. They describe interviews he conducted and events he observed, and include notes about print sources that he consulted. In addition to the general notes, there are also three notebooks devoted to notes on the records of St. Charles Parish, Immanuel Lutheran Church, and a Vernon County family's scrapbooks, respectively.

The SUBJECT FILES (1883-1987) consist primarily of materials acquired by Strickon during his field work. Some of the materials are actual notes; others are research papers, annual reports, pamphlets, and ephemeral items. Topics documented include agriculture, Norwegian ethnicity, history, and property values. Of particular interest is the Tobacco subject file, which includes an account book of a nineteenth-century tobacco farm.

The GENEALOGIES (1963-1975) consist of genealogies of Vernon County area families. Some are published, whereas others are simply genealogical charts. Some of the genealogies include narratives recalling settler life.

The SURVEYS (circa 1975) consist of completed questionnaire forms filled out by residents of Vernon County. The survey was intended to measure attitudes toward ethnicity.

The PHOTOGRAPHS (1974-1975) consist of color slides and black and white contact prints, taken during Strickon's work in Vernon County. They document area landmarks, such as churches and cemeteries, as well as local festivals and activities. A photo log notebook contains captions and descriptions of the photographs and slides.

The SOUND RECORDINGS (1974-1978) consist of oral history interviews with residents of Vernon County. There are no transcripts of these interviews in the collection. However, the interviews are described in the general research notes and, briefly, in the tape log.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Phyllis Sweet, Madison, Wisconsin, 1998. Accession Number: M2000-084

Processing Information

Processed by Olivia Wendt for the Spring 2000 Archives practicum, 2000.

La Crosse Mss BR	Series: Research Notes, 1974-1975
	General Notes
Box   1 Folder   1	Notebook 1, 1974 September 15-1974 October 29
Box   1 Folder   1	Notebook 2, 1974 October 29-November 20
Box   1 Folder   2	Notebook 3, 1974 November 20-1975 January 23
Box   1 Folder   2	Notebook 4, 1975 January 23-1975 March 19
Box   1 Folder   3	Notebook 5, 1975 March 19-1975 April 24
Box   1 Folder   3	Notebook 6, 1975 April 24-1975 May 23
Box   1 Folder   4	Records of St. Charles Parish, Genoa, Wisconsin, 1975
Box   1 Folder   5	Records of the Immanuel Lutheran Church, Viroqua, Wisconsin, 1975
Box   1 Folder   6	From the Vigdahl scrapbooks, 1975
	Series: Subject Files, 1883-1987	⇧
Box   1 Folder   7	Agriculture, 1952-1974
Box   1 Folder   8	Bryey, David--worksheets, including recalculation of 1905 Census, circa 1974
Box   1 Folder   9	Cheyenne Valley in Perspective: Negro-White Integration in Rural Vernon County, Wisconsin, by James K. Phillips, undated
Box   1 Folder   10	Churches, circa 1900, 1970-1975
Box   1 Folder   11	Coon Valley, circa 1928
Box   1 Folder   12	Coon Valley Book, undated
Box   1 Folder   13	Correspondence, 1975
Box   1 Folder   14	Drake Murders [from Vernon County Censor, 1888]
Box   1 Folder   15-16	Gunderson, 1971-1975
Box   1 Folder   17	History of Hillsboro, undated
Box   2 Folder   1	Kickapoo studies, 1975
Box   2 Folder   2	Land transfers [correspondence with Mary Jakely], 1986-1987
Box   2 Folder   3	News of Norway, 1974-1975
Box   2 Folder   4	Norwegians in Madison, undated
Box   2 Folder   5	The Opportunity Structure of Ethnic Festivals, paper draft by Arnold Strickon, 1976
Box   2 Folder   6	Property valuations, 1973-1974
Box   2 Folder   7	Research papers, 1968-1975
Box   2 Folder   8	Settlement Patterns of La Crosse County, by Robert George Wingate, 1975
Box   2 Folder   9	Syttende Mai, Stoughton, Deerfield, Mt. Horeb, undated
Box   2 Folder   10	Tobacco farming [family farm account book], 1883 with undated news clippings
Box   2 Folder   11	Vernon County Department of Social Services, annual report, 1971
Box   2 Folder   12	Vernon County Directory, 1974
Box   2 Folder   13	Vernon County Overall Economic Development Plan, 1967
Box   2 Folder   14	Vernon County atlas and plat book, 1973
Box   2 Folder   15	Vernon County Telephone Cooperative annual report, 1974
Box   2 Folder   16	Viroqua Jaycettes Welcomes You, undated
Box   2 Folder   17	Newspaper clippings, 1963-1978
Box   3 Folder   1-2	Newspaper clippings (continued)
	Series: Genealogies, 1963-1975	⇧
Box   3 Folder   3	Callaway family, 1969
Box   3 Folder   4	De Sales, Sister, 1975
Box   3 Folder   5-6	Hauer, Earl William, A Preliminary Manuscript -- Family Histories of the Morse, Sutton, Hill, Tongue, Lancaster, Fradenburgh, Bliesner, Klug, Hauger/Hauer, Halvorsen, Olson, Kjelbostad Families, 1965
Box   3 Folder   7-8	Markee -- Markey, by Vernard E. Sherman, 1967
Box   3 Folder   9	Moore, by Vernard E. Sherman, 1970
Box   3 Folder   10	The Peterson Book, 1974
Box   3 Folder   11	Sherman -- Scott Genealogy, by Vernard E. Sherman, 1963
Box   3 Folder   12	Solverson, Mrs. Margaret, undated
Box   3 Folder   13	Tate, Mrs. Annette, undated
	Series: Surveys, circa 1975	⇧
Box   4-5	Questionnaire for the Study of the People of Vernon County [completed surveys], circa 1975
PH La Crosse Mss BR	Series: Photographs, 1974-1975	⇧
Box   1 Folder   1	Tape and Photo Log, 1974-1975
Box   1 Folder   2	Roll 1 (color slides) Scenes near and in Viroqua, September 18, 1974
Box   1 Folder   3	Roll 2 (color slides) Scenes near and in Hillsboro, Ontario, Viroqua, and Viroqua High School practice field, September 18, 1974; farm, church and cemetery scenes near Viroqua and Genoa, , September 25, 1974
Box   1 Folder   4	Roll 3 (color slides) Scenes near and in Genoa and La Crosse, September 25, 1974
Box   1 Folder   5	Roll 4 (color slides) Church and farm scenes, September 25, 1974 and October 2, 1974, and Oktoberfest Parade, , October 5, 1974
Box   1 Folder   6	Roll 5 (black and white 35 mm, negatives and contact prints) La Crosse Oktoberfest, October 5, 1974
Box   1 Folder   7	Roll 6 (black and white 35 mm, negatives and contact prints) Pony pull at Fairgrounds, Viroqua, October 13, 1974
Box   1 Folder   8	Roll 7 (black and white 35 mm, negatives and contact prints) Pony pull at Fairgrounds, Viroqua, October 13, 1974
Box   1 Folder   9	Roll 8 (color slides) Scenes near and in Yuba, October 21, 1974, and Viroqua homecoming parade, , October 25, 1974
Box   1 Folder   10	Roll 9 (black and white 35 mm, negatives and contact prints) 21st Tobacco Exposition, Viroqua, January 18, 1975
Box   1 Folder   11	Roll 10 (black and white 35 mm, negatives and contact prints) Winter carnival, hockey game, snowmobile races, January 19, 1975
Box   1 Folder   12	Roll 11 (black and white 35 mm, negatives and contact prints) Viroqua Winter Carnival skating, hockey game, snowmobile races, January 19, 1975
Box   1 Folder   13	Roll 12 (color slides) Winter scenes in and near Viroqua, Coon Valley, and Westby, February 20, 1975
Box   1 Folder   14	Roll 13 (black and white 35 mm, negatives and contact prints) Westby - Coon Prairie Lutheran Church -- Norwegian services, May 18, 1975
Audio 1363A	Series: Sound Recordings, 1974-1978 Note: The numbers in parentheses correspond to the log reference found in Box 1 Folder 1 of photographs.	⇧
1363A/1	Conversation with Philip (Jr.), October 7, 1974 (Reel 1 Track 1)
1363A/1	Miss Vernon, Mrs. Mary Suchy Hammer, October 8, 1974 (Reel 1 Track 1)
1363A/1	Jack Levenhagen, October 15, 1974 (Reel 1 Track 1)
1363A/1	Jack Levenhagen, October 15, 1974 (Reel 1 Track 2)
1363A/1	Bob Graves, October 31, 1974 (Reel 1 Track 2)
1363A/2	Edward Shean, November 13, 1974 (Reel 2 Track 1)
1363A/2	Bob Graves, November 14, 1974 (Reel 2 Track 1)
1363A/2	Kristin Vigdahl, November 18, 1974 (Reel 2 Track 2)
1363A/2	Martin Roth, November, 1974 (Reel 2 Track 2)
1363A/3	Angelina Moltkasio, December 3, 1974 (Reel 3 Track 1)
1363A/3	Rev. John Hodges, December 4, 1974 (Reel 3 Track 1)
1363A/3	Kristin Vigdahl and guests, December 5, 1974
1363A/3	Pedrettis, Viroqua, October 12, 1974 (Reel 3 Track 2)
1363A/3	Dick Endicott, October 17, 1974 (Reel 3 Track 2)
1363A/4	Kristin Vigdahl and guests, undated (Reel 4 Track 1)
1363A/4	Re-recording of interviews of Freda Hanson, undated (Reel 4 Track 2)
1363A/4	Martin and Rachel Novy, undated (Reel 4 Track 2)
1363A/4	Art Lundell, undated (Reel 4 Track 2)
1363A/5	Arnold and Freda Hanson, undated (Reel 5 Track 1)
1363A/5	Bob and Mable Graves, undated (Reel 5 Track 1)
1363A/5	Bob and Mable Graves (continued) (Reel 5 Track 2)
1363A/5	Rachel Novy and guests, undated (Reel 5 Track 2)
1363A/6	Al Zabolio, March 25, 1975 (Reel 6)
1363A/7	Westby -- Coon Prairie Lutheran Church, May 18, 1975 (Reel 7)
1363A/8	Parade and Memorial Services, Memorial Day, Viroqua, May 26, 1975 (Reel 8)
1363A/9	Undated, untitled reel (no log reference)
1363A/10	Myrtle Wolfgram, March 19, 1975 (cassette 1)
1363A/11	Myrtle Wolfgram, March 19, 1975 (cassette 2)
1363A/12	Darald Dostin, March 25, 1975 (cassette 3)
1363A/13	Darald Dostin, March 25, 1975 (cassette 4)
1363A/14	Wayne and Judy Gates, April 22, 1975 (cassette 5)
1363A/15	Reverend Charles, April 24, 1975 (cassette 6)
1363A/16	John Erikson, April 28, 1975 (cassette 7)
	(No cassette 8 in the tape log)
1363A/17	Dr. C.M. Midelfort, April 30, 1975 (cassette 9)
1363A/18	Agnes and Alfred Hendrickson, May 23, 1975 (cassette 10)
1363A/19	Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Borgen, May 23, 1975 (cassette 11)
	(No log reference for the remainder of the tape recordings)
1363A/20	Lonnie Muller, June 5, 1975
1363A/21	Dr. Fritz Midelfort, August 22, 1975
1363A/22	Chet Erlandson (Vernon County Board), August 27, [1975]
1363A/23	Dr. Alf Gunderson, August 28, 1975
1363A/24	Dr. Gunnar Gunderson, August 29, 1975
1363A/25	Dr. Alf Gunderson, September 3, 1975
1363A/26	Leslie Haugh, September 9, 1975
1363A/27	Anthony Curti, September 17, 1975
1363A/28	Sid Greenfield, September 20, 1975
1363A/29	Dr. Sig Gunderson, September 24, 1975
1363A/30	Kristin Vigdahl, November 10, 1975
1363A/31	Hilda Gunderson, November 11, 1975
1363A/32	Sister DeSales (Curti), November 12, 1975
1363A/33	Kristin Vigdahl, November 17, 1975
1363A/34	Kristin Vigdahl, January 12, 1976
1363A/35	Lloyd Bekedahl, December 12, 1978