Title: Chester V. Easum Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1929-1962

Creator:

• Easum, Chester Verne, 1894-1979

Call Number: Mss 21

Quantity: 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Miscellaneous papers of Chester Easum, a University of Wisconsin professor of German history and United States cultural attaché to Germany, 1954-1956; including speeches and publications, 1929, 1936-1962, mainly concerned with twentieth-century German history and culture, fragmentary correspondence, and a subject file with itineraries, clippings, and a report on the Baltic in the early 1940s.

Note:

Language: English and German

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00021

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Chester V. Easum was born near Clayton, Illinois in 1894 and received his B.A. degree from Knox College, Illinois in 1914. After one year as principal of a small rural high school in his native state, Easum went to England in 1916 where he studied modern British history as a Rhodes Scholar. When the United States entered World War I, he left Oxford to serve for two years as a company commander in the U.S. infantry. After the war, Easum returned to Oxford where he received another B.A. and his M.A. in 1920. Once again in the United States, he taught at Culver Military Academy in Indiana until 1930. In the meantime, his interest had shifted from British to German history and he completed his work for a Ph.D. in that field at the University of Wisconsin, 1928, and was appointed professor of history there in 1930.

During his career Easum spent much time in Germany. In 1936 he held a six-month research fellowship in Germany from the Oberlaender Trust. He returned in 1946 to work on captured World War II German documents for the State Department and again in 1954-1956 as chief cultural affairs officer for the United States High Commission and then for the new American embassy in Bonn. His duties included speaking at universities and on such public occasions as the opening of new schools, libraries, and museums.

Professor Easum was a prominent speaker in the United States too, speaking on the radio and to Madison, Wisconsin civic and University groups.

At this writing (1971), Professor Easum is retired and living in his Madison home.

Easum's publications include his thesis The Americanization of Carl Schurz, 1929; a translation of Letters from a Hessian Mercenary by Hans Huth, 1938; Prince Henry of Prussia, Brother of Frederick the Great, 1942; and Half Century of Conflict, 1952.

The Chester V. Easum Papers consist of correspondence, addresses and publications, itineraries, a clipping, and a report on the Baltic in the early 1940's. The addresses and publications comprise the largest portion of the papers. They are arranged chronologically, 1929, 1936-1962, and are mainly concerned with twentieth-century German history and culture. The majority of addresses were delivered to Madison and University of Wisconsin groups or to German audiences during the course of Easum's duties as cultural attache. Several of the addresses are in German.

The Correspondence in the papers is found in a separate correspondence file or in a small subject file. The separate correspondence is a fragmentary file of incoming letters arranged chronologically. It includes letters of introduction from Glenn Frank, Robert La Follette, Jr., and Philip La Follette for Easum's 1936 trip to Germany; 1945 letters written by history professor Robert L. Reynolds concerning a proposed University of Wisconsin institute for Central European studies; and several items, 1954-1956, concerning Easum's activities as cultural attaché.

The subject file referred to above contains just four folders. The largest contains correspondence, 1945-1946, from Easum's chairmanship of the University War Records Committee, a committee which gathered data on the involvement of Wisconsin faculty, students, and alumni in World War II. The project was completed and the results can be found in the University of Wisconsin Archives. Another folder contains letters and clippings concerning an attack by syndicated columnist Westbrook Pegler on cultural affairs officers in general and on Easum in particular. A third folder contains itineraries for Easum's travels in Germany, 1954-1955; and a fourth contains a typed fragment of a document in German entitled “Baltic Report, 1940-41”, possibly used by Easum as an information source. Included in the report are transcriptions of correspondence between a Dr. Mommsen and a Dr. von Stritsky.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Chester V. Easum, Madison, Wisconsin, June and July, 1964. Accession Number: M64-170 and M64-200

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Baumann and 1971 archives students, December 13, 1971.

Box   1 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1936, 1943, 1945, 1954-1956
	Addresses and Publications
Box   1 Folder   2	1929, 1936-1945
Box   1 Folder   3	1946-1949, 1954-1955
Box   1 Folder   4	1956-1957
Box   1 Folder   5	1959-1962, undated
	Subject File
Box   1 Folder   6	“Baltic Report, 1940-41”
Box   1 Folder   7	Itineraries for trips in Germany, 1954-1955
Box   1 Folder   8	University War Records Committee, 1945-1946
Box   1 Folder   9	Westbrook Pegler Controversy, 1955