Title: Arthur F. Wileden papers
Inclusive Dates: 1949-1966, 1972

Creator:

• Wileden, Arthur F. (Arthur Frederick), 1896-1986

Call Number: Mss 80; M74-207

Extent: 4.2 cubic feet (10 archives boxes and 1 half-archives box); plus additions of 1.0 cubic feet of transparencies, 4 audio tapes (7-1/2 ips reel to reel), and 5 sets of audio discs (78 rpm)

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:

Papers of Arthur Wileden, a nationally prominent University of Wisconsin professor of rural sociology, consisting primarily of reports on studies of 17 rural southwestern Wisconsin communities, entitled "Rural Community Analysis, South Central Wisconsin." The reports were produced by students in Wileden's community development course which focused on one community each year. They document the history, ethnicity, religion, education, business, industry, agriculture, government, and recreation for the Wisconsin cities of Belleville, Cambridge, Dodgeville, Edgerton, Evansville, Jefferson, Lake Mills, Lodi, Mineral Point, Mt. Horeb, Poynette, Prairie du Sac, Randolph, Rio, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, and Waterloo. Also includes 5 produced slide shows, with audio recordings, on resource and community development; and other writings.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00080

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Arthur F. Wileden was born in Waukesha County, Wisconsin on July 2, 1896. He received his early education at Menomonee Falls High School and Milwaukee State Teachers College, after which he taught for four years at Ottawa #1 Rural School in Waukesha County. He then attended the University of Wisconsin and received his B.S. in Agricultural Education in 1924, and his M.S. in Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology in 1925. He married Harriet McKinley Acklam on June 23, 1926 and they have two children: Mary Wileden Binning and John Frederick Wileden.

In 1925 he began his teaching career at the University of Wisconsin in Rural Sociology where he taught from 1925 to 1965, and where he continues to act as an Emeritus Professor of Rural Sociology. He was also a Social Science Research Council Fellow (1928-1929) at Cornell University and carried out additional advanced study at Columbia University (1926) and the University of Chicago (1929). His other activities include memberships in numerous organizations such as the North Central Rural Sociology Committee of Wisconsin. In 1957 he was elected President of the American Country Life Association and in recent years has served as a consultant to many different organizations and agencies (e.g. Wisconsin Farm Bureau, Field Staff of Cooperative Extension Service, American Baptist Convention-Rural Program) in their attempts to adjust to rapidly changing conditions.

In the course of his academic career he has published four books: Making Good Communities Better, with Irwin Sanders and others, 1950, revised 1953; Rural Community Development, 1961; A Place to Live, with others, 1963; and Community Development, A Process Approach, 1965. He is now working on a fifth book with J. P. Schmidt and others, Rural Sociologist Practitioner. He has also published numerous articles in such professional journals and magazines as Rural America and the Journal of Rural Sociology, in addition to many bulletins and circulars.

The collection consists of 17 volumes of bound student reports from Wileden's Rural Sociology course in community development at the University of Wisconsin, entitled "Rural Community Analysis, South Central Wisconsin." The reports comprise studies of communities within a fifty-mile radius of Madison. The class studied one community a year from 1949 to 1966; the 1962 report on New Glarus, however, is missing. The reports cover many aspects of each community including historical and ethnic background, religion, education, business and industry, agriculture, organization and planning, and recreation.

The depth and detail of the various analyses are dependent on the number and academic sophistication of the students participating from year to year, since the class was made up of both undergraduate and graduate students specializing in such diverse areas as recreation and agricultural economics.

Each bound report contains an itinerary of the students' initial stay in the community, a description of the student researchers, and a section of recommendations for community improvement. In addition, several volumes contain a section of local newspaper responses to the study. Included with the collection is Professor Wileden's listing of the communities and fields of study under consideration; it is located at the beginning of the collection.

Other writings include Wileden's resume, more rural sociology writings, and some church and fiction essays.

Transparencies include 5 slide shows which include transcripts and audio recordings. There are also slides unassociated with slide shows for several communities. These slides are listed alphabetically by community, followed by five counties listed alphabetically. The communities followed by an * were mostly taken by Wileden's University Claas in Community Development and may coincide with "Rural Community Analysis, South Central Wisconsin" reports

Oral History Interview with Arthur F. Wileden, 1975 (Audio553A).

Acquisition Information

Presented by Arthur F. Wileden, Madison, Wisconsin, March 2, 1970, 1974, and 1975.Accession Number: M70-047, M74-207, M75-183

Processing Information

Processed by Lyndsay Holichek, March 23, 1970.

Mss 80	"Rural Community Analysis, South Central Wisconsin," 1949-1966
Box   1 Folder   1	Wileden's list of communities and fields of study, 1966 July
Box   1 Volume   1	Prairie du Sac and Sauk City, 1949
Box   2 Volume   2	Evansville, 1950
Box   2 Volume   3	Lake Mills, 1951
Box   3 Volume   4	Waterloo, 1952
Box   3 Volume   5	Rio, 1953
Box   4 Volume   6	Randolph, 1954
Box   4 Volume   7	Poynette, 1955
Box   4 Volume   8	Cambridge, 1956
Box   5 Volume   9	Mt. Horeb, 1957
Box   5 Volume   10	Stoughton, 1958
Box   6 Volume   11	Edgerton, 1959
Box   6 Volume   12	Belleville, 1960
Box   7 Volume   13	Sun Prairie, 1961
Box   8 Volume   14	Lodi, 1963
Box   8 Volume   15	Dodgeville, 1964
Box   9 Volume   16	Mineral Point, 1965
Box   10 Volume   17	Jefferson, 1966
	Other writings
Box   11 Folder   1	Resume, 1972
Box   11 Folder   2	Rural Sociology writings
Box   11 Folder   3	Church and fiction essays
M74-207	Slide shows
Box   1	"Community Recreation: What and How" (Neillsville story), 1956
	Audio recordings
Box   1	"Population Changes and Trends in Wisconsin," 1956
	Audio recordings
Box   1	"Rural Resource Development: What and How?" (Price County story),
	Audio recordings
Box   1	"Your Community: What of its Future," circa 1952-1953
	Audio recordings
Box   1	"Your Groups Aid in Community Development," 1954
	Audio recordings
	Transparencies
Box   1	Arena
Box   1	Baldwin
Box   1	Belleville*
Box   1	Berlin
Box   1	Birchwood
Box   1	Blanchardville
Box   1	Delavan
Box   1	Dodgeville*
Box   1	Edgerton*
Box   1	Evansville*
Box   1	Gays Mills
Box   1	Harmony
Box   1	Lake Mills*
Box   1	Lodi*
Box   1	New Glarus*
Box   1	Ojibwa
Box   1	Plainfield
Box   1	Poynette*
Box   1	Randolph*
Box   1	Replinger [sic. Riplinger?]
Box   1	Rio*
Box   1	Rockfield
Box   1	Sauk City and Prairie du Sac*
Box   1	Sparta
Box   1	Stoughton*
Box   1	Unity
Box   1	Waterloo*
Box   1	Wautoma
Box   1	Wild Rose
Box   1	Winneconne
Box   1	Buffalo County
Box   1	Dane County
Box   1	Marinette County
Box   1	Portage County
Box   1	Price County