Title: Leslie H. Fishel, Jr. Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1939-1999

Creator:

• Fishel, Leslie H., Jr., 1921-

Call Number: Mss 943; PH Mss 943

Quantity: 4.8 c.f. (12 archives boxes), 15 photographs (2 folders), and 1 drawing (1 folder)

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 Leslie H. Fishel, Jr., an historian, director of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (1959-1969), president of Heidelberg College (1969-1980), and director of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center (1980-1988). Included are personal correspondence including extensive letters regarding his service in the Navy during World War II, professional correspondence, speeches and writings, and papers pertaining to activities for Oberlin College, the First Congregational Church of Madison, the Friends of the Urban League in Madison, and the University YMCA. Many of the speeches were delivered as a representative of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin or as president of Heidelberg College. The writings reflect his interest and knowledge of African-American history. Photographs in this collection include images of Fishel during his Naval service, portraits, and group pictures. There is also a caricature of Fishel when he became director of the Society.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00943

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Leslie Henry Fishel, Jr., was born on November 14, 1921 in New York City. He grew up in New York and graduated from Oberlin College in 1943 with an AB in History. Shortly after graduation he married Barbara Richards and then enlisted in the Navy. Fishel spent 24 months in the Atlantic Theatre, first commanding a subchaser and then a destroyer escort. Released from active duty in 1946 with the rank of lieutenant, Fishel subsequently enrolled at Harvard University. He completed his A.M. in History in 1947 and his Ph.D. in 1954. Both degrees focused on African-American history.

From 1948 to 1955 Fishel taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1955 he returned to Oberlin to head the Alumni Association, at the same time teaching one of the first college courses that focused entirely on African-American history. In 1959 Fishel became the director of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in Madison. During his tenure, the Society expanded its historic sites and its Social Action Collection began to collect the papers of civil rights workers. The Society itself completed a physical expansion, growing by 100,000 square feet.

In Madison Fishel was involved with the University YMCA and the First Congregational Church, and he was active in the effort to establish a local Urban League chapter. With Benjamin Quarles, in 1967 Fishel wrote The Negro American: A Documentary History, later renamed The Black American, a standard text for high schools and colleges.

In 1969 Fishel became president of Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio. During his presidency (1969-1980) the college experienced rising enrollments. In 1970 President Richard Nixon appointed Fishel to the National Endowment for the Humanities. During this period he also served on the Council for Higher Education of the United Church of Christ and as a trustee of the Ohio Historical Society.

In 1980 Fishel left Heidelberg to become director of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio. In 1980 he retired to Madison where he resumed his active historical career and involvement with the First Congregational Church.

The Fishel Papers document his scholarly and personal life; they are complemented by the General Administrative correspondence of the State Historical Society (Series 934) and by the personal papers of his sister, Barbara Fishel. The Leslie H. Fishel Papers are arranged as BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL, CORRESPONDENCE, SPEECHES AND WRITINGS, ACTIVITIES, and VISUAL MATERIALS

The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL consists of biographical newspaper clippings and brief military records.

The CORRESPONDENCE is divided into two chronologically arranged subsections: Personal and Professional. The personal correspondence, which is largely outgoing, dates to his college years, and it includes references to college life, religious views, service during World War II, and post-war plans. The section concerning activities as a graduate student at Harvard include letters from his advisor, Arthur M. Schlesinger. The later correspondence focuses primarily on historical research. The personal correspondence from the 1960s and 1970s is limited with the exception of exchanges with Don McNeil, the former assistant director of the Historical Society. This file contains both incoming and outgoing letters about Fishel's early days at the Society. The personal correspondence from the 1980s and 1990s is more extensive, and these letters reflect the family's changing lifestyle, especially after his retirement in 1988. One folder of correspondence here consists of sporadic letters written by Barbara Fishel, the majority of which were written to her parents early in her married life.

The professional correspondence is more focused on academic and scholarly pursuits, covering the period 1959 to 1988. The majority of these letters concern the years when Fishel was director of the Historical Society. With the exception of the 1975-1988 period, which is in chronological order, the professional correspondence is filed alphabetically by name. Prominent in the correspondence are exchanges about the writing of The Negro American, the book Fishel wrote with Benjamin Quarles, and his work as a museum accreditor for the Rock County Historical Society and the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.

The SPEECHES AND WRITINGS series is subdivided by genre into articles, book reviews, and speeches and then arranged chronologically. There are no draft materials for The Negro American in the collection. The speeches parallel Fishel's career, and as a result many pertain to his changing responsibilities at the State Historical Society and at Heidelberg College. Others concern his lifelong interest in African American history and contemporary racial issues. The less extensive file of articles includes some research materials. The section entitled book reviews includes some similar commentaries that were orally presented. Of special note are the talks to the Madison Literary Club.

The ACTIVITIES series focuses on organizations with which Fishel was involved while residing in Madison. They are arranged alphabetically by organization name. The earliest records document Fishel's involvement with Oberlin College after moving the Madison in 1959. In addition to general correspondence concerning the Alumni Association, a discrete file concerns the Shansi Memorial Association, an Asian missionary organization that Fishel served as a member of the board. The records of the Madison YMCA include correspondence and minutes of the Personnel Committee. The files on the Friends of the National Urban League include correspondence, minutes, correspondence, lists, and other organizational records of a committee that worked to establish a league chapter in Madison. These records complement the records of the Madison Urban League also held by the Historical Society. The files on the First Congregational Church span the period 1964-1969 and 1990-1996. They document his membership on several important committees and his tenure in 1966 as moderator, the highest lay administrative position in the church. The later files concern a sesquicentennial congregational history that Fishel wrote with George Shands in 1996.

The VISUAL MATERIALS series includes images related to Fishel's military service and images of Fishel, family, and friends, and Fishel with colleagues. Also included is a caricature of Fishel.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Leslie H. Fishel, Jr., Madison, Wisconsin, 1969-1999. Accession Number: M69-187, M2000-078

Processing Information

Processed by Ian Stade (archives intern) and Carolyn J. Mattern, 2000.

Mss 943	Series: Biographical Miscellany
Box   1 Folder   1	Biographical clippings, 1955-1988
Box   1 Folder   2	Military records, 1943-1962
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
	Personal
Box   1 Folder   3-10	1939-1953 Letters to Fishel's family about life at sea, naval chapel services, and an informal letter to the President (Wilkins) of Oberlin College about naval life and continuing education are available online; click here.
Box   2 Folder   1-11	1954-1979
Box   3 Folder   1-9	1980-1985
	1986-1999
Box   4 Folder   1-13	A-Q
Box   5 Folder   1-6	R-Z
Box   7 Folder   9	Barbara Fishel, 1951-1997
	Professional
Box   5 Folder   7-13	1957-1961
	1962
Box   5 Folder   14-15	A-M
Box   6 Folder   1	N-Z
Box   6 Folder   2-12	1963-1968
Box   7 Folder   1-5	1969-1988
Box   7 Folder   6-8	Correspondence regarding Negro American, 1964-1968
	Series: Speeches and Writings	⇧
	Articles
Box   7 Folder   10	1944-1947
Box   8 Folder   1-6	1948-1988
Box   8 Folder   7-9	Book reviews, 1949-1996
	Speeches
Box   8 Folder   10	1953-1958
Box   9 Folder   1-10	1959-1974
Box   10 Folder   1-9	1975-1988
Box   11 Folder   1-2	1989-1999
	Series: Activities	⇧
Box   11 Folder   3	Conference on Inter-racial Tensions, 1968
	First Congregational Church
Box   11 Folder   4	General, 1964-1969
Box   11 Folder   7	History Project, 1990-1996
Box   11 Folder   5	Pastoral succession, 1964-1965
	Reorganization Committee
Box   11 Folder   8	1967
Box   12 Folder   1	1968
	Friends of the National Urban League
Box   11 Folder   6	1962
Box   12 Folder   2-3	1963-1968
	Oberlin College
Box   12 Folder   4-5	General, 1961-1967
Box   12 Folder   6	Shansi Memorial Association, 1954-1969
Box   12 Folder   7	Teaching (MIT and Oberlin), 1947, 1956-1958
	YMCA
Box   12 Folder   8	General, 1961-1965
Box   12 Folder   9	Personnel Committee, 1963-1969
PH Mss 943	Series: Visual Materials	⇧
	Photographs
Box   1	Military Service
Box   2	Portraits, family, and with others
Box   3	Drawing