Title: Gertrude F. Schumann Diaries
Inclusive Dates: 1923-1989

Creator:

• Schumann, Gertrude F., 1907-1989

Call Number: Whitewater Mss CI; PH Whitewater Mss CI

Quantity: 2.4 c.f. (6 archives boxes) and 1 photograph

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives & Area Research Center, Harold Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; 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-Whitewater Library / Whitewater Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Diaries of a resident of Watertown, Wisconsin, resident, and one photograph of Mrs. Schumann in her wedding dress.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-whit00ci

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Gertrude Lydia Fleisher Schumann was born in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on May 24, 1907. She was the daughter of Hermann Fleisher, a Lutheran pastor and educator at Northwestern University in Watertown. Schumann lived in Lake Geneva for fifteen years and then lived in Hustisford before moving to Watertown where she attended Northwestern Preparatory School. After graduation, Schumann worked as a secretary and at the Bank of Watertown. On September 2, 1929 she married Harold L. Schumann whom she met while working at the bank. Harold Schumann was the president of the bank and worked there for forty-five years. The Schumanns had three sons: Thomas, b. 1932; John, b. 1935; and David, b. 1937.

This collection is comprised primarily of diaries written by Gertrude Schumann from September 1929 to April 1989 shortly before her death. Schumann destroyed all diaries she kept prior to 1929, but did record excerpts of those diaries from 1923-1929. In addition, Schumann kept pieces of ephemera in her diaries including letters from family, newspaper clippings, and greeting cards.

Schumann's diaries are a record of her daily life for over sixty years. Family activities and events are recorded in great detail as well as events in Watertown and the surrounding area. Schumann also records her personal impressions of family and friends and her thoughts about her productivity at home. She also comments on contemporary events such as rationing and milestones during World War II, the Korean War, the launching of Sputnik, the advent of television, the assassinations of President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Watergate scandal, and the Iran-Contra affair. Schumann also comments frequently about politics and expresses her views on the political ideologies and actions of politicians from President Franklin Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan.

The diaries are arranged chronologically, beginning with the excerpts from the 1923-1929 diaries. Completing the collection is the ephemera which has been labeled with the date of where it originated in the diaries and is arranged chronologically.

Acquisition Information

Presented by David R. Schumann, Watertown, Wis., 2003. Accession Number: M2003-144

Processing Information

Processed by Amy Rommel, 2003.

Whitewater Mss CI	Diaries
Box   1 Folder   1	1923-1929 Note: excerpts
Box   1 Folder   2-8	1929 Sept.-1950 Dec.
Box   2 Folder   1-8	1951 Jan.-1959 Oct.
Box   3 Folder   1-9	1959 Oct.-1970 Feb.
Box   4 Folder   1-9	1970 Mar.-1978 Oct.
Box   4 Folder   10	1978 Sept.
Box   4 Folder   11	1978 Oct.-1979 Dec.
Box   5 Folder   1-8	1980 Jan.-1989 Apr.
	Ephemera
Box   5 Folder   9-18	1939-1948
Box   6 Folder   1-8	1949-1956
Box   6 Folder   9-35	1958-1989
Box   6 Folder   36	Wedding photograph (copy)
PH Whitewater Mss CI	Wedding photograph (original)