Interview
Following the donation of a clipping scrapbook by Mr. Carlson to the State Historical Society and a suggestion by John K. Kyle, Progressive Party leader, that the Society consider him as an interview subject, oral history coordinator Dale Treleven and Robert F. Burk visited Laurie Carlson at his home at 1107 South Division Street, Waunakee, Wisconsin. Their discussions with Mr. Carlson and his wife, Helen (Whipple) Carlson, in November 1979, lasting 2 1/2 hours, indicated that Mr. Carlson possessed many valuable insights into the personalities and issues of state politics in the 1930's and 1940's. After Mr. Carlson readily agreed to participate in taping sessions, Burk provided him with an outline of topics and questions to be discussed during the interview. The interview was taped in two sessions, on November 29, 1979 (Tapes 1-3) and December 13, 1979 (Tapes 4-6), in the Sellery Room of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
The first session, which began at 9:30 a.m. and lasted 2 1/2 hours, included discussions of Mr. Carlson's parents, his introduction to politics, his role in Progressive Party organization, his campaigns, and his legislative career. At one point, the interview was interrupted by sirens from emergency vehicles on the street outside. The second interview session on December 13 was less tightly structured than the first. Because the discussions focused on Mr. Carlson's career after his service in the legislature, less extensive background research could be performed, and Burk felt that allowing Mr. Carlson to respond to more “open-ended” questions would permit freer recollections of events and issues. The second taping session includes discussions about Mr. Carlson's warehouse and curling interests and his career at WIBA, as well as supplementary observations to the first session on the defeat of Philip F. La Follette in the 1938 gubernatorial election. Of special note are Mr. Carlson's recollections and evaluations of Philip F. La Follette, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., and William T. Evjue, publisher of the Capital Times. The second taping session began at 9:30 a.m. and lasted 2 1/2 hours.
Abstract to the Interview
The tapes for this interview have two tracks: a voice track containing the discussion, and a time track containing time announcements at intervals of approximately five seconds. The contents list indicates in order of discussion the topics covered on each tape, and indicates the time-marking at which point the beginning of the particular discussion appears.
Thus, the researcher, by using a tape recorder's fast-forward button, may find and listen to discrete segments without listening to all of the taped discussion. For instance, the user who wishes to listen to the topic on “Carlson's College Years” should locate the place on the second track of tape one, side one, where the voice announces the 05:20 time-marking (the voice says “five minutes, twenty seconds”), and at this point switch to the first track to hear the discussion. The discussion on “Carlson's College Years” continues until approximately 11:30, at which point discussion of the next topic (“Formation of Progressive Party in 1934”) begins.
Notice that in most cases further explanation of the contents of each topic are given within the contents list. For example, the sentences underneath “Carlson's College Years” give further details on what appears on the tape between 05:20 and 11:30.
The abstract is designed to provide only a brief outline of the content of the tapes and cannot serve as a substitute for listening to them. However, when used with the index, the abstract will help the researcher to easily locate distinct topics and discussion among the many minutes of commentary.
Index to the Interview
The index, which is keyed to the same time announcement track (second track) as the contents list, gives a single alphabetical listing of proper nouns (persons, places, groups, organizations, books, periodicals), distinct historical phenomena (World War II), and concepts and activities (banking regulation, elections, labor, taxation) which appear on the tape/in the contents list. Each entry is followed by one or more citations specifying the location(s) where the entry appears. For instance, Alfonsi, Paul is followed by the citation 4/1, 13:45. This indicates that a reference to Paul Alfonsi appears on Tape 4, Side 1, within the time-marking beginning at 13:45 of the time announcement. The index includes cross-references but no subheadings except where there are a considerable number of entries for a heading that may be easily divided.
