- Good morning, my name is Matt Blessing. I am the state archivist and I am with the Wisconsin Historical Society, one of the organizers of this symposium. The historical society is very proud to be a cosponsor.  It's my job today to welcome you to this session but I'm particularly pleased because I've known each of the three presenters for many years. I first want to start by thanking Wisconsin Public Television for recording each of the three Wisconsin-focused sessions today. They will be rebroadcast at a later date. I know Wisconsin residents all agree that public broadcasting in both Madison and Milwaukee does a superb job sharing state and local history. The impact of the first world war in Wisconsin of course was profound and I know that each of the presenters will clearly tease out those complexities. And I'll be introducing each of the speakers in the order of their presentation and then I'll get out of the way. First up is Rick Pifer, my friend and former colleague at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Dr. Pifer has studied the Wisconsin home front during World War I and World War II for over 40 years. In retirement, he has returned to writing history. His recently released book, "The Great War Comes to Wisconsin," discusses the many ways Wisconsin residents met the demands of the war. In his comments today, he explores the meaning and the manifestations of patriotism. Second will be Kevin Abing. Dr. Abing is the senior archivist at the Milwaukee County Historical Society. His remarks focus on the home front in the state's largest city. Kevin earned his MA and PhD in history from Marquette University and his interest in Milwaukee during World War I stemmed from his early work processing the papers of socialist mayor Dan Hoan. He became intrigued by the extent and the ferocity of the anti-German and anti-Socialist hysteria during the war and that interest snowballed into his new book, "A Crowded Hour, Milwaukee During the Great War," published this past May. Leslie Bellais will close this session. Ms. Bellais is the curator of social history at the Wisconsin Historical Society, responsibilities which include curation of the society's important textiles collections. Previously, her work at the College of William and Mary's unique graduate program included numerous museum management apprenticeships at colonial Williamsburg. While continuing to work at the Wisconsin Historical Society Leslie has returned to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed her thesis "Bringing Up the Rear, "A History of Late 19th Century Bustles" and is currently working on her dissertation "Trader State, "A Crisis of Loyalty in World War I Wisconsin."  Rick.  - Thank you, Matt. I've titled my paper today "Patriotism in the Traitor State." In response to the Russian Revolution of 1905, Mark Twain wrote The Czar's Soliloquy which contains my favorite definition of patriotism. Twain wrote, "Remember this, take it to heart, "live by it, die for it if necessary. "Our patriotism is medieval, outworn, obsolete. "The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, "the only rational patriotism, "is loyalty to the Nation all of the time, "loyalty to the Government when it deserves it."  Wisconsin was the traitor state or so it seemed to many observers in 1917. And look at the record. The people of Monroe, Wisconsin voted overwhelmingly against going to war. Wisconsin's prominent Socialist Party ejected participation in any way the capitalist conflict. Nine of Wisconsin's 11 representatives voted against the war. Senator Robert M. La Follette lead a filibuster to prevent arming American merchant ships. He was one of six Senators to vote against the war. He lead opposition to conscription, the sale of bonds to finance the war and repression of free speech. Everywhere they looked, the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion believed they could see ample evidence of disloyalty, sedition and unpatriotic behavior. On March 21, 1918, the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion graphically portrayed the state's traitorous reputation in the "Sedition Map," published in the New York Sun. The map showed seditious areas of the state, places where Socialists and La Follette progressives had polled well in the Senate primary in the spring of 1918. In that primary, especially in German areas, the progressives and the socialists did well. Not surprisingly, the legion identified the areas that had voted that way as pro-German and seditious. Visiting pundits from out of state repeatedly joined Wisconsin super-patriots to question the state's loyalty. All too often, instead of critiquing reality, critics saw what they wanted to see.  Wisconsin, the traitor state, was a mirage of their own imaginations. In response, Governor Emanuel Philipp routinely told audiences, "There is nothing wrong with Wisconsin."  He would then launch into a litany of Wisconsin wartime success stories, stories that demonstrated the patriotic nature of the state. Patriotism fueled self-sacrifice in the name of God and country, it motivated young men on the battle field and civilians who volunteered for the Red Cross or YMCA. It motivated those who bought war bonds to help finance the war. But in the wrong hands it also motivated attacks on those who were culturally different or who disagreed as La Follette did with government policy. In many cities and towns, patriotic rallies and parades fulfilled a basic need for community expression of loyalty and unity, and a public affirmation of faith in the nation, but we need to keep in mind that most expressions of patriotism went unheralded by public notice because they were small personal actions. The emphasis on loyalty, duty, and patriotism permeated wartime life. Flags flew on street corners, in window displays, and on newspaper mastheads. The war was the topic of discussion everywhere. In the days immediately following the declaration of war, Wisconsinites quickly fell into line supporting the war effort. Congressman John Esch from La Crosse had voted against the war. The next day he told a constituent, "Now that we are at war, "it becomes the duty of every citizen "to loyally support the government." Bob La Follette took the same position. The draft provided one of the earliest opportunities for Wisconsin to show its true colors. Fearing draft riots in Wisconsin because of the German population, Army officials offered to send federal troops to maintain order on draft registration day, which was set for June 5, 1917. Governor Philipp replied to the federal offer with a polite, "No, thank you." He had full faith in the people of Wisconsin. Without fuss or fanfare, 218,700 young men registered for the draft in Wisconsin, 106% of the number estimated as eligible.  On the home front, activities such as food conservation provided one of the most universal ways in which civilians displayed their patriotism and support for the war effort. Herbert Hoover enlisted millions of American housewives to create food surpluses for Europe through conservation.  For most housewives and families conserving food, eating wheatless or meatless meals, felt good. These daily sacrifices gave meaning to the term patriotism. High participation resulted from patriotic fervor but also from social pressure.  The two really went hand in hand. For example, on the last day of a drive to encourage women to sign the Hoover pledge, an intimidating "automobile parade" drove through Madison. The caravan stopped at every house not sporting a Food Pledge Card in the window. A woman from the parade would get out of the car, go up to the house and precede to convince the housewife that she needed to sign the pledge. And as one would expect, most complied.  Wisconsin farmers responded to the call for more food by bringing approximately 94,000 additional acres under cultivation during the war. By 1918, production of corn, potatoes, oats, and barley, all substitutes for wheat which was going to Europe, they increased production by 10 to 15 percent over prewar output. As agricultural workers entered the military or took industrial jobs in cities, rural communities showed their patriotism by providing stopgap solutions for the shortage in farm labor. In Ashland County, for example, the schools closed for a week in the fall of 1917 to help bring in the harvest.  At home, war gardens brought squash, carrots, turnips, spinach, and a panoply of other produce to the family table, easing some of the strains on commercial agriculture. Perhaps the most important aspect of war gardens, however, was not what they produced, but the sense of participation in the war effort that gardeners felt when they grew their own food. In a society so totally committed to the war effort, gardens gave the young and the old a sense of belonging, of participating, of doing something on their own to win the war. The purchase of war bonds offered another opportunity to express community and personal patriotism. The Liberty Loan drives to sell war bonds were intense affairs that once again drew on patriotism and social pressure to encourage bond purchases. By the third liberty loan drive which was in the Spring of 1918 an army of volunteers canvassed the state, armed with information about each person or family and their ability to buy bonds. Let me say that again.  An army of volunteers canvassed the state armed with information about each person or family and their ability to buy bonds. If a subscriber refused to buy the proper amount, the volunteer would reply regrettably that the slacker's unpatriotic behavior would have to be referred to the county Counsel of Defense for action. 

 This was patriotic fervor's dark side. The language of public discourse created a clear dichotomy between the righteous people of the United States and the bestial Hun, between us and them. As Congress assembled for Wilson's war message in the Spring of 1917, an article in the Wisconsin State Journal helped create the emotional foundation for going to war. It quoted two legislators from the south. Senator Furnifold Simmons of North Carolina stated in the paper, "The interests of America demand that tyranny be beaten."  Texas Representative Joe Eagle made the struggle more basic and visceral, "The Kaiser is a cave man with murder in his heart. "He is bent on the unwavering course of brute force and pillage. "He must be put down or the democracies of the world "are doomed." What else do you put down but a dog? The language of peace, neutrality, and forbearance had given way to the language of war, bellicose, dehumanizing, and designed to create a noble enterprise worthy of the sacrifice of thousands of lives. The language of the congressmen, tyranny, cave man, put down, doomed, made it clear the nation faced a subhuman rival determined to subjugate its enemies under a brutal and tyrannical regime. According to the State Journal, a war in defense of "humanity and democracy" was the only choice. Nothing less than the future of the nation was at stake. A flippant comment could bring social retribution instantly. A Brown County farmer stopped in a local saloon for some refreshment. According to the bartender, the farmer stood at the bar "decrying the strength of the American Navy and Army, "and sneering at the fighting ability of the soldiers." The barkeep found the remarks intolerable, perhaps in part because the farmer was an alien. As he told the municipal court officials the next day, "I reached over, I grabbed him, I hit him. "I hit him again and threw him out of my bar.  The story came to light because the saloon keeper had gone to the municipal court to find out if a warrant had been sworn for his own arrest. Having admitted to assaulting the farmer, the barman walked away from the courthouse a free man. The farmer was unlikely to be as lucky. Municipal court officials were going to report the matter to Federal authorities.  During the war, 90 people in Wisconsin were indicted under the Espionage Act for praising Germany, criticizing the United States, or calling the conflict a rich man's war. Additional indictments were handed down to others for criticizing Liberty Bonds, the Allies, charities such as the Red Cross, or food laws, obstructing military recruiting, insulting the flag or uniform, or praising the sinking of a ship. The culture of war eventually had an impact on children as well. Across Wisconsin the study of anything German, especially language, became suspect as a vehicle for insinuating "German Kulture" into American life. In Milwaukee the number of German teachers dropped from two hundred to just one. All over the state English was the language of patriots. Into this hostile environment came young Bobby Bizzell of Kaukauna. One day he was playing with friends when two workmen walked by, speaking to each other in German. Bobby picked up a large club and struck one of the men a hard blow. When taken into the house for punishment, his little sister, as little sisters will do, chided him, "Bobby, you shouldn't have hit that man. "How do you know but that he was Jesus in working clothes?" To which Bobby replied, "Jesus, do you think he'd be talking German?"  Governor Emanuel Philipp believed in the loyalty and patriotism of the entire state regardless of ethnicity. He had little patience for the vigilante justice or for super patriots determined to find traitorous behavior in their communities. In his most strident denunciation of super patriots, Governor Philipp told an audience that the willingness to charge others with disloyalty "is a type of impudence that is indulged in "by a class of self-asserted patriots "who are the greatest menace to the country today, "because they discourage what the country needs "above all things during a crisis, "and that is the hearty cooperation of all the people "in support of the war." Most Americans drew great satisfaction from volunteer work, food and fuel conservation, bond and fund-raising drives, and farm and factory production. The true mark of patriotism on the home front was not the great heroic act or the super patriot worried about imaginary traitors in Wisconsin. It was the small sacrifices made every day by average people to win the war. Thank you very much. (audience applause)  - Right, well, thank you everyone for attending, appreciate that. I've titled my talk "Milwaukee Goes to War." And, World War I brought out the best in some people but also the worst in others. My book delves into these extremes and everything in between from the local perspective of Wisconsin's largest city. The war's anti-German hysteria certainly was not exclusive to Milwaukee, but as one of the country's most Teutonic cities, it certainly suffered from the cloud of suspicion that patriots cast over it. The presence of a strong Socialist Party which, in general, opposed all wars as capitalistic conquests to dominate world markets heightened Milwaukee's taint of treason and added a sense of urgency to patriots' efforts to redeem the city's reputation. Milwaukee was governed by a Socialist mayor, Dan Hoan, and was also home of one of the party's guiding forces, Victor Berger, a native of Austria-Hungary and the first Socialist elected to the U.S. Congress. Despite this double curse, Milwaukeeans answered every call to support the war. They easily fulfilled the city's draft quotas and they oversubscribed its allotments in all four Liberty Bond drives by millions of dollars. Milwaukee factories churned out every conceivable product for the military with only minor labor disturbances. Women demonstrated their loyalty by moving into factory jobs, thus avoiding a potentially severe labor shortage, and ordinary citizens planted victory gardens, they did Red Cross work and abided by government meatless, wheatless, lightless and gasolineless restrictions. Nevertheless, these accomplishments did not quiet the pro-war clamoring in Milwaukee. President Woodrow Wilson's administration fueled the drive for 100% Ame  So who were these hyper-patriots who organized to defend the state against these slurs to its reputation? And that's been really my main focus of my research. You can identify them by who their enemies were who we heard about to a certain extent but who are well recognized in this cartoon that's titled, "How Long Would Germany Stand For It?" So this is Uncle Sam throwing out the enemies which include labor and union agitators, conscientious objectors, pacifists, spies, German sympathizers, the Irish who were anti-British, food speculators, of course socialists and then some strange category called sentimental obstructionists, who I need to do more research on. But what I have found out is these hyper-patriots, Wisconsin's hyper-patriots who you heard a little bit about so far were generally business leaders and white-collar professionals. They were men and women used to being in power and having their word obeyed. They were definitely not used to having their leadership and authority questioned. I find that in Wisconsin, they were predominantly of New England and New York ancestries and that they generally felt they knew how to be American better than any hyphenated immigrants or their descendants, especially German Americans. This Wisconsin Yankee population from descendants of New England and New York appeared to have used the war effort to reinforce their definitions of Americanism patriotism and loyalty. Their number one target during this time was Robert M. La Follette, Wisconsin's senior senator. Early on, he became a national symbol of treasonous and seditious behavior, primarily first for not supporting the arming of merchant marine ships in March of 1917. This made the paper in quite an angry way. And for voting against, a few weeks' later, America's participation in the war. And as you've heard, unlike other Wisconsin congressmen who voted against entrance into the war but later supported the war effort once war was declared, La Follette continued to speak out against the war and all of its supposed concerns for the war's duration. Anger against La Follette came to a head in September of 1917 when he was misquoted by the Associated Press as saying to the nonpartisan league in a speech to them that America had, "no grievance against Germany." Actually he had just said the opposite however this got published, that he had no grievance against Germany all over the United States. The United States Senate immediately considered expelling him from Congress and state legislators here in Wisconsin urged them to do so. Governor Philipp, a couple weeks after this came out, publicly stated that Wisconsin's loyalty problems primarily stemmed from Robert M. La Follette. And then in February of 1918, this round robin that you're seeing here on the right, this round robin petition was sent among UW faculty condemning his behavior. The petition protested "against those utterances and actions "of senator Robert M. La Follette "which have given aid and comfort to Germany "and her allies in the present war. "We deplore his failure loyally "to support the government in the persecution of this war." 400 of the 404 faculty at UW- Madison signed this petition. Strangely, in the end-- strangely from a hyperpatriotism point of view-- he remained in office because the senate realized he had been misquoted and eventually he was vindicated in this round robin which had originally one of his friends had wanted to burn on the grounds of the state capital, was preserved as Robert La Follette asked it to go to the historical society to be preserved for future generations to see what had happened during this tense time.  Their second major target which you've also heard about and here's pictures of them now, are the Milwaukee Socialists. Milwaukee had the largest and most vocal group of socialists in Wisconsin, perhaps in the United States, and Victor Berger, who you've heard about who is on the right here was probably the most harassed of them. In September of 1918, the postmaster general denied his newspaper which was the Milwaukee Leader, a socialist newspaper, second class mailing privileges and this meant that most of their papers which were sold by subscription through the mail could not get out to their subscribers. He also finally in February of 1918 suffered probably the worst, the worst of these harassments when he was indicted by the U.S. government for treason and sedition. He was later convicted and was told he would be serving three years in Leavenworth. But more about him later. You've also heard about Daniel Hoan, the mayor of Milwaukee, another socialist, and you can see maybe why the hyper-patriots would have a problem with him with this quote that I have up here that says, "The American people did not want "and do not want this war. "They were plunged into this abyss "by the treachery of the ruling class of the country." So interestingly, and you've heard about Wheeler Bloodgood so I won't go too much more into that anymore that Wheeler Bloodgood asked the federal government to impose martial law if Hoan won the election in April of 1918. As you heard, Hoan did win and there was no martial law. So in the end, the socialists remained in power in Milwaukee for several more decades, meaning that these hyper-patriots in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin did not successfully get rid of this group. The third group, which you've also heard about, are German Americans. German Americans posed a problem to their Yankee neighbors because in many ways they considered themselves at least equals, if not better, than these neighbors, especially as you've heard, in arts and education. And World War I gave the hyper-patriots a chance to change this dynamic. So you see war propaganda like keep back the Huns with Liberty Loans from the federal government. This is from the committee on public information, that left many nervous about German spies and traitors. And as we've noted before, Germans were often portrayed as monsters or subhuman creatures like this Hun in this picture. hyper-patriots attacks against German-Americans seemed to primarily be about suppressing German-American pride, and as you've heard, eliminating the German language from schools, churches and other institutions. And in this picture on the right, It says, "here lies the remains "of German in BHS," which is Baraboo High School. We're now beginning to think that this picture which was taken the day after high school graduation, the burning occurred the day of the high school graduation, may have been a high school prank against a German teacher and not directly related to the war. However, its timing is awfully suspicious and we do know that other communities like Shell Lake, Spooner and Westby, Wisconsin also burned books and images of the Kaiser in public bonfires. So in the end, as you've also kind of heard, from the previous speakers, the hyper-patriots were fairly successful in destroying German culture in Wisconsin. So let's look at a couple of these hyper-patriots. I'm gonna start with Wheeler Bloodgood who you've heard about already. He was a lawyer in Milwaukee and he was from Dutch New York background. So he fit into this definition of what a hyper-patriot should be. He was the founder in March of 1917 of the Wisconsin Defense League who's stated purpose was among other things to ultimately destroy the idea prevalent throughout the country that Wisconsin was a hotbed of sedition and disloyalty. When they realized that their name of the Defense League was too similar to the Counsel of Defense, the state organization, Wheeler Bloodgood and his fellow members changed the name to the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion in September of 1917. Their pledge was to unite the peo