Wisconsin Stories is a partnership
of the Wisconsin Historical Society
and Wisconsin Public Television.
Debbie Kmetz: What a big barn! It's beautiful.
Tracy Will: And historic.
In fact, this barn not only sits in the center
of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's
Agriculture campus
it was at the center of a revolution in agriculture
that would affect farming practices around the world.
I'm Tracy Will of Wisconsin Public Television
And I'm Debbie Kmetz
of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
And for its important place in history
this big big barn is being nominated
to the National Register of Historic Places.
It's a symbol still in use
of where research science met practical application.
Where, at the turn of the last century
researchers from the university
worked together with Wisconsin farmers.
And together, they promoted
some very revolutionary ideas in agriculture.
Those are just some of the big ideas
that we'll look at in this show.
Ideas that germinated right here in Wisconsin
influenced the nation, and even the world.
You know, there are some other big ideas
that sprouted in Wisconsin
and some people with big ideas
that went on to influence the world of government
social policy and even festivals.
That means we'll get even more festive later in the show.
So, stay with us for this edition of Wisconsin Stories.
"Sprouted?!" ( both laugh )
Funding for Wisconsin Stories is provided in part
by an advised fund of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin;
the Estate and family of Lois Backus;
the Halbert and Alice Kadish Foundation;
and Philip J. and Elizabeth B. Hendrickson
encouraging you to support history
on Wisconsin Public Television
and to visit Wisconsin's treasured historic sites.
History is the work of millions of individuals.
The future will be the work of these individuals.
Therefore, Wisconsin studies and preserves its history
that the past may be the guide for the present
and future.
For more than a hundred years
this has been the responsibility
of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Will: That was the 1950s.
Today, the Wisconsin Historical Society
is over 150 years old.
It was one of the first, and now the oldest
publicly-supported history societies in the United States.
Kmetz: In the 1840s and '50s
when many were just settling here
the new Historical Society was also breaking new ground.
Unlike the restricted membership
or private societies of other states
Wisconsin evolved
in a different direction--
More of "history of the people, for the people."
Will: And it became a model
of open membership and public access.
Tour Guide: We're going to keep moving.
We've got a lot to see today...
Kmetz: And led to the gathering
of many, now world-famous collections.
Tour Guide: Our first paid director was known as a secretary
Lyman Copeland Draper.
He got the job in 1853.
And draper was just an avaricious collector.
Well, of course, in 1853, Wisconsin was the American West
along with Kentucky
Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, places of that nature.
And Draper collected widely in all of those areas
of people he thought were historical figures.
So, if you'll turn right around
and look on this side of the aisle
you're going to see the papers of Daniel Boone.
Kmetz: The Daniel Boone papers
Thomas Jefferson's signature
the diary of Charles Floyd
of the Lewis and Clark expedition--
Some of these made Draper controversial
when others, too late
found he had beat them to the historical punch.
Les Fishel: He was an omnivorous collector.
When he moved here from Philadelphia
he had thousands of books.
In the 1850s, to have thousands of books--
that's a huge library.
Well, all of that, and what he collected
and kept in his own home
became part of the Draper collection.
He willed it to the Society.
And we got it in the early 1890s.
Kmetz: Now, the library's American History collection
is second only in size to the one at the Library of Congress.
But Draper needed someone to sort those books
Daniel Durrie, the librarian.
Well, Draper was outgoing and voluble
and eccentric, in a way.
Durrie was reserved, and factual and detailed.
He handled the details.
Will: It's interesting that the two qualities
allow one to collect and one to classify.
That's absolutely right.
Someone has to assemble the pieces
and make the total picture come clear.
The State Society has made this work easier
by indexing its materials in many classifications.
Will: Classifying was another idea.
Part of the emerging science
of history.
A new social study of the past.
And in another new twist, not just famous people.
That democratic approach--
I call it a democratic approach--
has characterized the way the Society collects
and the things the Society is interested in.
Everyday things.
Everyday things and everyday people.
That's the kind of thing they're going to collect.
Wherever the scattered pieces may be
the state and local societies keep gathering them together
gradually completing the story
of the part individuals have played in our history.
Will: It was the second director, Reuben Gold Thwaites
who pursued the people collections.
And another Wisconsin idea, local history societies
affiliated with the state.
Today, there are over 320 separate groups
a virtual army of community collectors
of artifacts and records.
Kept from early days
all through the years of growth and immigration
here at the vital statistics of our heritage.
Kmetz: This is the people's business.
The census, citizenship and immigration papers
tax rolls, patent filings
church and business records.
government pamphlets--
A paper trail of history
right down to those who served in the U.S. Military
and newspapers--
local to international.
Here, too, is a record of Wisconsin's place
in the total American experiment.
How this state's progressive developments were copied
and often studied throughout the world.
Kmetz: Progressive developments
like the Historical Society's model for public membership
access to research
and the idea of popularizing the study of history.
On a Saturday morning when people are coming
to do genealogical research at 8:00 in the morning
people almost rush up the stairs
to get the choice of microfilm readers.
Will: With so many collections, you have to ask:
How did the Society choose what to save?
Fishel: You collect everything.
I mean, literally everything; you bring it in.
And then, at the point of getting it ready
to put it in boxes like this, in the archives
At that point, you make decisions
"Yes, you want this," or, "you don't want this."
And you do it as best you can
with the space limitations that you have.
Will: Early on, the collections quickly overflowed the shelves
until in 1900
a new building was erected in the center of the Madison campus
and shared with the university it's many resources.
And where the next set of directors
continued to collect the people's history.
What types of things were collected
while you were director?
This was the period, in the 1960s
of the Civil Rights movement, which developed.
And of course, Wisconsin was a big part of that.
You're standing right in front
of the Americans for Democratic Action papers.
And that was part of it.
This is the political wing
of liberal, social action orientation.
And so, they became part of the collection.
And it's continued to grow.
History in Wisconsin is on the march.
People make that history.
You and I, our next door neighbors
our forefathers.
So, it's a personal story. And it's our story.
Kmetz: In the 1950s, it was Director Clifford Lord
who began the mass media collections
with journalism papers
news casts and later, Hollywood films and TV archives.
I followed Cliff Lord
which was the hardest thing for me to do
because he was good.
He did a great job to maintain
the democratic nature of the Society
to popularize the Society
within the state.
And he deserves a lot of credit.
I want you, right here, now to take out
one of our special $1.00 one-year memberships
in the State Historical Society
of Wisconsin.
Will: It was also Cliff Lord
who opened the first area research centers
and the first historic sites
like the Wade House, east of Fond du Lac.
...restored as another symbol of our heritage.
Kmetz: And commissioned this film we've been watching
which, in a way, also preserves
the Society's innovative ideas
of history of the people, for the people.
It's a living, active reminder
that those of us--
We all live in the present and we look to the future.
And it reminds us
that the past is part of the present
and of the future, and the Historical Society.
This one and all of the other great ones across the country
and local societies are that.
They are reminders of something
that is very significant.
Our Wisconsin heritage is present
in the activities of our historical societies.
Here is the presence of our past.
For us, a present starting point.
Will: In 1900, Wisconsin citizens
elected "Fighting Bob" La Follette governor
ushering in an era of new ideas for governing the state.
La Follette, a leader in a movement called "Progressivism"
drew nationwide attention for his innovative reforms
and Wisconsin became known as a "Laboratory of Democracy."
In terms of a state being a laboratory for this
Wisconsin's the real pioneer.
Wisconsin's the place that everybody else is looking to.
Will: La Follette came to power
at a time of great upheaval and economic change.
As Wisconsin economy became more industrialized
as corporations became more powerful
and as workers toiled under brutal conditions
weathering periods of economic depression
and unemployment.
With few experts available
in state government to advise him
Governor La Follette turned to professors
from the University of Wisconsin
a partnership which became known as the "Wisconsin Idea."
La Follette called on
newly-arrived Economics Professor, John R. Commons
to write Wisconsin's Civil Service Law.
It was the first of several landmark Wisconsin laws
written by Commons and his students.
Commons, an economist and labor historian
studied institutions
and worked to find practical solutions
to pressing economic problems.
He believed that applying methods
from the new fields of Social Science
could improve the economy
and head off the threat of a growing Socialist movement.
Cooper: What Commons was very conscious of
was a non-socialist alternative.
There's an idea here that everybody can win
that everybody can be a winner.
Some people buy into that, some don't.
But it's very much an expression of this great faith
in reason, in expertise, in facts
in scientific knowledge and method--
If you can bring all of these together
you can create this great harmony.
One place to find John Commons' legacy
is in the archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Here, I have the Enrolled Acts
and Joint Resolutions of the Legislature from 1907.
These are the actual bills signed by the Governor.
It was then that Commons worked with progressives
and representatives of the utilities
to extend the authority of the railroad commission
over public utilities.
Wisconsin's Public Utility Law became a model
adopted by many other states.
Regulation of monopoly utilities
such as telephone companies
was taken out of the hands of the state legislature
and put under the control of an expert commission.
Cooper: This is the great contribution of the progressives
the administrative approach.
The idea is that what you want to have
is a continuing body of experts
who can oversee things as they happen.
Interestingly, we see it
a little differently now, perhaps
but this is talking about
returning government to the people.
The idea is that these commissions will do that
that they will actually give more
not less popular control.
Will: John Commons was soon drawn
to the growing problem of industrial accidents
and organized labor's demand
for a system of compensation for injured workers.
Cooper: The situation for industrial accidents was terrible.
The rates were very high
especially in heavy industry, say, steel making
or forging, anything like that.
This is brutal work
and long hours.
So, you get people who are tired
who are doing very heavy work.
And employers were not
paying a great deal of attention to it, either.
The only recourse the workers could have
would be to try to go to court.
And of course, the businesses, on the other hand
have legal staffs or can hire the best lawyers that they want.
So, it's a very unequal situation.
Workers really don't have much recourse.
Will: Commons studied the U.S. Steel Corporation
and learned they had reduced accidents by two-thirds
by instituting safety measures into their plants.
In his autobiography, he wrote that he decided then
"...that a workmen's accident compensation law
if properly drawn, would cost nobody anything."
Instead of defending themselves in criminal court
businesses could purchase workers' compensation insurance
with rates based on
the safety record of the company.
His ideas were incorporated into Wisconsin Law in 1911
creating the nation's first Workmen's Compensation plan.
Now, as important as it was to establish workmen's compensation
it was the creation later that year, in 1911
of the Industrial Commission
that for the first time combined safety regulation
and workmen's compensation
under one expert commission.
Cooper: Commons' idea was that the funds
that the businesses would be taxed--
that they would have to pay into this--
would be used to promote safety.
And if that's the case
then it's going to be something where the businesses
are not going to have to pay out for the claims.
Then, the costs can be lowered, and the taxes can be lowered.
What he's trying to do is give the businesses a self-interest
to show them that it's in their self-interest to promote safety.
And it worked. It worked very well.
Will: In 1920, Commons extended his ideas on workers' compensation
to the persistent problem of unemployment.
He developed an unemployment compensation plan
that would reward businesses that managed to minimize layoffs
and provided a modest payment to unemployed workers.
In 1932, during the Great Depression
a modified version of Commons' bill
was signed by Governor Phil La Follette
the son of "Fighting Bob."
It was the nation's first Unemployment Compensation Plan.
Some of Commons' students would go on to help create
and administer a new national program
of unemployment compensation and old age pensions
called Social Security.
Cooper: Commons believed that what we should have
were especially American conditions.
We can have private enterprise.
We can have economic freedom.
We can have the efficiencies.
We can have the other benefits
that come from private enterprise.
But we can protect--
We can protect the workers.
We can protect the public.
We can avoid the ill consequences.
And again, he's the man who really believes
that you can bring it all together.
He is, in some ways, the "Great American Optimist."
Strange looking contraption, isn't it?
It revolutionized the whole dairy industry.
If it wasn't for this machine
we wouldn't have a dairy industry that produces
one-fifth of the total farm income of the country.
Kmetz: In 1890, Professor Stephen Babcock
of the fledgling College of Agriculture
at the University of Wisconsin
perfected a simple, yet accurate method
of testing the butterfat content of milk.
Used for decades, the Babcock test
provided dairy producers with a standardized method
of judging milk quality
impacting dairy production throughout the nation.
It is just one of many dairy inventions
to come out of Wisconsin
helping to earn the Dairy State
a place as a major dairy producer and innovator.
But it wasn't always that way.
In fact, after the Civil War
Wisconsin was better known as a producer of wheat.
Margaret Bogue: In Wisconsin, the initial cash agricultural crop
was wheat farming.
And the wheat would do extremely well.
But, as time went on
planting the same thing
you tended to wear out your soil
and you got into disease problems.
So, basically, there has to be a transition.
There's got to be a change.
Kmetz: Very few farmers chose full-scale dairying.
Most kept a few cows on their farms
using them to produce milk and butter
and beef for their own use.
On top of that, compared to wheat
dairying was expensive and hard work.
By 1870, they haven't gotten into the dairy answer.
That answer came kind of hard.
It was a big change
and it was resented on many fronts.
What the heck, you only had to work one or two months a year
to put a crop in and harvest it.
Then you've got to get up every morning at 4:00
and milk those damn cows.
You had a big sales job!
Kmetz: Dairy found its salesman in William Dempster Hoard.
In 1857, Hoard came to Wisconsin from New York
a state that had experienced the same decline in wheat.
Taking up editorship of a local newspaper
he promoted dairy to Wisconsin farmers.
Bogue: He started out as a journalist advocate.
He decided from square one
that we've got to start dairying.
He began to plug this in his newspaper.
Kmetz: For 15 years, Hoard advised farmers
on how to succeed in dairy.
As dairy farming increased, Hoard and others
formed the Wisconsin Dairymen's Association in 1872
to help educate and advocate
for the state's growing number of dairy producers.
Then, in 1885, he began publication of Hoard's Dairyman.
The weekly aim--
to educate farmers about the latest techniques
developments and scientific discoveries
and soon became a vital tool read across the nation.
Knox: Hoard wasn't asking everyone to go into dairy.
But if they were interested in a decent income
and they liked animals
these were some of the road marks and things
that you should be aware of.
Kmetz: Another way farmers could learn
about the growing dairy field was by attending
a Wisconsin Dairymen's Association conference
held throughout the state.
These one-day sessions
became a popular educational tool
for the state's farmers
who rarely looked to the University in Madison
for an agricultural education.
Though a Department of Agriculture
had existed since 1866, there was no faculty
no curriculum and virtually no students.
This changed in 1880
with the arrival of Professor William Henry.
He transformed the sleepy department
beginning with a series of scientific studies
at the University's experimental farm.
This got the attention of farmers
but still did not bring in students.
Bogue: Once you did get Henry in there and operating
it was all an uphill battle to get students in agriculture.
Kmetz: Taking a page from Hoard
and Wisconsin Dairymen's Association
Henry and other university experts
began their own series of one-day farmers' institutes.
They met with farmers face-to-face
listening to their concerns
and spreading new ideas.
These institutes were immediately successful.
In 1886 alone, over 50,000 farmers attended.
Bogue: They also got the idea of the agriculture short course
which would allow farmers
to come in and take a course for three months in the winter.
Then they would be trained in agricultural matters.
It got a slow start.
By the '90s, that short course was producing results.
Kmetz: But it was a series of dairy breakthroughs by the faculty
that firmly established the now College of Agriculture
as a dairy innovator.
What would you say they were, some of the big dairy ideas
that have come out of Wisconsin
and affected the rest of the country?
Well, I would say, certainly, that Babcock test
of butterfat content.
It was absolutely critical for these farmers
to measure that, to know how to breed their cattle.
Professor Russell's discovery
of how you could detect T-B in your dairy cattle
and how you could counteract
potential passage of T-B onto people
by the pasteurization process.
All this work with the nutrition studies that were done
those were tremendously useful to farmers
all over the country and the world.
Kmetz: In 1898, the University completed construction
of a new dairy barn, one that included a silo.
The silo would become a staple of dairy farm landscape
in the coming century
thanks to continued research by the College of Agriculture
and ample support from Hoard's Dairyman.
And many other dairy breakthroughs
would come out of Wisconsin in the years to follow.
From the vision, hard work
and science of Hoard, Henry and countless others
Wisconsin, in just a few short decades
transformed itself from a failing wheat state
to a dairy powerhouse.
Bogue: Henry and Hoard managed to do more
to pull off the revolution than you might think
in the way farming was done in Wisconsin.
People who visit
the University of Wisconsin Ag Campus
always like to see that bust of William Dempster Hoard
there in front of Ag Hall
looking down on the beautiful flower gardens.
And it's right; it should be there.
( Irish folk music )
? ?
Why are you building a boat in Milwaukee?
That's the best question you could've given to me.
I've never felt so much at home in all me life.
It's quite awe-inspiring
when you look at 4:00 and see queues coming in here
and to see that almost 100,000 people come here.
Milwaukee has the best. There's no doubt about it.
But Milwaukee has one thing other cities haven't got--
the grounds.
I think what the people did
and knew what they were doing
when they developed this whole site.
There's no place else like it.
Woman: I had heard about it
because I have some friends who are musicians.
And they were very excited
when they knew I was coming to Milwaukee
because they play traditional music
and they said, "Hey, that's where the best
Irish festival in the States is held."
But I was very surprised when I came here
that there was so much more than just big bands playing.
? ?
( speaking Gaelic )
Hi! Hi.
Now tell me what you just said.
I said, "Welcome to the Irish Fest"
in Gaelic.
Kmetz: Irish Fest--
one of many festivals
that run through the summer on Milwaukee's lake front
including Summerfest, the largest
and many ethnic festivals
which are called the biggest of their kind.
Community supported festivals are so successful and affordable
that people from far away places
come to study them in hopes of imitating them elsewhere.
But how did Wisconsin become the home
to world-famous parties?
Will: From early in its history
Milwaukee, like many places, had small festivals
often connected with its ethnic neighborhoods.
In 1933, the city started throwing
a huge mid-summer festival
where residents from all walks of life
could afford entertainment, amusements and beer.
The famous Socialist Mayor, Dan Hoan, hoped the event
would one day rival Mardi Gras in New Orleans
or the festivals he'd seen in Europe.
But before the party could really start jumpin'
along came World War II
and the whole idea was put on hold.
Kmetz: After the war, the smaller neighborhood festivals
often faced problems.
In the old Italian district, for example
urban renewal and a new freeway
physically splintered the community
ending the festivals
that used to help unite the neighborhood.
Will: But in the 1960s, Mayor Henry Maier
took to a trip to Germany where he attended Oktoberfest.
Maier is said to have returned home asking
like his forerunners, "Why can't we do that?"
Kmetz: So, in 1968, Summerfest was born.
At first, it struggled
and it's second year ended in debt.
Local business leaders bailed out the festival.
And in 1970, the city offered its help
by providing a choice spot on the lake front
an abandoned missile site.
Will: Organizers poured tons of money
into improving the then-muddy grounds.
But except for the 11 days of Summerfest
the rest of the year, the site sat idle.
But this, too, turned out to be an opportunity
when Italians saw the ground as a place
to bring their community back together.
Kmetz: "Festa! Italiana" succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams.
Will: Next, the Mexican community followed suit.
And other groups jumped in before too long.
Groups like the Irish.
? ?
Today, Summerfest rents
those same grounds from the City of Milwaukee
for $1.00 per year, plus two percent of its income.
Kmetz: And the fees the ethnic festivals pay to use the grounds
have helped keep the door charge at Summerfest low.
Will: A historic dream has finally been realized.
And the Summerfest grounds
are now the home to many a world-class festival.
Funding for Wisconsin Stories is provided in part
by an advised fund of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin;
the Estate and family of Lois Backus;
the Halbert and Alice Kadish Foundation;
and Philip J. and Elizabeth B. Hendrickson
encouraging you to support history
on Wisconsin Public Television
and to visit Wisconsin's treasured historic sites.