Interviews 161 - 170

Each Guide entry contains information about an interview, including biographical data about the interviewee (name, vital dates, dates at the UW-Madison, and principal positions held as of the interview date), information about the interview (interviewer, year conducted, length, and series, transcript, and restriction information if applicable), and a list of key topics discussed in the interview. For more detailed information about an interview, or to obtain a copy of an interview contact the Oral History Program.


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161.   FOWLER, Barbara H.  (1926- )
Graduate Student; Professor of Classics
At UW: 1945-1949; 1962-1991

Interviewed: 1979 Length: 1 hour
Series: Humanists at Work
Interviewer: Laura Smail
Background; Interest in classics; Nepotism rule at UW; Research and writing; Teaching Greek; Incentives to learn Greek; Course in literature; Students.

162.   SPOFFORD, William  (1944- )
Graduate Student
At UW: 1968-1970

Interviewed: 1979 Length: 3 hours
Series: Humanists at Work
Interviewer: Laura Smail
Teaching English; Student experiences at UW-Madison; UW-Platteville vs. UW-Madison.

163.   MCCABE, Robert A.  (1914-1995 )
Graduate Student; Professor of Wildlife Ecology
At UW: 1941-1984

Interviewed: 1979 Length: 2.5 hours
Series: Arboretum History
Interviewer: William R. Jordan, III
William Longenecker and Teal Pond; Grady Tract; Aldo Leopold, John Curtis and Norman Fassett; Picnic Point as horticultural site; Arboretum Committee; Horticulture vs. research; Bud Jackson and Arthur Hasler; Sale of wildflower area east of Fish Hatchery Road; Prairie burnings; Friends of Landscape; Arboretum budget; Buildings and grounds; Tom Buttson; Curtis as research director; McCabe's research; Albert Gallistel; Gardner ponds and marsh drain field.

164.   SKLOOT, Robert  (1942- )
Associate Professor of Theatre and Drama
At UW: 1968-

Interviewed: 1979 Length: 1 hour
Series: Humanists at Work
Interviewer: Laura Smail
Background in Poland and Austria; Acting and directing; Campus political unrest; Theater of Holocaust; Literature and survival; Anti-Semitism; Teaching; Stress of creative work.


165.   WIESENFARTH, Joseph  (1933- )
Professor of English
At UW: 1970-

First Interview
Interviewed: 1979 Length: 2 hours
Series: Humanists at Work
Interviewer: Laura Smail
Background; Decision to teach; Views on committee work; Teaching Jane Austen; Research and home life; Writing.
Second Interview
Interviewed: 2005 Length: 4 hours
Interviewer: Robert Lange
Research and publications on George Eliot; Research on Ford Madox Ford; Department chair; Teaching; Interim associate deanships; Reaccreditation Project.

166.   SOBER, Elliott R.  (1948- )
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
At UW: 1974-

Interviewed: 1979 Length: 1 hour
Series: Humanists at Work
Interviewer: Laura Smail
Background; Reasons for going into philosophy; Writing; Research and teaching.

167.   BUTTS, Porter F.  (1903-1991 )
Undergraduate and Graduate Student; Director of Wisconsin Union
At UW: 1920-1973

Interviewed: 1979 Length: 14 hours Transcript: 134 pages
Interviewer: Donna Hartshorne
Early years and education; Undergraduate experiences; Union Vodvil; Frederic March; Octopus; Daily Cardinal; Haresfoot; Graduate studies in art history; Origins of union idea at UW; Early Union quarters; Centennial exposition; Grid Graff; Fund raising; Memorial Union Building Committee and Memorial Union Trustees; Memorial Union Council; Self government; Life memberships; Alumni association; Harold Bradley; Zona Gale; Wisconsin University Building Corporation; Union Planning Committee; Objectives; Constitution; Building Union; Labor union troubles; Equipping and furnishing Union; Union's use by women; Early lawsuits; Room names, decor and uses; Art gallery; Craft shop; Union programs and projects; Hoofers Club; Building Theater wing; Uses of Theater and Play Circle; Foreign unions; His writings; Renovation project; Food service; Wisconsin Center; Projected high rise on Red Gym site; Purchase of Lowell Hall; Union South project; Updating Memorial Union; Location of Vilas Hall and results; Parking; Kiosk; Experimental College; Brother Freeman Butts; Christian Abrahamsen and President Edward A. Birge's portrait; Henry Herman; Relations with administration; Vietnam protest years; List of Union firsts; Summary of successes and failures; Union as leadership training center vs. service center; Prospects for Union's future.
Note: Transcript: Porter Butts, The Wisconsin Union - The First 75 Years (1904-79): An Oral History by Porter Butts (Madison, Wis.: s.n., 1979).


168.   GERLOFF, Gerald C.  (1920-2001)
Professor of Botany
At UW: 1942; 1945-1946; 1948-1986

Interviewed: 1979 Length: 1/2 hour
Series: Arboretum History
Interviewer: William R. Jordan, III

Present state of Arboretum; User pressure; Teaching, research and horticultural planting as goals; Building; Funding; Boundary and fencing problems; Closing of Arboretum Drive; Drainage and new ponds; Beltline Highway; Use of outlying properties; Questions of maintenance; Additional properties; Appropriateness of Arboretum for research; Problems with Nakoma Golf Course and Madison's southwest side.

169.   IRWIN, Harriet A.  (1937- )
Undergraduate and Graduate Student, Botany
At UW: 1956-1959; 1966-1973

Interviewed: 1984 Length: 2 hours
Interviewer: Laura Smail
Childhood in Madison; Undergraduate life in 1950s; Work in elementary education; Decision to return as graduate student in plant ecology; Botany thesis on Gardner Marsh; Experiences during student protest era; Current work.

170.   GARDNER, Louis  (1887-1980 )
Arboretum Land Donor

Interviewed: 1979 Length: 1 hour No Permission Form
Series: Arboretum History
Interviewer: William R. Jordan, III
Joseph Jackson's childhood in Madison; Arboretum; Stark family on Monroe Street; Wheeler family; Children's park on Glenway; Glenway Golf Course; Gardner's land purchase; Role of Findorff Construction Company; Ruth Southworth; Aldo Leopold and George Longenecker's plans for Gardner Marsh; Gardner's background.


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