UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #186
PIERSTORFF, LOLA R.

PIERSTORFF, Lola R. (1917-2005)
Librarian, Education Library and Memorial Library; Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction
At UW: 1942-1982

Interviewed: 	1979 (2 sessions)
Series: 	School of Education
Interviewer: 	Mark Van Pelt
Indexed by: 	Elaine Ayers
Transcript: 
Length: 	3 hours, 17 minutes

Background; Teaching in one-room school; Reasons for coming to UW; Education Library; Budget; L&S influence on School of Education; Beginning of Department of Educational Psychology; Courses; Isolation of physical education; Sex discrimination; Faculty inbreeding in School of Education; Academic and social cohesiveness; Art Department; Wisconsin Association of Manufacturers; Microfiche collection; North Central Association school evaluations; Faculty meetings; Young faculty; DPI; Instructional Materials Center; Wisconsin Elementary Teacher Education Program; Old vs. new Department of Education; Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Faculty personalities.

First Interview Session (April 12, 1979): Digital File

Time	Keywords
00:00:00	Start of Interview/Interviewer’s Introduction [begin Tape 1/Side 1]

00:00:39	Early life and family background; experiences teaching in one-room school near Monticello, Wisconsin, rigidity of the rural system; good learning environment.

00:02:02	Library School and path to UW; civil service position; Rita Shell; old Education Library; Fred Logan; move of Education Library to new Memorial Library; John Guy Fowlkes; 1957--  Pierstorff comes to take care of IMC; Fowlkes ensured Pierstorff position as assistant professor and tenure.

00:10:21	Student use of library at old Education much greater than when at Memorial Library.

00:17:52	Early experience with Fowlkes; Fowlkes never gave Pierstorff a supply budget; she had to go ask; that was his general procedure with the budget.

00:20:02	Charles Anderson.

00:21:35	Kai Jensen.

00:24:28	Clarence Ragsdale: popular with students.

00:25:57	Ira Davis.

00:27:02	Letters and Science early influence in School of Education; example of proposed Children's Literature program by Library School and some education faculty; Helen White disapproved, Robert Pooley was only Letters and Science person for it;  David Davis, Sara Rhue; Helen White's early opposition to establishment of an elementary education program. [end side 1, begin Side 2]

00:31:46	Helen White's strong influence on School of Education; she had disdain for teacher training.

00:32:33	Only a few Letters and Science people took a regular interest in Education School, even in l940's.

00:34:14	Educational Psychology and Psychology always in conflict; Educational Psychology not considered scholarly by Psychology people, nor was testing and measurement field; Rothney against testing per se; most of faculty approved of testing.

00:37:35	Chester Harris, great teacher and scholar.

00:39:59	Julian Stanley.

00:41:33	Break of Educational Psychology from Department of Education.

00:42:42	Matthew Willing, a John Dewey student; good teacher, popular with students, encourage participation in class.

00:45:15	Most of the early School of Education students found courses worthwhile.  Supervisors in past were better trained and skilled than in present; old education sequence theoretical, not practical, in orientation; but over-all courses more practical in past.

00:50:13	Arvil S. Barr; main goal--what makes a good teacher.

00:52:32	Time frame of school over the year; Saturday classes in the past.

00:54:25	Fowlkes; Leroy Luberg; Fowlkes a pusher.

00:57:23	Gladys Borchers.

00:59:11	Pierstorff did not know women's physical education people very well: they were isolated from the School of Education; same with men's physical education.

01:00:48   [end tape 1/ begin tape 2] Lois Nemec; Pierstorff never had impression of discrimination against women.

01:03:44	Gwen Arnold felt discriminated against in late '40s.

01:06:02	Inbreeding problem in School of Education in early '50s; example:  Wayne Otto.

01:07:50	Theodore Torgerson.

01:09:21	Gordon MacKenzie.

01:11:02	Cohesiveness of early education faculty in academic and social affairs; Catherine Beecher clubs; Russell Hosler's stag parties.

01:16:10	Glenn Eye.

01:18:33	Ruth Alcott.

01:19:33	Sara Rhue.

01:20:26	End of First Interview Session

Second Interview Session (May 8, 1979): Digital File

Time	Keywords
00:00:00	Start of Interview/Interviewer’s Introduction [begin Tape 3/Side 1]

00:00:17	Art Department: Frederick Logan, Santos Zingale; Arthur Vierthaler.  Importance of secretaries to departmental operation.

00:05:24	Camilla Low.

00:07:14	Lois Nemec.

00:09:08	Lenore Netzer: involvement with Wisconsin Association of Manufacturers; Glen Eye; Netzer; domination of students, discrimination against.

00:16:18	Joan Roberts, dominated students; Glen Eye.

00:19:55	Bernice Leary.

00:23:46	Helen Dawes.

00:25:42	Marjorie Ammons.

00:27:33	Eleanor Larson; reward for teaching.

00:29:20	[end side 1/ begin Side 2] Dorothy and Phillip Sowen; Frank Estvan.

00:32:41	Thomas Ringness.

00:33:15	Inbreeding of Faculty; Lindley Stiles.

00:35:22	John Mayor.

00:36:22	Preservation of microfiche collection; Peter Michelson.

00:40:53	Clifford Hutchins; discussion of North Central school evaluations.

00:44:44	Clifford Liddle.

00:47:30	Russell Hosler.

00:53:19	LeRoy Peterson.

00:56:19	Fowlkes; Stiles; Sam Falci.

01:00:25	[end tape 3/begin tape 4] Participation of Letters and Science faculty in School of Education meeting under Stiles; Program Committee has made faculty meeting a rubber stamp, other comments on curriculum and instruction.

01:05:42	Virgil Herrick; Carl Rogers.

01:10:58	Walter Wittich.

01:13:54	Paul Eberman.

01:15:23	Kenneth Little.

01:17:35	Wilson Thiede.

01:20:34	Burton Kreitlow

01:23:21	Herbert Klausmeier.

01:24:41	David Davis; (Carl) Personke; Helen Dawes.

01:27:01	Comparison of character of faculty cohorts; young faculty less student oriented.

01:30:25	[end side 1/begin side 2] Pierstorff's work with Department of Public Instruction; her view of the Instructional Materials Center (IMC).

01:36:37	Wisconsin Elementary Teacher Education Program (WETEP).

01:41:26	Comparison of operation of old Department of Education and new departments, particularly Curriculum and Instruction (C&I); analysis of some aspects of C&I operation; unity of school.

01:57:14	End of Second Interview Session

End of Oral History #186