UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #379
PARKINSON, KATHRYN

PARKINSON, Kathryn (1891-1992)
Undergraduate Student, Music; Granddaughter of John Parkinson (UW Vice President)
At UW: 1910-1914; 1915-1916

Interviewed: 1990	
Interviewer: Barry Teicher
Length: 2 hours, 22 minutes

Background; Attending UW; Music major; Grandfather John Parkinson; Courses; Interest in music; Proms and other dances; Langdon, Murray and State Streets; Appearance of UW campus in early 1900s; Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority; Professors Carl Fish, Benjamin Snow, Joseph Jastrow, George Sellery, William Ellery Leonard, Max Otto and Michael Vincent O'Shea; Greenbush; Deans of women Lois Mathews and Louise Nardin; Scott Goodnight; Edward A. Birge; President Charles Van Hise and family; Sports at UW; Extra-curricular activities; La Follette family.

First Interview Session (June 1, 1990): Tapes 1-2
Tape 1/Side 1
Time	 Keywords
00:00:05	Interviewer’s introduction
00:00:24	Background.  Born in 1891 at grandmother's home in Columbus, WI.  Lived in Madison entire life except for three years in which she worked in New York.  There were five children in her family.
00:05:12	School years.  Went to Washington Public School and Madison High School.  Attended UW for 5 years.  Majored in Music and took additional classes to earn a certificate in Public School Music.  Had to pay music teacher separate fee from tuition.
00:10:15	Discusses interest in music.  Mother and aunt were singers.  Always loved music.  Tells story of how she performed for guests every Sunday at age three at her grandfather’s home.  
00:12:44	Discusses grandparents’ life.  They had 8 children and also raised a child of a daughter who died in childbirth. More on her brother’s death due to appendicitis. 
00:17:35	Her grandfather was Vice President of the UW when KP was a student.  He was also a professor of mathematics, civil polity and international law and for a time chaired the civil polity and political economy program.  He was a very social person.  He went to all the proms.
00:19:40	KP also went to the prom every year.  She recalls proms that she attended.  All proms were held in the Armory except for one year, when it was held in the Capitol rotunda.  She describes how each year for the prom the students would transform the Armory into a beautiful ballroom.
00:27:26	She talks about her experience at the prom the year it was held at the Capitol.
00:31:15	End of side.
Tape 1/Side 2
00:31:21	KP concludes her story about the prom that was held at the Capitol.  She didn't like her date.  Made it an unpleasant experience for her.
00:32:40	Langdon Street when KP attended UW.  It was a very popular street.
00:35:49	President Van Hise, his daughters and wife.  KP was a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority member as were Van Hise's three daughters.  She spent her initiation at the Van Hise home.
00:38:16	KP joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma because all the women in her family did--it was a tradition.  Delta Gammas were their rivals.  KP did not live in the sorority house; she lived at home.
00:39:33	More on the sorority house. Discusses the Kappa's chaperon.  She cooked all meals and took care of all the money and business as well as maintained the rules and disciplined when necessary.
00:43:29	Describes life in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house.
00:46:46	Talks about professors that she recalls including Professor Carl Fish, who taught American History and was known for his red vest and skyrockets, and Professor Benjamin Snow of Physics, who was known for his snowflakes.  They were both outstanding professors.  Professor of Philosophy Joseph Jastrow, who was her family’s neighbor on Langdon.
00:52:39	Professor of History George Sellery, Professor of English William Ellery Leonard (“a freak” and “a nut”), and Professor of Philosophy Max Otto.
01:00:20	End of tape.
Tape 2/Side 1
01:00:24	Discusses the appearance of Langdon Street in her day.
01:01:55	Describes Murray and State Street.  Talks about period when her grandfather lived in a home where the University Club is now located. Tells how a big fire from an overheated furnace destroyed home. Her grandfather’s female boarders eventually married his sons. 
01:06:16	The fire that destroyed their home. Describes how a fraternity helped save her grandfather’s law library.  Her grandfather sold property to UW and moved to a house next to Kennedy Manor on Langdon Street.
01:13:36	Describes her grandfather’s some 60 years of service to the UW.  Was at the UW during the Civil War.  In 1911, her grandparents received a citation from President Van Hise for 50 years of service to the UW.
01:17:16	A floor in Ogg Hall is named after her grandfather.
01:19:34	End of session.
Second Interview Session (June 19, 1990): Tape 3
Tape 3/Side 1
Time	 Keywords
00:00:05	Describes the campus as she remembers it including upper and lower campus and Langdon Street.
00:07:27	Talks about Professors Comstock and Mendenhall and their families.  Attic Angel Baby Clinic.
00:09:36	Greenbush area of Madison.  Italians from Greenbush brought babies to the free Attic Angel Baby Clinic.  Tells of incident at clinic.
00:11:41	Lathrop Hall dances.
00:13:22	First Dean of Women, Lois Mathews.  KP liked her.  Most people did.  She was a counselor as well as disciplinarian.
00:14:34	Scott Goodnight lived a block from her grandfather on State Street.
00:16:13	Second Dean of Women, Dean Nardin.  Dean Nardin was old-fashioned.  Dean Mathews was a modern woman of the time.  Students didn't feel as comfortable with Dean Nardin as they did with Dean Mathews.
00:18:43	Discusses prom at Capitol again.
00:27:18	Dean Birge was a good friend of her grandfather’s.  KP knew Birge's daughter Ann.
00:28:58	Discusses Professors Otto and Fish again.
00:29:55	Bucky Badger Mascot.
00:30:27	Football and basketball at UW.
00:31:15	End of side.
Tape 3/Side 2
00:31:20	Basketball at UW.  Recalls athletes "Ole" Olsen, Carl Harper and George Levis.  George Levis, her brother-in-law, on winning team for four years.  Teams played basketball at the Armory and football at Camp Randall.
00:33:11	Other sports played at UW then.
00:34:08	Prom weekend.  Tells story of sleigh ride to Middleton with date.
00:37:12	Maypole celebration.
00:37:49	Dance department.
00:39:13	World War I soldiers on campus.  Marched on Langdon. 
00:40:32	KP talks about relationship with President Van Hise's family.  Kappa Kappa Gamma.  Initiation for sorority.  
00:43:07	More on initiation. Stunt night.  Criteria for choosing members.
00:45:46	Ties with fraternities.  Brothers of sorority sisters.
00:47:27	Read Daily Cardinal.  Liked it.
00:48:01	Badger Yearbook.
00:49:45	UW band.
00:51:42	Graduation.  Only one from Music School--had to walk on stage all alone.
00:52:48	Courses taken.  Hill course.  Public School Teaching course.
00:53:42	Dances KP went to.  Extracurricular activities.  
00:55:49	Robert La Follette and his wife were her grandfather’s best students.  Talks about La Follette family.	
00:59:39	KP discusses Professor O'Shea and daughter Harriet.
01:01:22	KP reflects on her years at UW--enjoyed them very much.
01:02:34	End of tape. End of session. 
END