Interview with Patti Konnelly-Sinclair

Partial Transcript: Well, my name is Patti Konnelly Sinclair, and this is my story about the Dow protest.

Segment Synopsis: Patti introduces herself. She lived in Waters Hall (near the Commerce Building) and was excited to leave her conservative hometown for Madison. She did not attend the protest, but she took Polaroid photos from a block away. She states that the October 18th demonstration was the “starting point” for the following anti-war years at UW

Keywords: Commerce Building; anti-war protests

Partial Transcript: But right after the Dow protest - I think it was the next day or the next week - some students went on strike...

Segment Synopsis: Patti talks about student strikes following the Dow Riots. Patti noticed that her classes were not conducted well when the majority of the students had political and campus-centered concerns. She mentions that her freshman year was tumultuous due to social movements, political assassinations, the Vietnam War, and her older brother’s diagnosis with Schizophrenia.

Keywords: Vietnam War; anti-war movement; classes; student strikes

Partial Transcript: I went from wearing, you know, my first month at school, wearing wool skirts and matching sweaters...

Segment Synopsis: Patti describes her transformation into a student activist. She gradually became “more and more politicized.” She attended protests, teach-ins, and negotiated her way through drug culture. She decided to drop out and move to Ireland with her friend after the Sterling Hall Bombings.

Keywords: Sterling Hall bombing; anti-war movement; civil rights

Partial Transcript: I had really lost my focus and my way.

Segment Synopsis: Patti describes her increasing exhaustion and disillusionment at campus and national-level violence. She describes her escape to Ireland as an “attempt to run away” from her personal and political problems. She returned to Madison and finished her degree.

Keywords: National Guard; tear gas

Partial Transcript: I decided to go to library school and I pursued my MLS at the UW.

Segment Synopsis: Patti became a librarian. She enjoyed the orderliness of the library as well as her work in a public (rather than private) sector. She feels fulfilled in her career path.

Keywords: librarianship; public library

Partial Transcript: When - you mentioned that you like crossed a picket line to get to your class the day after...

Segment Synopsis: Question: Was there animosity between students who sat out of class and those who didn’t? Answer: Patti believes that there was no animosity, but there was peer pressure (especially among students in the Humanities).

Keywords: National Guard; student strike; tear gas

Partial Transcript: It sounds like it was a pretty unsettling time.

Segment Synopsis: Question: Was it an unsettling time? Answer: Patti believes that it was an unsettling time, but she felt very lost during her college years. She reflects negatively upon her experience at UW – Madison and recalls steering her son away from UW during his college search.

Keywords: college experience