Interview with Jane Williams

Partial Transcript: "Jane, what is your position right now."

Segment Synopsis: During the time of the interview (May 22, 2014) Jane Williams (JW) did graduate admissions, graduate funding and fellowships, and scheduled classes for the University of Wisconsin-Madison history department.

Keywords: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Partial Transcript: "Well we might as well go back and talk about your childhood..."

Segment Synopsis: JW's parents influenced her towards a university education. They expected her and her brother to go to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but they allowed her to find her own career and lifestyle. She was born in Battle Creek, Michigan at Percy Jones General Hospital, because that is where her father was stationed after the war. Her father’s side of the family came from a Pennsylvanian coal mining background and her mother originated from a farming family in La Crosse, Wisconsin. JW was a year old when her family moved to Madison. She was subsequently raised in Madison on the east side.

Keywords: Battle Creek, Michigan; Coal Mining; Farming; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Madison, Wisconsin; Pennsylvania; The University of Wisconsin-Madison

Partial Transcript: "So you went to East High?"

Segment Synopsis: JW discussed her primary education. She attended Central High and graduated in 1966. The high school drew from numerous areas of Madison and so it had a diverse student population. There were Blacks, Jews, and Italians, which made for an enriching high school experience. Many of the Madison elementary schools that were open during her childhood closed down.

Keywords: High School; Madison, Wisconsin

Partial Transcript: "Did your parents go to UW?"

Segment Synopsis: JW’s father attended UW-Madison for a short time, but had to drop out to support his family. Her mother graduated from a teacher's college in LaCrosse and started teaching as a substitute teacher when JW and her brother were in high school. Tortorice and JW talked about the tradition of family legacy at UW-Madison within Wisconsin families. The tuition at UW-Madison was $162 for JW's first semester and she was able to pay her tuition with an on-campus job as a student worker in rural sociology.

Keywords: High School; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Teaching; The University of Wisconsin-Madison; Tuition

Partial Transcript: "Well I'm tempted to spend a lot of time talking about Central and Madison in those years, but I think we'd better get to campus."

Segment Synopsis: JW arrived on campus in 1966 in the midst of the student protest movement. JW was on campus during the Dow Riots, Black Student issues, TAA strike, and the bus protests. JW reflected on her politics while she was a student. She attended demonstrations, which unsettled her parents because they were fairly conservative. Her father had been severely wounded in World War II and had been hospitalized for three years. JW became more politicized when she attended UW-Madison. She was a fervent reader and decided on an English major.

Keywords: 1960s; Dow Chemical Protests; The University of Wisonsin-Madison; Vietnam War; World War II

Partial Transcript: "So we'll get back to the political engagement, but, so what was the English department like in 1966?"

Segment Synopsis: The faculty of the English department were all men when JW was a student in 1966. She did not graduate because JW fell in love and ran off to San Francisco. The first female professors she had were later in her life when she came back to school in the mid-1980s to get the 20 credits she needed to graduate. The teachers’ names were Susan Friedman and Cyrena Pondrom. She remembered her teacher’s fondly.

Keywords: English Department; Faculty; San Francisco; The University of Wisconsin-Madison

Partial Transcript: "So the political engagement, how did that develop?"

Segment Synopsis: Most of the politically engaged students on campus were from the Humanities and Social Sciences. JW knew many of the politicized students from high school. JW and Tortorice discussed how the students felt empowered and, in some ways, were also reckless. There was a wide array of political ideologies on campus, especially on the far left. The interviewer listed Stalinists, Trotskyists, and Maoists as examples. JW never officially committed to a political organization and described herself as being just “one of the bodies.”

Keywords: Leftist Politics; Political Engagement; Radical Politics

Partial Transcript: "Can you tell me some events that stand out?"

Segment Synopsis: JW remembered the Dow Chemical Riot in October of 1967. She was having lunch with a friend and walking up Bascom Hill. JW saw a lot of police at the Commerce Building, but it was over by the time she had arrived. JW was stunned by the whole event. She was also tear gassed which had no effect on her. She remembered leading others to safety through a backdoor in Bascom Hall during a tear gas attack. JW lived on campus from 1966-1971. She worked at the photo lab and primate lab while she was a student. She took pictures of the animals for the psychology publications and faculty. JW knew Harry Harlow quite well and other monkey-related researchers. JW described Harlow idiosyncrasies, one of them being that she and others had to put out the matches he used to light his cigarettes. Harlow told JW to do something practical with her life and to keep the arts and reading as a hobby.

Keywords: 1967; Cigarettes; Dow Chemical Protests; Harry Harlow; Primate Research; Tear Gas; The Vietnam War

Partial Transcript: "Did you have any issues with primate research in those years and what were the photos like?"

Segment Synopsis: JW said some of the monkeys were experimented on, but she did not have any problems with the monkey research. Some of the experiments were harsh and gruesome, but JW saw it as being for the greater good. JW remembered one morning a new shipment of feral monkeys got loose and she had to carefully recapture them. JW did not like those monkeys. JW also went down to the local zoo and took pictures of monkeys. JW enjoyed her experiences with the monkeys and she learned a lot about photography. While a primate photographer, JW remembered that the lab still conducted the depredation experiments and she even teased the monkeys.

Keywords: Animal Experimentation; Henry Vilas Zoo; Monkey Research; Photography

Partial Transcript: "So then you went to California?"

Segment Synopsis: JW went to California and got married and had children. She lived in California for two years, but did not want to raise her children in San Francisco, so she moved back to Madison. JW met her husband at the primate lab in Madison, while he was a graduate student doing DNA studies on rats. They returned to Madison when he got a job back at the primate lab, but eventually, they got divorced. JW came back to get her degree at UW-Madison, which took two years. She got a job at WPS for six months. The next job JW obtained was at the investment board at the stateside for three years. JW and her boss did not get along, so she found a job in the History Department.

Keywords: History Department; Primate Research; San Francisco, California; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Partial Transcript: "So in those years, when you went back to school, there probably was very limited support for single mothers..."

Segment Synopsis: When JW went back to UW-Madison to finish her degree, she did not receive any support from UW-Madison. Luckily, her family helped with babysitting the children who were six and nine at the time.

Keywords: College; Parenting; The University of Wisconsin-Madison

Partial Transcript: "So, now we're finally at the history department and what year was that?"

Segment Synopsis: JW started working at the History Department on October 31, 1988. JW remembered 13-16 staff members and 62-65 faculty members when she arrived. She was never very interested in history and was unaware that the historians and professors were very famous men like Mosse, Hamerow, Vansina, and Petrovich. JW recalled that the staff members were mostly women, but there was one man who dealt with funding. Some staff members acting as private secretaries for faculty. There was some formality in the work culture of the department. JW was called by her first name by the faculty, but she still felt like she needed to call the senior faculty members by their last names.

Keywords: Historians; History Department; The University of Wisconsin-Madison; Work Culture

Partial Transcript: "So I gather that you would perceive the relationship between the staff and the professors during a good portion of your time in the department as being less than respectful?"

Segment Synopsis: JW noticed the treatment of the history department staff greatly changed as the old faculty retired and the new faculty came in. The staff was no longer viewed as servants and everyone needed to be civil. She discussed an experience in which she was sworn at by a faculty member when she brought files to his office. JW remembered working with a contentious staff, but JW and others went through quality training in the early 1990s, which showed the staff the purpose of their work in the department, causing an increase in staff morale.

Keywords: History Department; Staff and Faculty Relations; The University of Wisconsin-Madison; Work Culture

Partial Transcript: "Can you discuss some of the notable faculty members or staff members that you've worked with over the years?"

Segment Synopsis: JW remembered her first job in graduate admissions. She processed “stuff” and moved files around and typed professors' exams. It was sometimes difficult for JW to decipher the handwriting of the professors who hand wrote their syllabi and exams for her to type up. She mentioned one professor in particular who wrote in English using German letters. JW admitted that the faculty became interesting and friendly as she got to know them and the years passed by.

Keywords: Handwriting; History Department; The University of Wisconsin-Madison; Typewriters; Typing

Partial Transcript: "Well you are now the longest serving member of the staff and as you approach retirement, which is well deserved, do you have any other recollections or comments?"

Segment Synopsis: JW said she had an interesting job and she enjoyed working with the staff and faculty. She recalled that when she first started working at the History Department, the older faculty were, in retrospect, nice.

Keywords: History Department; The University of Wisconsin-Madison