Nastal, Stanley I. (Stanislaus I.), 1899-1947. Papers, 1922, 1934-1954. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 69 1.0 cubic ft. (2 archives boxes, and 1 small archive box)

ABSTRACT: Records of a pioneer Milwaukee Polish-language radio broadcaster and personality and of his son, who succeeded him in 1947. The collection documents this type of ethnic broadcasting and programming from the mid-1930s until its virtual demise in Milwaukee in the mid-1950s. Included are biographical information, a copy of Nastal's World War I reminiscences (1922); and advertising accounts and contracts, correspondence, program logs (in English), and play and advertising scripts (in Polish) from Our Polish Hour and Theater of the Air, programs broadcast by Milwaukee radio stations WEMP and WFOX. There are partially identified recordings of several of the programs.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The collection documents Milwaukee Polish-language radio broadcasting through the 1930s to its virtual demise in the mid-1950s, focusing on the careers of Stanley I. Nastal and his son. There is a folder of biographical information and photos of Nastal, including an obituary, military photographs, and a short biography written by his son. Also included is a photocopy of the 1922 military memoir written by Nastal, Sr., Niebieska Dewizja. Records of Polish-language programming include program logs, in English, of "Our Polish Hour," dating from 1947 to 1954, fragmentary accounting statements listing monthly advertising receipts, and a scattering of advertising contracts, 1940-1949. A folder of correspondence, 1934-1951, deals with radio station and programming matters, station contests, personal and family items, and letters written to representatives in Congress. Also with the correspondence is a 1946 letter discussing station WEMP's curtailment of foreign-language broadcasting. A major portion of the collection consists of scripts, all in Polish, written as advertising copy for the Sunday night "Theater of the Air" broadcasts and for the daily serialized sketches. Many of the scripts were written by Natal, Sr., who also "acted" in the dramas presented. Other members of the Nastal family participated in the presentations, as did local and national Polish actors, among them Jozef Kosciuk.

The scripts for skits (Box 3, Folders 1-4) were written for the continuing series Chwalek i Malek, in which regular characters met to discuss events in a neighborhood tavern. Nastal, Sr. took the role of Chwalek, Kosciuk was Frank, Nastal, Jr. was Antos, and Casey Wisniewski portrayed Bruno. After Nastal, Sr.'s death in 1947, the series continued as "Malvina and Friends," with Malvina (Helen Nastal) as the tavern keeper. Many of the scripts in the collection have been annotated. Notes in pencil in a European-style of handwriting are Nastal, Sr.'s production notes, while notes in pen (in English) contain the donor's notes about production dates and characters.

Other material in the collection consists of a Polish song book, printed about 1949, and a few items of information concerning WFOX radio station.

According to the donor, only about ten percent of his father's papers were preserved; some papers the donor retained. In addition, there are partially identified recordings of Polish-language radio programs housed in Madison only pending better identification.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Stanley (Stanislaus) I. Nastal was born in 1899 in Starawies, Poland, located in the farming country of the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. As an after-school job, young Nastal worked with an English company drilling for oil near his home. Eventually, the foreman of the company successfully persuaded Nastal to leave Poland and travel to North America. In 1913, Nastal made the trip to New York with financial assistance from the foreman. Intending to settle in Canada, Nastal instead held a series of jobs that took him from New York to Pennsylvania to Kentucky. During World War I he served with the Polish Volunteer Forces of the Canadian Army, eventually earning the commission of captain. After the Armistice, the Polish Volunteers, also known as Haller's Blue Army after their commander, General Joseph Haller, were sent to the eastern part of Poland to fight the Bolsheviks.

Nastal returned to the United States in 1922, and became involved in the organization of a veterans' organization for the Polish volunteers. The following year he settled in Milwaukee, where he married Helen Leonarski. From 1925 to 1929 Nastal worked as a journalist for the Detroit Polish Daily Record and the Milwaukee Nowiny Polskie. In 1929 Nastal was chosen as the "voice" of the Polish radio program sponsored by the Nowiny Polskie on radio station WRJN, Racine. The Depression soon cut short Nastal's budding radio career, and he next spent several years importing motion pictures from Poland and scheduling screenings in Polish communities throughout the Midwest and Northeast. In 1932 Nastal was again on the air, broadcasting with Frank Zolynski over WCBD, Waukegan, Illinois. Three years later Nastal joined the newly-organized Milwaukee radio station WEMP, where he became program director and business manager. Until 1946 Nastal hosted "Our Polish Hour" (Nasza Polska Godzina) every morning and afternoon, and specialty programs such as "Theater of the Air" and the "Original Polish Amateur Hour." In 1946 WEMP curtailed its foreign language broadcasting, and as a result, Nastal and a group of investors formed a new radio station devoted to ethnic programming, WFOX. The first program on WFOX was broadcast 15 August 1946.

Stanley I. Nastal did not live to see his new project mature, as he died from heart disease on 6 September 1947. His position at WFOX was subsequently filled by his son, Stanley H. Nastal, with assistance from his widow, Helen. The son continued his father's Polish-language programming until 1955, when a combination of declining revenues and changes in programming concepts and listeners' requests forced many ethnic media to eliminate the use of foreign languages.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Nastal, Stanley I. (Stanislaus I.), 1899-1947. Papers, 1922, 1934-1954. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 69. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

ACQUISITION: Presented and loaned for copying by Stanley H. Nastal of Milwaukee in 1981 (accession numbers M81-177, M81-356, and M81-357).

PROCESSING:Processed by Menzi Behrnd-Klodt in January 1982.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

• Milwaukee (Wis.)--History--Sources.
• Nastal, Stanley H.
• Our Polish hour Radio logs.
• Polish Americans--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--History.
• Radio broadcasting, Polish--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• Theater of the air Polish Radio scripts.
• WEMP (Radio station : Milwaukee, Wis.).
• WFOX (Radio station : Milwaukee, Wis.).
• World War, 1914-1918--Personal narratives, American.

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Last edited on Tuesday, May 13, 2003.
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