Pohl, Pearl, 1887-1982. Papers, 1928-1981. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 195 and PH Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 195 1.6 cubic ft. (4 archives boxes, and 1 oversize folder)

ABSTRACT: Papers of a Milwaukee, Wisconsin elementary school teacher and conservation leader. The papers primarily consist of files on the conservation organizations with which she was president: the Milwaukee and La Budde Memorial chapters of the Izaak Walton League of America. The material includes minutes, agendas, bulletins, reports, and correspondence. Similar but less extensive material is included on other organizations such as the Environmental Education Council of Greater Milwaukee and the Wisconsin Council for Conservation Education. Subject files include correspondence on the Namekagon, Milwaukee, and Wolf rivers with noted ecologist Sigurd Olson, legislators Gaylord Nelson and Henry Reuss, and Walter Scott of the Wisconsin Conservation Department. Additional correspondence of IWL leader Haskell Noyes pertains to the purchase of Moon Lake in Fond du Lac County and its presentation to the State of Wisconsin. Of uncertain provenance is a file on the Walton Boosters, 1930. Photographs received with the collection depict conservation education; others show Pohl in a tintype portrait and with Arthur Molstad, Aroline Schmidt, Walter Scott, and teachers of the 68th Street School.

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 Pohl papers primarily document her activities in organizations that promoted conservation and conservation education. There is little here about her personal life or her own career as an elementary school teacher in Milwaukee or about the specific curriculum she used to teach environmental awareness. The files are arranged as an alphabetical subject file, with most of the topics pertaining to the organizations with which she was involved and in particular to the La Budde Memorial Chapter of the Izaak Walton League. Pohl organized this chapter for women in honor of her friend and fellow Wisconsin conservationist Wilhelmine La Budde. However, none of these organizational files in the collection appear to be the official files.

About her involvement in the Wisconsin Division of the Izaak Walton League is correspondence pertaining to the Education Committee and president William Fisk. The Milwaukee chapter is documented by her correspondence as president during the early 1950s. Among the documented subjects for this period is the preservation of the Namekagon and Wolf as scenic wild rivers through correspondence with leaders such as Sigurd Olson and Howard Zahniser. There is also correspondence pertaining to efforts to launch conservation public speaking programs within the Parent Teacher Association and the 4-H Club. The evidence is particularly rich on her prolonged dispute with Milwaukee chapter president Ralph Peterson. This controversy helps to document the history of the La Budde chapter, since its formation was a consequence. The chronologically arranged La Budde files, which date from 1959 to 1974, include a constitution and by-laws, many bulletins and flyers, correspondence, occasional minutes, and a file on awards.

Other organizations that are well documented include the Wisconsin Council for Conservation Education, the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council, and the Young Wisconsin Conservationist program. Other aspects of her achievements are files about her relationship with Walter Scott and other officials of the Wisconsin Conservation Department and her lobbying of political leaders such as Henry Reuss on topics such as the problem of the Milwaukee River watershed. The correspondence with Reuss, Gaylord Nelson, and other politicians appears in the file on legislation. Also in the collection are a few materials on conservation education apparently collected by Pohl: a 1936 student project on forestry and two reports on the conservation program within the Milwaukee Public School System during the 1970s.

The papers include a file of Haskell Noyes, an early IWL leader, about the purchase of Moon Lake in the town of Auburn, Fond du Lac County during the 1920s and 1930s, and its subsequent presentation to the Wisconsin Conservation Department. This file includes correspondence and deeds, but no explanation of why it was in Pohl's possession. Of similarly unknown provenance is an illustrated minute book, 1930-1931, of the Walton Boosters, perhaps a men's club within the Milwaukee Chapter.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Pearl Louise Pohl was born in 1887, the daughter of Richard C. and Maude L. Pohl. She completed the LaFayette Grammar School in Chicago in 1901 and graduated from West Division High School in Milwaukee in 1906. Pohl then attended the Milwaukee State Normal School to prepare herself for a career in elementary education. She graduated in 1908 and began teaching in the same year.

In her long career as an elementary school teacher, which lasted until her retirement in 1953, Pohl combined her interest in education with a strong interest in conservation. She eventually became one of the foremost advocates of conservation education in public schools in Wisconsin. Her interest in conservation issues can be seen from her early membership in the Izaak Walton League of America. The Milwaukee chapter of the League was chartered in 1922, the same year that the national organization was formed. Pledged to be the "defender of woods, water, and wildlife," the League quickly grew into the largest conservation organization in the country. It was an active lobbying organization that paid particular attention to the issues of water resources and pollution.

Pohl's main interest was in conservation education, and she worked for years with the Education Committee of the Wisconsin Division. In 1936, she and a group of conservationists were instrumental in securing passage of a state law that made conservation education mandatory in Wisconsin public schools. Her own belief that conservation was a way of life that should be taught early was reflected in her efforts with her own sixth grade classes. Her field trips to farms to study soil conservation, tree-planting in the Kettle Moraine, and programs on the Milwaukee River Basin exemplify her approach. Pohl summarized her experience in an October 1949 article in the Wisconsin Conservation Bulletin entitled "Teaching Conservation to the Urban Sixth Grader."

Pohl continued her conservation activities after her retirement. From 1952 to1954 she served as the president of the Milwaukee Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, and thereafter she served as secretary for six years. In 1960 she formed a women's chapter of the League, the La Budde Memorial Chapter to honor her friend and fellow conservationist, Wilhelmine La Budde. The aim of the chapter was to provide inspiration and opportunity for other women to follow in La Budde's footsteps. Pohl served as president of the La Budde chapter until 1974.

In addition to her work with the Izaak Walton League, Pohl was also active in several other conservation groups. Among them were the Citizens Natural Resources Association of Wisconsin in the early 1950s; the Wisconsin Council for Conservation Education, of which she was a founding member; and the Environmental Education Council of Greater Milwaukee, which she promoted in the 1970s. In addition, she worked to form a speaker's bureau on conservation issues to speak at PTA meetings. In 1956 Governor Walter Kohler appointed her to the committee to Keep Wisconsin Clean and Beautiful.

Pohl received many awards for her activities on behalf of conservation and conservation education. Most notable among them are the 1948 Izaak Walton League Award for accomplishments in conservation education and the 1976 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters award for distinguished service to Wisconsin. Pearl Pohl died in June 1982.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Pohl, Pearl, 1887-1982. Papers, 1928-1981. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 195, and PH Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 195. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

Broughton, Charles E., 1873-1956. Papers, 1916-1953. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection BA)

La Budde, Wilhelmine D., 1880-1955. Papers, 1924-1956. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection BC)

Noyes, Haskell, 1886-. Papers, 1924-1943. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection N)

Reuss, Henry S. Papers, 1839-1982. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 112)

Schmitt, Aroline, 1904- .Papers, 1939-1971. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection BX)

Wetlands for Wildlife (Milwaukee, Wis.). Records, 1960-1966. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection BV)

ACQUISITION: Presented by Pearl Pohl of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1986 (accession number M85-584).

PROCESSING: Processed by Lynn Lubkeman (FGH student) in 1986, and Carolyn Mattern on January 12, 2002.

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

• Conservation of natural resources--Wisconsin.
• Environmental education--Wisconsin.
• Environmental education--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
• Environmental Education Council of Greater Milwaukee.
• Izaak Walton League of America. La Budde Memorial Chapter (Milwaukee, Wis.).
• Izaak Walton League of America. Milwaukee Chapter.
• Izaak Walton League of America. Milwaukee Division.
• Rivers--Wisconsin.

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