Guide to the Louis Hill Papers,​ 1914-​1978

Summary Information

Title: Register of the Louis Hill Papers

Inclusive Dates: 1914-1978

Creator: Hill, Louis, 1913-1998

Call Number: Eau Claire Micro 12; Micro 776; Tape 783A; Eau Claire Micro 2

Quantity: 1 reel of microfilm (35mm), 4 tape recordings

Repository: Housed at the Area Research Center, William D. McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Library-Archives Division

Archival Locations: UW-Eau Claire McIntyre Library / Eau Claire Area Research Ctr.

Abstract: Papers of Hill, a Hawkins, Wisconsin educator and local historian, including essays by Hill on the history of Lawrence, Wisconsin (1887-1914), the Hawkins, Wisconsin schools (1889-1959), the Bethel Lutheran Church (1904-1978), the Hawkins American Legion (1922-1968), the Union Free High School (1912-1967), the Northern Sash and Door Company, and Hawkins fire protection (1914-1970); minutes and dues records of the Hawkins Businessmen's Club (1914-1948) which promoted area commerce; a tape recorded history of Hawkins; and recorded interviews with retired logger Dell Harris and railroad worker Red Weldon. Photographs include stereograph views of Hawkins, Wis., Ellingson Lumber Company camps, and Flambeau Lake (Wis.).

Language: English

Biography/History

Louis Hill, a Hawkins, Wisconsin educator, was born July 2, 1913 in Ishpeming, Michigan. His family moved to Hawkins when he was six years old. After attending public schools in Hawkins, Hill received his B.S. from Northern Michigan University in 1939 and his M.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1957. From 1939 to 1942 Hill taught high school social studies and coached basketball and baseball in Hawkins and Tony, Wisconsin. Following service in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1943, Hill became the principal of the Kasson, Minnesota, High School from 1945 to 1948 when he returned to Hawkins to work as teacher supervisor for Rusk County. This position was expanded to include Sawyer and Bayfield Counties in 1960 but was terminated in 1965 by the County Supervisors. Throughout these seventeen years Hill was a member of the Wisconsin Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (WASCD), and he was its president in 1961. His next position was elementary school coordinator in the Flambeau, Wisconsin, school system from 1965 to 1975 where he also began two Title I programs in Tony and in Bruce in reading skills. Retired since 1975, Hill has continued to write local histories which he began researching in the 1950's. Throughout his life Louis Hill has been a sporadic member of the Hawkins Businessmen's Club. The irregularity of his participation was necessitated by his frequent periods of absence from the town.

Scope and Content Note

The papers relate primarily to local history in the Hawkins, Wisconsin, area. Included are six local histories written by Hill and a volume of records of the Hawkins Businessmen's Club consisting of minutes and dues payment records from 1914 to

1948. Four tape recordings are part of the collection. Three of these recordings are on Hawkins' history and one includes interviews with an old logger and an old railroad worker. There are 38 photographs, including stereograph views of various Wisconsin locations.

Administrative/Restriction Information

Acquisition Information

Originals presented and loaned for microfilming by Louis Hill, September 19, 1979. Accession Number: M79-377

Processing Information

Processed by Gregor Trinkaus Randall and Max J. Evans, 1979.

Search Terms/Subject Terms

• Bethel Lutheran Church (Hawkins, Wis.)
• Northern Sash and Door Company (Hawkins, Wis.)
• Lumbering—Wisconsin—Rusk County
• Railroads—Wisconsin
• Hawkins (Wis.)—History
• Lawrence (Wis.)—History
• Rusk County (Wis.)—History
• Harris, Dell, interviewee
• Weldon, Red, interviewee
• Hawkins Businessmen’s Club (Wis.)

Contents List