My second source that I chose is a research paper of agricultural production during the war here in Eau Claire County. It is written by Prof. Kate Long of the history department here at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. I chose this source because it provides information about agricultural production, industrial production, and military service as well. It has a lot of information packed into it.  It answers a lot of my research questions as well. For this blog post, I will just talk about the agricultural production.

            This article has a lot of invented ethos. Prof. Long used a lot of sources. Most of them came from the archives. She also uses a large rhetorical distance. She typed the paper as if we didn’t know anything about the war. She provides a two page intro just talking about the end of WWI and the underlying reasons behind WWII. Then she talks about how the county came to be, and how the city became what it was during the war. Prof. Long typed the paper as if the readers were in fifth grade.

            Prof. Long wrote a total encompassing paper on what Eau Claire was like during World War II. Her main focus was the agricultural production during the War, but she had to give background on the industry in Eau Claire because the factories were pulling workers from the farms. She had to give military info because there were no men working on the farms. They all enlisted into the army. The agricultural work force was depleted. Farmers had to get prison inmates to work on their farms. There was even a man in Rice Lake that had 200 German prisoners of war working on his farm.

            Like I said earlier she, I think by accident, wrote a complete research paper on what Eau Claire was like during World War II. She wanted to write a paper just on agricultural production, but as she researched she wrote on more than just agriculture. She wrote a total reseach paper. I cannot think of an against the grain comment. She has so many sources that it makes it totally believable. I do not doubt anything that is in that article.

            This impacts my research dramatically because now have a list of websites, books, and names of archival collections that I can look at for my article. I do not want to rip off any research from this paper. Even though its title makes it seem like it’s on just agriculture, but it’s not. This paper is what I had in mind for my paper. Now for my paper I want to focus more on the industrial side of the war effort. It seems like the industry here, in Eau Claire, really impacted the war effort. The ammunitions factory really produced a lot. That is what I want to research for my next blog post. My main question I want to answer next is what kind of ammunition did the factory manufacture? Another question is in a ranking of top factories in the country at that time how did the one in Eau Claire rank?  

My first source I dived into was the special World War II collection at the archives. It was one archival box with 3 long boxes filled with civil service cards. I only read the one archival box. The other boxes are irrelevant. They are filled with every person from this area who was enlisted in the army or worked some way with the government. I selected this source because it is extremely reliable and is a primary source. The one box is really useful in my research.

            The archival box is kairotic because all of the papers inside are from the years that the war was going on. There are a few articles that are from a year late but they are still relevant. The papers and articles have situated ethos because the people who wrote or typed them were the people who should have. For example, the first folder inside the box had papers typed by churches who listed their members who were enlisted in the military. The person who typed them was the pastor at the church. He has situated ethos because he knows the people personally. The articles in the box really didn’t have a rhetorical distance since it was mainly listing names.

            As I said above, the first folder had local churches list their members who were in the military. At the end of the end of the folder, there were pamphlets from all of the Methodist churches combined of troops who wrote to their families. They all began with a pastor from a church who wrote an inspirational message. Then it started with updates from the troops. There were some very interesting ones like of Dick Gathers from Eau Claire. There were multiple issues of the pamphlet that had an update from him. Dick was a decorated airman. He received many awards like the Gold air medal, six oak leaf custers, and 2 stars on his E.T.O. service ribbon. Next, pamphlets give updates on troops coming home and ones who are prisoners of war or wounded. There was one man from Eau Claire, who was captured by the Japanese during the fall of Wake Island. There were many updates on him. Most of the years he was in Shanghai, then he was taken to Northern China. He ended up being released and came home.

            In the archival box there was a miscellaneous folder. In it there was a U.S. Rubber Company ceremony handout. The factory in town, that was the rubber company, switched from making tires to making ammunition. They were so productive the Department of War gave them a special ceremony giving them a red star. The presentation was on Thursday June 17, 1943. There was another booklet in there from the Northern Power Company. It gave updates on the employees who are in the military. It even gave statistics on the awards they earned.

            The source is very credible. I believe everything that the folders contained. I really doubt that the churches and the companies would lie about the soldiers who are serving. I can maybe see them lying about the awards but I still highly doubt that they would lie about that.

            These sources answered one of my questions about the factories. That is only partially answered. There are more factories in Eau Claire, so I have to find out more about them. I also partially solved my what special awards did the troops from this area earn question, but I am sure of it that more soldiers from this area did courageous and special things and earned high honors. Where I want to go from here is to find out more about the factories. I found an online article from the Wisconsin Historical Society about what the farmers grew around here. In the description that each township in Eau Claire county grew a different crop, so that is a promising article I cannot what to read about and do research.

My research question is what did the Chippewa Valley contribution to World War II? What did they produce? What factories switched from peacetime to wartime production? I have always enjoyed History, especially wars. I love to learn about wars, so I gravitated to World War II because I have a solid base knowledge.

            This topic is worth exploring because the men who fought in the war are rapidly dying. The opportunity for firsthand accounts are as well. It seems like this is the perfect time to research this topic. It is also important because if we don’t learn our mistakes in history it is bound to happen again. The knowledge I learn here I can pass on to whomever wants to learn more about World War II in our area.

            I am not from this area, so I want to learn more about what the Chippewa Valley did specifically to help the war effort. I also want to learn more about the soldiers who were drafted or volunteered. Where did they serve? Did they do something extra courageous? Did any of them receive special medals or awards? I am really excited to dive into that section of the topic.