(Transfer of Putnam Park to the State of Wisconsin)

            I found this very interesting primary resource which is an archival collection in McIntyre Library at UWEC. There were several papers that discussed about Putnam Park Committee in this folder that I found, but I selected this one source that has information about the transfer of Putnam Park to the State of Wisconsin which interest me. This source I found was dated on February 6, 1957 and was written by President of Putnam Park W.R. Davies. This is a very useful source that I selected because it has information that will make my understanding better on how Putnam Park Committee was created and what are the reasons Putnam Park was transferred to the State of Wisconsin.

            This source has timely kairos which increase the credibility of the information. This is because, I would like to know what happened way back in the history of Putnam Park and by providing the date of the source that I selected enables me to relay on the information that is provided by the source. Moreover, by having President W. R. Davies signature at the end of the source increases my invented ethos on the information that I’m going to provide in this post.

            This source that I selected discusses about the reasons on the transfer of Putnam Park to the State of Wisconsin from the City of Eau Claire. There are a total of six reason why Putnam Park was transferred. First, Since the State College which is UWEC (University of Wisconsin Eau Claire) now is cut into half because of Putnam Park, it is more desirable to have a single campus with the park rather than a divided region. Second, teachers of all natural science and environmental studies and others will feel more responsible towards the protection of the park. Third, the State Highway Commission maintains the roads owned by the college, and would take this burden from the city if the park becomes state property. Fourth, the park does not have a botanical garden devoted to trees and natural phenomena like storm are destroying the remainings in the park. Therefore, the university authorities have expressed their interest in working with the college in the development and preservation of an arboretum such as the University has n its 500 acres in Madison. Fifth, there are anonymous articles accusing the college with bad purpose in acquiring the park. There are families and staff in the college are first of all residence of Eau Claire, and are proud of the park and its possibilities. No group could be more concerned about the preservation of the park said by Mr. Putnam. Last but not least, as far as the construction of buildings, parking lots, and trails is concerned, the college will represent the conservation point of view, and will protect the beauty, continuity, and preservation of the valuable natural property.

            This source provided strong reasons on why the park should be transferred to the State of Wisconsin from the City of Eau Claire. The reasons are also valid and make sense. Information in this source is very important because it has elements of protecting the park and it is a very serious measure for Putnam Park.

            I learned that protecting and preserving a park takes a lot of commitment. This source made me realize that to protect nature a community with responsible people for example, surrounding neighborhood, City of Eau Claire, State of Wisconsin, etc are essential. I am still not satisfied about the information about the community of Putnam Park and I would like to do more research and learn more about the community and how this park has been protected up till now.