Archivist shelves career...

William Paul, archivist and associate professor of history, will retire August 31 after 30 years of service at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Paul has taught history since coming to UWSP in 1969 and has headed the university archives since 1975. The second archivist since the facility was established in the 1960s, Paul succeeded Emeritus Professor Nelis Kampenga, for whom the center was named in 1996.

Since taking on duties as archivist, Paul has taught one U.S. history course each semester until last year. He also was the first to teach black history at UWSP and has taught it periodically throughout his career. Among his students was State Representative Marlin Schnieder.

As archivist, Paul is responsible for collecting and cataloging materials related to the history and culture of the university, including administrative papers, books, student publications, tapes, photographs and memorabilia.

The archives also contains the Portage County Historical Society Collection. Community historic records, photographs, maps, newspapers, books and directories are part of this collection.

Since 1985, the archives has served as the Area Research Center for nine counties in Central Wisconsin. Among these materials are public records including tax rolls, rural school district records, court records, naturalization, birth, death and marriage records, censuses and genealogical files.

Paul worked at the State Historical Society in Madison before coming to UWSP. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College in New York, N.Y., and a master’s degree in history and doctorate in history from UW-Madison. When he became UWSP’s archivist, he completed a second master’s degree in library science at UW-Madison.

Paul and his staff pride themselves on the quality of the service that the archives provides. He says he has enjoyed working with many different people, and reports that among the patrons are researchers from as far away as England, Poland, Germany and Guam.

Paul’s function as an educator included work on two grants in the early 1980s. He was part of a team that trained several Native American tribal members as archivists. He also was one of several faculty members who assisted Justus Paul in research for his book, "The World Is Ours," a history of the university that was published for UWSP’s centennial.

One unique feature of the archives that Paul initiated is an index of the student newspaper, The Pointer. Paul indexed all issues from 1895 to 1967 and his staff worked on issues from 1969 to the present. In addition to being on the University Library Web site (http://library.uwsp.edu/pointer/), the index is linked to the Pointer’s Web page.

Another list that the archives staff works with daily is an index of obituaries from the Stevens Point Journal. The University Library was greatly assisted by the Portage County Genealogy Society in creating the index and getting it on the Internet. Paul gets numerous requests for copies of obituaries through e-mail and other means.

During Paul’s career, the archives has been located in several campus buildings. When he took the job, the facility was housed in the Student Services Center. It was moved to the basement of the Science Building, in a room that had a lot of dust, with chemicals dripping from pipes in the ceiling. Next the archives moved to Old Main. There Paul found a document that stated the previous room was unfit for human habitation. He chuckles about that. Paul helped design the present facility in the Learning Resources Center and is pleased with the result.

After retirement, Paul plans to learn the piano. He has always wanted to play the instrument. He has signed up for lessons at the Suzuki Center where he expects to be the oldest student. Paul was assured that his mother would not have to attend lessons with him, as the younger students do, and he won’t have to perform in recitals.

Paul also intends to volunteer at the Portage County Humane Society. He is a cat lover, and two of his family members are cats. "They do a good job at the Humane Society," he says. "I’ll do whatever they need done."

Travel plans are also in the future for Bill and his wife, Patricia, an associate professor in the University Library. "She has made it plain that when she retires next year, we will travel," he says. They are planning trips to Australia, New Zealand and China. After that, they will think about Russia and Indonesia. "When they perfect travel to Mars, we will probably go there too," he quips.

Courtesy UWSP News Services July 29, 1999