The History of Western Technical College

In 1940, the new Auditorium got off to a healthy start with a variety of civic and musical entertainment
including . . .
January 16 Rubinoff and his Stradivarius, one of the most well known violinists in America at that time, appeared
in concert. He began his career at the age of 5 with a violin that cost in Russian rubles $1.75 and
played his $100,000 genuine Stradivarius when he entertained La Crosse listeners.
February Richard Crooks, a well-known tenor with the Metropolitan Opera Association presented a concert for
1,310 people (101 of them from Winona). On the podium was Dimitri Mitropoulos directing the
90-piece Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.
February 9 The La Crosse Evening and Adult Schools presented “Big Hearted Herbert”, a comedy in three acts. It
was directed by Raymond Plamadore (known for his “Man On The Street” radio interviews in La Crosse,
along with his affiliation with the WKBH Radio Station, and later manager of the Mary E. Sawyer
Auditorium.)
March The Luther College Concert Band, of Decorah, Iowa, directed by Carlo Sperati presented a concert.
March 8 Charming operatic star Rise Stevens won the hearts of music lovers with her mellow mezzo-soprano
performance of classical songs.
April 15 The Haresfoot Club presented a musical comedy show “Serve It Hot” written by Bill Erin and Clark
Carnes. The show was sponsored by the Elks Club and the La Crosse University of Wisconsin Alumni
Association.
April 17 Dale Carnegie of New York City, founder of the Carnegie Institute gave two lectures, sponsored jointly by
the Vocational School and the Chamber of Commerce.
April 22 The 75-voice La Crosse Vocational Civic Choir under the direction of Harold Youngberg presented their
second annual concert in the new Auditorium.
mid-December Handel’s “The Messiah” inaugurated a new Christmas season, and Yehudi Menuhin, a famed violinist,
carried the Community Concert presentations to a new peak.
A study was conducted in 1940 that revealed that Vocational School students bring large sums to the community. It
was estimated that $172,085.88 was spent in La Crosse on daily living, for schooling, and for amusements, and that their
families added another $72,382.36 to the community pocketbook.
It was wartime . . . and on the home front . . .
The word “Defense” became a daily term, and United States Defense Education classes were begun.
Trained defense workers were sought across the nation. The Defense Education classes at the Vocational School
provided employment in local industrial plants. Director Coleman served in a dual capacity in this
regard – that of a district supervisor as well as a state consultant for the national defense education programs. In this
capacity, he was called to many parts of the state to give assistance to the local boards of education for setting up
programs/facilities for conducting national defense training. A four-man advisory board, per recommendations of the
United States Office of Education, was appointed to advise the Vocational Board in the administration of vocational
education of defense workers.
In 1940, the Vocational School operated on a 24-hour schedule to train workers for war production plants.
In May of that year, plans were made with the National Youth Administration to conduct special pre-employment job
training in metal trades for youths during the summer months. This program barely was under way when the U. S.
Office of Education announced new plans for a nationwide training program called Vocational Education for National
Defense (VE-ND). To meet the demands of local, state and national war production industries for trained machine
operators, welders, auto mechanics, sheet metal workers and engine lathe operators, the Vocational School found it
necessary, even before Pearl Harbor, to put its defense training program on a 24-hour a day schedule. Some
supplementary training was also offered on Saturday.
With people entering the military, women, too, were taking on a new role. Faces smudged, hands covered with grease
and oil, twenty-six young women prepared themselves in a special automobile mechanics class for any emergency they
may be called upon to meet during the war effort. When completing the course, they were equipped not only to drive
an ambulance or truck, but capable of making roadside repairs to the vehicles they operated. Their studies included the
electrical system, cooling system, breaking and steering system, and a general course in the proper care of the
automobile.
It was reported that (in 1940) more than a third (365) of the 1,000 men given brush-up training in the metal trades have
gone from the school into jobs in the fields in which they were trained.