The History of Western Technical College

November Rudolph Serkin, a well known pianist in the United States and Canada, was guest artist with the
Community Concert Association.
November 24 Jan Struther, a London author and journalist, and author of Mrs. Miniver, spoke on
“Your Country and Mine.”
December 4 Draper (a tap dancer) and Adler (a harmonica player) gave a joint recital of classic and modern music
and toe tapping finery.
January 1942 began a series of ten weekly Thursday evening forum-lectures on current war problems. Grant C. Haas of
Madison, a lecturer, broadcaster and columnist on world affairs, conducted the series. The topics included:
� Japan’s Desperate Attack � Inside The Axis
� The Battle of Russia � The Strategy of Raw Materials
� War in the Near East � Democracy—What is it?
� Battle of the Atlantic � Western Hemisphere Collaboration
� Europe’s Basic Problems � The President’s Foreign Policy
Night school enrollment in 1942 soared to 8,000.
The City of La Crosse budget for 1942 included 23.3 percent of its revenue for schools, of which 20.4 percent was for the
La Crosse Public Schools and 2.9 percent for the Vocational School.
In March 1942, Director Coleman was named director of the civilian defense countywide training school. Plans were
made for setting up the school to train air raid wardens, fire wardens, drivers, bomb squad members, firewatchers,
auxiliary police and auxiliary firemen. The sub-basement under the Auditorium was a designated portion of the school
building for use as a fall-out shelter in case of an air raid.
“Community Victory Programs” – the theme of the Victory Programs was “Distinguished Service in Our Homes is
Distinguished Service to the Nation – were inaugurated in 1942, and sponsored by the Homemaking Department of the
La Crosse Vocational School along with seven local women’s organizations. A series of free monthly lectures, tuned to
the theme of “victory” were offered and all women in the county were invited. Among the program subjects were
clothing, food and nutrition, home management and family economics, women’s part in defense, and gardening.
In 1942, a unique recruiting and training program, the first of its kind in the United States, as the army, the
La Crosse Vocational School and the U.S. employment officials collaborated to staff Camp McCoy with civilian workers.
Between 400 and 600 civilian workers were needed at the post exchanges or canteens that provided important centers
for social relaxation by the soldiers. The Employment Office supplied the applicants . . . the Vocational School trained
them . . . and the Army hired them.
In 1942, sixty used typewriters, overhauled by the Rowley Office Equipment Company (corner of Third and Main Streets),
were purchased by the U.S. Government and sent to federal government offices throughout the nation.
March 8, 1942, memorial services were held for four men who died on December 7, 1941 (Pearl Harbor), and two others
who died on December 30, 1941 and on February 11, 1942.
In May 1942, housewives and mothers took “refresher” courses for wartime employment. They enrolled in courses such
as shorthand, typewriting, business machines, and others for reentry into the commercial world.
August 1942 – Grim looking welders turned out to be “pretty girls!” Organized in response to the need for women
welders in defense industries, the girls’ class was an experiment. “It’s no harder than doing farm work or working at
home,” said one student.
In September 1942, Director Coleman received a job offer to head a new vocational school in New Jersey, and told the
Vocational Board that he was undecided as to what to do. Board President Raymond Bice spoke the sentiments of the
Board Members when he told Coleman, “If you leave . . . not only the school, but the entire community will feel the loss.”
An article in the November 15, 1942 edition of The La Crosse Tribune, tells a story of the painting “When Parents Fail.”
The article read: