AMERICAN LEGION. COMMUNITY SURVEY OF LA CROSSE. PAPERS, 1930.   0.2 cubic feet (1 archives box)

Abstract

Reports compiled by the American Legion La Crosse (Wisconsin) Post about the La Crosse community to compete for the Pendill Trophy of 1930. La Crosse took second place overall in the state competition behind Kenosha. Areas that were examined included: historical background, city planning, municipal government, industrial conditions, health, education, library, social work, recreation, town and country relations, and religion. La Crosse scored first in historical background and library, and second in city planning and social work.

These reports basically follow a questionnaire format and are similar to the 1927 Better Cities Survey. The director of the project was Aubrey W. Williams of the Wisconsin Conference on Social Work.

Acc. No. x-19

Donated by unkonwn; originally cataloged and housed in the Reference collection of the La Crosse Public Library.

Processed by Anita Taylor Doering, January 1990.

History

This community survey of 1930, sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of the American Legion, was a competition between local legion posts for the Pendill Trophy. The Wisconsin Conference on Social Work was responsible for organizing the program and Aubrey W. Williams directed the project. A good many people who served on the committee of the 1927 Better Cities Survey also participated in the American Legion Community Survey, and that survey was also conducted by the Wisconsin Conference on Social Work and Aubrey Williams. As a result, the American Legion Survey was based largely on the 1927 survey in scope and format (see Mss 1 Better Cities Survey). There were eleven areas for which reports were written: historical background, city planning, municipal government, industry, health, education, library, social work, recreation, town and country relations, and religion.

Because the local posts competed against each other in each separate topic, no overall report was ever produced. The purpose of the competition, however, was not to pit one city against another; rather, the intention was for the local post to learn about their own community. It was felt, at least on the national level, that community leaders could learn from the survey as well as the post members. Judging was based on the thoroughness, completeness, and accuracy of the reports. According to a newspaper article of July 1930, La Crosse scored second overall. The city scored first in historical background and library, and second in city planning and social work.

Scope and Content

The reports covered eleven areas of the community: historical background, city planning, municipal government, industry, health, education, library, social work, recreation, town and country relations, and religion. The collection included carbon copies of the data submitted to the Wisconsin Conference of social work to be rated. The collection was arranged by page number order rather than alphabetically and also includes two newspaper clippings about the survey results.

On a related note, the Archives also has the 1927 Better Cities Survey raw data (Mss 1) and the final report The La Crosse Survey, 1930. See the finding aid for more details.