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Guide to Bruce L. Mouser Papers Related to his book
George Coleman Poage, 1880-1962 : America's First African American Olympic Medalist, a Biography
MSS 174
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Abstract
- This collection contains the research materials Mouser collected while working on his biography of George Coleman Poage as well as drafts of his book.
- Collection Title
- Bruce L. Mouser Papers Related to his book George Coleman Poage, 1880-1962 : America's First African American Olympic Medalist, a Biography
- Date of Materials
- 2017
- Creator
- Mouser, Bruce L.
- Call Number
- MSS 174
- Amount
- 0.4 cubic feet
- Physical Description
- 2 archives boxes
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- La Crosse Public Library Archives
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Bruce L. Mouser Papers Related to his book George Coleman Poage, 1880-1962 : America's First African American Olympic Medalist, a Biography, MSS 174, La Crosse Public Library Archives, La Crosse, WI.
Biographical Note
Bruce L. Mouser (1937-2018) was a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse History Department emeritus faculty member. He was traditionally an Africanist historian, though his most recent works centered on La Crosse and western Wisconsin African American history and Black settlement along the upper Mississippi River.
George Coleman Poage, the focus of the research materials in this collection and subject of Mouser's biography, was born in Hannibal, Missouri. His parents, James H. Poage and Anna Coleman, were both born slaves in Missouri, but each received freedom papers. The Poage family moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1884. James worked as a coachman and horse tender for a retired lumber baron, Albert Wells Pettibone. Anna found work at the Pettibone estate as well as a cook and domestic. Poage's older sister Lulu Belle Poage (1870-1887) married a man named John Johnson in 1884. Johnson was am employee of another wealthy La Crosse family, the Eastons. Poage grew up in this atmosphere, closely involved with the upper white class. His father died in 1888 of tuberculosis but his mother, Anna, had a strong career working for wealthy white families to support her family. Anna pushed her younger children to value their education, which led both Poage and his sister Nellie to excel in school. Both graduated at the top of their class.
Poage left La Crosse to study history and run track for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Shortly afterwards, he represented the Milwaukee Athletic Club at the 1904 St. Louis Games and became the first African American Olympic medalist. Afterwards, he decided to stay in St. Louis after being offered a job as principal at the McKinley High School, which was a new and segregated African American high school. He continued to work for the St. Louis Public School District for a number of years before leaving amidst a scandal around 1914. He eventually ended up in Chicago, where he was a cook before switching careers to a postal clerk.
Poage led a private life, though he was friends with a number of prominent African Americans in Wisconsin, St. Louis, and Chicago, such as laywer A. F. Grymes, L. H. Lightner of the American Woodmen Association, NAACP activist Gonzales Motts, and musician and actress Lillian Davenport. His mother and older sister Nellie were important figures in his life and he often lived either with one or both of them and he was in consistent correspondence with each. Mouser's biography discusses Poage's various and intersectional identities as an African American, accomplished athlete, academic, teacher, gay man, baseball fan, and musician. He retired from the U.S. Post Office in 1953 and continued to live in Chicago until his death in 1962.
Scope and Contents note
This collection contains the research materials Mouser collected while working on his biography of George Coleman Poage (1880-1962) as well as drafts of his book. The collection is organized in three series.
Series 1 contains notecards that are both bibliographic and research notes taken by the author. They are organized in the following categories, by the cities Poage lived in: St. Louis, MO; Chicago, IL; Hannibal, MO; La Crosse, WI; Madison, WI; as well as by subject themes: Music; Odd; and Olympic Games 1904.
Series 2 includes research materials such as: copies of primary sources such as newspaper articles, census data, and correspondences; copies of secondary sources cited in book manuscript; notes; and email correspondence between Mouser, archivists, and other historians who each helped with research and edits.
Series 3 contains drafts edited by various colleagues of Mouser.
Mouser's research on Poage centers on his experiences as an educated, athletic, and gay African American man living in various Midwestern cities at the turn of the 20th century. The research materials in this collection reflect Mouser's focus on Poage's childhood and exceptional educational accomplishments, experience as the first African American Olympic medalist at the 1904 St. Louis Games, his various career paths from a principal and teacher for the St. Louis Public School District to a postal clerk in Chicago, his relationships with prominent African Americans in the Midwest and his family, as well as motives behind each life-changing decision Poage made. Mouser's secondary research materials center on national trends in African American migration, culture, and politics. Mouser also compiled information on gay culture and night life in each of the cities where Poage lived.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
La Crosse Public Library Archives 2018 August
800 Main St.La Crosse, Wisconsin, 54601
(608) 789-7136
archives@lacrosselibrary.org
Access to Materials
Materials in this collection are available for patron use. An electronic version of Mouser's final iteration of this book can be found at http://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/AANB.
Acquisitions Information
(Accession no. 2017.065) Donated by Audrey Mouser (Sulaimon) Elegbede, May 2017
Processing Information
Processed by Jenny DeRocher, August 2018
Controlled Access Headings
Personal Name(s)
- Elegbede, Audrey Mouser (Sulaimon)
- Poage, George Coleman
Subject(s)
- African American athletes--Wisconsin
- African Americans--Wisconsin--La Crosse
Collection Inventory
Notecards |
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| Box | Folder | |||
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"Poage Cards St. Louis, MO" |
1 | 1 | ||
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"Poage Cards Chicago, IL" |
1 | 2 | ||
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"Poage Cards Music" |
1 | 3 | ||
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"Poage Cards ODD Cards" |
1 | 4 | ||
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"Poage Cards Hannibal, MO" |
1 | 5 | ||
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"Poage Cards La Crosse, WI" |
1 | 6 | ||
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"Poage Cards Madison, WI" |
1 | 7 | ||
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"Poage Cards Olympic Games 1904 |
1 | 8 | ||
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Materials Related to ResearchMaterials Related to Research |
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| Box | Folder | |||
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Materials Related to Research |
1 | 9-10 | ||
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Manuscript Drafts |
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| Box | Folder | |||
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Manuscript Drafts |
2 | 1-2 | ||
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