Pre-1940

Dakota Land Stolen

The history of the University of Minnesota began in 1851 when the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Minnesota established its charter, seven years before Minnesota became a state. At this time the Sioux were still in the habit of setting up their tepees in the village square of St. Anthony.

The settlers shamelessly used the word “Moccasin” to invite a human shield of young students to further colonize the land they stole, and that is the start of the University and the state of Minnesota. However, the University of Minnesota very conveniently ignores this narrative when introducing people to their halls and turns it into a Disney-like fantasy devoid of its violent roots:

The university began as a two-story preparatory school where, for four dollars a quarter, a retired clergyman taught reading, writing and arithmetic to a score of village children. When the Indians packed up their tepees the University packed up its few possessions and moved to its present site …

― from “History”, 1962-1963 Moccasin (University of Minnesota Welcome Book)

1860s

Civil War and the Expansion of Christian Empire

Few years have mattered more in the history of U.S. real estate than 1862. In May, Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which offered farmland to settlers willing to occupy it for five years. Six weeks later came the Pacific Railway Act, which subsidized the Transcontinental Railroad with checkerboard-shaped grants. The very next day, on July 2, 1862, Lincoln signed “An Act donating Public Lands to the several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts.” Contemporaries called it the Agricultural College Act. Historians prefer the Morrill Act, after the law’s sponsor.
[…]
You can point to every treaty where there’s some kind of fraud, where there’s some kind of coercion going on, or they’re taking advantage of some extreme poverty or something like that so they can purchase the land at rock bottom prices,” said Jameson Sweet (Lakota/Dakota), assistant professor in the Department of American Studies at Rutgers University. “That kind of coercion and fraud was always present in every treaty.

— Land-Grab Universities by Robert Lee and Tristan Ahtone (March 30, 2020)

Meanwhile, the Christian, moral, academic, and intellectual “right” to the stolen land was being instilled in each student with military flair at the very much fort-like operations of the University.

As prospective students marched off to join the Civil War cause, loyal University supporters were erecting the first University building, Old Main. Subsequent additions made that building a monstrosity of sprawling, unplanned wings. In fact, when a committee of the Board of Regents visited the building, they found its only inhabitants to be wild turkeys and even wilder squatters.

The University, closed during the [civil] war, reopened in 1869 with the colorful William Watts Folwell as president. ‘Uncle Billy,’ as he was known to students, presided over the University’s first commencement in 1873. The graduating class of two hardly foretold the 7,000 students in last year’s classes. Folwell developed the University and in spite of pressing duties found time to walk from door to door with students to see that they found proper housing. He knew all of his students personally. The typical student’s morning began with Uncle Billy’s ‘Good Morning, John T. Jones,’ followed by a brisk salute. College life in those days was often more difficult than life in the every-day work-world the student faced upon graduation. All students were required to report for chapel at 8:30 a.m. and failure to appear resulted in demerits. There were no classes on Monday for fear the students might be tempted to violate the Sabbath with attention to such secular matters as studying. And for only three dollars a term the rudimentary comforts of ‘stove, mattress, bedstead, washstand, table, bookcase and chairs’ were provided.

― from “History”, 1962-1963 Moccasin (University of Minnesota Welcome Book)

1872

As the more oppressed side of the gender spectrum were forced to work together just to make ends meet, it was a happy moment that instead of a Greek-style sorority, Mrs. Huse and Mrs. Hitt created “College Cottage” — the first known group house in the United States operated with co-operative rules.

College Cottage, operating on a ‘cooperative plan,’ is the first known example of what later would be called a student housing co-op … The co-op, under various incarnations, remained in operation for more than one hundred years.

—Jim Jones’ research in his book Hasten Slowly, and You Will Soon Arrive: The Mysterious Presence of Group Equity Housing Cooperatives giving us some of the missing picture of cooperative movements, then led by women.

1909

In January of 1909, the year after their house is funded by George H. Warren, Horace Lowry, and the chapter and alumni of the Psi Upsilon Mu Chapter, then built by architects associated with the most prominent Minneapolis landmarks like City Hall, Psi Upsilon is “awarded” a lease of their property. This would soon be the home of the Students’ Co-operative, Inc. aka Amigo Club.

World War I

It is interesting to note that according to the University of Minnesota 1912-1913 directory a Mr. Richard Wischkaemper attended the University about twenty-five years before the Mrs. Wischkaemper from Texas A&M co-operatives would become a house mother to the Amigo Club, the first name and future alias of the Students’ Co-operative, Inc.

He came as a 32-year old student and stayed on as a professor of German among other subjects. However, the start of the war cut short his career, and he would surely come to think fondly of this period, compelling his return afterwards.

1919

While the University of Minnesota was still leasing their building for Student Army Training Corps, Psi Upsilon celebrated a national convention that had been delayed 2 years by the Great War. Two of the three founders of the secret society reunited at this convention, which took place at the Mu Chapterhouse, but then moved on to various parties and tours at venues around the Twin Cities.

Early 1930s

According to The Annals of Psi Upsilon (1833-1941) more and more discussions in the Mu Chapterhouse turned to the subject of upkeep. It was decided that Psi Upsilon would look for a new home, and was interested in the fraternity at 1617 University Ave SE, which had been built by a fraternity that immediately lost the lease and had since been occupied by pseudo-rivals Chi Phi.

The decades following the 1920’s were full of University campaigns. One of the best known and most successful student campaigns, the fight against compulsory military training and drill, began in 1931. For sixty years it had been regarded as an inescapable duty of the land-grant college to require students to take drill. When a request to use Northrop Auditorium for a mass meeting protesting compulsory drill was refused, the meeting took place on the steps of the Auditorium with Governor Floyd B. Olson as its chief speaker.

― from “History”, 1962-1963 Moccasin (University of Minnesota Welcome Book)

Interestingly, 1931 was also the start of Midland Cooperatives’ “Co-op youth courses” which aimed to empower students with cooperative culture.

1935

The University considered this period to exemplify the style of the Psi Upsilon Mu Chapterhouse and snapped this picture, when University Avenue was probably still a two-way street.

Meanwhile, in the same year Zelma Leona Deger graduated a Texas University, and we don’t know if she had any inkling she would soon join a family with extensive ties to cooperative business and cooperative values.

A notable Amigo Club (sometimes reported as “Amigos Club”, and definitely not to be confused with the Hispanic “Los Amigos” Club) was holding extraordinary co-ed operations that must have been exciting for the times. This might not be the same one that created the Students’ Co-operative, because it seems to have continued after the house was acquired, but it does give insight into organizations naming themselves friendly words.

1936

Largely because of the increasing student pressure, the Re-
gents abolished compulsory military drill in 1936.

― from “History”, 1962-1963 Moccasin (University of Minnesota Welcome Book)

1937

Two years after his first son’s bride-to-be Zelma Leona graduates, Richard Sr. Wischkaemper’s life is celebrated upon his passing, which we can read about here:

Henry Louis Richard Wischkaemper
August 14 1880 (New Braunsfels, TX) —
April 25 1937 (Collingsworth County, TX)

Richard Wischkaemper was born August 14, 1880 at New Braunsfels, Texas. A few years later his parents moved to Yorktown, Texas, where he attended public school. After finishing high school, he entered Wartburg College at Clinton, Iowa. There he graduated in 1900, receiving a B A degree. In September of the same year he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania where he remained for the succeeding three years. From there he went to the University of Leipzig in Leipzig, Germany in 1904, and in 1905 he continued his advanced studies in the University of Heidelberg. After that he left Germany and entered the University of Orleans in France where he concluded his European studies.

On his return to the United States he became an instructor at a military academy on the Hudson River in New York. From there he went to the University of Iowa as Instructor in the Foreign Language Department, and stayed one year. A more attractive opportunity presented itself at the University of Minnesota, which he accepted in 1908 and remained until 1917.

In 1914, while he was a professor at the University of Minnesota, he was married to Miss Olive Warner of Fort Pembina, North Dakota. In 1917 the war hysteria forced him to abandon his Minnesota career. After living for a time on Mr. Warner’s farm near Pambina, North Dakota, he moved to Collingsworth County.

Since moving to this section of his native state, he has made a notable record as an agricultural leader. At the time of his death he was a director in the Texas Cotton Co-operative Association and was active in the affairs of the American Cotton Co-operative Association. Farm experts, legislators and educators frequently sought his advice on important problems. He was a trustee of the Samnorwood Rural High School and throughout the years he lived in this county he waged a courageous fight for the improvement of the living conditions of farm, children and farm people.

The large building was packed by a throng of friends who had come to pay their last respects to this outstanding citizen who had lived in Collingsworth County since 1918. Services were conducted by Minister Guv N. Wood of the Church of Christ of Wellington.

The simple ceremony included two short talks by friends who had known him many years. J D Wilson, district deputy state superintendent, spoke feelingly of his great interest in educational affairs and declared that he was the most brilliant school trustee in Texas. He mentioned his many years of preparation in schools and universities here and abroad, and cited specific examples of his great work for the rural school children of this state.

Deskins Wells paid a sincere tribute to Mr Wischkaemper as a courageous liberal leader and as an intelligent and conscientious public spirited citizen. He talked of his agricultural activities, and of his fight for humanitarian principles.

[…] Mr. Wischkaemper is survived by his wife, Mrs. Olive Wischkaemper; three children: Richard, Jr., Elsa and [Theodore Frederick] Paul; seven brothers, Henry, Edgar, and Alvin of Collingsworth County, Joe Wischkaemper of Yorktown, and Paul and Herber of Victoria; and his stepmother, Mrs. Charlotte Wischkaemper of San Antonio.

Since her husband passed in 1937, it seems that Mrs. Olive Warner Wischkaemper or a daughter-in-law at some point took charge of a co-operative movement in the University of Minnesota area. I suppose it could be their daughter Elsa Wischkaemper just adopting a “Mrs.” title before marrying a Mr. McIntyre and moving to Walnut, California but this seems less likely. It may have been Zelma Leona Deger Wischkaemper (1916–2004, born in Oklahoma, wife of Richard, Jr.) who spent a lot of time in Texas A&M Universities.

As enormous agricultural and dairy co-operatives were gaining power, related consumer-level purchasing co-operatives also gained popularity. The philosophy of working together resurged in colonist society, including through work groups and housing co-ops.

Howard C Baer (from Spokane, WA) is reported to have lived at 183 Malcolm Av SE, a ritzy riverside area. At least one Roger Williams lived at 424 SE Walnut, pretty near to a Raymond L. Pearson at 813 SE Delaware. John MacDonald and Richard Borup were at 528 SE Delaware (where there is now a high rise dorm project). Evan Oliver’s address is not given, though he was a student.

This leads us to speculate that the Amigo Club wasn’t a specific place where people lived all together during these co-op projects, but nevertheless students were gaining experience in living and working together.

1938

It is likely the culture perpetuated by the free-roaming Amigo Club “split” at this point between the nomadic and settler attitudes. A group interested in owning a building may have related to a Minnesota Co-operative Housing Committee:

Co-op Housing is Studied At University
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Minnesota Co-operative Housing Committee at the University of Minnesota has an active program planned for winter quarter and is desirous of contacting all students interested in the Co-operative movement.
The committee will investigate present rooming rates and conditions and will determine just how much a co-operative house could help to correct such conditions. The committee is writing to other colleges and universities to find out what their experiences have been. C. R. Crews of the NSCL’s aiding this committee.
All students who come from ‘co-operative’ families are urged to join the committee and work with it. Students and others interested are requested to write to Charles R. Weidner, chairman, P. O. 8874, Univ. of Minnesota. Minneapolis, Minn.

Cooperative Builder, Jan. 8th, 1938.
Courtesy Jim Jones

Fates united as Zelma became a Wischkaemper with significant ties to the University, and cooperative room and board houses sought membership. It would be the next year that a Mrs. Wischkaemper’s valuable experience would be sought as the first house mother of the Amigo Club.

1939

Students Cooperative Inc. (a.k.a. the Amigo Club)

First housing co-op for men started at the Amigo Club, 1901 University Avenue South. The co-op is to house 50 students and provide meals for more. Mrs. Wischkaemper, with experience as a house manager in the Texas A&M co-ops was hired as a house mother.

Co-operative Builder September 23, 1939.
Courtesy Jim Jones

Jim Jones, a President of NASCO during the 2010s, gave us a lot of research from Co-operative Builder and said the official name for this “Amigo Club” co-op is the Students Cooperative Association. He also points out that the article mentions “campus co-eds already have their co-operative cottages” which makes sense because women were leading the organization of co-operative residences through drives involving YWCA.

Curtis F. Kinikin is cited as an important figure in the move to group up, but at the start of the 1939 academic year only Donald Evans was already reporting his address as 1901 University Ave SE.

The University staff cited as keen funders:

The second is possibly Dr. Hubert Park Beck, an educator from New York who had a job at the University High School and wrote an entire book arguing that control of the education was lamentably stuck in the hands of wealthy white Protestant businessmen, who lacked understanding of the working class or the under-privileged.

However, the majority of funding surely came from Midland Co-operatives with the help of Milton Daniel Zeddies (not to be confused with Archer Daniels Midland, an enormous agriculture co-op still operational today).

The first big gathering must have occurred some time in 1939 and might have looked something like this map:

Suddenly, in late 1939, the 1721 building was eagerly vacated by the Psi Upsilon Mu frat and an Agriculture Council announced plans for a student-run co-operative, perhaps inspired by Amigo Club since the names aren’t familiar.

By the time the 1940 directory was published the Amigo Club had already switched to 1721 University Ave SE, so perhaps Mrs. Wischkaemper saw the generous digs of the chapterhouse extension (and smaller popcap) and knew that future house mothers would be thankful for the better arrangement. Indeed, later reports seem to indicate the Amigo Club may have acquired the buildings in quick succession, abandoning the 1901 location early.

We can follow a handful of students (such as William M. Feigal, James W. Gordon, Curtis F. Kinikin, Harvey H. Mader and Arnold L. Piper) as they show us Amigo Club assembling in 1901 University Ave SE and retaining some continuity after the subsequent move to 1721 University Ave SE with the encouraging words of their first house mother Mrs. Wischkaemper. However, it’s uncertain if she stayed through 1939, because the first house mother of the new residence reportedly was from West Denmark, Wisconsin and had a name that sounds like “Elsa Jepsen”.

DIRECTORY		RESIDENTS
1938-1939 (January 20 1939)	1617 University Ave SE Chi Phi Robert S Branham Carl D Brell Lawrence K Healy Edwin J Kleimala Robert H Koenker Donald J Krueger Ralph E Mahachek Charles Myre William C Pickell Clyde W Salminen Eugene H Sathrum Kurt S Sealander Harlow W Sutherland W Bruce Weber Douglas Winberg G Milton Witter E William Ziebarth	1721 University Ave SE Psi Upsilon Charles A Betcher Glenn O Brain James P Crawford Earl Farnam Robert S Horton Russell E Kaliher Austin L Knutson Robert L Knutson Robert C Roesler	1901 University Ave SE Unnamed boarding house E Wendell Aske William A Autrey Gaylord M Bakke Peter H Beach John H Catterson Donald D Evans Albert B Freeman Frank J Gregris John T Guthrie Leslie M Holmes Renaud O Leon William J Mraz Oscar William Muckenhirn Robert E Nelson John J O’Meara Howard R Penniman Dale T Smith Loren B Waller
1939-1940 (October 10 1939)	1617 University Ave SE Chi Phi Robert Branham Richard M Gustafson Lawrence K Healy James F Koenker Robert H Koenker Donald J Krueger Ronald S Megarry Curtis S Miller Jack W Morton Charles O Myre William C Pickell Francis R Shea Harlow W Sutherland John D Warden Milton G Witter	1721 University Ave SE Psi Upsilon / (Chi Phi?) Delmar E Beaupre Charles A Betcher James P Crawford Douglas S Farnam Ralph P Jenkins Jr Robert C Roesler Ernest W Small Robert H Wetherbee	1901 University Ave SE Amigo Club / (Psi Upsilon?) Douglas K Amdahl John R Arko James A Christianson Melvin H Clark S Pershing Doonan Jack E Echternacht Elmer M Elsola Donald D Evans Jack C Feigal Richard S Feigal William M Feigal Hubert S Gibbs James W Gordon Gerald O Johnson Philip R Johnson William L Kastelz Curtis F Kinikin Arnold S Kitzes Alfred H Lane John M Macdonald Harvey H Mader Everett T Michaelson Roger M Nordby Seymour D Olicker Duane I Olsen Richard N Otterstad Arnold L Piper Ole R Quamme John R Spreiter Charles C Weilral
1940-1941 (October 21 1940)	1617 University Ave SE Psi Upsilon Robert W Bell Robert B Black James H Campbell Douglas S Farnam James R Fitzgerald Gordon C Jones James G Meier Howell Parks Robert C Roesler Robert L Sanders Francis J Schnugg Ernest W Heggie Small Roy M Spilman Jim E Towle John R Van Ost	Students’ Co-operative, Inc. at 1721 University Ave SE Amigo Club Maxwell P Aley Howard F Aufderheide Joseph P Cavaleri Arthur L Christensen Shirley W Croes S Pershing Doonan George H Engebretson Richard S Feigal William M Feigal Myer Fishman Garnet E Gahagan Robert L Gannon James W Gordon Thomas H Hedren Max M Honke Richard H Hutchinson William H Jones Arthur O Kemppainen Robert C Knutson Harvey Mader Mike E Majetich John H Ochs Arnold L Piper Gilbert J Prange Salvatore G Rizzo Robert W Sheay John R Spreiter Joseph C Tam Gunner N Thorsky Allen F Walz Ralph C Wicklund William A Zippel	1901 University Ave SE Phi Epsilon Pi Whose members don’t concern this transition, so I won’t bother to record them

After Amigo Club made a men-only home for their Students’ Co-operative, it seems forms of Amigo Club involving women continued. Glaringly absent from University reports I found is the undoubtedly high number of women who helped make men’s co-operatives so prominent while pushing for co-op living. The Gopher was no Co-operative Builder. And while students at the new co-op immediately reflected a wider internationalism than one would find in a fraternity, it was also clearly not the most enticing or available enterprise to students of color or the indigenous people violently removed from the area.

After the 1721 property was chosen, Donald D. Evans moved to 520 Washington Ave SE, very near his housemate Roger M. Nordby’s original residence and doesn’t appear in directories afterwards, though according to 1940 U.S. Census data, he may have moved back to North Dakota, near Pierce. Roger Nordby himself probably just finished school. Although they were among the first members of the 1901 location, Douglas Amdahl and Ole Quamme apparently didn’t follow the Amigo Club to the 1721 address. Others probably came and went during the shuffle.

It’s not clear how these couple of years must have been for the creators of the co-op we call home. Perhaps it was just another frenetic year at University as house mother, board member or chore doer. Yet, they cultivated something special that started its first official day January 1 1940.

On to the 1940s →