User:KLongC/sandbox

G. William (Bill) Longenecker

[conflict of interest: Longenecker is my paternal grandfather. ]

[ Notability notes: His name is already on the page for the University of Wisconsin Arboretum Wikipedia page, and the others involved in creating the Arboretum have their own pages. He was as influential, if not more responsible, for the design and creation of the arboretum. His career-long dedication to this public space was recognized by naming the Horticultural Gardens, part of the arboretum, after him. He is written about in two books, the Arboretum writings, a and the Madison newspaper. His name still is known in the local area. He brought forward thinking ideas about public gardens to life, and his work has influenced other public gardens. ]

Intro:

G.(George) William “Bill” Longenecker (August 19, 1899-February 25, 1969) was a Landscape Architect, Educator, and Executive Director and Co-Creator of one of the Midwests’s premier arboretums, the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum. His career ranged from 1926-1965. Born in 1989 in Nielsville, WI, his parents homesteaded in ND and Utah before settling back in Wisconsin in Bill’s teenage years. After earning his degree in Landscape Architecture, he became a Professor of Landscape Architecture and then the Department Chair of the Landscape Architecture Department at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He loved fishing, his family, and his dogs. He took up watercolor painting later in life.

Early Years:

Born 1899, August 19th, in Neillsville, Wi, the son of the late Rev. and Mrs. George Washington Longenecker. G William’s (Bill) father was George Washington Longenecker, who was born Grofdale, Pa.

Before Bill was born, George Washington Longenecker, and his parents moved to central Michigan as a young man, where he met Rose. George studied at Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio. Rev George (a Congregational Minister) and Rose moved to the logging camps in Northern Wisconsin to do mission work and start a church. Bill was born in Neilsville during this time. The family moved to Berthold, N Dakota, homesteaded there, and then moved to Minot, ND and Provo, Utah. The family took the train out to Utah, then on the return trip, decided to take the wagon route, and engaged 2 horses, a mule and mountain wagon to travel back to Wisconsin in Bill's early years, taking 3 months for the journey. Rose wrote an extensive diary of their time homesteading and traveling. George, Bill's father, was the pastor of the Neilsville Congregational Church for 38 years.

Family:

Bill's parents are George Washington and Rose Longenecker. He had a brother, Ernst, and two sisters, Lois and Gladys.

Bill married Sarah Schuyler Stebbins (born Aug 11, 1905) June 22nd, 1926. They had 3 children: Jean Jones, Janie Wirtz, and George Longenecker, and 11 grandchildren, and numerous great-grand-children.

Bill's son George, also a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, was a professor of landscape architecture at the West Virginia University, and founded the West Virginia Botanic Garden.

Around 1950, Bill and Sarah purchased property along the Wisconsin River between Mazomanie and Sauk City, and built a cottage from an old CCC building that had been on Arboretum property. He loved fishing both in the lakes in Northern Wisconsin, and spending time with family every summer on the Wisconsin river. He took up watercolor painting in later years. When his health declined in the 60’s, he retired, a light-filled studio was added with a drafting table built in, and he continued his watercolor paintings.

Education:

He was graduated from Neilsville High School. He then attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1924, and earned a Master of Science in Horticulture in 1929.

Professional Career:

Before he was married, Bill worked at a nursery, possibly in Nevada, Missouri?, or Hannibal, MO and went by train all over the place. He worked in the Pittsburgh area, did a planting design N of Pittsburgh.

G. William ‘Bill’ Longenecker received the first Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Wisconsin.

He joined the faculty of the school of Landscape Architecture at the UW-Madison in 1928. He was promoted from instructor to assistant professor in 1933, to associate professor in 1936, and to full professor in 1947.

He served as chairman of the UW-Madison Landscape Architecture Department from 1933 until his retirement in 1967. He was promoted from instructor to assistant professor in 1933, to associate professor in 1936, and to full professor in 1947 until his retirement in 1967.

He was hired in the Autumn of 1932 to begin the Arboretum Pine Forest reforestation on the southernmost end of the property at that time. He was named the Executive Director of the Arboretum at the UW-Madison in 1933. He was responsible for all Arboretum planning, design and layout. He directed the activities of the arboretum superintendent and his maintenance crews. He was responsible for the selection of the plants in the Horticultural Gardens, later named for him. He provided vision for the restoration of prairie which later was named the Curtis Prairie.

He was also responsible for UW campus landscape design, supervision of installation, and overseeing of maintenance 1926 to 1965. There is an anecdote that when he retired he was replaced by four people.

During his time as Executive Director of the Arboretum, he gave oversite to the leadership of the Public Works program and CCC work camp that provided jobs in the 30's and 40's and which provided labor for much of the earthworks and foundational work of the land for the UW Arboretum.

As a young man, 34 years old, when named Executive Director, he skillfully navigated the strong personalities on the Arboretum committee, and worked successfully with men who were pillars in the business community and much farther along in their careers. He also developed strong relationships with leadership of the University, including becoming very good friends with Conrad Elvehjem, President of the university between 1958-1962.

Professional involvement in Neilsville, WI

Although he had been away from Neillsville for many years, Prof. Longenecker was always anxious to help his old hometown in its efforts to create through landscaping things of beauty. He gave assistance to Kurt Listeman in the planning of the Listeman Arboretum there, and had undertaken the planning and design work for a section of the local arboretum on which no work has as yet been done. This is called “the University Section,” and anticipates some formal plantings of unusual trees and shrubbery.

He also assisted in the layout and design of the American Legion Park, with work at Schuster Park and other similar efforts here. Prof. Longenecker never refused when his hometown called upon him to assist them in work related to his profession.

Influence of contemporaries:

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen is 45 minutes outside Madison, and only 20 minutes from the Wisconsin River Cottage. He had ample opportunities to learn from and be influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Legacy:

His finest legacy is the large and complete University Arboretum. And for his service to the famed “nature laboratory” an entire horticultural area, including lilac and ornamental crab apple areas, was named the G. William Longenecker Gardens.

Publications referencing Longenecker:

A Thousand Ages: the University of Wisconsin Arboretum by Nancy D. Sachse University of Wisconsin. Regents of the University of Wisconsin; 1965 Revised edition (January 1, 1974)

Pioneers of Ecological Restoration: The People and the Legacy of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum Franklin E. Court. University of Wisconsin Press; 1st edition (July 11, 2012)

https://www.pbs.org/video/university-place-pioneers-ecological-restoration/

Senior Thesis: What the Land Is, What it Was, and What It Ought to Be: Conflict and Collaboration in the Founding of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum by Madeline McGlone https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/84285

References or Source Links: https://arboretum.wisc.edu/news/arboretum-news/lilac-collection-celebrates-85-years/

https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM57704

https://isthmus.com/news/cover-story/uw-madison-arboretum-was-once-a-farm/

https://www.channel3000.com/madison-magazine/books-authors/rediscovering-the-uw-arboretum-and-its-rich-history/article_ec5dc7a3-ca45-5ba0-a16f-b98189ba7692.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/201853121/george-william-longenecker

other possible resources:

[ https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AJVZQWTIAN3PO48A - image of him https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=longenecker - I have reached out to the university and historical society to see if they would like to contribute photos]

[ There is a photo and anecdotal evidence that Bill was involved in conferring an honorary degree to Frank Lloyd Wright - in a Photograph | Wisconsin Historical Society (wisconsinhistory.org) Bill not visible in this one - we have one in the family that I am attempting to trace the photographer for. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM136571

other potential links: https://dpla.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1021/2017/06/LA_History.pdf

https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/AJVZQWTIAN3PO48A

https://usgennet.org/usa/wi/county/clark/5data/108/108545.htm