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| Duration | 01:03:22.051 |
| Abstract | Terry Collins (b. 1947) was born and reared in La Crosse and attended parochial and public schools in La Crosse. His father, Gifford Marion Collins (b. 1911) was from De Soto, WI and moved to La Crosse in the 1920s and worked at the rubber Mills and later for the CB&Q Railroad. His mother grew up in Lansing in a family of German ancestry, Roggensack, and moved to La Crosse in the 1920s. Her father worked as a barber for Orville Moss, a member of a well-known African-American family in La Crosse. Terry grew up in a Catholic family of 12 children, 6 boys and 6 girls, on the north side of La Crosse. He remembers that there was no hot water in the family house at 1611 Prospect. In the mid-1950s his family moved to 811 Vine Street on the south side. He attended parochial schools and started high school at Aquinas but graduated from Central High School in 1965. He joined the Air Force in 1965 and spent much of his 4 years in service stationed in Southern California (3 years) and finished up his last year in Turkey. He was discharged in April of 1969 and started at UW La Crosse in the summer of 1969. He was involved with the collegiate veterans club and took classes toward a major in political science. Initially his grades were not very good and he had to drop out for a semester in 1971 and worked at Hillview Nursing Home where he met his wife to be, Karolyn Noel of La Crosse. After working in the nursing home he returned to college and studied with a great deal more diligence. He has many recollections of several well-known professors at UW-L for the late 1960s and early 1970s. He says that he knew that he wanted to be a lawyer ever since he was in 8th grade and after graduating from college he went to law school at the University of Tacoma for one year and then returned to UW Madison where he received his law degree in 1976. He returned to La Crosse to clerk with the law firm of Alex Cameron in 1976. He ran for the state assembly in 1976 and joined a large field of candidates including John Medinger, who won the election. That was Terry's first and only run for political office. He practiced law with the firm of Collins, Quillin and Knofe out of an office on the north side until becoming a full partner with his current firm. Terry and his wife, Karolyn, have three children two of which have received law degrees. Terry is a very engaging and entertaining interview subject. He has many recollections of growing up in a large Roman Catholic family in La Crosse during the 1950s and early 1960s. Of 12 siblings in his family of origin, 8 graduated from college and 7 of those attended UW La Crosse; all of the boys on the GI Bill. His oldest brother, Richard C. Collins (b. 1934), has received an alumni award from UW La Crosse, and would be a good subject for this interview series. Terry is a former UW Foundation board member and currently is the attorney for the UW-L Foundation. Terry is a very active UW-L alum and gave a speech at the dedication of the Cleary Center in 1997. UW-L faculty Terry specifically mentioned include Roger Parson, Dr. Daviess, Carl Wimberly, Bob Voigt, Dick Lindblad, Les Crocker, Romeo Manalich. He credits Proffessor Kurt Reithel for inspiring him in his interest of foreign policy issues. This interview is a very good "Sixties" generation memoir. |
| Interviewee | Collins, Terrance |
| Interviewer | Wheeler, Eric J. |
| Owner | University of Wisconsin-La Crosse |
| Type of resource | sound recording |
| Genre | sound |
| Genre authority | marcgt |
| Publisher name | University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Oral History Program |
| Place of publication | La Crosse, Wisconsin |
| Date published | 2005 |
| Date captured | 2017-09-07 |
| Language | eng |
| Subject topic | Collins, Terrance -- Interviews Authority: LCSH |
| Subject topic | Oral history Authority: LCSH |
| Subject topic | Oral history -- Wisconsin -- La Crosse Authority: LCSH |
| Subject topic | Interviews -- Wisconsin -- La Crosse Authority: LCSH |
| Subject topic | La Crosse (Wis.) -- History Authority: LCSH |
| Subject topic | University of Wisconsin-La Crosse -- Alumni and alumnae Authority: LCSH |
| Subject topic | Wisconsin State University (La Crosse) Authority: LCSH |
| Content | 00:00:00—Education, political science | 00:03:05—Spanish teachers | 00:05:40—Lawyer, University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse Foundation | 00:06:40—Family ancestry | 00:12:30—Employment, family | 00:15:58— Logan Neighborhood | 00:16:55—Heritage Preservation Commission, Goddard Hotel | 00:19:20—Northside depot, beanery | 00:22:15—Family, children | 00:23:55—Childhood | 00:25:42—Church, Catholicism | 00:32:20—Conduct problems, high school | 00:34:20—United States Air Force, Turkey | 00:38:00—Reading, leisure | 00:42:45—Richard C. Collins, brother | 00:45:30—College, University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse | 00:53:50—Wife | 00:56:30—Professors |
| Source note | Tape 1 of 2. |
| Source note | Part of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Centennial Project. |
| Use and reproduction restrictions | This material may be protected by copyright law (e.g., Title 17, US Code). For more information about the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Murphy Library's copyright, fair-use, and permissions policies, please see https://digitalcollections.uwlax.edu/. |
| Collection | UWL Oral History Program Collection |
| ID | aa172543-df64-469f-9585-15a8bb4e56e4/wlacu000/00000018/00000031 |
| Doi | 18-0031 |