Arthur A.C. Tews

Arthur Tews was born on October 17, 1889 in Waukesha, Wisconsin and raised by his parents Carl Frederick William and Otilia C. Tews. He and his family lived in Waukesha for his whole life, until he went to school at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. After college he became a teacher and got married. Life was going well for Arthur Tews, that was until World War I.

During that time, there was an immense amount of nationalism in the country, and America’s sole priority was on the war front. This was an effort involving everyone. In Lick a Stamp, Lick the Kaiser by Robert N. Gross, includes how Schools in Wisconsin made kid swear “That I will do all I can to rebuke or otherwise disapprove of any statements from my schoolmates that reflect in any way on my country or its efforts to win the war... I will also do all I can to help and encourage every effort in my home to save food, in order that others may not go hungry” (Gross 978). The government was so invested into the war that children were brought in so they could share what they learned in school to their parents. And they did this so it would be harder for them not to support the war effort when your child is bringing up conservation at the dinner table. Along this, there was propaganda that accused those of not buying war bonds or not conserving food a traitor to America (Gross 980-981). Fear of being seen as a traitor in love with the enemy instead of America. 

Along with the sacrifices Tews was forced to make, Arthur Tews registered for U.S. draft on June 5, 1917. But most likely though, Tews did no register to serve in the war because of a sense of a love for his country. He had a job at one of the local schools in Waukesha, he was married to his wife Meriam, and he was only 27 years old with a lot of life ahead of him, like most of us, he probably didn’t want to give any of that up by risking his life in war. Part of his motivation to register could have came from him being a teacher. During WWI, teachers were under immense pressure from the government to make sure they were teaching patriotism to their students. In A Silent Witness for Peace, by Patricia Howlett and Charles F. Howlett, they describe the dangers of opposing the war as teachers who were pacifists or against the war were “Suspected of not giving vigorous support to it, were subjected to local pressures, investigated, and made to give positive proof of their “loyalty" to the war system” (Howlett 374). Tews was arguably pressured by his colleagues that he should be a role model to students about being there for your country when your country needs you most. Having the government over Tew’s shoulders in the school must have been one of the reasons he enlisted. 

As likely a reason for Tews to register for the draft is his German ancestry. Arthur Tews was born in Wisconsin, but his father however was an immigrant born in Germany.  During the war, tensions were growing with German citizens in the country. As James L. Abrahamson describes a possible reason for German distrust was because, “This was the first war with a country that had sent the United States a significant portion of its non-English. foreign-born population” (Abrahamson 123). Some of Arthur’s friends, coworkers, students, and other non-German citizens of Waukesha viewed him as the enemy. It would have been easy for anyone to point a finger at Tews and say that he and his family were the reason we got dragged into this war. Arthur Tews most likely joined the army to prove that he wasn’t a traitor.

After the war, Arthur remained in Waukesha to follow his career as an educator.  In 1925, Arthur Tews became the superintendent of the Waukesha School District (Ryan 14). Tews was also considered to have been a progressive superintendent as well. He pushed for music and sciences classes for elementary students before being mandated by Wisconsin. Along with this, he implemented child phycology in schooling to help students learn (Daily Waukesha Freeman 3). Along with this, Tews said that, “The old traditional type of question-and-answer method of instruction has been changed to the activity program which each child is exposed to ‘doing’ … the only source from which learning is accomplished” (Langill and Loerke 310). Arthur believed that it was important for children to be active in their education, and how it wasn’t possible to merely learn by a multiple-choice test.

Arthur Tews was Waukesha’s Superintendent for 16 years, from 1925-1941 (Ryan 14). He was later said by a contemporary as “never one to wait for the law to start progressive education programs” (Daily Waukesha Freeman 3). A few years later him and his wife Meriam moved north to Madison, Wisconsin. On May 12, 1977, Arthur A.C. Tews massed away at the age 87 in Maddison, Wisconsin. 

Even though Arthur A.C. Tews was challenged to make sacrifices in order to support the war effort. Not to mention how he was under pressure from both his teaching career, and fear of being seen as a traitor because of his German ancestry to join the army. He was still an advocate for progressive education and made results that students from Waukesha schools still benefit from today. He is proof that great people can emerge out of any time period.

Arthur Tews in 1911. Photo. Waukesha Historical Society. Accessed March 3, 2021. 

Gross, Robert N. 2013. “‘Lick a Stamp, Lick the Kaiser’: Sensing the Federal Government in Children's Lives during World War I.” Journal of Social History 46 (4): 978-981. Accessed 3/13/2021. 

Howlett, Patricia, and Charles F. 2008. “A Silent Witness for Peace: The Case of Schoolteacher Mary Stone Mcdowell and America at War.” History of Education Quarterly 48 (3): 374. Accessed 3/13/2021. 

May 24, 1977, Arthur Tews, Ex-School Chief Dies at 87 [online]. Waukesha Daily Freeman. Waukesha Wisconsin. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/87378629/. Accessed 3/4/2021. 

Langill, Ellen D & Loerke, Jean Penn. From Farmland to Freeways. Waukesha, Wisconsin. Waukesha County Historical Society, 1984.Accessed 3/13/2021.

Meur, James M. FamilySearch. June 4th 2017. Accessed March 13th 2021. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YYJ-9JB9?i=19&cc=1727033&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMPV7-FKX. Accessed 3/13/2021. 

"United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch:14 October 2019), Wisconsin > Waukesha County; Sealer, J.-Z > image 1283 of 2396; citing NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-918V-S6?cc=1968530&wc=9FZW-W38%3A928450001%2C928855701 Accessed 3/13/20. 

“Photos of Arthur C Tews - Find a Grave Memorial.” Accessed March 4, 2021. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86589000/arthur-c-tews/photo

Ryan, Joseph E. Landmark. Edition Carroll College Library. Volume 9. pp 14. Waukesha, Wisconsin. 1966. Accessed 3/13/2021. 

Tews, Arthur A.C. "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918". Military Service Record. Waukesha County War History. Accessed 3/13/2021. 

Wright's Waukesha City Directory 1938 (Waukesha, Wisconsin: Wright Directory co. 1938) pp 262.Accessed 3/13/2021. 

“Photos of Arthur C Tews - Find a Grave Memorial.” https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86589000/arthur-c-tews/photo. Accessed March 4, 2021