"The Forgotten Champs: The 1944 Milwaukee Chicks Oral History Project"

In 1995, students taking an oral history course at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee embarked on a momentous venture: to tell the story of the Milwaukee Schnitts by preserving the voices of women who played for the team.

The resulting project was known as "The Forgotten Champs: The 1944 Milwaukee Chicks Oral History Project", and it is available online as part of the MINDS@UW Digital Library Services.

This is an incredible opportunity to learn about the team from first-hand sources. Now, twenty-two years later, these five women have passed away but their stories remain for all to hear.

There are five interviews, each with audio recordings and a PDF transcript.

1. Third-baseman Vivian Anderson [Sheriffs]
2. Center fielder Thelma "Tiby" Eisen
3. Left-handed pitcher Viola Thompson [Griffin]
4. Right-handed pitcher Sylvia Wronski [Straka]
5. Second baseman/pitcher Alma Ziegler

Anderson and Wronski are particularly interesting, as they were the only two Milwaukeeans on the team.

Head over to MINDS@UW and take a listen; the women are now gone but thanks to UWM their voices are preserved forever.