When I heard that the Maximum Fun podcast “E Pluribus Motto,” in which hosts John Hodgman and Janet Varney dig into the facts and trivia of all 50 U.S. states, was doing an episode on Wisconsin, I started listening a little smugly. How could two out-of-staters possibly tell me something about my home state that I didn’t already know?
And then they started talking about Francis Hole, UW-Madison professor emeritus, and the earth almost literally shifted under my feet. Who was this man they called “the poet laureate of soil sciences”?
Hole is remembered for his passionate and somewhat unorthodox methods of sharing his enthusiasm for soil with his students, and for the entire state of Wisconsin. He retired in 1983 and died in 2002, but is still remembered as one of the greatest teachers the university ever had. And certainly one of the very few to use puppets in the classroom.
Planting a Seed
Hole was born in Muncie, Indiana in 1913 to Quaker parents. His father was a geology professor and his mother was an English literature professor, and in his studies he seemed torn between the arts and the sciences.
While he eventually followed his father’s path and got his degrees in biology and geology, he brought his poetic flair into the classroom to get his students excited about the soil beneath their feet. “Soil is the hidden, secret friend, which is the root domain of lively darkness and silence,” he once wrote.
In 1946, Hole was offered a split teaching position at the UW-Madison, an assistant professor in both geology and geography. He wrote a textbook, “Soil Genesis and Classifications” that became a standard in the field, and was awarded the school’s distinguished teacher award in 1974.
Francis Hole was a trained violinist who would play parody songs about soil in class. (UW-Madison Digital Collection)
Puppets and Violins
In addition to waxing poetic about soil, Hole was known for bringing a battered violin and a suitcase full of puppets when he would visit classrooms, lecturing preschools, retirees, and everyone in between.
On the violin, he would sing original and parody songs about Wisconsin soil, using sounds to mimic the textures of soil (harsh and gritty for sand, smooth for clay).
He would also break out puppets named Terra Loam, Bucky Badger (no relation), and Erosion to teach kids about soil and about how important it is for humans to be responsible stewards of the Earth.
Finding Common Ground
In 1983, Hole embarked on what was thought of as a quixotic attempt to convince Wisconsin lawmakers to make Antigo silt loam the official soil of Wisconsin. Initially ridiculed by the media, Hole’s campaign eventually succeeded with the help of a group of dedicated sixth graders from McFarland.
Hole taught generations of Wisconsinites to appreciate and care for their soil. As he sang in a song that was a parody of “You Are My Sunshine:”
You are my soil...my only soil
You keep me vital [by] night and day
This much I know, friend, You do support me
Please don't erode my life's soil away!
