Wisconsin 101

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: <i>Happy Days</i> Bowling Shirt Costume

OBJECT HISTORY: Happy Days Bowling Shirt Costume

This bowling shirt costume from the television series Happy Day speaks to Wisconsin's association with bowling. Milwaukee, where the show was set, was known as the bowling capital of America.

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August 15, 2020

Indigenous Wisconsin / Door County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Curators' Favorites / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Politics & Government / Region 5 - Center East / Potawatomi Beaded 'Soldier Coat'

Chief Simon Kahquados

Chief Simon Onanguisse Kahquados was the last hereditary descendant in a long line of Potawatomi chiefs, his family being one of the oldest known Potawatomi inhabitants of Wisconsin. An engaging speaker, Kahquados often served as an interpreter and provided a wealth of information to the Wisconsin Historical Society regarding traditional Potawatomi culture and history.

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August 1, 2020

Jewish Immigration from Russia to Sheboygan

The first Russian Jews arrived in Sheboygan in the 1880s. Like many other immigrants, they often followed their "landsleit" (fellow townsmen) to settlements in the new world, with the result that many of Sheboygan's Jewish immigrants came from a relatively small area east of Vilna and north of Minsk in current-day Belarus. They settled on the northwest side of Sheboygan, in a neighborhood bounded by 13th and 15th Streets, Geele Avenue on the north, and Bluff Avenue on the south.

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July 7, 2020

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Music, Theatre & Cinema / Pulaski / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Curators' Favorites / Oconto County / Region 2 - North East / 1965-1987 / Polka Rhythms Bandstand

Pulaski – A Polka Town

Pulaski, like some Wisconsin communities, possesses a disproportionate number of polka bands, and some have boasted that the town of 3000 has more bands per capita than even Nashville. The strongly Polish community located just outside of Green Bay is still a thriving locale for the polka tradition.

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May 18, 2020

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Music, Theatre & Cinema / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / Global Connections / 1945-1965 / 1965-1987 / Polka Rhythms Bandstand

Polka’s Popularity in the United States

After World War II, polka made its first mainstream American appearance thanks to Cleveland, Ohio’s celebrated “Polka King,” Slovenian-American Frankie Yankovic. The genre remains popular today, especially with the older crowd in the Midwest.

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May 17, 2020

Ino / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Bayfield County / Curators' Favorites / Global Connections / 1900-1918 / Region 1 - North West / Society & Religion

OBJECT HISTORY: Slovak Catholic Altar

During the 19th and early 20th century, immigrants from all across Europe began coming to Wisconsin. Some had heard of economic opportunity from industries like mining, logging, or farming. Some were being treated unfairly in their home countries because of their race or religion.…

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April 6, 2020