Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: A Hmong Baby Sash

We are surrounded by objects that seem very ordinary, but once we look closer, they often reveal deep connections to the history of our state and our communities. In this Object History, Pao Vue writes about the thread-bare baby sash he found in his mother’s room that, it turns out, once saved his life and…

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September 9, 2020

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Milwaukee / Object Histories / Milwaukee County / Clothing & Fashion / Ethnicity & Identity / Curators' Favorites / Global Connections / 1980-2000 / Region 8 - South East / Earlene Fuller's Bowling Shirt

OBJECT HISTORY: Earlene Fuller’s Bowling Shirt

This shirt, which features an African kente cloth print, was designed, made and worn in the mid-1990s by Milwaukee's Earlene Fuller, an African American bowler and seamstress.

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September 8, 2020

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

Milwaukee / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Milwaukee County / Object Histories / Clothing & Fashion / Curators' Favorites / 1960-1980 / 1980-2000 / Region 8 - South East / Happy Days 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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September 8, 2020

Read more about the article Earlene Fuller and the African American Bowling Scene in Milwaukee

Theodore Henderson, Earlene Fuller, Louise Westbrooks, and Taylor Richards wear African-inspired bowling shirts designed and made by Earlene Fuller, Milwaukee, April 1995. Source: Image courtesy of Pauline McCollum

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Clothing & Fashion / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / 1960-1980 / 1980-2000 / Region 8 - South East / Earlene Fuller's Bowling Shirt

Earlene Fuller and the African American Bowling Scene in Milwaukee

Earlene Fuller designed and made bowling outfits for numerous black and white teams in Milwaukee and elsewhere from 1970 through the mid-1990s. She was a member in two African American bowling organizations — the National Bowling Association and the Milwaukee Bowlers Guild, Inc. — and in the 1990s began incorporating kente cloth and other African-inspired fabric patterns into the shirts she made for her own teams.

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May 27, 2020

The Rise and Fall of Shoe Fitting Fluoroscopes

Shoe-fitting fluoroscopes were invented almost simultaneously in the United States and England. Milwaukee quickly became a center of the new technology.

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May 11, 2020

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing & Fashion / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / 1940-1960 / Racine Belles Movie Costume

Gender Norms and The All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League

Philip Wrigley, the gum manufacturer and owner of the Chicago Cubs, conceived of the All-American Girls' Softball League in 1942 as World War II and its drain on manpower threatened to shut down Major League Baseball. Wrigley's ideas about gender norms helped shape the league, from its strict rules to its uniform policies.

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April 25, 2020