Wisconsin 101

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: World’s Largest Six-Pack

Photo depicting original Old Style behind updated LaCrosse Brewing label, August 7, 2021, Courtesy of Cortney Anderson Kramer.

OBJECT HISTORY: World’s Largest Six-Pack

Located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, the “World’s Largest Six-Pack” is a popular tourist attraction and landmark structure representative of the city’s renowned brewing history. At 54 feet tall, the six steel storage tanks, shaped and arranged to resemble a six-pack of beer,…

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August 17, 2021

La Crosse / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Everyday Life / Global Connections / La Crosse County / Politics & Government / Region 3 - Center West / 1965-1987 / A Hmong Baby Sash

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 & Design / Menomonie / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / Education / Dunn County / 1877-1900 / Region 3 - Center West / Wilson Place Door

OBJECT HISTORY: Wilson Place Door

The Wilson Place Mansion front door was crafted at the turn of the twentieth century, likely by a well-known Arts and Crafts Movement blacksmith named Thomas F. Googerty. Wilson Place Mansion was the home of James Huff Stout, a lumber baron, longtime state senator, and philanthropist. Area tradition has it that the door was fashioned to honor Stout,…

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September 10, 2019

Norwegian Genealogical Plaque / Norwegians / La Crosse / Dane County / Madison / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Global Connections / 1848-1877 / La Crosse County / Society & Religion / Region 3 - Center West / Region 7 - South Center

The Emigranten and Other Norwegian-Language Papers

Throughout the 19th century, Wisconsin was home to dozens of foreign-language newspapers representing cultures from throughout Europe. These papers provided opportunities to create connections in America, maintain homeland networks, and keep current with news in their native language.

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August 7, 2019

Building a Tourism Industry in Northern Wisconsin

Equipment manufacturers played a major role in developing fishing as a part of the tourism industry in northern Wisconsin. Each year nearly two million people fish in Wisconsin’s waterways. They catch about 72 million fish of various species.Fishing lures expanded in popularity…

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May 24, 2018

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: La Crosse Normal School Fireplace

Children in the La Crosse Normal School model kindergarten sitting before the fireplace. Image courtesy of Leslie Crocker, "We've Hung the Lanturn," (2013) pg. 33.

Home Furnishings / La Crosse / Education / Object Histories / Everyday Life / La Crosse County / 1900-1918 / Region 3 - Center West / La Crosse Normal School Fireplace

OBJECT HISTORY: La Crosse Normal School Fireplace

UW- La Crosse was once a smaller school that went by a different name. The original school, La Crosse Normal, was originally a training school for prospective teachers. It opened on September 7, 1909. Parts of the Normal School can still be seen on the UW-La Crosse campus, though they can be difficult to spot.…

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April 9, 2018