Wisconsin 101

Women in Shipbuilding during World War II

Most people recognize the patriotic World War II campaign of “Rosie the Riveter,” which aimed to recruit female workers to patch the gaps in industrial labor left by male military enlistment. Shipyards, specifically, hired women into the war effort at an exponential…

Comments Off

June 10, 2025

Mercedes Herman's Welding Uniform / Maritime Industry / Industry / Related Stories / Door County / Sturgeon Bay / 1900-1918 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Region 5 - Center East

Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding and Drydock Company

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal opened in 1881 to provide a sailing route through the Door Peninsula to both shorten the shipping distance between cities on Green Bay and Lake Michigan and to avoid the treacherous waters of the Porte des Mortes…

Comments Off

June 10, 2025

Mercedes Herman's Welding Uniform / Military History / New Object Histories / Maritime Industry / Industry / Object Histories / Door County / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Sturgeon Bay / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / Region 5 - Center East

OBJECT HISTORY: Mercedes Herman’s Welding Uniform

At only sixteen years old, Mercedes Herman stepped forward as one of the first Wisconsin women to join the local manufacturing workforce in Door County during the second World War, operating as a shipyard welder at Sturgeon Bay Shipbuilding and Drydock Company.…

Comments Off

June 10, 2025

Object Histories / Science & Technology / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Door County / Sturgeon Bay / 1945-1965 / Science & Medicine / Region 5 - Center East / X-Ray Shoe Fitting Machine

OBJECT HISTORY: X-Ray Shoe Fitting Machine

Intended to help customers get the perfect pair of shoes, X-Ray shoe fitting machines like this one from Sturgeon Bay were popular in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

Comments Off

October 10, 2020