Wisconsin 101

Garbage’s Origins in Madison

Out of all the bands and musicians who have roots in Wisconsin’s capitol city, Garbage is perhaps one of the most successful products of the Madison music scene, having sold more than seventeen million albums worldwide over the course of their career.Garbage…

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July 13, 2022

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Art & Design / Madison / Dane County / Object Histories / Music, Theatre & Cinema / 1965-1987 / Region 7 - South Center / Smart Banner

OBJECT HISTORY: “SMART” Banner by Dennis Nechvatal

Not many people would expect that some of the most legendary music of the late twentieth and early twenty first century was made right here in Wisconsin. During its twenty-seven years of operation, Madison’s Smart Studios was a cornerstone of the music…

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June 24, 2022

Science & Technology / Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Education / Related Stories / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 7 - South Center / Sholes and Glidden Typewriter

Origins of the QWERTY Keyboard

Was QWERTY designed to slow down the typist, or was it a deliberate design for telegraphers?Christopher Latham Sholes's early typewriter models contained a keyboard that resembled a piano with an alphabetic arrangement of keys, with two rows which contained the letters of…

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September 22, 2021

Art & Design / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Madison / Dane County / Related Stories / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Society & Religion / Region 7 - South Center / Frank Lloyd Wright Pew/Bench

Unitarianism and the Madison Meeting House

Once enjoying unobstructed views of Lake Mendota and sharing its land with the University of Wisconsin’s experimental fields, the First Unitarian Society Meeting House now sits on UW-Madison’s Medical campus. Designed in 1947 by Frank Lloyd Wright to embody the mission of…

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August 19, 2021

Dane County / Madison / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 1965-1987 / Society & Religion / Region 7 - South Center / The Land of the Freed-up Woman

Wisconsin’s Feminist Leaders and the National Organization for Women

In the early nineteen sixties, American women organized in pursuit of socio-political change and gender equality. In Wisconsin, women challenged inequitable policies and societal norms by organizing the Wisconsin Commission on the Status for Women and participating in the National Organization for Women…

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August 19, 2021

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Art & Design / Object Histories / Dane County / Madison / 1945-1965 / Society & Religion / Region 7 - South Center / Frank Lloyd Wright Pew/Bench

OBJECT HISTORY: First Unitarian Meeting House Bench

For over a century, the First Unitarian Society of Madison has been a center for like-minded individuals to share ideas and connect. The Society’s Meeting House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and stands as a one of his most representative works,…

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August 16, 2021