Wisconsin 101

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

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

Sports & Games / Milwaukee / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Milwaukee County / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / 1965-1987 / 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

Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Curators' Favorites / Politics & Government / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Region 8 - South East / Victor Berger Campaign Banner

Wisconsin’s 1918 Special Election for Senate and the Trial of Victor Berger

In 1918, Wisconsin held a special election to fill the seat of recently deceased Senator Paul Husting, who had been elected in 1914. The election was a three-way race between Democrat Joseph E. Davies, Republican Irvine L. Lenroot, and Socialist Victor L. Berger. Running under federal indictment, Berger placed third. He won 26% of the vote statewide in the April Senate election, winning 11 counties.

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April 13, 2020

Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Politics & Government / 1918-1945 / Region 8 - South East / Victor Berger Campaign Banner

Victor Berger and the Sewer Socialists

Victor Berger, one of the "Sewer Socialists," became the first Socialist to serve in the United States House of Representatives, winning the election in Wisconsin’s 5th congressional district in 1910.

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April 13, 2020

Milwaukee / Food & Cooking / Milwaukee County / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life / Global Connections / 1900-1918 / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East / Settlement Cook Book

OBJECT HISTORY: Settlement Cook Book

The first edition of The Settlement Cook Book was published on April 1, 1901 with an original printing of 1,000 copies. Copies not distributed to the settlement’s cooking school students were sold at the Boston Store in Milwaukee for 50 cents each and sold out within the first year. Kander made notes on the recipe for Mocha…

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February 10, 2020

Art & Design / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Milwaukee / Object Histories / Milwaukee County / Politics & Government / 1900-1918 / Region 8 - South East / Victor Berger Campaign Banner

OBJECT HISTORY: Victor Berger Campaign Banner

Milwaukee teacher and newspaper editor Victor L. Berger was arguably the most successful Socialist politician in the United States. This large poster documents Berger's campaign for United States Senate in a special election in April 1918.

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September 10, 2018