Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Door County Bookmobile

The Door County Bookmobile was the rural public library. In 1950 when the Door-Kewaunee Regional Library Demonstration first brought bookmobiles to the Door Peninsula, nearly 23% of Wisconsinites did not have access to a free library. With many remote towns and islands, a low overall population, poor transportation, and low literacy rates, the Door Peninsula offered an opportunity…

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November 1, 2017

Education / Door County / Related Stories / 1945-1965 / Society & Religion / Region 5 - Center East / Door County Bookmobile

Creating the Door County Bookmobile

Door County Library Bookmobile service began in 1950 through a Wisconsin Free Library Commission experiment called the Door-Kewaunee Regional Library Demonstration. The Demonstration was developed to explore the possibilities of providing library service to remote areas of the state. This was during a nationwide movement to…

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November 1, 2017

Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Education / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 1877-1900 / Global Connections / 1900-1918 / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East / Settlement Cook Book

The Settlement House Movement

Mass immigration from eastern and southern Europe dramatically altered America’s ethnic and religious composition around the turn of the twentieth century. Unlike earlier immigrants, who had largely come from western European countries like Britain, Germany, Ireland, and Scandinavia, the new immigrants came…

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May 1, 2017

Education / Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Global Connections / 1900-1918 / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East / Settlement Cook Book

The Settlement

Having outgrown the basement of Temple B’ne Jeshurun, the mission moved to an old house at 507 Fifth Street in 1900. It was simply called “The Settlement.” Programs expanded as space and resources did—the building was busy from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00…

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May 1, 2017

Education / Milwaukee County / Milwaukee / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 1877-1900 / Global Connections / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East / Settlement Cook Book

Roots of Milwaukee’s Settlement House

By 1890, the majority of Milwaukee’s Russian and Polish Jews lived in the city’s Second Ward, also known as the Haymarket District. Lizzie Black Kander worked as a truancy officer from 1890 to 1893, which gave her a front-row view of conditions…

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May 1, 2017

Health & Medicine / Education / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Science & Medicine / Employers Mutual Audiometer

Promoting Workplace Safety

For an insurance company like Employers Mutual, it made sense to try to promote safety in the workplace. Reducing the number of industrial accidents would naturally lead to less money lost to claims. But Employers Mutual was also very adept at translating its…

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November 24, 2016