Wisconsin 101

The Lodi Curling Club: 150 Years of Curling

How do you bring leisure and fun to a newly founded city? Build a curling club of course! At least that’s what James Otis Eaton did just over a decade after the small Wisconsin town of Lodi was officially founded in 1869.…

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June 20, 2024

Beetown / Home Furnishings / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Grant County / Ethnicity & Identity / Pleasant Ridge / Everyday Life / 1900-1918 / Region 6 - South West

OBJECT HISTORY: Sanitary Metal Kitchen Cabinet

Kitchens form a central part of the American experience. The Sanitary Metal Kitchen Cabinet, also known as the Mound City Kitchen Safe (circa 1906), fits into the history of American cookery, American kitchens, and American consumerism. Originally owned by members of the…

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January 23, 2024

Eau Claire / Education / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / 602 Club / Eau Claire County / Society & Religion / Region 3 - Center West / 1965-1987

GLO: UW-Eau Claire’s First Gay Student Organization

Gay history in Wisconsin, while often focused on major cities like Madison and Milwaukee, was also being made in the often-overlooked rural parts of the state. One such place is the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, where a coalition of gay students founded…

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November 2, 2023

Madison / Dane County / Education / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / 602 Club / Politics & Government / Society & Religion / 1945-1965 / Region 7 - South Center

The Gay Purge of University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1962-63

Gay students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have not always received the protection they do today; in fact, from 1962-1963 the university attempted to systematically identify and expel gay students. The Dean of Men, in collaboration with Student Health Services and the…

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November 2, 2023

Object Histories / Madison / Dane County / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / 602 Club / Everyday Life / 1987-2011 / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: 602 Club T-Shirt

Not all bars make commemorative T-shirts for their closing, like the one pictured here, but the 602 Club was not an average bar. The bar, previously located at 602 University Avenue, was just a short walk from the heart of campus, making…

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November 2, 2023

New Glarus / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 1787-1848 / Green County / Global Connections / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / Region 7 - South Center / Swiss Cheese Kettle

Swiss Immigration to New Glarus

For nearly a century, southeastern Wisconsin and especially Green County was a hotbed of Swiss immigration. Even though the immigration slowed dramatically in the early 1900s, the area still preserves a distinctive Swiss character. Visitors can attend the annual Cheese Days festivities…

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April 17, 2023