Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Slovak Catholic Altar

During the 19th and early 20th century, immigrants from all across Europe began coming to Wisconsin. Some had heard of economic opportunity from industries like mining, logging, or farming. Some were being treated unfairly in their home countries because of their race or religion.…

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October 6, 2020

Art & Design / Norwegians / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Home Furnishings / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life / 1848-1877 / Global Connections / Transportation & Tourism

OBJECT HISTORY: Norwegian Trunk

In the 1800s, European immigrants coming to America had to find a way to preserve the objects indispensable to their lives, bringing their most precious belongings on an ocean voyage to a far-away new home. Most families were only able to bring…

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October 6, 2020

La Farge / Pre-1787 / Education / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Vernon County / Nature & Environment / Region 6 - South West / A Dam Tower in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve

Wisconsin’s Ancient History in the Kickapoo Valley

If you look closely, the landscapes around us tell stories about the past. Sometimes in the curve of a road, a line of trees, or stretch of prairie careful observers can find evidence of the people and animals that used to call…

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September 24, 2020

Sheboygan / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Global Connections / Sheboygan County / 1900-1918 / Society & Religion / Region 5 - Center East / Synagogue Window

OBJECT HISTORY: Synagogue Window

This synagogue window is a testament to the successful efforts of hundreds of Russian Jews to recreate a familiar community in Sheboygan, Wisconsin in the early twentieth century.

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September 10, 2020

Indigenous Wisconsin / Military History / Art & Design / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Door County / Politics & Government / 1900-1918 / Region 5 - Center East / Potawatomi Beaded 'Soldier Coat'

OBJECT HISTORY: Potawatomi Beaded ‘Soldier Coat’

An elder spokesman for the Potawatomi Indians, Chief Simon Onanguisse Kahquados made a number of trips to Washington, D.C. in the early twentieth century in an effort to regain land that his people had lost through treaties with the United States government in the 1800s. Kahquados wore this coat on his last trip to Washington and also wore it on other important occasions, such as trips to the state capital in Madison where he often spent time researching and presenting information about his ancestry.

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September 10, 2020

Music, Theatre & Cinema / Milwaukee / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Milwaukee County / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Migrant Worker's Cabin / 1900-1918 / Region 8 - South East

OBJECT HISTORY: Piano and Song Recital Poster

Mr. Raphael Baez, a well-respected violinist, pianist, composer, and music professor, and his wife Mrs. Mary Schoen Baez, a noted vocalist, had performed together in various music halls in the city of Milwaukee since 1889. The Athenaeum, home of the Women’s Club of Wisconsin, had hosted Mr. Baez and his students throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth…

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September 10, 2020