Wisconsin 101

Wild Rice and Wetland Conservation

Wild rice grows only in the Great Lakes Region in shallow and calm waters. It requires specific conditions, nutrient-rich muddy soil and stable water levels, in order to properly grow to maturity, to produce the seeds able to be harvested. Damaging the…

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November 17, 2024

Agriculture / Lac du Flambeau / Odanah / Ricing Sticks / Broad History / Indigenous Wisconsin / Ashland County / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Region 1 - North West / Nature & Environment / Region 2 - North East / Vilas County

Ricing (Manoominikewin)

Wild rice was depicted in an Ojibwe prophecy before there was even a name for the grain. When the Ojibwe people began to migrate west, they were prophesied to settle where food grows on water. The westward migration was in part because…

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November 16, 2024

Agriculture / Indigenous Wisconsin / Broad History / Ricing Sticks / Odanah / Lac du Flambeau / Ashland County / New Object Histories / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Region 1 - North West / Region 2 - North East / Vilas County

OBJECT HISTORY: Ricing Sticks (Bawa’iganaakoog)

Bawa’iganaakoog, threshers, or knockers, are all words used to refer to the sticks used for the harvesting of wild rice. Wild rice holds extreme cultural importance to Ojibwe culture for several reasons beyond basic sustenance; not only can it be dried and…

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November 16, 2024

Music, Theatre & Cinema / Usher Uniform / Art, Sport & Entertainment / New Object Histories / Baraboo / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Sauk County / 1900-1918 / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: Ringling Theater Usher Uniform

Usher's Uniform Coat, from the collection of the Sauk County Historical Society.Usher's Uniform Pants, from the collection of the Sauk County Historical Society.Usher's Uniform Hat, from the collection of the Sauk County Historical Society. On November 17, 1915, the Ringling Theatre opened…

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July 17, 2024

Ellison Bay / Fish Boil Kettle / New Object Histories / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Door County / 1945-1965 / Region 5 - Center East / Transportation & Tourism

OBJECT HISTORY: Fish Boil Kettle

This fish boil kettle from the Wisconsin Historical Museum collection, was donated by the Viking Grill in 2010. The two handled baskets sit inside a cauldron which was originally manufactured as a drum for a washing machine. Door County may be the…

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April 10, 2024

Wisconsin Dells / Columbia County / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Nature & Environment / 1900-1918 / Transportation & Tourism / Region 7 - South Center / Lefeber Glass Plate Negatives

Images of the Wisconsin Dells (Waterparks Not Included!)

More than a century before the Wisconsin Dells became the "Waterpark Capital of the World," it was a famous tourist destination known for its scenic beauty. Guides began taking sightseers in rowboats along the Wisconsin River as early as the 1850s, and…

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February 21, 2024