Wisconsin 101

The Evolution of a Swiss Barn

The expansion of Wisconsin’s dairy industry in the 20th century not only altered the economy of the state, but it also influenced the structure of the very barns that housed the bovine champions of the industry. Barns must be adapted and altered…

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September 10, 2018

Object Histories / Grant County / Industry / Ethnicity & Identity / Platteville / Mining Industry / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 6 - South West / James D. Williams' Windlass

OBJECT HISTORY: James D. Williams’ Windlass

This is a machine used to lower and raise miners and materials through mine shafts in the lead mining region around Platteville, Wisconsin. Made from wooden supports with a wooden barrel shaft and crank attached to a rope with a bucket, a…

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August 1, 2018

Grant County / Industry / Ethnicity & Identity / 1787-1848 / Iowa County / Related Stories / Platteville / 1848-1877 / Pleasant Ridge / Manufacturing & Trade / Society & Religion / Region 6 - South West / James D. Williams' Windlass

Slavery in Wisconsin

It may come as a surprise to learn that during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries slavery existed in the region that would become the state of Wisconsin. Over this period, thousands of enslaved African Americans or enslaved American Indians lived and…

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August 1, 2018

Broad History / Pre-1787 / Lake Koshkonong / Industry / Ethnicity & Identity / 1787-1848 / Related Stories / 1848-1877 / A Duck Decoy / 1877-1900 / Jefferson County / Manufacturing & Trade / 1900-1918 / Nature & Environment / 1918-1945 / Region 7 - South Center

When Lake Koshkonong was a Marsh

Maintaining practices like an annual visit to Lake Koshkanong to hunt and harvest food is an important way for indigenous knowledge and culture to be passed-on to the next generation.

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July 1, 2018

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Art & Design / Object Histories / Lake Koshkonong / Sports & Games / Wisconsin Made / A Duck Decoy / 1877-1900 / Jefferson County / Nature & Environment / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: A Duck Decoy

With its painted black bill, brown head, and white and black body, it is likely obvious to humans that this object is made out of wood. This object is called a duck decoy, and was intended to fool other ducks into settling…

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July 1, 2018

Wausau / Broad History / Industry / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Related Stories / Everyday Life / Global Connections / Marathon County / Manufacturing & Trade / A Hudson's Bay Company Point Blanket Coat / Region 4 - Center / Fur Trade

What is a Point Blanket Coat?

The practice of converting Hudson’s Bay Company blankets into coats began years before the company began mass-manufacturing point blanket coats in the twentieth century. During the fur trade, Native Americans hunters traded beaver pelts for wool point blankets. Point blankets were waterproof…

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February 1, 2018