Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Draft Drum

The hollow metal cylinder sits on the rusted, triangular metal base. A latch and a small hinged door are open, exposing a small square hole where the names of potential draftees could be placed. A thin metal crank protrudes from the center of the cylinder ready to be turned at any moment. This is a…

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November 9, 2017

Agriculture / Oconto / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Global Connections / Migrant Worker's Cabin / Manufacturing & Trade / Oconto County / Region 2 - North East / Politics & Government / Society & Religion / 1945-1965 / 1965-1987

Wisconsin’s Migrant Housing Laws

Before World War II, most of the migrant workers in Wisconsin’s pickle fields were single young men, and pickle companies provided housing for workers in large dormitories. After World War II, however, farmers began to hire more families to harvest pickles in…

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September 1, 2017

Read more about the article Migrant Labor and Door County Cherries

Oliver, Sheldon, and Glen Fardig help in the Fardig Orchard in Ephraim, WI, c. 1930. Photograph courtesy of the Ephraim Historical Foundation.

Agriculture / Industry / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Door County / Related Stories / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / Nature & Environment / Politics & Government / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Region 5 - Center East / Transportation & Tourism / Cherryland T-Shirt

Migrant Labor and Door County Cherries

Early Door County cherry orchards relied heavily on local workers, and all members of the family that owned a cherry orchard were expected to contribute. From the planting process, spraying of fungicides, pruning, and finally cherry picking, each cherry tree required a…

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July 1, 2017

The Kemp Trial

Military History / Ozaukee County / Related Stories / 1848-1877 / Politics & Government / Draft Drum / Region 8 - South East

Kemp Trial

One ringleader of the 1862 Ozaukee County Riot was Nicholas Kemp, an immigrant from Luxemburg, Germany, and blacksmith by trade, who had emigrated to America in 1846. At the time of the riot he was in the general mercantile business.In the days following the…

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June 7, 2017

Read more about the article Ozaukee County Draft Riot

Governor Edward Salonen. Image courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society, Image ID: 34242.

Military History / Ozaukee County / Related Stories / 1848-1877 / Politics & Government / Draft Drum / Region 8 - South East

Ozaukee County Draft Riot

Following the South’s attack on Fort Sumter in 1861, Wisconsin, and the North as a whole, experienced a surge in patriotism and an eagerness to fight for the North, offering more volunteers than were needed. Due to the flood of new recruits,…

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June 1, 2017

Civilian Conservation Corps recruits in line for the mess hall at Camp 657’s temporary location near Summit Lake, Wisconsin, c. 1933. Photograph courtesy of the Langlade County Historical Society.

The Civilian Conservation Corps

In 1933, with nearly a quarter of the civilian labor force unemployed, newly inaugurated President Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a cornerstone effort in his New Deal program.Under the direction of several governmental departments, including the Department of…

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October 1, 2015