Wisconsin 101

The Development of Progressive Politics in Wisconsin from Abolition into the Twentieth Century

The legacy of abolitionists and anti-slavery figures didn’t end with the Civil War or the abolition of slavery, indeed many of the political and moral sentiments that fueled this movement for freedom continued on and inspired other political movements in Wisconsin, particularly…

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October 30, 2024

Slaske's Tools / Greendale / Milwaukee County / Related Stories / Politics & Government / 1918-1945 / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East

The New Deal in Wisconsin (and Beyond)

In October of 1929, the United States suffered a stock market crash that would alter the course of history. The American economy came to a screeching halt, with economic impacts that came to reverberate around the world. In Wisconsin, particularly in the…

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August 14, 2024

Slaske's Tools / Greendale / Milwaukee County / Related Stories / Nature & Environment / Politics & Government / 1918-1945 / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East

Greendale, Greenhills, and Greenbelt: The Government’s “Green” Towns

The Greenbelt towns were the brainchild of Rexford Guy Tugwell, an economist who served as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Undersecretary of Agriculture in 1934 and 1935. A policy advisor to President Roosevelt, Tugwell believed that he could effectively combat the Depression-era issues…

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August 14, 2024

Greendale / Slaske's Tools / New Object Histories / Object Histories / Milwaukee County / Manufacturing & Trade / Politics & Government / Society & Religion / 1918-1945 / Region 8 - South East

OBJECT HISTORY: Jack Slaske’s Tool Set

In the holdings of the Greendale Historical Society is an unassuming set of tools, comprised of hand saws, planes, braces and drill bits, among other items. Though these were mass manufactured and similar tools exist all across the country, these particular tools…

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August 14, 2024

Sports & Games / Broad History / Wooden Curling Stone / Lodi / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Columbia County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Global Connections / Society & Religion / Region 7 - South Center

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

Eau Claire / Education / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Eau Claire County / 602 Club / 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