Wisconsin 101

The Pauline Pottery

Chicago-born artist and entrepreneur Pauline Jacobus was the central figure of Edgerton, Wisconsin's art pottery movement. In 1888, Jacobus and her husband Oscar relocated the Pauline Pottery from Chicago to Edgerton to take advantage of the area's quality clay.

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September 10, 2020

Indigenous Wisconsin / Forest County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Nature & Environment / Region 2 - North East / Politics & Government / Society & Religion / Potawatomi Beaded 'Soldier Coat'

Missionaries and Land Rights: The Story of Erik Morstad and the Potawatomi

Some histories are not as straightforward as others, especially when cultures collide. It may come as no surprise that stories about the interactions between Native Americans and white settlers are sometimes one-sided. We can partly attribute this to the European tradition of…

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August 1, 2020

Sheboygan / Industry / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 1877-1900 / Global Connections / 1900-1918 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / Sheboygan County / Society & Religion / Region 5 - Center East / Synagogue Window

The Growth of Sheboygan’s Jewish Community

Although Sheboygan and Milwaukee are only 55 minutes apart by car today, the two cities on the west coast of Lake Michigan remained largely separate in 1900 when they both competed to become the industrial capital of Wisconsin. Through the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the industrialization process in both cities was shaped by an increase in Jewish immigration to the region.

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July 7, 2020

Sheboygan / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Curators' Favorites / Global Connections / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Sheboygan County / Society & Religion / Region 5 - Center East / Synagogue Window

Jewish Immigration from Russia to Sheboygan

The first Russian Jews arrived in Sheboygan in the 1880s. Like many other immigrants, they often followed their "landsleit" (fellow townsmen) to settlements in the new world, with the result that many of Sheboygan's Jewish immigrants came from a relatively small area east of Vilna and north of Minsk in current-day Belarus. They settled on the northwest side of Sheboygan, in a neighborhood bounded by 13th and 15th Streets, Geele Avenue on the north, and Bluff Avenue on the south.

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July 7, 2020

Agriculture / Broad History / Industry / Education / 1787-1848 / Related Stories / Whitewater / 1848-1877 / 1877-1900 / Jefferson County / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 7 - South Center / Esterly Broadcast Seeder

Industry and Manufacturing in the Whitewater Area

Since the earliest settlers arrived in the Whitewater area in the 1830s, industry and manufacturing have played important roles in the establishment and continued growth of the area.One of the earliest industries in Whitewater was grain milling, performed at the Old Stone…

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June 29, 2020

Berlin / Object Histories / Green Lake County / 1877-1900 / Society & Religion / Science & Medicine / Region 4 - Center / Wade House Museum

OBJECT HISTORY: Silsby’s Steam-Powered Pumper

In the late 1800s, the Silsby Company created the Steam Powered Pumper in New York. This technological advancement made the lives of firefighters everywhere easier. They no longer had to rely on bucket brigades to fight fires. This impacted communities all over the country, including in Berlin, Wisconsin.

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September 10, 2019