Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Madison-Style Ice Boat Model

This miniature ice boat was originally built in Madison, Wisconsin about 1916-1917 by a member of the Bernard family. Carl Bernard grew up in the culture of ice boating and began making models of them at a young age. Creating models helped the Bernards try new innovative building techniques and were also raced for fun.

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October 1, 2020

Art, Sport & Entertainment / Madison / Dane County / Related Stories / Sports & Games / 1848-1877 / Curators' Favorites / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Transportation & Tourism / Region 7 - South Center / Madison-Style Ice Boat

Ice Boating in Madison: A Bernard Family Tradition

Ice boating for sport began along New York's upper Hudson River around the Civil War and soon spread to other cold weather locations. An 1878 article in Harper's Weekly includes an engraving of ice boating in Madison. The city quickly became a center for ice boating in North America, a distinction held for over a century.

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October 1, 2020

Indigenous Wisconsin / Forest County / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Nature & Environment / Politics & Government / Region 2 - North East / 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

Indigenous Wisconsin / Art, Sport & Entertainment / Military History / Art & Design / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Door County / 1900-1918 / Politics & Government / Region 5 - Center East / Potawatomi Beaded 'Soldier Coat'

OBJECT HISTORY: Potawatomi Beaded ‘Soldier Coat’

An elder spokesman for the Potawatomi Indians, Chief Simon Onanguisse Kahquados made a number of trips to Washington, D.C. in the early twentieth century in an effort to regain land that his people had lost through treaties with the United States government in the 1800s. Kahquados wore this coat on his last trip to Washington and also wore it on other important occasions, such as trips to the state capital in Madison where he often spent time researching and presenting information about his ancestry.

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August 1, 2020

Indigenous Wisconsin / Related Stories / Door County / Ethnicity & Identity / Curators' Favorites / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Politics & Government / Region 5 - Center East / Potawatomi Beaded 'Soldier Coat'

Chief Simon Kahquados

Chief Simon Onanguisse Kahquados was the last hereditary descendant in a long line of Potawatomi chiefs, his family being one of the oldest known Potawatomi inhabitants of Wisconsin. An engaging speaker, Kahquados often served as an interpreter and provided a wealth of information to the Wisconsin Historical Society regarding traditional Potawatomi culture and history.

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August 1, 2020

Industry / Sheboygan / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / 1877-1900 / Global Connections / 1900-1918 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / Sheboygan County / 1945-1965 / 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