Wisconsin 101

Elsa Ulbricht: A Pioneer for Women’s Work

Due to its longevity and the number of women employed, historians consider the Milwaukee Handicraft Project to be one of the most successful programs sponsored by the Works Project Administration (WPA). The WPA funded many public works projects during the Great Depression as a…

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April 23, 2025

Milwaukee Handicraft Project Portfolio / Art & Design / New Object Histories / Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Object Histories / 1918-1945 / Society & Religion / Region 8 - South East

OBJECT HISTORY: Milwaukee Handicraft Project Portfolio

A seagull is eating fish for lunch, disrupting the regularity of the water’s waves as it splashes around. This is a scene so common on the Milwaukee shores of Lake Michigan that it served as design inspiration for local craftsmen, and in…

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April 23, 2025

Recital Poster / Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Region 8 - South East

Milwaukee’s Early Mexican Community

Milwaukee’s Mexican community began in 1920, when the Pfister and Vogel Tannery recruited a handful of men from the midwestern states of Mexico to work in their Menominee and Bay View plants on the city’s near south side. Unaware that they had been…

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April 23, 2025

Music, Theatre & Cinema / Recital Poster / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945

Raphael Baez

Raphael Baez, Sr. can be counted as one of the first Mexicans ever to call Milwaukee home. Born in Puebla, Mexico in 1863, Baez began his musical education at the age of nine. From the start, the youngster displayed a remarkable ability…

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April 22, 2025

Janesville / Chevy Caprice / Industry / Manufacturing & Trade / Rock County / Society & Religion / 1918-1945 / Transportation & Tourism / Region 7 - South Center

Janesville GM 1937 Strike

Economic tension during the Great Depression in the early 1930s caused a massive shift in labor relations as many workers wanted protection, jobs, and better wages. Many Americans were desperate for jobs that would meet their needs, and this led to grassroot…

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February 17, 2025

Janesville / Chevy Caprice / Industry / Related Stories / Rock County / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / 1945-1965 / 1965-1987 / Transportation & Tourism / 1987-2011 / Region 7 - South Center

Janesville General Motors Assembly Plant

The Janesville Assembly Plant’s near ninety-year run helped define both the city and its workers and the General Motors Company as one of the most successful automakers in the world. The history of the plant is deeply rooted in Janesville’s agricultural past.…

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February 17, 2025