Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Hmong Baby Carrier

This Hmong cloth baby carrier was hand-stitched in Thailand around 1987, and its history helps tell part of the story of the Hmong community in this State. A young woman named Kia Vang crafted the carrier inside a refugee camp located in Loei province to transport her unborn child to Oshkosh, Wisconsin after the Vietnam…

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October 1, 2018

La Crosse / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life / A Hmong Baby Sash / Global Connections / La Crosse County / Politics & Government / 1965-1987 / Region 3 - Center West

OBJECT HISTORY: A Hmong Baby Sash

We are surrounded by objects that seem very ordinary, but once we look closer, they often reveal deep connections to the history of our state and our communities. In this Object History, Pao Vue writes about the thread-bare baby sash he found in his mother’s room that, it turns out, once saved his life and…

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July 15, 2018

Art, Sport & Entertainment / 20-sided die / Lake Geneva / Object Histories / Sports & Games / Walworth County / 1965-1987 / Region 8 - South East

OBJECT HISTORY: A Twenty-sided Die

Dice are used in games around the world to generate a random number. Traditionally the die is cubical; however there are multiple forms of non-cubicle die, such as, the 20-sided die. Ancient die were typically made from bones, wood, or rock. Today, die of all shapes are usually made from resin. The 20-sided die can…

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June 15, 2018

Art, Sport & Entertainment / 20-sided die / Lake Geneva / Related Stories / Sports & Games / Walworth County / 1965-1987 / Region 8 - South East

A Brief History of Dungeons and Dragons

In the late 1960s, Gary Gygax of Lake Geneva, WI fell in love with the board game Wargames. Wargames simulated actual battles from historic wars, but offered players the opportunity to carry out campaigns in new ways based on rolls of a…

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June 15, 2018

Agriculture / Oconto / Industry / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / 1918-1945 / Oconto County / Region 2 - North East / 1945-1965 / 1965-1987 / Migrant Worker's Cabin

Migrant Workers and the Bond Pickle Company

The Bond Pickle Company of Oconto, Wisconsin was founded in 1915 by five brothers. The Bond brothers quickly developed the firm, by 1917 acquiring 10 “salting stations” where the cucumbers were received from local farmers and a processing factory on West Main Street in…

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September 1, 2017

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

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