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 …
1880s
The 1890s Bicycle Craze in Wisconsin
Bicycles entered the United States on the East Coast from Europe in 1869. By 1880, bicycling in the U.S. had become so popular that the League of American Wheelmen (LAW) was founded. One of LAW’s …
Malted Milk and Infant Nutrition
Although known today mostly as a flavoring for milk shakes and chocolate-covered malt balls, malted milk made its first appearance in the 1880s as a substitute for human breast milk. At that time, the idea …
The Cherry Industry in Door County
While earliest European immigrants in Door County survived by subsistence farming, efforts in later years to grow cash crops proved challenging, due in large part to the area’s rocky landscape. Despite little success with traditional …
The Settlement House Movement
Mass immigration from eastern and southern Europe dramatically altered America’s ethnic and religious composition around the turn of the twentieth century. Unlike earlier immigrants, who had largely come from western European countries like Britain, Germany, …
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Black Kander
The first generation of women—mostly white and middle- or upper-class—to graduate from college in large numbers left school full of promise and enthusiasm, but were largely denied employment in medicine, law, or business. Rejected by …
The Lumber Industry in Northern Wisconsin
Prior to the Civil War, most of northern Wisconsin was inhabited by the Menominee and Ojibwe Indians, and transient fur traders of European origin. Demand for wood in Chicago and Milwaukee after the Civil War …
An Immigrant Family in Rural Wisconsin
Rose Mary Drab was born in southeastern Langlade County on April 23 of 1913. Her family had settled there the year before on a small farm south of Antigo. Originally named Drabowski, Rose Mary’s parents …
Whitefish Bay Urbanization
In the late 1800s, meatpacking, wheat processing and brewing industrialization boomed in Milwaukee. This increase of manufacturing attracted workers from all over the country to move to Milwaukee. In fact, from 1870-1900, Milwaukee’s population quadrupled. …
Milwaukee Resort Towns
When Chicago’s population boomed in the 1800s, the new population frequently traveled “up north” to Milwaukee for vacations. Different Milwaukee companies built resorts in the towns surrounding the city to increase profits from tourists. These …