Guest Curators

McDonald’s in Wisconsin

A McDonald’s restaurant in Manitowoc. Manitowoc Public Library.

Guest curator Nichole Fromm is a librarian who blogs about restaurants at Eating in Madison A to Z with her husband JM. She was also the proud recipient in 1986 of a Golden Arches Good Taste Award. For better or worse, McDonald’s has built up a place in American hearts and minds. This exhibit uncovers… Read More…

The art of rosemaling

This exhibit was created in collaboration with Emily Nelson, an undergraduate History major at UW-Madison graduating in May 2015. She’s volunteering with Recollection Wisconsin in order to gain experience in historical writing and social media. Emily is a native of Ladysmith, Wisconsin and her Norwegian heritage inspired her to explore the art of rosemaling. Rosemaling… Read More…

The Good Stuff: Wisconsin’s sausage heritage

Guest curator Terese Allen has written scores of articles and books about Wisconsin’s food traditions and culinary culture, including the award-winning titles The Flavor of Wisconsin and The Flavor of Wisconsin for Kids. She is food columnist for Edible Madison and Edible Door magazines, vice-president of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW) and a… Read More…

Recreation on and in Wisconsin’s lakes

This post is contributed by Material Culture Summer Service Learner Ally Hrkac. Ally recently completed her B.S. in Secondary Education at UW-Madison and worked with Recollection Wisconsin in Summer 2013 to develop online exhibits and educational resources. “A lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable.”  — William Wordsworth Wisconsin is a land of… Read More…

Wisconsin department stores

Our guest curator for this exhibit is Michael Leannah, author of the new book Something for Everyone: Memories of Lauerman Brothers Department Store from the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Leannah has had a long career in the public schools of Milwaukee and Sheboygan and also works as an author and editor. He grew up in Marinette, Wisconsin… Read More…

Wisconsin farmers’ markets

This post is contributed by Ally Hrkac, our current Material Culture Summer Service Learner. Ally recently completed her B.S. in Secondary Education at UW-Madison and is working with Recollection Wisconsin this summer to develop online exhibits and educational resources. “This smell of the country gets me. I don’t wonder the farmer is held under the… Read More…

Wisconsin memoirs

This post is contributed by Ally Hrkac, our current Material Culture Summer Service Learner. Ally recently completed her B.S. in Secondary Education at UW-Madison and is working with Recollection Wisconsin this summer to develop online exhibits and educational resources. This exhibit highlights multiple forms of memoirs written by Wisconsin residents. In viewing these accounts, we… Read More…

Creating The Washburn Expedition

Madison-based writer and cartoonist Jay Rath describes his serial work, The Washburn Expedition, as “the world’s first Facebook novel.” Updated twice each weekday, the story follows “the continuing adventures of Dr. Allenby, plucky Rita, young Reggie and Billie the Cowboy as they search the world for THRILLS and ROMANCE!” Jay uses film stills, old advertisements, and… Read More…

The Washburn Expedition

Madison-based writer and cartoonist Jay Rath uses historic photos he finds online to create The Washburn Expedition, a serial novel he’s presented on Facebook since 2009. This spring, we invited Jay to delve into Recollection Wisconsin’s collections and create a new adventure for Dr. Allenby, Rita Rennebohm, young Reggie and Billie the Cowboy. In this segment,… Read More…

Milwaukee’s struggle for civil rights

Fair housing demonstration, Milwaukee, 1967. Photo by Ben Fernandez. James Groppi Papers, Wisconsin Historical Society.

This feature is curated by Mark Speltz, senior historian for American Girl. Mark began exploring the photographic record of the civil rights movement in Milwaukee as a graduate student in public history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In the six years since, he has interviewed participants, politicians, and photographers and remains ever hopeful new photographs and… Read More…

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