Online Exhibits

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…

Deer hunting

Our guest curator for this post is Beth A. Zinsli, a member of a large deer hunting clan from central Wisconsin. She was raised on venison, Colby cheese, and other typical Wisconsin fare. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in art history and visual culture studies at UW-Madison. Hunting whitetail deer is an annual fall ritual… Read More…

Grand hotels

This gallery offers a closer look at some of the state’s grandest hotels and resorts built between the 1870s and the 1940s. Some, like Oakton Springs in Pewaukee, have long since vanished; others, like the Northernaire of Three Lakes and Milwaukee’s Pfister, continue to serve visitors from around the country. Use the arrows or thumbnails… Read More…

Bicycling in the 19th century

The guest curators for this post are Nick Hoffman and Jesse Gant. Nick is the curator at the History Museum at the Castle in Appleton and Jesse is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Together they are writing an introductory book-length history of 19th century bicycling culture in Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Historical… Read More…

Home economics education

Our guest curator for this exhibit is Erika Janik, an award-winning writer, historian, and the producer and editor of Wisconsin Life on Wisconsin Public Radio. Erika is the author of Odd Wisconsin; A Short History of Wisconsin; Madison: A History of a Model City, and Apple: A Global History. Originally from Redmond, Washington, she now knows more… Read More…

Welsh in Wisconsin

Stained glass window, Bethesda Presbyterian Church

The earliest immigrants from Wales to Wisconsin arrived in 1840, with peak immigration between about 1850 and 1860. To read more about Welsh settlement in the state, see Phillips G. Davies, Welsh in Wisconsin (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2006). Tell everyone who inquires after us that we think the country will prove very agreeable to us…. Read More…

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