Tumblr Top Three: February 2013

Counting down the most-liked and most-shared posts on our Tumblr blog, Wisco Histo, for the month of February.

3. A very close tie

A charming snapshot of two friends at the Kenosha County airport just barely edged out a portrait of three imposing Platteville police officers (and police dog).

Jack Cahill and Burnice Pulasky, Kenosha County airport.

Three police officers with dog, Platteville, Wisconsin, ca. 1895.

2. A story of migration and music

Born in Missouri in 1862, Lily Richmond came to Wisconsin as a young child with her parents, who were freed slaves. The family settled in Pleasant Ridge, a village near present-day Beetown in southwest Wisconsin established by former slaves who came to Wisconsin beginning in 1848. In 1946, Helene Stratman-Thomas recorded Richmond singing African-American spirituals for the Wisconsin Folk Music Recording Project sponsored by UW-Madison and the Library of Congress.

Visit the Wisconsin Folksong Collection and search for Richmond to hear recordings of Richmond singing “Rock of Ages,” “One More River,” and other traditional melodies.

Lily Richmond, Beetown, Grant County, Wisconsin, 1946.

1. A whimsical group portrait

This image from the Richland County History Room in Richland Center was far and away our most popular post in February, with a total of 334 “likes” and reblogs. In this photo, members of the Junior Women’s Relief Corps in Sextonville, Richland County,  wear matching uniforms and pose with brooms and dustpans, suggesting they were part of a broom brigade. Popular in the late 19th century, broom brigades were military-style women’s drill teams that marched with brooms instead of rifles. The Woman’s Relief Corps, founded in 1883, is a national women’s auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic, the fraternal organization of Civil War Veterans.

Junior Woman’s Relief Corps, Sextonville, Richland County, Wisconsin, ca. 1890.

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