The most recent ingest of the Recollection Wisconsin collection into the Digital Public Library of American is complete and we’ve surpassed 600,000 historical photos, documents, and other resources in the collection! Among the additions this quarter are these two new collections: Listening to War brings together first-person accounts of veterans and civilians in Wisconsin during… Read More…
Agriculture and Environment
Pass the Peas, Please: Wisconsin’s Canning History
The story of commercial canning in Wisconsin turns out to be the story of the pea. The canning of beets, corn, cucumbers and other crops has been an important part of Wisconsin industry since the late 1800s. However, it was a native Pennsylvanian and his peas that started it all. The first commercial canning operation… Read More…
CCC Camp 657, Langlade County Historical Society
In March 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the first New Deal programs designed to create jobs for Americans during the Great Depression. From 1933-1942, the CCC put nearly three million unemployed young men to work building parks, planting trees, stocking streams and rivers, and other environmental conservation projects. The… Read More…
Lumber camp life
Logging has been a vital part of Wisconsin’s history since before statehood, and the life of the lumberjack remains a vivid element of Wisconsin folklore. Establishing a Logging Camp Most logging crews in Wisconsin operated only in the winter, taking advantage of hard, frozen ground to haul heavy loads of logs on sleighs rather than… 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 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…
Alfalfa production at Cornfalfa Farms, New Berlin Historical Society
The New Berlin Historical Society is home to an archive of photos and documents from the Swartz family, whose experimental farming methods at Cornfalfa Farms in Waukesha County gained national recognition in the 1910s and 20s. The Swartzes led the way in making alfalfa a viable crop in the state, earning Peter C. Swartz the… Read More…
