Wisconsin 101

OBJECT HISTORY: Door County Bookmobile

The Door County Bookmobile was the rural public library. In 1950 when the Door-Kewaunee Regional Library Demonstration first brought bookmobiles to the Door Peninsula, nearly 23% of Wisconsinites did not have access to a free library. With many remote towns and islands, a low overall population, poor transportation, and low literacy rates, the Door Peninsula offered an opportunity…

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June 9, 2019

Home Furnishings / Manufacturing & Trade / Science & Medicine / 1900-1920 / Object Histories

OBJECT HISTORY: Vacuum

People in the early 20th century witnessed the invention of all kinds of household tools we take for granted today, such as the vacuum cleaner, laundry machine, and refrigerator. This is a manual vacuum cleaner from 1911 at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. This small upright vacuum was designed to be operated by hand and easy…

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September 10, 2018

Ozaukee County / Port Washington / Paramount Records 78 / Region 8 - South East / Related Stories / Home Furnishings / Manufacturing & Trade / Art, Sport & Entertainment / 1880-1900

The Wisconsin Chair Company

Founded in 1888 by Frederick A. Dennett, the Wisconsin Chair Company (WCC) was perhaps the most important business in Ozaukee County at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. The company, located along the northern shore of the…

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July 16, 2018

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: La Crosse Normal School Fireplace

Children in the La Crosse Normal School model kindergarten sitting before the fireplace. Image courtesy of Leslie Crocker, "We've Hung the Lanturn," (2013) pg. 33.

La Crosse County / Region 3 - Center West / La Crosse / La Crosse Normal School Fireplace / Home Furnishings / Art, Sport & Entertainment / 1900-1920 / Object Histories / Education

OBJECT HISTORY: La Crosse Normal School Fireplace

UW- La Crosse was once a smaller school that went by a different name. The original school, La Crosse Normal, was originally a training school for prospective teachers. It opened on September 7, 1909. Parts of the Normal School can still be seen on the UW-La Crosse campus, though they can be difficult to spot.…

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April 9, 2018

2000-2020 / 2020-2040 / Pre-1600 / 1600-1800 / Home Furnishings / 1800-1820 / 1820-1840 / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / Object Histories / 1900-1920 / 1920-1940 / 1940-1960 / Ethnicity & Identity / 1960-1980 / 1980-2000

OBJECT HISTORY: Cradleboard

Native Americans used cradleboards in North America to protect, carry, and entertain their babies. Cradleboards allowed women to keep babies close to their side. Women carried cradleboards on their backs. They also could rest them against a tree. The cradleboard protected babies from danger and kept them happy. Native tribes made cradleboards in many ways,…

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June 9, 2017

Scene from Poale Zion Chasidim, an Americanization pageant held in the Milwaukee auditorium to welcome Milwaukee’s new citizens, 1919. Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, ID: 5348.

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, Ireland, and Scandinavia, the new immigrants came…

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May 1, 2017