Wisconsin 101

The Wolf River

Todd Sheldon first discovered the virtues of the Mepps Aglia spinner and later realized improvements afforded by a tuft of squirrel tail while fishing at one of his favorite spots: the Wolf River. Today the Wolf continues to be a destination for sports…

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May 24, 2018

Langlade County / Region 2 - North East / Mepps Fishing Lure / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / 1920-1940 / Transportation & Tourism

Building a Tourism Industry in Northern Wisconsin

Equipment manufacturers played a major role in developing fishing as a part of the tourism industry in northern Wisconsin. Each year nearly two million people fish in Wisconsin’s waterways. They catch about 72 million fish of various species. Fishing lures expanded in…

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May 24, 2018

Old Abe, the Live War Eagle / 2000-2020 / 2020-2040 / Related Stories / Politics, Society & Government / 1880-1900 / 1900-1920 / 1920-1940 / 1940-1960 / 1960-1980 / 1980-2000

Old Abe’s Visual Legacy

Old Abe began his career as a real, live eagle, serving as a mascot during the Civil War. In the decades that followed, the Grand Army of the Republic brought the bird on tours around the country. In the many years since Old Abe’s…

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May 24, 2018

Brown County / Region 5 - Center East / 1600-1800 / Green Bay / Le Maire Sundial / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / Politics, Society & Government / Science & Medicine / Religion / Global Connections

French Wisconsin at Fort la Baye

French explorers, voyageurs (fur traders), Jesuit priests, and other settlers began arriving in the Upper Great Lakes region of North America in the mid-1600s. Jean Nicolet supposedly landed near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1634, naming the waterway La Baye des Puants, literally “Bay of…

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May 24, 2018

Marathon County / Region 2 - North East / Wausau / Employers Mutual Audiometer / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / Politics, Society & Government / 1900-1920

The 1911 Workman’s Compensation Act and the Birth of an Industry

Wisconsin passed the nation’s first constitutionally upheld worker’s compensation law in 1911. It is one of the great successes of Progressive-era social legislation and a triumph of the Wisconsin Idea.[1]Previously, American workers toiling in industrialized workplaces had often faced the threat of injury at…

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May 24, 2018

Employers Mutual Audiometer / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / 1900-1920 / 1920-1940 / Education / 1940-1960 / 1960-1980

Promoting Workplace Safety

For an insurance company like Employers Mutual, it made sense to try to promote safety in the workplace. Reducing the number of industrial accidents would naturally lead to less money lost to claims. But Employers Mutual was also very adept at translating its…

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May 24, 2018