Wisconsin 101

UW-Eau Claire & The Council Oak Tree

Oak Trees have been regarded for centuries as a symbol of strength, moral, and knowledge, and throughout history have been represented in different mythologies to show these attributes. And for the original Council Oak Tree, grown in Eau Claire, it also held…

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October 5, 2021

Read more about the article An Iron Kinship: Abraham Darby and William Aylward Sr.

Raw coke for iron ore smelting. Made by heating coal in the absence of air. Photo courtesy of Stahlkocher.

Winnebago County / Region 4 - Center / Related Stories / Neenah / Neenah Foundry Manhole Cover / Manufacturing & Trade / 1860-1880 / Science & Medicine

An Iron Kinship: Abraham Darby and William Aylward Sr.

In 1872, William Aylward Sr. combined air, coal, and iron ore to produce his first plowshares and other agricultural implements.[1] The founder of what would become the Neenah Foundry followed a process developed by an English man named Abraham Darby more than…

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September 29, 2021

Read more about the article Christopher Latham Sholes

Portrait of Christopher Latham Sholes posing at a typewriter, n.d., Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, ID 3218.

Milwaukee County / Sholes and Glidden Typewriter / Milwaukee / Region 8 - South East / Related Stories / 1800-1820 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1820-1840 / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / Education / Global Connections

Christopher Latham Sholes

Christopher Latham Sholes worked with his brothers at a Green Bay newspaper after having completed a printing internship in 1837, and in 1840 he moved to Kenosha to serve as the owner and publisher of the Southport Telegraph for a number of…

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September 22, 2021

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Sholes & Glidden Typewriter

Sholes & Glidden typewriter developed by Christopher Latham Sholes of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and marketed c. 1874. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, ID 1964.31.

Sholes and Glidden Typewriter / Milwaukee County / Milwaukee / Region 8 - South East / Manufacturing & Trade / 1860-1880 / Object Histories / Education / Global Connections

OBJECT HISTORY: Sholes & Glidden Typewriter

Christopher Latham Sholes (1819-1890) had a number of interests, one of which was spending time at Kleinsteuber’s Machine Shop in Milwaukee. While there, he met other tinkerers including Samuel Soule who was a printer by trade and Carlos Glidden who was a…

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September 22, 2021

John Gund Brewing Company postcard, c. 1911, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Image 35952.

The Heileman Family: A German Immigration Story

The G. Heileman Brewing Company is often remembered by historians as the vision of the two ambitious men who founded the brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin. At the height of its popularity in 1983, Heileman’s was the fourth largest brewery in the…

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August 17, 2021

The Early History of the Kohler Company

As was so often the case with major American businesses in the 1800s, the Kohler Company grew from modest roots. The company’s founder, John Michael Kohler, began his working life first as a delivery truck driver and then a salesman. Born in…

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November 10, 2020