Highlights
Doty's Diary of the 1820 Cass Expedition
Every summer the Society shares an original hand-written journal through its Historic Diaries pages, posting a new entry each day. This summer we've been publishing the journal of the first U.S. expedition to explore our Lake Superior shoreline, kept by...
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Posted July 18, 2008
Exploring the Great Lakes Fur Trade
Historical re-enactors from throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota will converge on Madeline Island Friday through Sunday, July 25-27, to set up an encampment at Madeline Island Museum for three days of demonstrations, role playing, handicrafts and other activies — all of...
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Posted July 16, 2008
See the War of 1812 in Wisconsin at Villa Louis
In mid-July 1814 an undersized and poorly supported garrison of American soldiers fought a losing battle against a much larger British-Canadia force dispatched to seize control of a strategic fort being built by the Americans in Prairie du Chien. It...
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Posted July 15, 2008
Regional Local History Conventions Coming Up
Each summer the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Council for Local History sponsor 10 regional local history conventions. These conventions provide opportunities to connect with local history colleagues and to gain knowledge through the sharing of ideas. Each convention...
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Posted July 11, 2008
Fur Trade 101: Its Role in Wisconsin History
The fur trade was Wisconsin's first truly global economic endeavor, bringing together French, British, American and Indian traders into a web of cultural, commercial and political exchange. On Tuesday, July 15, at 12:15 p.m., Isaac Walters will discuss the important...
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Posted July 9, 2008
Old World Wisconsin Recalls World War I
It is summer 1917, and a company of soldiers from Fond du Lac is just being mobilized for training to take part in the deadly trench warfare that characterized the western front during World War I. They are the soldiers...
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Posted July 7, 2008
Celebrating the Fourth — 19th-Century Style
For residents of small rural villages in 19th-century Wisconsin, the annual community Independence Day celebration marked the high point of every summer. At Old World Wisconsin, that same small-town spirit of excitement and patriotic pride will fill the air in...
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Posted June 30, 2008
Summer Magazine: Paul Bunyan to Bookmobiles
Summer is here and along with the sunshine, long days and warm nights, comes the summer issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History. Inside, you'll learn the history of the original Paul Bunyan tales, see the photography of Dr. Edward...
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Posted June 27, 2008
Full House for Circus of Chefs … The Gala 2008
Circus World's Circus of Chefs … The Gala 2008 — the attraction's biggest annual event and its most important fundraiser — appears destined for another successful year. More than 400 guests have reserved seats for the festive eating, drinking and...
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Posted June 25, 2008
Summer Fun at the Wisconsin Historical Museum
Engage children of all ages with the Wisconsin Historical Museum's Summertime Fun programs! As the summer season approaches, the museum education staff is getting geared up for the eighth annual Summertime Fun youth adventure series held at 11 a.m. and...
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Posted June 23, 2008
Edward Bass: Doctor and Amateur Photographer
Dr. Edward Alpheus Bass was a practicing physician in Montello when he purchased a Velox camera from the local newspaper office in 1892. The newspaper, the Montello Express, reported that Dr. Bass had "no experience in photography, but during the...
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Posted June 20, 2008
Madeline Island Museum Celebrates 50 Years
Back in the summer of 1958 Madeline Island resident Elmer Nelson raised the American flag at the grand opening of a new museum dedicated to preserving and telling the story of the island's long and colorful history. This year, on...
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Posted June 18, 2008
Wisconsin Students Head to National Finals
An enthusiastic group of Wisconsin's best and brightest middle and high school history students are in College Park, Maryland, this week to take part in the national finals of National History Day, culminating yearlong research projects designed to help the...
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Posted June 16, 2008
Children's Partnership Celebrates Five Years
The Madison Children's Activities Summer Passport Partnership — celebrating its fifth anniversay this summer — is your family's guide to exciting children's programs that will take place in the downtown area. In 2003 the Madison Public Library's central branch, Madison...
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Posted June 13, 2008
A New Book Explores Family History
Every family has a character who seems larger than life and who often takes on a mythical quality in the telling and retelling of his or her stories. For Wendy Bilen, her grandmother Josie Broadhead was that character. And years...
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Posted June 11, 2008
Fourth-Graders Give New Textbook a Thumbs Up
An enthusiastic group of fourth-graders at Huegel Elementary School in Madison got their first look at the Wisconsin Historical Society's new fourth-grade textbook, Wisconsin: Our State, Our Story, at a special unveiling of the book on Tuesday, June 3, with...
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Posted June 9, 2008
Play Ball — 1860s Style!
If you ever suffered from the notion that musty old textbooks and rote memorization of dates and facts constitute the stuff of history, think again. At two of the Society's historic sites — Old World Wisconsin and Wade House —...
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Posted June 6, 2008
Big Savings at Sites on Visitor Appreciation Day
It's become an early season tradition at Wisconsin's historic sites — a special day set aside to let people all over Wisconsin, and beyond the state's borders, come and experience history firsthand at a fraction of the normal cost. And...
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Posted June 4, 2008
Growing Up with Chris Farley
Larger-than-life funnyman and Madison native Chris Farley made his mark in stand-up comedy, television and the movies. He embodied and exported Wisconsin culture to the world stage. Now Chris Farley is the subject of a popular exhibit at the Wisconsin...
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Posted June 2, 2008
Fall Conference Offers Myriad Options
"So much to choose from … how will someone decide?" That's been the reaction to plans for the 2008 Joint Local History and Historic Preservation Conference, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, September 26-27, in Madison at the Radisson Hotel. This...
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Posted May 30, 2008
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