The first quarter of the nineteenth century was marked by westward migration into the regions north and west of the Ohio River. Though Wisconsin was initially a distant frontier, the small numbers of French, English, Americans, and American Indians who resided there had nonetheless explored and used the rich land and water resources that would soon bring thousands of immigrants into Wisconsin.
Prior to the Black Hawk War in 1832, Indians primarily inhabited much of Wisconsin. By the mid nineteenth century, though, Indians had been induced to cede most of their lands to the federal government. Some were relocated west of... more...
| A Connecticut Yankee writes home about Wisconsin's virtues in 1847. |
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| A Polish immigrant recalls coming to Milwaukee as a boy in 1868 |
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| Madison's Italian community in the early 20th century |
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| The first German women to settle in Milwaukee. |
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| Recollections of Wisconsin slaves by pioneer settlers. |
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| Recollections of Old Superior |
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| Carl Schurz describes why he settled in Wisconsin. |
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| An overview of Polish immigration through 1896 |
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| Fifty years of Polish settlement in Portage County, 1857-1907 |
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| The first Norwegian immigrants are recalled. |
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| The history and settlement of Langlade County |
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| The roots of Milwaukee's Jewish community in the mid-19th century |
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| Milwaukee's 19th-c. Jewish neighborhood recollected |
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| A description of the early Polish immigrants to Wisconsin, 1901 |
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| A Polish couple braves the loneliness to settle Pike Lake |
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| A little bit of Italy in Vernon County |
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| The early Jewish history of LaCrosse |
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| The character and activities of Bohemian immigrants, 1901 |
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| Czech immigrants settle in Langlade County in the 1880s |
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| Early History of the Brothertown Indians |
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| Theodore Rodolf recounts his life in the lead region in the 1830s |
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| Milwaukee's Irish neighborhood in the 19th century |
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| An Immigrant Who Became a Northwoods Missionary |
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| A Yankee Childhood in Dodge County |
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| A real-life "Little House" girlhood in Waupaca County. |
| A costume from a Racine Purim carnival |
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| The oldest toast in Wisconsin |
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| A Norwegian trinket box |
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| Rosemaled Norwegian Immigrant Trunk, 1845 |
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| Two sausage stuffers |
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| A violin becomes a Norwegian fiddle, 1893 |
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| A traditional Ukrainian Easter egg |
| A popular handbook teaches immigrants about Wisconsin, 1851. |
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| A speech by Brothertown Indian leader Samsom Occom, 1771 |
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| Barron County officials encourage settlers to emigrate to the northwoods. |
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| Northwoods officials try to attract settlers onto cutover lands, 1902. |
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| A German immigrant advises others about coming to Wisconsin (1849) |
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| A teenager's diary of coming overland from Ohio in 1846 |
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| An 1875 history of the Chippewa Valley |
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| A guide to the Mohican language, 1789 |
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| Promoters try to entice settlers to Bayfield County |
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| An Abolitionist Recalls Anti-Slavery Days in Wisconsin |
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| Promoters describe Superior in its infancy |
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| Folklore and folktales collected by Charles E. Brown |
| Stories by and about German immigrants. |
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| Stories by and about Dutch and Belgian immigrants. |
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| Stories by and about Norwegian immigrants.
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| Stories by and about Swiss immigrants. |
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| Stories by and about Italian immigrants.
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| Stories by and about immigrants from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. |
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| Stories by and about Czech and Hungarian immigrants. |
| Pictures of John Muir |
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| An Austrian painter depicts Wisconsin in the 1850s |
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| An advertisement tries to attract settlers to the cutover region. |
| A German immigrant describes coming to Wisconsin. |
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| A Norwegian immigrant describes coming to Wisconsin in 1840. |
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| An Austrian painter describes sketches made while traveling Wisconsin, 1856-1860 |
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| John Muir's younger brother recalls their boyhood. |
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| 30 original manuscript letters of John Muir, 1861-1914 |
| Photographs of a Finnish homestead in northern Wisconsin |
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| Golda Meir's school in Milwaukee |
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| An Italian missionary who designs his own churches |
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| Four-star accomodations in 19th century Sheboygan County |
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| A showcase of German American culture in Milwaukee |
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| A Polish neighborhood in Milwaukee |
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| Namur Belgian-American Historic District |
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| Tobacco farming takes off in southern Wisconsin |
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| Miners build a little "Cornwall" in Mineral Point |
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| Milwaukee's East Village Historic District |
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| An examination of the narratives of four immigrant women |
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| Reminiscences of early La Crosse by L.H. Pammel |
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| Travel Guide to Lake Superior in 1872 |
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| Collected historical documents from the Wisconsin Historical Society |
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| An 1874 guide to travel on the Great Lakes and Rivers of America |
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| An 1896 guide to settlement in Northern Wisconsin |
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| A historical, documentary, and descriptive history of Wisconsin to 1854 |
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| A prominent Norwegian-American remembers his life in Wisconsin (1915) |
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| An 1855 guide to Wisconsin for emigrants. |
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| Wisconsin Blue Books |
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| A popular German American cookbook (1897) |
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| A minister seeks to attract settlers to La Crosse in 1854 |
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| The people and places of Fond du Lac County |
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| Belgian-American Research Collection |
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| Harvard's Online Immigration Research Collection |
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| Biographical sketches and writings of some Wisconsin pioneer women |
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| Over 2000 more pages of immigrant experiences |
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| Letters from a pioneer African American community in Wisconsin |
