Current Issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History
Summer 2025, Volume 108, Number 4
North Point Lighthouse, Milwaukee. PHOTO BY EJ RODRIGUEZ
On Our Cover
“Light discontinued this 30th day of June 1907. Correct Statement. Georgia A. Stebbins, Keeper.” So reads the final entry in the daily log kept by Stebbins, who, as head keeper of Milwaukee’s North Point Lighthouse, tended the light for thirty-seven years. When her service ended, she was not only the longest serving keeper in the lighthouse’s history but the longest serving woman lighthouse keeper in Wisconsin—a feat that was never matched as lighthouses were gradually automated and the need for beacons changed. As one among many stories about Wisconsin’s water history—and with the North Point Lighthouse on our cover—the profile of Georgia Stebbins, written by Barb and Ken Wardius, is a perfect entrée into our summer 2025 issue.
The pier at Two Creeks, ca. 1890. By 1920, the portion of the pier touching the mainland had collapsed. MANITOWOC COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Featured Story
Ghost Ports: The Hunt for Wisconsin's Vanished Port Towns
By Kendra Kennedy
Before the railroad, water was the primary method of trade and transportation in the Great Lakes region, with massive ports in Milwaukee, Sheboygan, and other large cities. Between these major ports were dozens of small coastal towns whose piers served as hubs to transport inland goods to larger cities—but as resources like hemlock declined, so did these communities. Today known as ghost ports, these once-bustling towns, along with their piers, have largely disappeared from public memory. To resurrect this forgotten past, WHS’s team of maritime archaeologists and volunteers dive into Lake Michigan’s shallows to map sunken pier pilings, dig into newspapers and local records, and interview local residents whose ancestors fished or sailed these waters.
The Wizard of Oz was promoted through posters, newspaper ads, and lobby cards across the country.
The Wizard of Oz in Wisconsin
William Povletich
As one of the most beloved motion pictures of all time, The Wizard of Oz remains a cornerstone in America’s cultural memory. Most viewers, however, don’t know of Wisconsin’s surprising connections to the 1939 classic, which lives on in Oconomowoc’s Oz Plaza, a score by composer Herbert Stothart, and a performance by actor Meinhart Raabe, who played the Munchkin coroner and pronounced the Wicked Witch of the East “really, most sincerely dead.”
Algae scum at Lake Winnebago, 2024. PHOTO BY ROBERT STELZER
Green Algae and Blue Vitriol: From Total Management to Watershed Management in Wisconsin's Lakes
By Jim Feldman
If you associate summer with green, smelly scum on inland lakes, Jim Feldman’s foray into the history of harmful algal blooms and their treatment may bring some answers. A century ago, scientists thought they found the perfect solution in copper sulfate (blue vitriol), a chemical compound that can clear up unsightly algae in days. But as its use became widespread, members of the public became concerned about possible environmental effects. Today, the aquatic nuisance is treated through watershed management—a sea change in understanding that addresses the causes of toxic algae rather than simply treating the problem with chemicals.
Book Excerpt
I Live Underwater: The Thrilling Adventures of a Record-Breaking Diver, Treasure Hunter, and Deep-Sea Explorer
By Max Gene Nohl
I Live Underwater is the posthumous memoir of Max Gene Nohl, a thrill seeker and treasure hunter who revolutionized deep-sea diving. Nohl’s work and thirst for adventure propelled him to transcend fear and become one of the field’s great innovators—shattering the world diving record in 1937 as the first person to dive deeper than 400 feet. After Nohl’s sudden death in 1960 in a car accident, his nearly complete memoir was stored in the Milwaukee Public Library, unpublished, until now. This title was released in spring 2025 by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
A subscription to the Wisconsin Magazine of History is a benefit of membership to the Wisconsin Historical Society. The current issue, described above, will become available in the online archives as soon the next issue is published.
Become a Wisconsin Historical Society member today!
Subscribe today by becoming a member
Learn More: