Search the Wisconsin Historical Society's collections
Filter: Year of 1800-1899
Filter: Categories of Discover Your Community History
| Beyond Beer and Brats |
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| Explore the history of Labor Day celebrations in Wisconsin. |
| Civil War Battle Summary |
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| Discover the role that Wisconsin troops, including Menominee warriors and our only unit of Black soldiers, played in a dramatic Civil War battle. |
| A Disappointment that Created a Community |
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| Learn about the most successful Utopian community in Wisconsin, born of a failed doomsday prediction. |
| A Dishonest Democrat and a Radical Republican |
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| Learn about the election that was so close that Wisconsin briefly had two governors until one was exposed for tampering with ballots. |
| The Naughty City |
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| Discover Eau Claire's naughty past as a hub of prostitution for the lumbermen looking to support the world's oldest profession. |
| Defining Sundaes |
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| Was the first ice cream sundae made in Wisconsin or New York? Give this whimsical story a read and come to your own conclusion. |
| A Popular Speaker Sways Opinion |
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| Discover the connection between P.T. Barnum and the 1853 statewide referendum on liquor sales. |
| 3,000 Dam the Red River |
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| Read this wild story about a Wisconsin Dells lumberjack applying his knowledge of dams to help Union forces escape a Confederate attack. |
| A Good Mother, a Good Friend and a Good Woman |
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| Discover Juliet Severance, the free-thinking Whitewater physician who was involved with the anti-slavery movement, temperance and women's rights. |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Nativity scene creche set assembled and used by a Polish-American family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin beginning around 1895. (Museum accession #2007.100) |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Silver ladle and spoon given to Syndonia (Hobbins) Jackson of Madison, Wisconsin as a wedding present, 1872. (Museum object #1955.304,A) |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Gothic revival parlor stove made of iron ore from Mayville, Wisconsin, 1846. (Museum object #1999.141.1) |
| The Surprise and Aftermath of a Miraculous Birth |
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| Discover the sad story of the naturally-conceived set of quintuplets born in Watertown, believed to be the first set of quintuplets in the U.S. |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Ceremonial container made from a gourd, presented to Wisconsin Governor William R. Taylor, 1874. (Museum object #1993.53) |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Cast iron Wisconsin effigy mound model in the shape of a "trunk and arms of a man", designed by Increase A. Lapham, c. 1875. (Museum object #1975.8.12) |
| The Power of the Pumpkin |
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| Read the story of the first Thanksgiving celebrated in Madison. |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Hand-painted earthenware jar manufactured by the Pauline Pottery, Edgerton, Wisconsin, 1888-1892. (Museum object # 1964.95.1,A) |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Artisans Day Ribbon possibly worn during parade in Milwaukee, September 3, 1888. (Museum object #H12653) |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Golden-brown silk gown worn by Miss Mary Dittberner at her 1887 wedding to Bernhard Stieg in Clintonville, Wisconsin. (Museum object #2008.129.1A-B) |
| Wisconsin Historical Museum Object – Feature Story |
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| Punt gun used to hunt waterfowl on Lake Mendota, Madison, Wisconsin, c. 1866-1870. (Museum object #1947.1743) |
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