Cream City Chronicles

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Stories of Milwaukee’s Past

John Gurda

From singing mayors to bloody labor disturbances, Cream City Chronicles is a generous collection of lively stories that express the character of a Midwest metropolis.

320 pages, 5.5 x 8.5, 77 b&w photos
Paperback: $24.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-758-7
Ebook: $15.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-523-1
Publication Date: 2/11/2016

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Description

Find yourself transported back to another time, when the village of Milwaukee was home to fur trappers and traders. Follow the development of Milwaukee's distinctive neighborhoods, its rise as a port city and industrial center, and its changing political climate. This collection of Milwaukee history shares lively stories about the people, the events, the landmarks, and the institutions that have made the "Cream City" a unique American community.

These stories collected here, each featuring a historic photograph, represent the best of historian John Gurda's popular Sunday columns that have appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since 1994. From singing mayors to summer festivals, from blueblood weddings to bloody labor disturbances, Cream City Chronicles offers a generous sampling of tales that express the true character of a hometown metropolis.

Author Bio

John Gurda is a Milwaukee-born writer and historian who has been studying his hometown since 1972. He is the author of more than 20 books, including histories of Milwaukee-area neighborhoods, industries, and places of worship. In addition to his work as an author, Gurda is a lecturer, tour guide, and local history columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The common thread in all of his work is an understanding of history as “why things are the way they are.”

No Milwaukee writer today better knows this city's yesterdays, and no one more clearly explains how what was then led to what is now. "Cream City Chronicles" is aptly named; these snapshots, like handsome bricks stacked one on another, build an enduring portrait of Milwaukee.

Dennis McCann

Former columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Gurda writes with the power to imagine for us how the past looked, showing how its remnants remain with us in the present."

—Milwaukee Shepherd Express

“John Gurda begins with recent events in Milwaukee's history and finds their past origins. His accounts of facts of the past are treated sensitively, and he interprets their meaning with unique observations. These stories will last as long as there is a Milwaukee.”

—Frank Zeidler, former Mayor of Milwaukee

"No living person knows more about Milwaukee's past than John Gurda, and Cream City Chronicles readily displays his gifts as a historian and a writer. . . . Cream City Chronicles is must reading for anyone who truly wants to understand and appreciate Milwaukee's rich heritage."

—James Marten, professor of history, Marquette University

“The name John Gurda is synonymous with Milwaukee history. . . . Cream City Chronicles is perfect for classroom use or for anyone interested in Milwaukee history delivered in small, digestible bites. I recommend it highly.”

—Timothy L. Ericson, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

“John Gurda's Cream City Chronicles is not only a richly evocative history of the city of Milwaukee but, in the tradition of the great cultural geographers of generations' past, is also a reflection of the uniqueness of place. . . . Gurda's stories present not merely the outline but the essence of a proud and ever changing city.”

—David McDaniel, assistant professor of history, Carroll College

"This book of newspaper columns penned by Gurda is a perfect complement to The Making of Milwaukee. Instead of trying to tell it all, these essays focus on the interesting, the unique and the important. Fascinating tidbits that can be read sporadically or in one sitting."

—Bobby Tanzilo, OnMilwaukee.com