The Wisconsin Capitol

We're in the process of updating our website! Learn more about what that means and how you can help create history..

Stories of a Monument and Its People

Michael Edmonds

A gloriously illustrated celebration of Wisconsin’s most recognizable edifice—the Wisconsin State Capitol—and the people who made history beneath its iconic dome.

192 pages, 7 x 9, 110 color and b&w photos
Hardcover: $25.00 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-842-3
Ebook: $15.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-843-0
Publication Date: 8/10/2017

BUY

-

Description

Take a trip beneath the Capitol dome and meet the remarkable people who made history in Wisconsin’s most famous building. From territorial governor Henry Dodge to today, this book shares stories about the men, women, and even animals who inhabited the state’s four capitols: a humble wooden structure in Belmont where Wisconsin was born in1836; the ramshackle first Madison capitol called “Doty’s Washbowl,” which housed a herd of pigs in its basement; the grand Victorian monument built during the Civil War and destroyed by fire in 1904; and the awe-inspiring shrine to democracy that we love today—including the eleven-year construction project completed in 1917 and the extensive conservation project of the 1990s that restored the building to its grandeur.

Supporting the framework of this architectural history are not only the governors and lawmakers who shaped Wisconsin from within, but also stories of protesters and reformers, office clerks and tour guides, custodians and security guards, and even Old Abe, the Capitol’s resident eagle. You’ll encounter one governor who saw ghosts and another who was a comedian, discover women who broke barriers and men who broke laws, and learn how the Capitol was designed, decorated, and eventually restored, from its magnificent murals down to its specialized spittoons.

Richly illustrated with historical images and modern, full-color architectural photographs, The Wisconsin Capitol tells the inspiring and entertaining story of an iconic landmark and the people who brought it to life.

Author Bio

Michael Edmonds

Michael Edmonds is a writer and historian based in Madison, Wisconsin. His writings on history, nature, and folklore explore the ways that ideas have moved through time and space. He has always been fascinated by eccentric and atypical people or events that mainstream culture has overlooked. For more than a decade he wrote the syndicated weekly newspaper column “Odd Wisconsin,” which highlighted bizarre and little-known stories from the state’s past. Among his other books are Taking Flight, Risking Everything, and The Wisconsin State Capitol.