Read about the Wisconsin Historical Museum's new exhibit on the history of presidential politics.

Highlights

Hometown Stories: La Crosse Debuts May 12

On Monday, May 12, the latest installment in the Society's Wisconsin Hometown Stories partnership with Wisconsin Public Television debuts at 8 p.m. Each program in the series celebrates the evolution of a Wisconsin town, its residents and the stories they... more...
Posted May 9, 2008

Team Wisconsin, Ready for Nationals

Forty-eight Wisconsin students who competed in the statewide finals of National History Day on May 3 will represent the Badger state at the national event in June in College Park, Maryland. Students came to the Wisconsin Historical Society headquarters in... more...
Posted May 7, 2008

New Exhibit: Chris Farley Remembered

A little more than 10 years ago, comedian and Madison native Chris Farley passed away at the age of 33. With the help of the Farley family, the Wisconsin Historical Museum will celebrate his life and his love of Wisconsin,... more...
Posted May 5, 2008

Historic Preservation and Archaeology Month

May is Historic Preservation and Archaeology Month, a time to showcase Wisconsin's diverse and unique heritage. In communities all over Wisconsin, local historical societies, museums, public libraries and other institutions use this month-long celebration to highlight the important role historic... more...
Posted May 2, 2008

Preserving Wartime Correspondence

In a daylong workshop on Saturday, May 17, Society archivist Sally Jacobs and publisher Kathy Borkowski will offer practical help in preserving and using wartime correspondence from past and current conflicts. The morning session addresses the technical issues of organizing... more...
Posted April 30, 2008

Wisconsin Historic Sites Begin Seasons in May

Just as the arrival of spring heralded the beginning of another growing season for 19th-century Wisconsin farmers, spring signals a flurry of activity at Wisconsin's historic sites. And, after the sites' most successful season in several years in 2007, hopes... more...
Posted April 28, 2008

George Pollard (1920-2008)

The state of Wisconsin and the world of art mourn the passing of noted portrait artist George Pollard, who died April 17, 2008, at his home in Kenosha. Pollard started drawing while growing up in Waldo, Wisconsin, and studied art... more...
Posted April 25, 2008

A Taste of Wisconsin's Potluck Traditions

Potluck and community meals have been bringing people together for hundreds of years. More than just the sharing of delicious food, though, these meals enjoyed together provide a window into the culture and traditions of a community. On Thursday, May... more...
Posted April 23, 2008

An Earth Day Gallery in Gaylord Nelson's Honor

In 1969, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson first conceived of the idea of a national teach-in to bring about public awareness of the rampant environmental problems of the times. Thirty-eight years ago, on April 22, the first Earth Day was celebrated,... more...
Posted April 21, 2008

April 19, 1862: Governor Harvey Drowns!

On this date Governor Louis Harvey died while trying to help wounded Wisconsin troops after the Battle of Shiloh. Harvey (1820-1862) came to Kenosha in 1841 to teach school. He also started a newspaper there, was elected to help write... more...
Posted April 18, 2008

Past Presidential Elections Recalled at Museum

Foreign wars, trade, immigration, taxes, recession, health care, the environment, character, experience … today's concerns have played themselves out many times in our nation's political history. As public attention remains focused on the presidential contest of 2008, the Wisconsin Historical... more...
Posted April 16, 2008

Don't Stress, but it's Tax Day

April 15 is America's tax day, the dreaded filing date for state and federal income taxes. But April 15 wasn't always saddled with this ominous deadline, though we do have Wisconsin to thank for it. Wisconsin was actually the first... more...
Posted April 14, 2008

Museum Talk Explores the Mysteries of Aztalan

Located near Lake Mills, Aztalan is Wisconsin's premier and most visited archaeological site. Occupied by a group of Mississippian Indians from southern Illinois between A.D. 1050 and 1200, Aztalan was an agricultural and ceremonial town with large earthen platform mounds... more...
Posted April 11, 2008

Spring into the Season with the Magazine

How do you know when spring is here? When the spring issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History arrives in your mailbox and at bookstores around the state! In this issue, you'll find stories on the construction of the Kilbourn... more...
Posted April 9, 2008

All Jane Austen Film Series to Begin April 13

The fifth year of the popular Classic Book and Movie Club will feature a lineup of three motion pictures adapted from classic novels by British author Jane Austen, beginning with director Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation of Austen's 1813 novel Pride... more...
Posted April 7, 2008

Gala to Salute Five Wisconsin History Makers

The Wisconsin Historical Society will salute the lifetime achievements of five distinguished individuals with Wisconsin ties at the Third Annual Wisconsin History Makers Gala on Wednesday, May 14, at Milwaukee's historic Pfister Hotel beginning at 5:30 p.m. We invite you... more...
Posted April 4, 2008

"Bowie Knife" Potter Recalled

"Congress has become little better than a den of semi-savages," wrote the New York Tribune in 1860. The newspaper was reporting on one of the more bizarre incidents in Wisconsin's political history. It began two years earlier when a bloody... more...
Posted April 2, 2008

Come Play Cineplexity at the Museum

Hasbro, Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers may have claimed a near "monopoly" on the production of card games and board games in America, but Wisconsin is no stranger to the business of having fun. Recently, Madisonians Jon Michael Rasmus, John... more...
Posted March 31, 2008

Danky Research Fellowship Available

Friends and colleagues of former Wisconsin Historical Society newspapers and periodicals librarian Jim Danky, who retired last September, have established a research fellowship in his honor. Applications are being accepted until May 1 for the first annual award. In conjunction... more...
Posted March 28, 2008

Wisconsin Ceramic Art Goes Online

The American Art Pottery movement originated in 1876 when a group of women china decorators in Cincinnati began to experiment with ceramic glaze techniques inspired by British Arts and Crafts pottery. This new approach to ceramics as an art form... more...
Posted March 26, 2008

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